Animal Crossing has not always been the insanely popular record-making hit it became with the release of New Horizons last year. In its humble days, it existed as a last-second swan song for the Nintendo 64 called Dobutsu no Mori, exclusively for Japan. It’s going to see a second version pretty quickly, hitting a “+” at the end of the name, transferring it to the Nintendo GameCube, and adding a handful of new features. Fortunately, Nintendo of America gave the game a chance in the West by transferring it, giving it one of their most charming translations ever, and calling it Animal Crossing. The rest is history.
Actually, that history is quite rich. NOA’s localization of Dobutsu no Mori + was not just a simple translation; events, graphs and jokes had to be adapted for a western audience. American players are unlikely to understand references and holidays from oriental culture, so extensive work had to be done to create new characters for holidays such as the Harvest Festival, make relevant pop culture jokes, and edit all sorts of tiny edits. . small details, all in addition to translating a game with an astonishing amount of text to begin with. When the time came for Animal Crossing’s debut in the West, the original developers of Nintendo in Japan saw how much work had been done there, and decided that it needed to be relocated with all the brand new content, while adding MORE new stuff . on top! This is how Japan ended up with three versions of Animal Crossing, all within a short span of time.
Unfortunately, that super-loaded version of Animal Crossing – Dobutsu no Mori e + – never returned to players in the west. At the time, it was not that big; Animal Crossing was, after all, still a new IP, and not many knew about the game’s back-and-forth translation tango. Even after the internet got to know the fun story behind it all, years passed and newer Animal Crossing games were released. Yet, for the dedicated fans out there, there is a definite version of the original Animal Crossing, crammed with all sorts of new content, to never experience – unless you happen to know Japanese.
Now, what happens if you have a Japanese version, on an old platform that has a lot of documentation when it comes to hacking and dealing with the inner workings of the files? Well, of course it gets an official release on the Nintendo Switch! Just kidding, this is Nintendo after all! The real answer is that you get a dedicated translation from the fans, thanks to one of the superfans. Cuyler is a programmer who has been working for years to muddy, edit and translate all the Dobutsu no Mori e + goodness in English.
With all the context, you can now understand the meaning behind a project of this caliber.
And there is a lot to appreciate. More fish, more bugs, more inhabitants, new features, new opportunities, new places. In fact, the exclusive content of Dobutsu no Mori e +, if released in this time and time again, would justify a definitive final edition slapped on the title, or at least a reasonable price of DLC. Now that there is an English fan translation flap, all these things can finally be enjoyed.
This is still the original Animal Crossing, so the early game is identical to what you played before. Once you have adapted to life in your little animal forest, then you start to find all the cool things. The closure of Tom Nook’s store could have an impact on the way you play the game at night. With minimal stock and even less storage available, you may not want to bother playing at night when you have filled your pockets to the brim with fish, fruit and fossils. But if you take your shovel and slam it regularly against Nook’s shop door, he will open with despair and make you buy and sell … at a lower price, that cheap skate too! While the reduced selling prices may deter you, cleaning up your inventory at night is invaluable. There are also other quality of life options added, such as that the island is usable, even if you do not have a GBA to connect, can pick up flowers, and the coolest of all, the addition of buildable village projects – exists as a concept years before New Leaf will implement it again!
Unfortunately, not everything has been translated yet. There is still a lot of work to be done in terms of random character conversations, as it will vary randomly between perfectly translated and large parts of Japanese text. However, many of the unique e + exclusive content is covered, which is great if you just want to have fun with features that are not in the regular versions.
Compared to newer games in the series, it may not seem like much; after all, why not play the newer one with all these fine things to begin with? For me, nostalgia is a big reason. Growing up with the original Animal Crossing held my place in my heart, and the fact that after years of wearing something so well, I can have a new experience is a welcome experience. Not only that, but the game has a rough charm. Villagers have so much to say, and much of it is not so nice! Sassy people will belittle your fashion choice, some may laugh at your misfortune of being stung by a bee – it’s nice to see these animal characters have a real character, even at your expense. When a villager gets mad at you or takes your hard-earned Bells from you in an RNG game that goes wrong, it contributes to the world – your specific world and all the experiences it builds. Some of the animals you encounter you will not like (yes, that’s right, I’m talking about you, Blaire, you snatch squirrel), others will give you a rare piece of furniture and that will be enough to win your friendship, some will make you want to send letters full of furniture and clothes to them so you can see them walking around with the little emotion music note playing above their head. And this is a facet that newer games no longer focus on: the relationships you form in your head with these cute characters.
If you got tired of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, I urge you to go back to where it all began and enjoy the original Animal Crossing in its best possible form.
I hope you enjoy this issue of GBAtemp Recommended. If you want to see more, leave feedback in the topic below or check out our previous articles.