hello!
whilst a lot of people have dropped accf in favour of new leaf (and due to some other annoying circumstances, such as the inability to connect to wifi and play online nowadays), in my opinion it's still a wonderful game, so good to hear you decided to pick it up! it's a bit outdated compared to new leaf, however it's got many things that make it special and a great game to play, so i'll go over those things.
before playing, you may want to note that unlike in new leaf, you can't play with others in city folk; this is due to nintendo having to pull the plug on nintendo wfc in may 2014, so it's impossible to connect online on this game. it's the same with wild world, the animal crossing game that came before city folk (however, since that's a ds game, you can still play using local connection if you've got a friend who also has wild world and a separate ds; but i digress!).
however, it's actually--whilst obviously a lot trickier--a bit more fun to try and build a town up by yourself, and it really pays off once you see the wonderful final result of your town that came together all as a result of your own work.
obviously, since it's a 2008 game, there's many differences to new leaf which point to it being an inferior game; but considering new leaf was released 5 years after, evidently there's going to be a few missing features that were added in or improved on in a later game. in accf, unlike in new leaf, it's important to note:
- there is no such thing as the island
- the deep sea diving function is yet to exist, so no third encyclopaedia or wet suits for that
- (as mentioned before) you can't connect to the internet and play online with others
- you're just a resident of the town, not the mayor, and therefore can't build pwps
- no exterior renovations and less rooms in your house; can't pick where you build your house
...along with a few other differences. whilst this may sound like "man, what a bad game," don't fret -- there
are good things about accf that make it different (in a good way!) to nl and other animal crossing games. in accf, you can:
- visit the city, which includes the marquee, shampoodle, gracie grace and the happy room academy showroom, as well as phineas, who will give you prizes if he's there on a clear day!
- get multi-coloured feathers and new town amenities (such as third bridge, a fountain, and a windmill or lighthouse -- the predecessors to pwps?) via donating to the town fund
- participate in the monthly flea market where you can visit each villager's house and buy whatever you want from them (a far more direct approach from having to wait for the item you want to appear in your town's re-tail, and a feature i really miss!)
- care for sick villagers
and the list goes on~ while this is only based on my personal opinion, i much prefer the hourly music for a lot of the times of day in city folk, and i think some of the events are a bit more interesting as they're different compared to new leaf, i.e. bunny day and the harvest festival. whilst the graphics may be a bit more clunky, they're quite endearing, and are bright and cheerful, so i find them a bit "cuter" than the ones in new leaf.
i think overall, it's important to remember city folk is not only a lot older than new leaf, but that it's actually a completely different game altogether, so even if there are a lot of things you think are done better in acnl, accf is always a breath of fresh air if you get sick of playing animal crossing on the 3ds, or simply just would like a change every once in a while. i hope this was helpful (sorry for writing a mini essay, haha) and i hope you enjoy playing accf~!
