I subscribed to Nintendo Power shortly before the GCN game released in North America. In my first or second issue of the magazine, they had a lengthy article about Animal Crossing that discussed the concept behind the game, showed images, etc., and it piqued my interest. Up to that point, I'd always bought games that my friends already owned, or that family members happened to give me for birthdays or Christmases, so AC was unique in that it was the first game I really "researched" myself. I don't recall watching any footage or reading about it online (we had dial-up, so it probably wouldn't have been practical), but I poured over that article and then decided to take the plunge and buy the game and the player's guide (as I loved reading those).
I wasn't really sure what to make of my town at first, and it never occurred to me to reset for different fruit, shop layouts, etc. But I quickly fell in love with my town and its denizens (particularly Teddy and Hornsby, who moved in a few months after I started the game and became some of my favorite residents).
I fondly recall preparing for Jingle's arrival that first year. I stockpiled shirts for what felt like weeks (I didn't actually manage to complete the Jingle series the first year, though, so it couldn't have been that many shirts). My family hosts a party every Christmas Eve, and that year, I managed to convince a lot of the guests (and not just kids, either) to watch me hunt for Jingle around town.
AC is a difficult series to explain to people. In theory, it sounds like a lot of busy work to pull weeds and do chores for neighbors and work on arranging flowers in just the right way. But there's something so charming about the entire franchise that makes it so appealing. I stumbled onto the franchise, in a lot of ways, and I'm grateful I took the risk and bought something outside of my comfort zone (especially when a full-priced game was a big investment for childhood me). But as we near ACNH's release, and I read the reception on various websites, I begin to wonder if the videos don't do the games justice for those who haven't played the series somehow, and what could be done to help people who might enjoy AC understand what's so great about it.
