If I were to play a AC game every day for a year, which game should it be?

[Ganucci]

I have always wanted to do a "Let's Play" of an Animal Crossing game ever since RedPandaGamer did one of City Folk way back in 2011. His was great because it showcased a full year of what the game had to offer, although he missed a few holidays and spent many days where he would play for only 5 minutes or sometimes less. I would want to do something similar, only improve upon it by attending every event, getting as many collectibles as I can, learning everything there is to know, and finding all of AC's hidden secrets whether it be hard to obtain items, rare dialogue, or anything else.

The main question I've always had is WHICH game? I was going to make a poll, but I really want to hear reasons why a specific game would be better than another and I feel a poll would just be a popularity contest. I'd love to hear your opinions!

Thank you all!

 

[Introspective Onlooker]

It's tied between one of the GameCube ports (preferably e+) and New Leaf.

• Regardless of which version of the original game you want to play, I think the fact that villagers can easily move out of your town without you even knowing about it somewhat necessitates you talking to them at least once every day. That's not to say that the games doesn't have any cool or fun motives for you to spend an entire 365 days playing it. It still has some events that either never returned, or just weren't as good in later games (the Sports' Fair and Turkey Day comes to mind). While I can't vouch for its secrets because I think there's still plenty I haven't discovered yet, I can tell you right now that the English localization is drastically different from the first two Japanese releases in 2001 (N64 and the December GC release in Japan), in comparison to the localization in the newer games. It might be responsible for the type of dialogue villagers have in Population: Growing!. If you play the N64 original or the Japanese GC version that isn't e+, and can understand at least some Japanese, you might be able to appreciate just how much effort went into making Animal Crossing culturally analogical to Western audiences, as how Animal Forest linked itself to Japanese society through its own exclusive events, items, etc. Even so, I think the definitive version is Dobutsu no Mori e+ — while most of the Japanese content that was removed when the game came overseas don't return, here, I believe the fact that villagers could wave to you and give you a live recording of their favorite song to you if you were best buds with them is a great mechanic. I also miss the option of being able to ask for favors, but at least the favors are more streamlined, now (no more running around town delivering VHS tapes and Gameboy Colors which dated the game). And it easily has the best soundtrack by a large margin. The hourly themes are distinctly memorable because they managed to give the music an electronic vibe to it while still sounding arboreal — something that's ironically absent in the other games of a series known as "Animal Forest".
• New Leaf, being a handheld title, naturally makes it a good choice for playing on and off in short bursts during the day. It revolutionize in ways not even Wild World could, and it might be the most accessible game because it can played online without a paywall attached to it. It drastically changed what Animal Crossing was — especially its art design. It pays homage for more than ten years of the series while moving the series forward, and before New Horizons, it had the best customization the series ever had. Certain events had massive overhauls, and while I don't think they're all winners, I like that they tried something different with each one. I miss being able to build an entire family of snow people, instead of just snowmen (Snowboys in NH).

I know this is a mess of a post, and probably much longer than it should've been, but I can't help myself. I think NL has the edge, but if you want to play one of the GC ports, I recommend e+. It's more of a transitional game than a full-on expansion, but there's still plenty of things I didn't mention that makes it worth playing over the other versions.

 

[QueenCobra]

I kinda did that with New Horizons so I guess I will say that lol

 

[Ganucci]

It's tied between one of the GameCube ports (preferably e+) and New Leaf.

• Regardless of which version of the original game you want to play, I think the fact that villagers can easily move out of your town without you even knowing about it somewhat necessitates you talking to them at least once every day. That's not to say that the games doesn't have any cool or fun motives for you spend an entire 365 days playing it. It still has some events that either never returned, or just weren't as good in later games (the Sports' Fair and Turkey Day comes to mind). While I can't vouch for its secrets because I think there's still plenty I haven't discovered yet, I can tell you right now that the English localization is drastically different from the first two Japanese releases in 2001 (N64 and the December GC release in Japan), in comparison to the localization in the newer games. It might be responsible for the type of dialogue villagers have in Population: Growing!. If you play the N64 original or the Japanese GC version that isn't e+, and can understand at least some Japanese, you might be able to appreciate just how much effort went into making Animal Crossing culturally analogical to Western audiences, as how Animal Forest linked itself to Japanese society through its own exclusive events, items, etc. Even so, I think the definitive version is Dobutsu no Mori e+ — while most of the Japanese content that was removed when the game came overseas don't return, here, I believe the fact that villagers could wave to you and give you a live recording of their favorite song to you if you were best buds with them is a great mechanic. I also miss the option of being able to ask for favors, but at least the favors are more streamlined, now (no more running around town delivering VHS tapes and Gameboy Colors which dated the game). And it easily has the best soundtrack by a large margin. The hourly themes are distinctly memorable because they managed to give the music an electronic vibe to it while still sounding arboreal — something that's ironically absent in the other games of a series known as "Animal Forest".
• New Leaf, being a handheld title, naturally makes it a good choice for playing on and off in short bursts during the day. It revolutionize in ways not even Wild World could, and it might be the most accessible game because it can played online without a paywall attached to it. It drastically changed what Animal Crossing was — especially it's art design. It pays homage for more than ten years of the series while moving the series forward, and before New Horizons, it had the best customization the series ever had. Certain events had massive overhauls, and while I don't think they're all winners, I like that they tried something different with each one. I miss being able to build an entire family of snow people, instead of just snowmen (Snowboys in NH).

