TheAnimal Crossingseries has been delivering cozy experiences to fans since 2001. Of course, there have been some hiccups along the way, but for the most part, the series' ethos has remained intact, never faltering when it comes to offering fans the heartwarming village sim experience they’ve enjoyed from the very start. That is, of course, outside of one particular feature, a slowly growing issue that has now become the series' greatest flaw, a huge problem for long-time fans, and a glaring fault for those just starting with the most recent title.
ThismajorAnimal Crossingflawhas been bogging down the series for a number of releases now, with each entry only getting worse. It has completely alteredAnimal Crossing, unfortunately, not for the best, which is hugely disappointing to fans. However, as frustrating as it can be,Nintendo could utilize this issue to its advantage and use it to completely redefine theAnimal Crossingexperience. While it may not be quite what fans expect, it is an obvious solution, especially if Nintendo wants to take the easy way out.
Animal Crossing Hasn’t Done Villagers Right In A While
They’ve Stopped Being The Focus
Animal Crossing’sbiggest flaw is its villagers, at least, at the moment. That’s not to say that the villagers themselves aren’t great - although there are some trulyterrible villagers inAnimal Crossing- but rather that Nintendo’s handling of them and their integration into the generalACexperience is poor at best. Where the villagers used to be a highlight of the experience, a core component and a reason to actually play the game, they now feel like a secondary feature, an optional task with which to temporarily busy oneself, but rarely worth actually engaging with.
That’s because they have very little to do or say.Animal Crossing’soriginal goalof fostering communication has been lost - at least between players and the villagers - in favor of prioritizing gameplay and mechanical innovations. It is absolutely true that a lack of meaningful gameplay activities has been a sore point for players, butimplementing more of it at the expense of villager interactions was not a great move. It has resulted in villagers saying the same tired lines over and over again, with their personalities boiling down to overly nice or slightly nice.
It is hard to hate them becauseAnimal Crossing’svillagers have no personality, buttering up to the player immediately, rarely challenging them, and never feeling like they have a life of their own.
It is hard to hate them becauseAnimal Crossing’svillagers have no personality, buttering up to the player immediately, rarely challenging them, and never feeling like they have a life of their own. However, by the same token, it is hard to like them either. It makes their existence feel entirely meaningless, which is a great shame, as for most people, at least those who enjoyed the likes ofWild Worldand even the originalAnimal Crossing, they were the selling point. It is why so many people desperately, albeit pointlessly, tried to get their favorite villagers inNew Horizons.
Animal Crossing Could Remove Villagers Altogether
Players Could Take Their Place
The obvious solution is for Nintendo to just work harder on making its villagers feel more important and more integral to the overall experience. There’s a very good chance that forAnimal Crossing’snext game, this is exactly what Nintendo will do, especially as it was the only real prevailing criticism ofNew Horizonswhen it launched. However,another option, albeit one that may annoy some of the fanbase, is to remove villagers entirely. In its efforts to expand upon the series and capitalize on its ever-growing fanbase, Nintendo could create anAnimal CrossingMMO spin-off.
Instead of having villagers, players could take their role, populating towns together in small-scale MMO servers.This would completely mitigate the need for villagers, giving players complete control over the entire experience, and allow Nintendo to prioritize the gameplay and mechanical freedomit has been working so hard to cultivate inNew Horizons. It would also serve as the first properAnimal Crossingspin-off game- no one counts the terrible party game - that could properly explore a different side of the cozy experience the series has so perfectly mastered.
Palia Preview: A New Kind of MMO
Palia is a community sim MMO and the first title from new developer Singularity 6. Players enter a new magical fantasy world and build a neighborhood.
It wouldn’t be the first cozy MMO, with games likePaliahaving already beaten Nintendo to the punch. However,there is absolutely room for othergames to inspireAnimal Crossing,Paliaincluded, as it doesn’t always have to be at the forefront of the cozy scene. One could even argue that all of the gameplay innovations inNew Horizononly came as a result of more gameplay-centric cozy games likeStardew Valleyrising in prominence.
An Animal Crossing MMO Could Be Fun
It Would See A Return To New Horizon’s Level Of Community
Of course, anAnimal CrossingMMO wouldn’t be for everyone, but it could work as a side project rather than the next mainline entry.It would also see a return to the community-focused experience of playingNew Horizonswhen it first came out, as that saw players come together in unique ways, even though the game arguably wasn’t designed to cater to them. A curated MMO would be far better suited to recapturing that sense of togetherness thatNew Horizonsfostered while giving Nintendo an ongoingACproject that can constantly generate revenue to help fund the next main game.
At the very least, it is a more logical starting point for Nintendo to enter the live service scene, especially as its approach to pastAnimal Crossinggames has more or less mirrored those of modern live service titles, minus all the cynical microtransactions.Getting rid of villagers and makingAnimal Crossinga completely MMO-focused experience is definitely a risky moveand one that would redefine the entire experience. However, perhaps it is time forAnimal Crossingto break traditionand try something new, especially as its current approach has resulted in terrible villagers anyway.
I’ve Played Every Animal Crossing Game & Just Now Realized This Villager Is Based On A Famous Real-World Actress
Animal Crossing’s villagers are the highlight of the entire series, but I was surprised to learn that one of the best is based on a famous actress.
Of course, as aforementioned, the best thing for Nintendo to do would be to pour more effort into making its villagers feel believable and personable. However, while it works on writing millions of lines of dialogue for its 400+ villagers and creating the most believable video game AI, maybe an MMO spin-off that can fund all of those hefty development costs while giving Nintendo fans the ultimate cooperative cozy experience wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Nintendo has experimented a lot with its other franchises, so maybe it is time to do something radically different withAnimal Crossing.
