Your starting animal residents will greet you as Mayor as soon as you reach the train station, and from there you’ll pick a spot to lay a tent, serving as an initial abode until your house can be built.Īs Mayor, certainly the biggest addition found in New Leaf, you’ll be charged with creating public works, maintaining town happiness, and creating ordinances for your town to follow. Gone is the standard tutorial, and while you’ll still need to earn bells to pay off your initial house building (and subsequent expansions), there’s not a great deal of hand-holding on Day 1. And chances are you’ll enjoy every moment.įrom the point your avatar steps off the train into your newly named town, you’ll notice a number of differences from previous Animal Crossing entries. If a title like Fire Emblem: Awakening has been topping your internal most played chart on the 3DS, Animal Crossing: New Leaf will absolutely thrash those numbers. Having an elevated level of control over the town you create, even more so than previous entries in the series, means you’ll spend hours upon hours with this title throughout the year.
While the general concept of the game doesn’t sound incredibly exciting on paper, you’ll be amazed at how remarkably absorbing New Leaf ends up being. If you’ve never played Animal Crossing before, you’re in for a treat. Granted there’s a lot more time to spend with the game than the couple weeks I’ve had to make that statement final, but I think most will agree the changes made in New Leaf make for a more enjoyable experience. In fact, it’s easily becoming my favorite in the series. There’s nothing about New Leaf that’s going to turn off old fans from enjoying it. Just pre-order Animal Crossing: New Leaf, stock up on eShop cards, or keep that $35 tucked away for June 9 th. If you’re a fan of Animal Crossing, I’m just going to tell you to go do what you’ve already done.