I know this is a mess of a post, and probably much longer than it should've been, but I can't help myself. I think NL has the edge, but if you want to play one of the GC ports, I recommend e+. It's more of a transitional game than a full-on expansion, but there's still plenty of things I didn't mention that makes it worth playing over the other versions.

This was an amazing insight, so thank you for typing all of that up.

I would 100% love to discover all the secrets of Animal Crossing (Gamecube) and I actually have played it a bit recently when I have the time. If I did 365 days of it I would do the Gamecube version since I own it and would play it on my Wii and capture it with a capture card. However, if you think the fan English translation of e+ is very far superior then I'd consider doing that. Either way, I think it's a wonderfully charming game with nothing else in existence like it, but I wonder if other people would be as interested in watching a year long series on it.

I played a lot of New Leaf and I know people love the game so I don't think I could go wrong with that one. I think I just prefer console Animal Crossing games more, but if people really want 365 days of New Leaf then I'd do it!

 

[Introspective Onlooker]

This was an amazing insight, so thank you for typing all of that up.

Thanks for the compliment.

I would 100% love to discover all the secrets of Animal Crossing (Gamecube) and I actually have played it a bit recently when I have the time. If I did 365 days of it I would do the Gamecube version since I own it and would play it on my Wii and capture it with a capture card. However, if you think the fan English translation of e+ is very far superior then I'd consider doing that. Either way, I think it's a wonderfully charming game with nothing else in existence like it, but I wonder if other people would be as interested in watching a year long series on it.

I actually own e+ and attempted to mod my GC in order to nullify the region lock (in which I screwed up and had to get a replacement DVD drive with the modchip I tried to installed my previous drive on), so I don't have an opinion on @Cuyler's translation of the game. I'm not sure if it's finished or not. I recall a beta release around April 2020 or earlier, but that's about it.

It still somewhat bothers me that Nintendo decided to use the North America version as the basis for this port, instead of reconciling both the localization, and the original Japanese content that was present in the N64 and JP GC releases. Even still, I recommend e+ solely because you can actually become friends with villagers, and they'll reward you for it, so it makes the aggressive attitude they'll normally have towards you for no reason (at least) bearable because you're actually working towards something tangible. I always thought that was one of the series main selling points — to bond with your furry little neighbors.

By the way, while a year long series for whichever GC version of Animal Crossing of your choice maybe niche, I've no doubt there's an audience for it.

I played a lot of New Leaf and I know people love the game so I don't think I could go wrong with that one. I think I just prefer console Animal Crossing games more, but if people really want 365 days of New Leaf then I'd do it!

That's somewhat been a goal of mine for NL since July 29th, last year; it's when I created my first town. I don't think I've missed a single day playing it, though playing any game for an entire year straight it's quite a challenge in of itself. I got a lot more pictures NL I wouldn't mind posting in a thread of mine or something...

 

[DrewAC]

I’d do the one played the least to ensure you’ll have something new to see and explore.

For the record though, New Horizons was my longest played Animal Crossing game thus far. It took pretty much 1.5 years for me to miss one day.

 

[Croconaw]

First of all, I love those let’s plays of people playing Animal Crossing for one year. I could binge watch the heck out of them. Honestly, I think New Leaf or Population Growing would have to be my choice. New Horizons would get real repetitive real fast. At least the other games have some variety. As much as I love the feature of not having villagers randomly move out, it’s too predictable unless you let them go. I even hope they keep this feature on the next game. It’s just not a good feature for a let’s play.

 

[SkyKnight03]

I would pick Wild World because it has my favorite villager dialogue. Felt inclined to try playing for a year, but lack the dedication.

 

[Mars Adept]

Wild World. It’s easy to pick up and I love the music and art style.

 

[Tulaash]

I honestly would come out and say New Horizons after the 2.0 update - all the updates (including 2.0) make it feel like a much more complete game, and I don't mind that the updates arrived in chunks, as it gave me something to look forward to and didn't overwhelm me all at once with content in the base game. I like that I had some time to get used to the new mechanics, like crafting and customizing, or placing furniture everywhere, or landscaping, and then I could get started on some older features when they arrived, such as diving, or art collecting! It's also my most played AC game - I've only played Wild World about 10 hours, and New Leaf about 60 hours, but New Horizons? 875 hours. I played it nearly every day from release day to Thanksgiving 2020.