10 ways Animal Crossing could turn over it's next leaf

Monday, August 17, 2015

5. Better Tools Sooner

In the original Animal Crossing in order to get golden tools you had to either meet a certain requirement or bury the tool for a set amount of time. These tricks while some easier then others made it so you didn't have to wait till the end of the game to get them and use them in play. As the tool sets started to expand so did the requirements to get them. Many of the most used tools could only be upgraded once the task they were used for was completely finished (catch all the bugs, find all the fish). This makes the achievement of getting them slightly less exciting when the main reason for having them was for a task you already completed. Even the shovel and axe have become tedious and redundant with the former requiring the department store to be upgraded full and the lather requiring you to purchase a set number of items from the store. Both of these items have a limited use to begin with why make them so hard to get?

I ain't sayin' she's a gold digger...

In the more recent additions they have made the system a little better by introducing a middle "Tier" of tools that are slightly easier to get, but it still doesn't fix the fact that golden tools are useless by the time you get them; They might as well be trophies. These tools should be given to the player based on difficulty of the task. Some bugs are easier to catch and don't need a long/wide net. While maybe others not only need you to sneak up to them, but need a longer net because you still can't get to close. The tools should upgrade to facilitate the process they are used for when they need them. When you catch enough of the easy bugs you get you next upgrade to help you progress.

4. Less Random Fishing

One thing that has drove me nuts since the first time I played Animal Crossing was the inability to determine exactly which kind of fish I was trying to catch. While the game has had a system of shadows with different sizes to slightly differentiate the fish it is still a toss up as to what kind of fish from that size category it was. While the idea of not knowing what your going to get can add some dynamic game play it also creates frustration for those either looking to make money (a primary focus of the game) or find new species of fish for the museum (another big focus of the game). While the added idea of make some fish show up during different months, times, and weather conditions has made some of the task slightly easier you still can never know if your wasting your time on the wrong fish especially when it may be next to another that may very well be the one you were looking for.

Link's all about the bass, bout that bass.

Just like bugs have to be identified with your eye so should fish. In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which I consider having one of the best in-game fishing simulators I have ever seen, the ponds water was clear and thus you could see all the fish.

There were rare fish and large fish that were tough to find, but made much easier if you waited and looked for them. I see no reason this same concept couldn't be applied to Animal Crossing especially if you offered more options to the fishing rod to change the bait and lure along with the already monthly, time, and weather requirements you still have a very in-depth fishing mechanic without it being to easy. Also while your at it allow me to throw fish back after I catch it instead of just assuming I want it.

3. More Money Making Day Time Activities

Aside from selling fruit, the fake rock gem, and the money rock, which only together bring in a decent income and can only be done once a day(or two), there aren't any good ways to make money in the day and only recently did the night time become super profitable with the introduction of rare beetles on Tortimer Island leaving few reasons to play during the day other then to socialize.

Stabbing rocks for loose change sounds like a crazy homeless thing to do.

While its fun to talk to the towns folk during the day it yield little profit and the tasks they ask to complete are sometimes difficult to accomplish especially ones asking for a specific fish (see above why). On top of that the reward for these task, if any, are usually useless junk that you don't need and are usually not worth much. If the items they gave you were more rare or worth more they would be more interesting to do and also a potential way to make money. In the new game New Leaf you are actually able to work at the coffee shop for a short time. The only problem is you don't get paid in bells; you get paid in coffee which has a high sell price, but wouldn't it be more interesting to get a wage for part time employment at different shops? This would fill the money gap during the day time and if the jobs work closely with the towns folk it fills the social aspect of the game as well.

2. More Tools and Activities

This feature's future was not in the stars.

This should be self explanatory, but worth noting that the next Animal Crossing game needs to add more stuff for the player to do. More tools could be things that enhance old tasks. For example what about flippers to go with your swim suit so you can catch the fast underwater creature easier? How about bug traps to catch certain bugs? What about new lures and bait to catch new fish? Also adding activities that require tools that don't get as much use. How about having a target game for the slingshot and have it shoot forward instead and use the joystick to aim left and right? How about cutting down trees give you wood you can use to carve and craft stuff with? Lastly just new tools in general would be nice although we got some in this one mainly the wetsuit being the only one to actually have an extensive activity linked to it. How about bring back the observatory and flesh it out? You could map out the stars in the sky which would change each day.
 
Lastly since there's already ore in the game why not add a mine to the town? Now you can add a hardhat with a light and a pick axe and each day new ore can show up there. Expand what the ore can be used for even more and you now have a whole new dynamic to the game.

1. Fix The Menus

Where to start with what's wrong them them is a challenge in itself. Lets start with the fact that if you were to actually carry all the tools given to you you would have seven less slots of an already small inventory to work with. Why there isn't a spot for just tools is beyond me. Many have started using the mail slots with mail in it to store my tools which maybe a sign that there should be a better spot for them.

Got mail? You're going to need it.

One nice feature is a quick select option for the tools you currently have by pressing left or right on the d-pad to cycle through them and down to put them away. The draw back to this of course is if you have a good amount of tools on you you may need cycle through a few to get to the one you want. A much better idea would be to use one of the shoulder buttons as a way to bring up a spiral menu of tools you have and use the joystick to point to the one you want to use so you can have all the tools at your disposal and you can go right to them.

Probably the most frustrating issue with the menu system is actually a new addition to the game; stacking. Being able to stack fruit up to nine times is an amazing inventory space saver and make selling them that much easier. The problem is the process is entirely manual. Each time I pick up a fruit it takes up a spot in my inventory even if you already have one of the same kind of fruit that hasn't been stacked to the max. This means that once I reach the limit, which is only told to you once you try to pick up an object while you inventory is full, your prompted to switch out an item you have for the new one which, while useful, would be less necessary if it would just combine all the stack able items I had in my inventory as I picked them up. There are few instances where you will need only one fruit and it only takes two actions to get one from a stack versus up to nine to create one. Even a button I can hit when I'm in the inventory would be a step in the right direction.

Honorable Mentions

• Options for text speed and toggle item get prompts
• Allow the use of upgraded tools on the island
• Expand the Island

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