Animal Crossing: Let's Go To The City (Wii)

After playing Animal Crossing on the DS for a couple of years and finding that the game hadn't lost any of its addictiveness, we decided to get the Wii version. We were unsure what the differences would be between the DS and Wii versions as the only noticeable difference in the TV ads and on the packaging was the subtitle 'Let's go to the city'. I also spied a bus on the adverts that definitely wasn't in my old DS version. The back of the box alludes ...
...with the DS version of Animal Crossing 'Wild World' will know that your character has a little house in a village. You start off with a house with one small room with a cardboard box and a candle and an upstairs with a small bedroom. The basic idea of the game is that you wander round your village making friends with the other animals who have little houses there and taking part in pleasant activities to aid the running of the village and to slowly ... more

After playing Animal Crossing on the DS for a couple of years and finding that the game hadn't lost any of its addictiveness, we decided to get the Wii version. We were unsure what the differences would be between the DS and Wii versions as the only noticeable difference in the TV ads and on the packaging was the subtitle 'Let's go to the city'. I also spied a bus on the adverts that definitely wasn't in my old DS version. The back of the box alludes vaguely to what the differences are, but it didn't really explain it very clearly. However, the lack of explanation and the super cheesy adverts on TV with girls playing over the internet didn't put us off and, as we had some GAME vouchers, we decided to buy it anyway.

Basic game play

Those of you who are familiar with the DS version of Animal Crossing 'Wild World' will know that your character has a little house in a village. You start off with a house with one small room with a cardboard box and a candle and an upstairs with a small bedroom. The basic idea of the game is that you wander round your village making friends with the other animals who have little houses there and taking part in pleasant activities to aid the running of the village and to slowly pay off your mortgage.

These activities range from doing favours for your neighbours, planting/watering/cross-breeding flowers, fishing, catching bugs, writing letters, digging up fossils and other quaint tasks. You can either sell your finds/catches to Tom Nook (the shop owner in the village to whom you owe your mortgage) or you can take the fish and fossils you find to the museum to be identified and displayed.

The main buildings in your village are your house, Tom Nook's shop, Able and Mabel's clothes shop, the Town hall and the Museum. There is also a gateway that allows you to visit other people's villages (so if you have a friend who also has Animal Crossing for the Wii then you can exchange codes and visit their village).

There are lots of hidden features in the game and different characters arrive on different days, so there is always something new to do. For example, the trees in your village will bear fruit which you can shake down and sell to Tom Nook, but if you plant a foreign fruit (different to your native species) that you get from a friend's village, then you can make far more money. Equally, some of the trees bear no fruit, but each day small amounts of money (in the Animal Crossing currency of 'bells') and furniture for your house are hidden in random trees and you can shake them to find them.

What's the point of all this?

Most people I know who have never played this game ask me what the point of it is. Its not a platform game with levels and you're not directly in competition with anyone. But I think this is why I like this game. It's great for when you've had a stressful day and you just want to relax. Ultimately I guess you are paying off your mortgage so you can get a bigger house, you're collecting matching furniture to get points, and you're taking part in little village fishing competitions and the like… but the quality that keeps bringing me back to this game is the fact that you can do as much or as little as you like and you can play the game in your own way.

When I play Animal Crossing I enjoy catching fish to see if I can catch an allusive variety, or planting bulbs outside my house of different varieties so I can breed a new colour. There's no rush to pay off your mortgage and you can play the game at your own speed.

When you first start the game your relationship with the shop owner Tom Nook is a bit master/slave-like. You arrive in the village with no money and nowhere to stay and he gives you a house so long as you work in the shop for him and do a load of small tasks. If you don't enjoy being dictated to like this and start to think that all these enforced chores don't seem like the calm game play you were lead to believe this had, don't worry, this section of the game is soon over and then you are free to wander round the village at your leisure and do what you wish. There is certainly a love/hate relationship towards Tom Nook among Animal crossing players that carries on throughout the game. He is the capitalist figure that rules over your village, demanding payment and offering you the chance to buy and sell turnips, (which effectively work like shares in that their price goes up and down and you have to choose the best time to sell before they go off), but he is also the gateway to more exciting activities as you get bigger houses and progress through the game.

Let's Go to the City

So how is the Wii version of the game different to the DS version? Well, a lot of the adverts on TV have been paying special attention to the Wii Speak device that Animal Crossing is compatible with. However, this device is sold separately and is pretty expensive (about £20) for what is basically a microphone to be honest. The idea is that this Wii Speak device sits on top of your TV and when you play the game with friends over Nintendo Wi-Fi you can chat to them without having to type in everything you want to say (which is pretty hard to do on the Wii if you don't have a keyboard, as choosing letters with a Wiimote is rather tiresome).

