Animal Crossing: Wild World Review

 The game starts with you, a human boy or girl, riding in a cab being quizzed be a fellow named Kapp'n; the quizzes determine your appearance and gender. When you get off the cab, you enter into a small village filled with a colorful cast of chatty townsfolks, cute animals who walk and talk just like humans; these are your new neighbors, so you will be seeing plenty of cats, dogs, hippos, birds, monkeys, and a host of others walking around your new town. At first your town looks a bit plain and deserted besides a beach, a few trees, your neighbors and some buildings; this of course is where you come into the picture, as later on, you can customize and drastically change your town's appearance with all the tools and activities at your disposal.

In ACWW, there is no ending or important mission for you to accomplish. Though there are goals recommended to be completed, you're technically given the choice to do what you want in this game. ACWW was built to be a free frolicking open-ended playground for you to enjoy alone or with online players; preferably, you'd want to get the full experience by playing it with other people online. The peaceful atmosphere along with the wide selection of projects available in this game is why Animal Crossing was a huge hit for the Nintendo Gamecube, and the same formula remains intact here for the DS game with some new improvements.

The touch screen can be applied for all the important aspects in the game- moving your player, selecting items, writing letters, and doing other activities. The DS inputs sounds like an accessible feature for the Animal Crossing newbies, but in the long run, it's best to stick with the D-pad and buttons for most of your daily routines; this control method responds better to what you want to do and it will be less strenuous for your hands.

The object of the game is really to start making a living here, and there are plenty of ways that you can start. Even if the game in non-linear, there are a few important jobs you probably should focus on if want to get the complete Animal Crossing experience, like owning a huge house and having lots of cool items to decorate it with. In the beginning you will meet the town's shopkeeper, Tom Nook, a raccoon who happens to be a rather rough businessman charging high prices for his goods. He will be nice enough to loan you a simple house with a 4x4 room to put in your furniture and decorations. The bad news is the cost of this first house will be 19, 800 bells (the town's currency). So if you feel like that's something you can work on, go ahead and try to pay off your first mortgage. The good news at least is that there are plenty of ways to make money in this game.

 For anyone who considers themselves a collector, this game is meant for you. Collecting can be approached in two ways, as a means for pleasure, or instead, for piling plenty of cash for the cold-harded Tom Nook. One of your first important activities would be growing fruits and flowers. Not only will your village look more lively and inviting, becoming a naturalist can help you make more money; a dozen fruits is a quick way get you more than a grand. Flowers and trees also attract certain bugs so if you're able to catch them, then they can be sold at Nook's shop for a high price. Six kinds of fruits can be grown, and you're able to plant and grow all of them; it's up to you to find them all, a fine goal to pursue if you're up to the challenge. They can be found in different places, on the washed up side of the beach or from letters you receive.

 At first the village may look small and without much to do, but once you get key items like the fishing rod, shovel, net, timer, and others, you will realize that there is more than enough to get your hands full. Fish, bugs, and fossils are scattered throughout for you to discover. You will spend quite some time on the beaches and ponds, digging up holes on the ground, and taking daily trips to the local museum. Everyday is like being a treasure hunter in a sense, and this is why ACWW is such a compelling game to get into because there is so much to do.

The more items you find, the more classy and inviting your museum will be, from rows of paintings, grand displays of prehistoric creatures, large aquariums filled with different species of fish you caught, and stands showcasing the bugs you netted. The museum's owner, Blathers, will inspect your items and let you know what you exactly you found. This treasure-hunter like experience is even better since you're not tied up in one direction, because you don't have to donate your goods to the museum only. Several other options are available as to what you want to do with the paintings, fossils, fish, and insects you find in your town- sell them at Nook's shop, use them as decorations for your house, or give them as gifts to your local neighbors or your online friends. Just remember that every nice thing you do like gift wrapping a painting for your friend will not earn a reward like money, but the game seems to encourage you to build strong relationships purely on that principle. Continue on the next page to find out why relationships are one of the best part of the game.