Game Review: Animal Crossing New Horizons (Pt. 2)

VO: Get ready for your semi-regular dose of random ideas from the guys at Codelation. We like to talk about big ideas companies that are winning, and those that aren't along with current events in our crazy world of software startups. So come along with Erick and Josh, who challenge you to think big, start small and turn your ideas into something on this episode of, from idea to done.

Erick: All right. So this week's idea is part two on animal crossing. Is it new horizons?

Maddy: Yep.

: Okay. I got the name, right? So that's just in the right direction. Maddy's played it. And now she's going to ask me her list of questions from the, from animal grassy. Now that I'm a few days, about a week into it.

Maddy: Yeah. Yeah. So first off, like, what are your general thoughts about the game after spending a few days playing it?

Erick: I get how, and not that this isn't revolutionary now, but like I could see how, when this came out, it was an interesting game changer and you see kind of revolutionary, um, things, aspects of it, like the real-time ratio and the visiting other people. And we talked in the last one about how it got girls into gaming and like, this is something that anyone can easily kind of get into and suck in. It's very for everybody.

Maddy: Yeah. It was fun to kind of see your opinion on it and kind of see how your island is going the other day when I popped into visit. Just because you had never actually played one of these games before in the series. Um, but since you haven't played any of the games in the series, what would you compare this game to, that you have played before?

Erick: I would say, and like I said, it's very unique, but aspects of it, it feels kind of like the Sims and then it also, and I, I could age myself, but on Facebook they used to have like a like fake app called Farmville.

Maddy: Yes.

Erick: Yeah. I mean just the, the random crap you can buy and the variety of things you can plant and all of that, like that, it really brought me back to that. And then it does have a little bit, I think you talked about some of like the harvest moon, moon aspects to it, but yeah, those are the games that I kind of it's reminded me of so far. Yeah.

Maddy: Yeah. Um, and I do agree it is unique in its own way, but I would say people that enjoy those games most likely would enjoy animal crossings too. Uh, what villagers do you have on your island so far? And who's your favorite?

Erick: So I just built my house cause you came and visited my bomb place. Like I have a house, have a museum and see that's one of the interesting social things of it that I hadn't really in other game, it's weird, like standing next to your like character and chatting. And I find that chatting with you much better than chatting with Muffy. She's kind of this like snooty sheep thing, not a big fan of her. And then, but I do like Antonio, he's just like a bro.

Maddy: Yeah, a little jock boy.

Erick: Yeah. And I just finished the bridge and now I'm building three houses.

Maddy: Nice.

: I should have some more people soon. And so yeah. I hope that Antonio's bros show up the other weird sheep people. So, but we'll see.

Maddy: Yeah, you should probably, I think you'll probably get a variety of cool cats and kittens to show up on your island.

Erick: That sounds terrifying, this took a dark twist.

Maddy: Oh, what is your favorite activity to do on your island and, or like what's been your money-making strategy?

Erick: Well, and I haven't really got into a money-making strategy. I, I basically will just do things in phases, so go outside and then I'll run along the entire beach and pick up shells and then I'll run those back and sell them. And then I will bust out my net and then try to go catch a bunch of bugs and then get poisoned by a tarantula. When I get that, it's going to be the greatest moment.

Maddy: Just terrifying. I like screamed the first time one came after me.

Erick: I, I, I don't know don't spoil it, but I, I want to catch those like wasp or Hornets that accidentally fall out of the trees. Yeah. I want to catch those jerks and I want to catch that tarantula and I want to put them in the museum and that's gonna, that's going to be just like a giant overall win. And so then I do, so then I, I do my sweep where I go for bugs and then a bust out my shovel and start picking up fossils because I want my museum to be bombed, but I've got enough now where some of them are doubling. So then I sell the ones that he won't accept. And then I do that same kind of tactic with fishing. And then I kind of, that's usually enough for a repeat and, and keep going and then craft a new stuff. Cause it all breaks. And yeah, that's kind of, I've been all over the board money. I picked flowers to gingerly stroll through Meadows and I picked flowers.

Maddy: Oh, that's lovely. Have you been getting any hybrid flowers?

Erick: I have no idea.

: Okay.

Erick: Well, I started planned a lot of them. Yeah. From, uh, outside of my house. Like, I'd find them up on that big, weird ledge where you gave me the ladder so I could go get to, so then I steal the flowers from nature and then I have them in like a nice they're in a very unified row by my house, but then what's in the row is just a hodgepodge of everything in anything. And so, yeah, I, I have no idea if they're they're breeding yet.

Maddy: Okay. Okay. Um, well what would you give, like what grade or like Metacritic score rotten tomatoes score. Give, would you give this game?

Erick: Um, you know, and I, I'm trying to think. I don't remember. I think Nintendo power, which was my magazine of choice back in the day when I was new to video games, I think they did on a five point scale. Okay. And so I think I would give this a three or four out of five right now. I'm not far enough into it to know. Um, it feels like a four, but I, I don't know. And what's interesting is like aspects of it the real time is kind of interesting. Yeah. But I, and I, I don't think that there's end game purchasing, but it feels kind of reminiscent of like some phone apps, games that I buy where it's like, oh, you can play for half an hour and it's super fun and it's free and it's great. And then it's like, no, you have to wait three days. Like, I think they have the timing of it, like at a real pace that moves things along nicely and there's not, but yeah. That's

Maddy: Yeah. So we kind of gave it in the same range of scores. Um, but yeah, I definitely agree that it's, it's interesting. I like the time aspect, but it's not. So like, pressury that you're like if you miss a day it's the end of the world, you know.

Erick: And that's, that's kinda, like I said, I haven't been at it long enough to, to give it a complete grade yet, but I'm still engaged with it and this is F like a solid week into having it and, and yeah, I think it's a, it's a delightful quarantine purchase.

Maddy: Yay!

Erick: That's my overall review of that one. I, I, yeah, thanks for interviewing me and not having me be the only person who has to talk about video games, like when Josh and so, yeah, it's a good week. Everybody now get to work editing now. Okay.