The power of nice

September 24, 2018 8:07 AM

The trend of Nice Media seems to be the sun-filled, hopeful answer to the negativity and division offered nearly everywhere else. No single video game series encapsulates that sense of safe, intentional and welcoming niceness like Animal Crossing, and it has been doing it for almost 20 years.
posted by Memo (22 comments total)

A friend let me borrow their copy for Gamecube once to see what all the hype was about and I shook all the gold trees thinking it was easy money and it'd grow back like fruit trees. Turns out that's not a thing and I basically deflowered some pretty hard won decoration pieces on a savefile that they took perhaps a bit too seriously. I haven't been back to the franchise since. Stardew Valley was fun though, scratched the itch a bit better somehow.

I mean, we were all college age adults, c'mon, I said I'm sorry and had no idea.

... I mean...

I'M SO SORRY RACHEL CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME!
posted by RolandOfEld at 8:12 AM on September 24, 2018 [13 favorites]

What a wholesome post! Thanks for posting this!
posted by joelf at 8:14 AM on September 24, 2018

The one part of Stardew Valley that I really disliked is that combat and danger are required to gather a lot of resources needed for upgrading your stuff and expanding your farm. An alternate source for mine/desert dungeon resources would be very nice.
posted by Pope Guilty at 8:18 AM on September 24, 2018 [5 favorites]

You still have to pick a binary gender, right? Yeah, forget it. I miss Glitch so much.
posted by bagel at 8:27 AM on September 24, 2018 [11 favorites]

I agree Pope Guilty I loved all the farming and socialising aspects of Stardew Valley, but the mines were super boring to me and I resented that they were essentially compulsory. I wanted way less of that and way more house designing stuff.

What I really want is Stardew Valley crossed with The Sims and a dating simulator.
posted by stillnocturnal at 8:29 AM on September 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

"You still have to pick a binary gender, right? Yeah, forget it. I miss Glitch so much."

Unfortunately so, but there's a new one coming so maybe they'll have progressed some. I know at the very least, in the more recent ones you can have any hairstyle regardless of gender, which is a ridiculous thing to say because it should be in every game but most don't. You can also wear dresses or shirts regardless of what avatar they start you with.

One thing to note is that in AC you aren't actually able to really pick your avatar, you can cheat online and find a guide and cheese answers to get the face type you want but otherwise it's a mystery face until you get off the train.

I wouldn't compare AC to Stardew personally. Stardew is Harvest Moon straight up which means the core of it is time management. You're always racing against time, you've got tons of set chores and farming, gotta do capitalism, give presents to get spouse, and always chasing resources before the game punishes you for taking too long. Stardew Valley is hectic and high stress compared to Animal Crossing. Animal Crossing's pacing is entirely up to you, you're never left feeling like "oh I shoulda got more done today." For one, a day in animal crossing is literally a day, it's great!
posted by GoblinHoney at 8:44 AM on September 24, 2018 [3 favorites]

Nintendo's been doing some weird missteps lately with regard to binary gender stuff; recent Pokemon games have asked you to "pick your appearance" at the start, and not informed you that you're also picking pronouns in the process. I'm hopeful but not optimistic about the new Animal Crossing, in that context.
posted by NMcCoy at 9:09 AM on September 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

The thing that strikes me about Animal Crossing is the number of stories about it that include a personal "it got me through a tough time" aside. I got really into Animal Crossing during a stretch when my wife was expecting, my dad had recently died, and I had had a heart attack. It was really soothing and therapeutic to be able to disappear into a cute, peaceful, low stress world in which the worst thing that could happen is you get stung by a bee.
posted by sincarne at 9:29 AM on September 24, 2018 [2 favorites]

Everyone got me super hyped for AC when it came to iOS, but frankly it started to feel like I was constantly being shaken down by "friends" who just liked me for my ability and willingness to go get all their increasingly complicated demands. I have real dogs, and coworkers, to do that to me already. But I totally get how excellently zone-y the game is and appreciate that it's never impossibly hard to complete the errands.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:09 AM on September 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

you're never left feeling like "oh I shoulda got more done today."

The only issue I had is that your neighbors would leave if you didn't play the game on a regular basis. I eventually got tired of playing co-dependent friend simulator.
posted by zabuni at 10:19 AM on September 24, 2018 [5 favorites]

GoblinHoney, I fell off playing SV for that reason. Milk the cow, milk the goat, collect the eggs, make the mayonnaise, catch a certain fish by the end of the season or you won't finish the Community Center this year . . . Still, now that it has updates I should explore some more.
posted by Countess Elena at 10:39 AM on September 24, 2018

I still subscribe to the theory that you're in purgatory in AC and Tom Nook is eternally tormenting you and providing a lesson on the futility of consumerism. You are basically his indentured child labor.

I had a pretty sweet pad on Gamecube though. One friend made a shirt that said " Sux" and got all the villagers to wear it and adopt it as a catchphrase somehow. Gathering around on a certain night when the song guy came to town was a really good time in my freshman year of college.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 10:48 AM on September 24, 2018

I liked the rhythms of SV - the idea that people take time off so you can only buy from them at specific times, the holidays, the way residents have families and lives and opinions.

