Day Nine - Jan. 9, 2012 - "Lack Thereof."

I feel like there's something missing.

I've been spending the last few days trying to propose to myself what sort of conclusion I want to make from my old town before starting a new one, hence why I haven't updated. Quite honestly, nothing comes to mind because there's nothing left I truly want to pursue with Vision (the name of my Animal Crossing village). Sure, I never truly grabbed every tiny thing that is to be seen in the game or gotten a perfect score with the Happy Room Academy, but rather I think things began to dwell into an unfruitful state when I finished what I considered to be the final arc with my neighbor Bill.

I've been meaning to talk about this particular animal for awhile now and it's probably the sole reason why I've been unable to push for anything interesting to ponder about in Animal Crossing except this simple fact.

The player decides when the game ends.

Technically, you could play Animal Crossing until the sun exploded. The only issue is when is the player satisfied with their experience and what has become a fun habit turn into a monotonous drawl? The changing of the seasons and looking out for various events on certain days are there, surely, but the game struggles to continue to enthrall you in it's long term plan.

Perhaps I was missing one vital element that the Gamecube version had that made the game become something more: four players one village. I'm missing the social outlet that the game boasted back when it had first come out. In my perspective it was meant to be a game that could be shared with anyone. My home is the only one currently occupied in my Gamecube memory card. I can grok (love) the game as much as I want for it's single player experience, and I do, but when I began to talk about it with friends who had played it before I felt this wave of excitement and wonder work it's way through my brain.

I shared stories about what I preferred to do in my afternoons there, how I would NEVER set the system clock to a different time just to cheat my way to some free items and events, and about the time Bill decided to move away.

This was something I had never encountered before. I had spent a lot of time talking to Bill and picking up his rulers and gameboys he had left at other animals houses. More specifically he was the one animal I found to be really entertaining in his goofy ways.

Then he told me he wanted to move away.

That he would probably never see me again. He was sorry, he said (with big, wet, SAD eyes), but he needed to do this.

For some reason, I began to think up a reason for why he would suddenly want to make such a drastic move from the village? His bugs were all packed up and ready to go and I implored, vigorously, for him to stay.

His reaction astounded me. He became to wiggle and I believe he was close to bursting out in tears as he rushed in his house to quickly unpack all his things, yelling over his shoulder that he never knew I cared that much about him. He was in high spirits the day after.

To me, that just sounds like something wonderful to end on for an experience like this. In fact, around this point in any other game something might come forward to challenge this new bond the characters have, proving their worth to each other as well as the benefit of FRIENDSHIP.

That would never happen in Animal Crossing. It's simply not that kind of game. Animal Crossing is a place to escape from the everyday occurrences of your average life with one that appears so much more easier to manage. Nothing horrible occurs, nothing negative really catches by surprise (save Mr. Resetti). Animal Crossing lacks an endpoint, where everything you've learned from thereon culminates into one last ditch act that resolves the major issue.

Quite honestly, I don't see that sort of grand scale accomplishment in Animal Crossing save for paying off your debt to Tom Nook or stopping my best friend from leaving. Nothing in the game tells me it's time to move onto other games and perhaps real life. It just keeps going until you eventually let it starve you of interest.

Is this wrong? I can't say just yet. What I will say is that I'm going to move on here and now in Animal Crossing. I am going to start anew with a new town, a new name, and new neighbors. Some ole' Tom Nook though.

-Fore