New Leaf: From Modern to Antique

[Alolan_Apples]

Old School Animal Crossing Week may only cover City Folk and older games, but since New Horizons is on its way out, New Leaf may finally enter the league of Animal Crossing games that became archaic due to the new features the newer game introduced. If you played Animal Crossing for 18 years and got used to ACNL for 6 years, you would be surprised to see how weird the older Animal Crossing games were compared to the Animal Crossing we know today. This is exactly how you will feel about ACNL once we get used to ACNH.

First of all, I’ll talk about the characters. When we first saw the taller villagers in ACNL, we thought this was rather weird. But after we got used to the taller characters, just looking at the shorter characters from older games would feel weird. I can bet that if we get used to New Horizons, you would find the ACNL designs look primitive for having fewer clothing options and no pupils in eyes or textures in hair. Secondly, let’s talk about the textures of terrain. Looking at the older games’ tree designs, seasonal colors, and cliff designs looks more colorful and saturated while less realistic to New Leaf’s. Imagine what New Horizon’s realistic-looking grass and water would do to New Leaf’s geometric-looking grass and water.

Before I cover what other New Leaf features would seem outdated thanks to ACNH, let’s look at what features seem outdated thanks to ACNL (or the most recent game).

City Folk:

City Folk may have some of the same modern features New Leaf had, but even going back to City Folk would make you feel constricted. Here are five examples not yet mentioned that prove this point:

• Tom Nook was not only the shopkeeper of the furniture store, but his store also sold gardening supplies, roof paint, and even paintings. Yes, Nook sold paintings too. He also was in charge of buying turnips in the Stalk Market (a responsibility Reese has now). He’s still in charge of remodeling your home.
• You couldn’t design your town with extra landmarks besides what was in the game.
• There is no such thing as wall furniture.
• Redd sold furniture too, not just art.
• You couldn’t pick where you want to live. You can only pick what houses are available to you.

Wild World:

Because Wild World has several similarities, it would be a perfect game to contrast with ACNL. Along with the five examples I listed for City Folk, here are the other examples that prove that both City Folk and New Leaf made obsolete:

• You only had simple patterns, and they had to be designed at the Able Sisters, for a price.
• The additional rooms of the house can only be 6x6 rooms.
• The exhibit designs of the Museum. For instance, the tanks in the aquarium look a lot like home fish tanks.
• You couldn’t swap tools using the control pad.
• All human villagers had to live within the same place.

GameCube Version:

Here we are, back at the beginning. Animal Crossing has changed a lot from this version over the years. If you were used to playing ACNL for a while, this game would look very outdated compared to the Animal Crossing game we know. In fact, “very outdated” is an understatement. Along with the examples I listed in City Folk and Wild World, here are the examples of how the GameCube Version has became antique:

• Tom Nook sold clothes. The Able Sisters only had patterns.
• You had to run to your Gyroid assistant to save your game. If manual saves like in New Leaf become outdated due to New Horizon’s autosaves, this is perfect example.
• You can only store three items per bureau, and they can only be small items.
• You had to mail fossils to the Faraway Museum.
• The entire acre system.

Welcome amiibo:

We’re back in our present time. So New Leaf may be our most recent AC game, but even the original version feels sort of unplayable because of the update. Here are the examples:

• Rocks couldn’t be used as chairs.
• Moving your furniture requires pushing everything.
• Path patterns cannot block animals from moving to particular places.
• All objects that took two or more spaces couldn’t be placed onto tables.
• The extra storage space was tiny compared to the storage feature you unlock after completing all your debts.

New Horizons:

Finally, I’m going to discuss how New Horizons may make New Leaf feel obsolete. Even if it were for the Welcome amiibo update, New Leaf would eventually feel antique if we get used to New Horizons. I already mentioned terrain textures, character design, and manual saves. Here’s what else may feel primitive if this were the case:

• Collecting every furniture by just shopping.
• Instant growth flowers.
• Landmarks that existed before you move in.
• Pre-made tools.
• Full-tile movement of furniture.

Right now, New Leaf may be the cutting edge of Animal Crossing, but once the new game comes out, it will no longer be king. It will be antique.