Nintendo DS - Animal Crossing: Wild World

Format
Nintendo DS
Publisher
Nintendo
Developer
Nintendo
Country of origin
Japan
Genre
RPG

Animal Crossing: Wild World Preview

By David Rasmussen
30th Dec 05

The first thing I ever remember saying about the Nintendo DS was that I wasn’t going to get into it until they rolled out the new Animal Crossing game. I’m sure I said it a few times in the past, but I was adamant about seeing the new Animal Crossing game come out before I invested in a Nintendo DS.
At the start of 2006 I will add the Nintendo DS to my list of reviews I’ll be turning in, which means… no, Sexy Beach 2 hasn’t been ported to the DS… it’s time to take your first look at Animal Crossing : Wild World!

Wild World, the DS version of the addictive habit known as Animal Crossing, is the long awaited 2nd game of the series. The game, which adults are not afraid to admit they play almost religiously, has been about only for so many years but in that time it’s earned quite a following who have fallen in love with the 24/7 slash 365 day a year world that is Animal Crossing. Originally starting in Japan, the first Animal Crossing in the US was not a port of the original Japanese version as it was an advancement. New furniture sets, new playability, and a new console with it coming out on the GameCube, the game was a step above the original which could be seen as being abit primitive against the new English version.

Of course that is not to say the original did not keep some of it’s goodies away from the English version. For example if you’ve played Animal Crossing then you noticed there are odds and ends of some furniture that seemingly don’t fit into any collection, a pair of toilets for instance. Well there were a few sets of furniture that were “erased” for the most part from the game, except for a few random pieces that somehow were missed from the “purge”. The Toilet slash Super Toilet from the Bathroom Set for instance, or the Shogi chess piece which was supposed to be one of an entire set of pieces.

As you might have guessed, of course, eventually Japanese fans began to demand their own improved version of Animal Crossing, for which Nintendo came up with Animal Crossing 2. Animal Crossing 2, which we know here as “Wild World”, was the answer to Japanese fans wanting more from their Animal Crossing experience, adding new things that took it a step above the English version of Animal Crossing.
Now, before I continue, a word of warning. What I am about to reveal is additions said to be present in the JAPANESE VERSION of Animal Crossing 2! Whether or not these are also present in Wild World or not will probably not be revealed until I get to the official “word” on the game (below) or I play the game and review it in full… so take the following with a grain of Nook as I go over the additions.

- Players can now buy furniture that can be placed outside in the village itself. It used to be that furniture you bought could only be set inside, but now new outside furniture like fountains, benches, light posts, wells and so forth can be put into your village to add to it’s beauty (which no doubt works to attract more animals to the village).

- During certain holidays the animals will dress up to the nines by adding a hat accessory, which they’ll wear proudly.

- Speaking of holidays you now can buy certain “party favors” that you can actually use, like the poppers seen used during New Years’.

- You can now open up delivery items the animals give you to deliver to other animals… though you probably shouldn’t ‘cause you’ll piss off the animal you’re delivering said item to if you open it.

- If you stay in past closing at Tom Nook’s you can now be treated to seeing the Nook-ster running about his store in his jammies while he carries his pillow for sleepy-time.

- Another classic animal that now have a more expanded appearance in this game is the grumpy Resetti, who you can now visit in his underground dwelling. By breaking rocks you can expose the entrance to Resetti’s home, where you’ll drop in on the disgruntled grumpy griper of all things resetting. And when you visit you’ll find out he’s just as grumpy at home as he is when he visits you to gripe about you resetting your game.

- You can now buy the island that exists in the game, and you don’t need to have a GBA link to travel to it… huh? Oh, Animal Crossing 2 was a GameCube game from what I understood of the Japanese version… so you might have to expect some watering down of Wild World if that is truly the case (hopefully not). Also, because you can buy the island, you can work to have an animal move to the island.
- New holidays are supposed to be available, but I don’t have any news on that.

But that’s the Japanese version, what about the American “Wild World”? Let’s see.
You know the drill. Once again you have left home and moved into the Valley of the Talking Animals (the town whose name you‘ll come up with), looking to set out on your own and make a name for yourself (yeah, you’ll name yourself too at the beginning, pick a gender, and so forth) . Once you reach the village you’ll quickly set up shop by getting a house, making friends, and then you’ll begin to pay off the endless debts provided by part time raccoon mobster slash “legitimate businessman” Tom Nook. It’s like real life, only you don’t have to worry about catching rabies from your landlord should he decide to bite you. But unlike the GameCube version, which didn’t have the option to link to the internet for online gameplay, this version is supposed to sport online gameplay… I didn’t know the DS had online capabilities!

