If you're wondering why a bewildered render of Blathers from Animal Crossing (GCN) is my avatar, maybe the length of my post will shed some light on that. Maybe is an intentional keyword. Sometimes, I can't be bothered to write very much nor cover every topic I mean to touch on even in brevity or concise language. This
As it does to many, Animal Crossing means a lot to me, you see. I was obsessed with several life-simulation games as a young, ostracized kid including The Sims and Club Penguin. But Animal Crossing was truly the blueprint for me. I first played Animal Crossing: Wild World (NDS) in 2006 on my neighbor's DS across the street and went on to play on my very own starting on my eighth birthday in 2007. I can't say I played in any strategic, coherent way in particular. I time-traveled a lot, used Action Replay, and I didn't meet very many milestones without cheating or getting free items from giveaways on another Animal Crossing forum. I was just interested in simply having a private world of my very own, and most of my memories of playing this game come from playing online with total strangers met on said forum. It was a great escape for me that helped me get through a lot while I was being bullied, and I even still keep up with a few online friends from that time, too! Unfortunately, I reset my town a lot, so I don't have any save file as a memento from that time. I just know that from there onward, Animal Crossing became a permanent fixture in my mind between the aesthetics, the music, and the idea of the game in general.
After getting Animal Crossing: City Folk (Wii) in 2008, I bought a used GameCube and a copy of Animal Crossing (GCN) at GameStop (when that was still possible). My obsession with Animal Crossing was definitely solid before doing so, but I think visiting its origins is what truly made me fall in love with the game. Like my time with Wild World and City Folk, my initial gameplay wasn't very organized or strategic. I played it to walk around, discover the ins & outs of the game, and admire pretty scenery. A fixation of mine in particular was resetting the game to get three-tiered towns and the return of cliffs and ramps in AC:CF. Because I couldn't play AC:GC with friends and I was getting older, I learned to play with a bit more tact and my towns began to feel more personal and sentimental. To this day, the GameCube version remains the game I've revisited the most over the years, although I do not have an old save file, as my habit of resetting my towns stuck with me like a plague.
I absolutely love the terraforming system in AC:NH. Since beginning the game, my dream has been to make a natural-feeling, custom three-tiered island of my own as a ode to my obsession with the GameCube version of Animal Crossing and its topography and charm. Although I don't have a screenshot of Twinleaf's original map, I have these two as a comparison of my progression. I struggle a lot with maintaining my motivation to play and organize my game due to my mental health, but I have a lot of time now after having graduated from college in 2022 and started working from home, and I'd like to finally capitalize on that. So, my next goal is to complete my island's waterways! I hope that maintaining this journal for the challenge will motivate me to finish my islands's layout at the very least and help me find new ways to immerse myself in my island's story.
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