Throwback Thursday| Animal Crossing: New Leaf

Hihi!~ A month went by so fast that I didn’t realize it was my turn for Throwback Thursday… I have a brainstorming list for BAYOG to help me with my posts. I have alot of ideas, but at the same time I didn’t know what to pick. I’ve also been struggling pretty badly mentally. So I was thinking of things that would cheer me up. Then one night I was looking for some soothing music to help me feel less anxious. Long story short, I found a playlist with music from Animal Crossing: New Leaf. I totally forgot about that game. Honestly, I loved that game and it was probably one of my favorite 3DS games.

New Leaf was a life simulation game for the Nintendo 3DS. It was originally released in November 2012 in Japan, and June 2013 for North America, Europe, and Australia. New Leaf was the fourth title in the Animal Crossing game series. An updated version with Amiibo support was released in 2016.

The game starts off with you as a villager that’s moving to a new town. Upon your arrival, you suddenly get mistaken for the new mayor instead. Thus, you officially become the new mayor of the town. As mayor, you improve and expand your town. You can also socialize with the residents and help them with favors as well. You can do various activities or sell items to earn bells, the currency in the game. With those bells you can buys things, expand your home, or expand and improve the town.

One of the interesting things about this game was that it was in real time, based on your 3DS’ internal clock. Opening and closing times are dependent on the time. The seasons, available wildlife species, and events also depend on the time and season. Your girl here cheated though… I would always change the date and time on my 3DS so I could finish the objectives, or if I was looking for specific wildlife species. I think I basically finished almost everything within the first few days of playing. I had pretty bad insomnia at the time, so I’d just play this whenever I couldn’t sleep.

I absolutely loved the music in Animal Crossing: New Leaf. It was fun, cute, and soothing. I found it interesting how the music was different for each hour, weather situation, location, event, and activity. I particularly loved the music that played at night. I’ve always been a night owl, and I usually played New Leaf late at night until dawn. I kind of have a hard time sleeping at night. There are times when I just feel sudden anxiety and stress, and it just keeps me up. I was also going through alot of stress in my life at the time. So playing New Leaf was a way for me to truly relax. I felt at ease just going around town, or just fishing or diving at night. The music at night also felt really comforting and seemed to melt away any negative emotions I would be feeling. It was like therapy for me.

I really did use to enjoy playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf. It was probably one of my most favorite games. I liked that it was just a very simple and easy going game. I enjoyed collecting the items, expanding my house, and customizing my character and my home. I also loved this game because it was a gift from my best friend. After graduation, I basically moved to a much smaller and quieter town to help out my family and help run the family business. If I were to be honest, I wasn’t happy. I’m originally from Florida, but over a decade ago my mom moved to this town in the Southern Belt. It was different from what I was used to. It always made me feel uncomfortable for several reasons, but one of the main reasons was because I didn’t know anyone. I had no friends here, so I was hella lonely. Then right around December 2014, I thought I’d finally get myself a 3DS. My bestie, who was literally on the other side of the country in California, surprised me with New Leaf. It helped me feel a bit more comfortable, and a little less lonely. I also just really enjoyed it because I could kind of hang out with my bestie in the game. We’d have little play dates and visit each other’s towns and do different activities. I enjoyed it so much that I even got it for my sister. My sister and I would play it together quite alot as well. We’d help each other out getting things the others might not have. We also helped each other cheat. You thought I was only messing with the date and time to speed up progress and catch specific fish and bugs?

So basically in New Leaf, there’s the stalk market. It’s basically like playing the stock market. Every Sunday morning, there’s a boar named Joan who comes into town to sell turnips. The price for the turnips changes each week. The turnips also go bad by the following Sunday. You can then sell the turnips at Re-Tail. However, the prices you can sell the turnips for fluctuates each day. It also changes from when the shop opens and again at noon.  My sister and I cheated the system by messing with the dates and times again. One person would find a day where turnips could be bought for hella cheap. The other would then look for a day where we could sell the turnips for a huge profit. Then we’d go back and forth between each other’s towns to sell and buy turnips. We ended up being millionaires~

Sadly, I haven’t touched my Animal Crossing: New Leaf on my 3DS in ages; 2 years really. The reason being, I let kids I was babysitting play on my 3DS. I thought it’d be okay to trust them because they were like 10 and I told them what they could and couldn’t pick up. The thing is I would have alot of stuff in my game. I didn’t have enough inventory space. So I’d leave whatever I couldn’t fit in my inventory or house in a certain area of my town. I’d just leave it there so I could sort it later. The kids asked if they could make a character and build a house in my game. I told them it was fine as long as they didn’t touch the stuff in that area or chop down my trees. Y’all, I worked hard traveling back and forth to places with my sister and best friends to accumulate everything. Different towns have different fruit trees, and it’s random. So again, I spent alot of time and effort. I repeatedly explained to the kids before letting them play. Y’all I shouldn’t have trusted them. Basically they picked up a bunch of my shit and sold it and chopped down alot of my trees. I was really upset. I spent like probably 2 years building up my town and getting stuff. I’ve been bitter and upset ever since. I don’t have the heart to look at my town anymore. Although, I might finally try to salvage all that I can again. Same kids also ruined my Sims 4 game; In my defense, it was around at the same time. So yeah, don’t let little kids play your games…

Again, I loved Animal Crossing: New Leaf. I enjoyed how simple and chill it was. I adored how cute it was from all the graphics and the characters. I really loved immersing myself in the game. I treasured being able to spend time with my sister and bestie with this game; Whether we were together, or whether we were states or countries apart. I loved and truly appreciated the music in the game. For me, this game was a good way for me to relax. It was a form of comfort. Who else plays, or played, Animal Crossing: New Leaf? What did you like? Did you do fun and interesting things as well?~

Also on a random note: I really liked going to the island, especially at night. One time I thought I’d try joining Club Tortimer. It basically lets you visit islands with other players over the internet. Would’ve been cool…However, I ended up with a weirdo on my first try. Dude kept asking me about my religious beliefs. He then legit kept trying to convince me to convert to Christianity. Yeah, I left.