- Instead of utilizing all four houses in the village for four players locally (ala the original Animal Crossing), the player has one house while the other three houses can be filled with up to three players who play wirelessly over the internet or Nintendo’s Wi-Fi Connection. This doesn’t make the game online only does it? That’d suck since I usually don’t live near a “hot spot” required for Wi-Fi, and I don’t like linking via the internet.
Also I do have family here who’d probably want to play my game so I’d like to use the houses in the same way as it was used in the original, so hopefully that’s possible.
So I hope this isn’t an online only game, or I’m going to be one ticked off gamer.
By the way… yeah, we both already see the many and varied ways that this is so going to be so abused by certain people, and effectively come back and bite Nintendo in the butt! So I hope Nintendo has taken a few lessons from Microsoft’s X-Box Live and prepared for the complaints from people concerning rude, “dirty” and “juvenile” behavior online! It’s only a matter of time before… you know.

- This time out the stylus makes for an advancement not available in the original, the ability to manage your items, write your letters, and design your patterns in a easier manner. Instead of fussing with a controller to painstakingly write a letter you can now jot down quick dictation by taping out a letter with the use of the stylus which means you’ll be able to write letters faster. This also means item management is now a breeze with the touch screen and stylus to speed up item useage, and it also works in world navigation which is also going to be a breeze!

- As in the original you’ll watch the progression of time in real time as hours pass, days pass, and seasons all pass in real time. That means if you decide to pick up your DS and play at 2AM in the morning it’ll be 2AM in the morning in the game, and if you play during New Years the game will be celebrating New Years (so go down to the wishing well and make a wish, then see Katrina and get your fortune for the year).
Not many games does that. Sure, Poke’mon Crystal does have a realtime 24/7 mode where you play in real time, but it doesn’t record the date (you play the same seven days over and over) so you can’t live out a whole year on the game, which you can do here.

- You’re back to bug/fish collecting, but whether or not you’ll be turning them in to Blathers over at the museum (along with artwork and dinosaur fossils) remains to be seen, though if this is like the Animal Crossing 2 version from Japan you’ll have brand new things to collect in the museum.

- New wearable items like hats and sunglasses are now available, which means you won’t have neighbors endlessly ask you why you wear the same silly hat forever and ever (until you can‘t stand it anymore and assault them with your bug net, or plant a “!” pitfall and push them in just to watch them struggle).

- Many of your favorites from the original are set to return… HOWEVER look at the wording used… “much of the cast of the original Animal Crossing returns,”… so that means you can expect a few no shows of your favorites.
But of the characters that are verified for appearances in “Wild World” there’s the return of K.K. Slider (which means the return of Saturday night music night), Tom Nook (the Nookster, he who holds your sweet dairyaire over the fire and charges you tons of bells for home expansions he forces on you), Blathers (which means the return of the museum and collecting), Mr. Resetti (he who whines when you reset… oh, this should also mean the return of his rarely seen nicer twin brother), and more.

No mention, however, is the following.
No mention of the fortune teller Katrina, the wandering wallpaper guru Wendell, the shyster Crazy Redd, the wandering carpet saleswoman Saharah, the snobby fashion house clothes designer Gracie, or the forever drowning and surfacing on your beach sailor Gulliver. Also no mention of Officer Copper and Booker, the pelicans of the Post Office (though they should be there since you can mail mail in this game), Wisp the Will-o-Wisp… geez, there’s a TON of characters to speak of isn’t there…
Let’s see… did I miss anyone… oh, the Mayor, Chip the Fishing Tournament Judge, Jack the King of Halloween, Tom Turkey, Jingle (Santa’s trusty Reindeer and deliverer of gifts to the animal valleys), the sisters who run the design house (though I suppose they’re there since you can make designs)… oh there’s a TON of characters not mentioned!
Expect a few of these to be MIA, though which won’t be known until the game is played for at least a full year.

- Here’s a piece of good news (for me at least). If you know somebody who has a DS but no Animal Crossing you can download this onto their DS so they can play with you in the same village… nice, guess that means I can play this after all… yeah, I’m such a worrier!
That or Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection will allow you to play with 3 people in realtime.

And that’s that. The rest? It’ll come when I do the full review in the coming weeks.
So stay tuned, because the world of Animal Crossing is going portable, and it should be a game to be on the lookout for if you loved the original! Stay tuned!

-- David Rasmussen 30th Dec 05

Nintendo DS Animal Crossing: Wild World Images