We decided that we really wouldn't use Wii Speak and decided to save our money. I think this element would appeal to younger children who want to chat to their friends while they play, and it definitely make the game less of a solitary occupation, but I guess they probably won't be the ones paying for it!

The other main difference between the DS version and the Wii version is explained in the subtitle - Let's Go to the City. In the DS version the village is your entire world and occasionally new people or things appear to make your life there more interesting. Neighbours move in and out and traders come to sell their wares. However, in the Wii version you can catch a bus to the city where there are a whole host of stores to visit and different characters to chat to. Aspects of the game that you previously didn't have access to until you'd completed quite a few mortgages are now available in the city (such as a hair parlour, an auction house, a character that teaches you emotions, an example of a completed house, an upmarket department store with really expensive furniture, a shoe-shiner, etc.)

This is a nice added feature and really makes a difference to the way you play the game. However, it would have been nice if they'd made more of the online feature in the city. It would have been really awesome if you could bump into other real people in the city and interact with them. I guess the reason they haven't explored this idea (apart from the fact that it would have been more work for them) is that the game is essentially for younger children (even if adults like me like to play it too) and this would perhaps open them up to talking to strangers, especially with the Wii Speak element.

Disadvantages

It's a nice feature that the Animal Crossing world carries on even when you aren't there, so if you leave it for a few weeks and then talk to your neighbours they'll ask you where you've been. But the problem with this is that you're punished for not playing the game. If you don't visit your house for a few days it quite quickly becomes overrun with cockroaches and which you have to stamp on to get rid of. Also, your whole village becomes full of weeds (which obviously ordinarily you should have been pulling up if you were playing it regularly) and this takes quite a long time to clear. Also, if you don't save the game properly before you turn it off you are forced to talk to a mole for about 10 minutes who lectures you about the need to save your game properly, which can be pretty infuriating.

Disadvantages specific to the Wii version of this game include the fact that it isn't as portable as the DS version. The nature of the game means that there is no set point to get to before you save, so this is ideal if you want to while away an hour on the train. However, the Wii version, by its very nature, insists upon being played on a screen in front of whoever else happens to be in the room. It's pretty much a one-player game (unless you are playing it online) so its not much good as a family game (apart from showing other people what you've done, or a small child showing their parents, obviously).

Advantages

The graphics on the Wii are definitely better than those on the DS version. There are some slight stylistic changes they have made in the Wii version which I like. For example, the graphics for things in your pockets (where you store anything you pick up, catch or collect) are more detailed. Also, when animals talk to you their little mouths and noses move in a smoother fashion - just more pixels I guess - but it's calmer on the eye.

Another nice thing about the Wii version is that you are likely to have it connected to your wireless internet connection anyway, whereas in the DS version you have to tell it to do this and it uses loads of battery power. You can also plug in a USB keyboard if you have one, which makes it easier to chat. A feature that players who have been playing the DS version and aren't sure they want to change might like is that you can transfer your life from the Wild World version to the Let's Go to the City version. However, it doesn't transfer your money or house, it just keeps your appearance and adds all the furniture you've ever bought to Tom Nook's catalogue so you can re-buy it. I decided not to do this though as it seemed sensible to see how the beginning of the game was different in the Wii version to the DS version.

The map of the village in the Wii version is a bit bigger as well and there are more hills and contours, which makes it a more exciting place to explore. The main elements are all there, but there are more spaces to cultivate or live in.

There is also the option to take photos during game play by pressing the '1' button which you can then email to anyone with a Wii - they don't have to have the Animal Crossing game - as you can just send it to their message board. Here's your chance to show off that big fish you caught!

Is it worth going to the city?

Overall I like the changes that have been made to this game and I think fans of Animal Crossing will love it. It's a shame its not more different, but I guess they are working on a model that they know is successful and if they change it too much people probably won't buy it.

It's still quite expensive at the moment. We picked it up for about £39.99 in GAME, but you can definitely get it cheaper on Amazon and I reckon after Christmas the price will fall again. I'm glad we didn't invest in Wii Speak as I think we'd only have used it once or twice, but younger children might enjoy this element as long as they only chatting to their friends.

This is a lovely game still and, although I don't think I'll play it as much as the DS version - just due to convenience's sake really - it's something I think I'll come back to and I think a lot of people will enjoy.

Thanks for reading!

 tac20 

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