LO 05: 3D Computer Graphics

Animal Crossing: New Leaf was released by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS in 2012. It’s the 4th iteration in the Animal Crossing series, the predecessor to its incredibly successful sequel, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which reportedly sold over 31 million copies as of December 2020. Just New Horizons makes up about 47% of all sales in the series of games. Still, as advanced and exceptional as New Horizons is, New Leaf has a charm that keeps players coming back even a decade after the initial release. New Leaf is full of content as a life simulation game, with over 333 possible animal villagers (not including special characters). With time the gameplay may get repetitive, and New Horizons has the same problem. But New Leaf has the added factors of characters with stronger personalities, a beautiful soundtrack, and that sense of nostalgia that has players still thinking fondly of New Leaf. Despite not having modern, clean graphics, the pixelated quality is charming and doesn’t get in the way of gameplay. While nicer graphics certainly look good, it doesn’t make up for content and playability.