As we already know, Japan is a land of trends that come and go, but the recent Animal Crossing phenomenon has involved the whole world, and we’re not just talking about the gaming one.
Animal Crossing, Nintendo’s worldwide phenomenon
written by: Sara
When it comes to writing about video games in our blog, I’m always strongly questioning whether or not to do so because there are myriad titles from the Rising Sun worthy of note! This time, however, we couldn’t help but wonder: the video game in question has really won everyone over, especially during the quarantine period with its simplicity, its “chill” mood and its bright colors. Yes, I’m talking about Animal Crossing!
photo credits: gamereactor.it
The various versions
The Japanese title どうぶつの森 (Doubutsu no Mori) literally means “Animal Forest” and was developed for Nintendo by game designer Hisashi Nogami back in 2001 and quickly became one of the most popular video games ever. At its first release, in fact, there were several editions such as Animal Crossing: Wild World, Animal Crossing: Let’s Go to the City, Animal Crossing: New Leaf and the very recent Animal Crossing: New Horizons; in addition to cute spin-offs such as Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer and Animal Crossing Pocket Camp, the latter available for Android and iOS.
photo credits: pinimg.com
Simulator of life, this game catapults us into a world inhabited by curious anthropomorphic animals with which you can interact. There is no real goal, the strength of the series is to customize your village, collect objects, explore and… relax. In addition, the time flows exactly like that of our reality. The day and night, the seasons, the festivities, alternate following the rhythms of our daily life.
The latest edition of the game, New Horizons, is set in a deserted island, totally customizable thanks to the Terra Forming feature that allows you to let your imagination run wild and recreate environments of the most varied inspiration.
photo credits: twitter.com/ryuryu_12mj
Once you have created your own style, furnished the furniture, invited friends to visit the island etc etc etc what is left to do? Some might say that playability runs out, but it doesn’t. In fact, events and updates make New Horizons an endless and fascinating video game where you can celebrate weddings, birthdays and ceremonies of various kinds. Create a party with friends, celebrate holidays such as Christmas, Easter, Tanabata, participate in festivals of various kinds, competitions and surprise events! Once again, Japan has given us something unique. A game to play when the world around us is stifling and hectic or simply when we want to escape, but we can’t do it physically.
photo credits: twitter.com/opeope1006
All titles in the series are available on the official NINTENDO website.