There are many, many avenues a post about this game could take. In fact, I think this is a franchise I would enjoy making a series out of. Today though, I want to just talk about my general admiration for the game. I absolutely love life sims or any simulation game really, and this one nails it. I have put over 200 hours into it and that number is still rapidly climbing. I play almost every day and have become very invested in it, so let’s get into this.
I realize it’s been a huge success this year, especially with the pandemic keeping most of us at home as much as possible. I am absolutely someone who got sucked in during the quarantine. Why not escape to a paradise when the world is in such disarray? It was bliss. Of course, I would’ve been sucked in regardless.
Starting out, it is a pretty slow grind. There’s only so much you can really do in a day and any kind of construction or home upgrades take a day to complete. You can only do one of those things at a time too. You wouldn’t want to work Tom Nook too hard now, would you? On top of that, the home upgrade debts can become pretty daunting but do not fear! You can take as long as you need to rack up those bells and pay back your favorite raccoon.
You’ll start with two villagers. Mine were Pashmina and Frobert, both of which are still with me. Eventually, you’ll get to gather supplies and make furniture for three more houses and invite more villagers to your island. It’s important to remember that even though you can move everything later, it can get pricey and time consuming so it may be best to do a little planning before plotting land for more houses. Soon you will have a happy island of ten villagers with everything customizable. You can change the terrain as you see fit, create paths and design custom patterns to make this island your own. This is probably my favorite aspect of the game.
As far as villagers go, it is really beneficial to check on them as often as possible. They are vital in learning new D.I.Y. recipes for crafting. They will also give you gifts, show you how to do emotes and send you letters in the mail. Each villager has a unique personality and those personalities are organized into eight different types: Normal, Lazy, Sisterly, Snooty, Cranky, Jock, Peppy and Smug. Four are for male villagers and four are for female villagers. Each personality has different recipes and emotes they’ll show you. This article here breaks all of this down perfectly. Basically I like to keep a steady rotation of villagers cycling through residency on my island unless I’m attached to a particular one.
If a villager wants to leave, they will have a thought bubble above their heads and slump while they walk. Don’t be scared if your favorite villager does this though, because it could mean other things as well. Also, you can always tell them you want them to stay if that’s the case. I refuse to let Puck and my original two villagers leave because I love them way too much. Luckily, they haven’t tried yet. Fingers crossed! This aspect of the island makes it feel that much more real though. Every villager is unique to some degree, and they all interact with each other as well as with you. Tonight, I ran by the plaza and saw Pashmina, Puck and Vivan singing together. These are what I love to call ‘magic moments’ , the moments that make you stop and watch your villagers.
There is something fulfilling about this game as well. I feel so much pride and joy being on my island and knowing that I worked so hard to get it where I want it to be. I love talking to my villagers every day and giving them gifts. I love checking the shop and clothing store for the daily items of the day. The pacing of this game is perfect in my opinion because it keeps you coming back. If I could throw my island together in one night, what would even be the point? I have enjoyed the journey to my 5 star island, and I hope you have enjoyed yours!
That’s about where I could stop for today, but let me just add that I have been enjoying the Halloween update and am looking forward to Halloween night. I will surely be writing about that event as well once I’ve experienced it. For now just know that I am getting my island decorated and growing way too many pumpkins.