It's sort of lonely to feel like you're the only being in a pretend world who does things, and everyone else is a vending machine and/or tireless drone. More NPCs who nap and eat.

I really don't want to feel like I'm failing isolated, needy creatures in games. I prefer knowing everything is happy to see me, even rocks and trees, but also if I never pet another tree or milk another butterfly they'll be fine, my absence won't make them suffer.
posted by bagel at 10:57 AM on September 24, 2018 [6 favorites]

>Everyone got me super hyped for AC when it came to iOS, but frankly it started to feel like I was constantly being shaken down by "friends" who just liked me for my ability and willingness to go get all their increasingly complicated demands. I have real dogs, and coworkers, to do that to me already. But I totally get how excellently zone-y the game is and appreciate that it's never impossibly hard to complete the errands.

The iOS version has a pretty bad mobile-game energy/task/microtransaction loop that the mainline games do not, and really shouldn't be used to judge them. The real games are very chill experiences.
posted by rifflesby at 11:09 AM on September 24, 2018 [4 favorites]

"Everyone got me super hyped for AC when it came to iOS, but frankly it started to feel like I was constantly being shaken down by "friends" who just liked me for my ability and willingness to go get all their increasingly complicated demands."

Oof, I'm deeply saddened this was your first AC experience and even more disappointed that game bore the name. The mobile Animal Crossing Pocket Camp or whatever is an absolute abomination of the AC franchise. It wore the charming skin of AC that it stretched over it's grotesque, misshapen, IAP form. Every element of that game was twisted into just the worst sort of demanding and greedy iteration. None of what makes Animal Crossing great was in that game besides the graphics and sounds. Some of the game mechanics seemed outright antithetical to the core concept of AC.

"I liked the rhythms of SV - the idea that people take time off so you can only buy from them at specific times, the holidays, the way residents have families and lives and opinions. "

That's also what I love about Animal Crossing. Villagers have bed times and schedules, they also will go out for activities on a whim and leave a note behind letting any would-be visitor know. They'll accept gifts and politely reply with gifts of their own. If you go away for a couple years, life goes on without you but you are always warmly welcomed back and they let you know they missed you but never make you feel guilty about it. Man, I haven't visited Bone Zone since an ex and I broke up but all this AC talk has me itching for a trip home.
posted by GoblinHoney at 11:14 AM on September 24, 2018 [5 favorites]

For some people, myself included, the presence of an in-game calendar gives a sense of urgency. I want to hit the goals as fast as possible, and I know I'm going to miss them. I start speeding through things, optimizing each day from sun-up to sun-down... and then I miss something. I mess up, and I've went past that window of opportunity and just like "real life" I can't go back and make things "right".

In something like Persona, I've replayed large chunks of in-game time to "fix" things. But I feel that SV handles time pressure in a very forgiving way. Missing a window of opportunity just means you'll need to hit it next time: didn't feed or milk the cows? No big deal. Do it tomorrow, they'll still like you. Forgot to harvest the plants? They're still there, no rotting in this game. Need something that only grows in spring? Next year is good, or maybe you can buy it in the store off season.

The best way to enjoy your time in SV is to forgive your own mistakes and learn from them.

I played AC for a bit in the Gamecube era, but I wasn't in a place to really appreciate it. I'm hopeful that the newest one will grab me, because it's a struggle (even within games) to have the described mindset.
posted by Anonymous Function at 1:01 PM on September 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

I think of *this comic every time someone mentions Animal Crossing.

*warning onions
posted by ShakeyJake at 1:20 PM on September 24, 2018 [16 favorites]

I actually learned about Animal Crossing by running across The Terrible Secret of Animal Crossing, courtesy of the depths of Something Awful.
posted by Kadin2048 at 1:44 PM on September 24, 2018 [4 favorites]

That take on Animal Crossing is indeed something awful.
posted by wierdo at 4:43 PM on September 24, 2018

Somewhere on Twitter I saw the take that instead of being the greedy landlord, Tom Nook is the one barrier standing between the residents of AC and unrestrained capitalism. With no-interest loans and patience, he allows people to make their own way in the world.

I've never played AC, but it seemed interesting. While I've played a bunch of Stardew Valley, I definitely found myself rapidly focusing only on turning out ever-larger harvests of high-value produce, while really wanting to just grow a wide range and do a bunch of cooking and preserving. I definitely don't find it very relaxing as it stands.
posted by AnhydrousLove at 7:13 AM on September 25, 2018 [1 favorite]

Another heartwarming Animal Crossing comic
posted by junques at 10:54 AM on September 25, 2018

Any thoughts on Animal Crossing: City Folk? We have an unused Wii, and I think AC: Pocket Camp has been nice to help little purr with the concept of sharing and giving gifts. It would be nice though, to hang out in front of the tv and have casual hang outs with the animals of AC, while teaching little purr how to use game controls. Or is it more like Pocket Camp, where having active IRL friends is important to the game play? Or should we just pony up for a switch? (we are the most casual of casual gamers)

I don't know if it's the political climate, or my mental state or what, but gentle, low stakes social games seems way more important for me now than it has been in the past.
posted by Hermeowne Grangepurr at 11:07 AM on September 25, 2018