Insert the disc Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City and listening to the introductory song of the series takes us many years back to the days when we were holding a purple pad in our hands and experiencing for the first time the extravagant gaming experience offered by the series. A type of game that many know well by now thanks to the episode released on Nintendo DS. With this version for Wii, Nintendo absolutely did not want to delve into the different facets that make up the game, despite many of the features of the Wii would be a perfect fit, and more than anything else it seems that it has packaged a product with the intention of starting the whole brand. the new user of the Wii. For historical fans, things have hardly changed, but it is still difficult to resist its charm thanks to the introduction of voice chat on the Nintendo Wii.
Let's look back
The path that Nintendo took for the Wii version of Animal Crossing was to recycle practically everything, and in fact this choice is not new when we consider that the game has never evolved from the GameCube era, or from the Nintendo import version. 64. The work done on the Wii is more than anything else that of converting the portable episode, without worrying about taking advantage of the characteristics of the Wii (Wiimote, Wifi Connetion, computing capacity, etc) and putting hand more than anything else to what on Nintendo DS it could not be done due to technical limitations. Finding yourself in front of a style and a deliberately antiquated graphic engine does not surprise that much, given that the technical aspect has never been a habit of the game, what however leaves a bitter taste in the mouth is that nothing has been done. to take the game to another level. No new introductions, no new interactions, and this time no big variation in the possibilities offered by the village other than that constituted by the city. The city is a sort of square where some activities that previously resided in the village have been transferred, and where the traveling characters have taken their places. For example, the salesman Volpolo, Griffa the Giraffe, and Vanda the fortune teller are now available in the city, without having to wait for the exact day of their arrival. However, many of their services do not update for a week, thus making their services more accessible, but not more numerous. Even Frodolo the insurer has found a place in the city and now runs the Academy of ABC, the one that has always valued the beauty of your home.
One foot in two stirrups
What Nintendo has done with WiiConnect24 is probably a big confusion. It has created a system capable of being connected at any time, and yet, from the beginning of the service until now, we have only seen software that connects only when requested. It almost seems that Nintendo does not know which path to take, whether the one devoted to complete online or that of optional services, which do not take too much away from those who want to do without them. After the announcement of the innovative features of the Wii, everyone thought of Animal Crossing as a test bed for WiiConnect24, but even in this case Nintendo was stingy with ambitions. Perhaps due to technical limitations or perhaps due to a too marked recycling of the libraries of the series, this episode also connects online only by making a request at the gate. A little bit if we consider the fact that the game could communicate with the internet even when the console is off. If the connection is active, and if the memory is accessible, there shouldn't be too much trouble downloading a “off” village and saving its changes at the end of the game. What is the point of setting up such a service if you have to go online manually for every access to the outside world? It seems absurd that the Stan-By function was set up only to download messages to the bulletin board, if so it would be just a waste of resources, the fact is, however, that even in this case the infamous WiiConnect24 has no effect at all. inside a game.
Mr. Resetti
If we want to be more of a possibility, we can think that it is all the fault of the mole Mr. Resetti who absolutely does not want it to go out without saving. In Animal Crossing, in fact, you cannot turn off the game if you have not first left the village using the save option. The thing was born to prevent a player from resetting due to a bad deal, a theft of coins or similar cheaters. To the disobedient user a talkative lecture by Mr Resetti at the following reboot (and it seems also expropriation of assets after continuous infringements). This system means that the game must be constantly monitored, also because many of the interactions with the village are based precisely on the relationship between the various characters / players as well as with the game calendar. For example, think that you have obtained a special object, one of those that cannot be ordered in the shop, and think you want to send it by post to “Pucci” who lives in the “Multiplayer” village. Now think about resetting to get the item back. Here you were thinking of cheating the game, instead it is he who cheated you, as every event you have played will not have really happened until the moment you have not saved here.
So letter exchanges, shop purchases and sales, item transfers and the like must be constantly in sync with the local save and between the players involved. It is probably due to the lack of desire to review this system that it is not possible to always be online and interact openly with other players, since the unexpected of a connection are always around the corner. And for this reason, a save function has been added on the Wii as on the DS, which allows you to save data and continue playing when you are online. Nintendo seems very jealous of this system, almost a priority for Animal Crossing, so much so that if playing with the village open to the internet (even without players in the city), the line should drop, the game returns an error and resets itself, making you lose everything. it had been done until the time of the opening of the city (when an automatic savage is carried out). Mr Reset at the very least, the player is spared.
Between old and new
Animal Crossing has no goals. It is about living in a village created by chance and populated by anthropomorphic animals, to collect insects and fish, to enrich the furniture catalog, and to discover new events, continuing to play day after day. For a more in-depth description of the title you can read the review of Animal Crossing: Wild Word for Nintendo DS which is practically the same game: here we limit ourselves to talking about the new additions. In addition to a richer catalog of fish and insects, there are new services and some changes made to the village. Animals have a slightly different AI that makes their conversations limit to one topic at a time instead of continuous unrelated dialogue. The non-player characters will always be able to tell you about the friends registered in the appropriate list, even if you have not yet played together. One of the strengths of the Nintendo brand is precisely that given by the illusion that the players are really all connected, when in truth they are all closed and asynchronous worlds that only exchange some data every now and then. For example, the inhabitants can move from one village to another based on liking, and keep historical memory of their previous village. In the ABC office will be mentioned the most beautiful furniture that maybe is of a character who lives with a friend of yours, the new auction house will allow you to sell and buy objects exhibited by other players, and obviously thanks to the post office you can always be in contact by correspondence. This time, however, you can also talk to each other thanks to Wii Speak, a microphone to be applied above the TV or wherever you prefer. We have tried the device on several occasions and apart from some problems that may occur in the early stages of connection (volume adjustments, tests, echoes, etc.) the audio quality is more than acceptable and sufficient to carry on a conversation without problems. We point out to want to be picky, a certain delay in the conversion of the voice, certainly due to a manipulation of the signal, designed to clean it from disturbances and returns of all kinds. However, that's okay just to get rid of the hateful headphones.
Comment
Animal Crossing is the usual game, and to this sentence you can give the meaning that you think is closest to your thinking. You can read us a critique of the immobility of the practically identical brand from the beginning, or a honeyed confirmation that, despite the years and the sequels, it is difficult to overlook your village and not love this game. Certainly it is not thanks to the integration with the Wifi Connection which offers nothing more than what we saw in the last episode, nor to the controls that suffer from the same inaccuracies as the stylus. In this regard it is better to connect a Nunchuk to have a more accurate movement of the character. Finally, it is not even the merit of the few innovations introduced, practically irrelevant to the overall economy. Nintendo played it safe, but despite all the criticisms that can be raised Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City remains an extremely captivating and long-lasting product, which manages to get a grip on the player who will come back day after day to see what's new in his beloved village. The formula is so relaxing and attractive that it would be able to work with just a board and a few playing cards.
For
- The village returns from the big screen
- Wii Speak included in the game
- Ability to import character and catalog from the DS version
- Nothing new
- Online functions still lacking
- The Wii underused in every field
