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As of my freshman year, I will be posting content centered around a certain topic. You can expect my blog posts to feature well-written sentences.
Brady Bryan
With the recent release of the highly anticipated Animal Crossing: New Horizons, fans of the Animal Crossing series and even outsiders who have recently caught on to the hype that is ever so prominent of Twitter and Instagram, everyone has scrambled to purchase it (and Doom Eternal due to the ironic, heavily contrasting duality of the selling points of both games) and play it immediately. While long-time fans of the series are well versed in what the series has to offer, it is important to remember the game that preceded it as many of its fans already have: Animal Crossing: New Leaf for the Nintendo 3DS. Being the first Animal Crossing game that I ever truly played (not including Animal Crossing Wild World which I would just walk around in as I had no idea what to do), New Leaf had a lot to offer with quality in spades. First and foremost, this game is heavily centered around interactions with the NPCs and incentivizes the player to return every day as their is something new each and every day. Think of this game as being largely episodic, where different features are unlocked each day. That being said, the player is never truly done with the game as they need make sure that they tend to their town by watering flowers, pulling weeds, and interact with other villagers to ensure that the town never grows ugly or the villagers dislike you. How long you choose not to play the game affects the status of the town as well as your popularity, so don't think that you can get away with neglecting your duties as mayor. The villagers are some of the most expressive NPCs to ever exist. Each of them are rich in personality and dialogue. There are several villager archetypes such as peppy, snooty, and cranky, and while every single villager falls into one of these categories, each and every single one of them have their own unique catchphrase. The villagers will often trade with the player, make requests, or simply give the player words of encouragement which is admittingly quite touching. Talking to the villagers is one of the primary ways of advancing in the game as they will request public works projects that the player can then fund with bells, the in-game currency. While this sounds linear, keep in mind that this is only one of the ways to progress. Other forms of progression include donating fish, fossils, bugs, and famous artworks to the town museum, upgrading all of the stores on Main Street. This is all done in the pursuit of the main objective of all Animal Crossing games: paying off your house debt. Sounds dreadful, you say? Well, I won't say that you are wrong, but their are enough distractions to pull your attention away from that and instead focus on improving the town. Besides, the prospect of paying of you debt has already been joked to death by fans (lovingly, mind you). The game is very cutesy in both style, animation, and music. The town music changes with each hour, making there a grand total of 24 songs that the player hears just by walking around in their town alone. Other songs such as the ones heard in shops or on the island are also simple in melody. Referring back to expressions, the player and the villagers' expressions change depend on what is being said, causing the villagers to be bashful, angry, or happy, so there is never an unclear emotion when talking to one. There are never any errors to be had when playing the game, and aside from being meant for very casual gamers, the game does its best to appeal to everyone, even finding itself extremely popular among the LGBTQ+ community. It does a phenomenal job at making the player feel calm and relaxed. I want to say that there is not a single soul on Earth that should not play this game, but unfortunately not everyone is interested in games that require heavy devotion of time and energy, and would rather play games where the ending is not far from sight. While that may be the only noticeable issue the game is ineffective at handling, that is purely by design and is not a result of poor development or mismanagement. For anyone looking for a "timesink" game, look no further and play New Leaf or New Horizons as even after only two days of its release, every single fan both new and old is very pleased. Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars Recap:
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Brady Bryan
At the time of me writing this post, the entire population of Earth is currently dealing with the spread of COVID-19, or Coronavirus as it is more commonly referred to. During this time, everyone is advised (or forced in some countries) to practice self-quarantine, limiting themselves from outside interaction as much as possible. Some stores changed their schedule to make hours shorter, healthcare products are flying off of shelves as I speak, and restaurants closed their dining rooms, limiting customers to drive-thrus only. Aside from shutting down stores, restaurants, and the like, COVID-19 has shut down, cancelled, or delayed video game tournaments and events. One of the first tournaments/events to be negatively affected by the Coronavirus was Bandai Namco's TEKKEN Masters tournament two weeks ago. The company posted about it on their social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram, as well as their website much to the dismay of the potential attendees. While many people dismissed the Coronavirus as a small little flu virus, this incident was a precursor to what was to come. Despite some negative results of the virus, some companies and platforms have improved and upgraded their services to adjust and aid online users. Discord, a social gaming platform heavily used by gamers internationally, temporarily increased the maximum amount of people in a live stream from ten to a whopping fifty. This was done to accommodate for teachers and instructors to teach their class online, which had been at the forefront of discussion among parents, school staff, and students. Niantic, the developers of Pokemon Go, has made it easier for players to catch Pokemon in the safety of their own home by substantially increasing the amount of Pokemon that spawn in an area. They also increased the amount of items available from PokeStops, as well as set up a bundle of 30 Incenses for a single Pokecoin, the in-game currency. Incenses rapidly increase the spawn rate of Pokemon around the player, typically lasting for 30 minutes. However, the incenses bought with the in-game currency now last for an hour, making Pokemon encounters substantially easier and streamlined. Whereas many stores and restaurants are limiting the amount of products sold per person and/or limiting their menu in response to the Coronavirus, many other online services are being generous with their services. Pokemon Go and Discord are only two examples of "doing God's work" unto their consumers. In any case, many people online are citing this unorthodox time period as the perfect opportunity to stay inside and play video games, which is a common trope among the gaming community. While they might not be inherently wrong, it is still important that everyone stays safe and continues to properly take care of themselves appropriately. Recap:
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AuthorBrady Bryan is quite familiar with blogs since he had to frequently post on his blog in 6th grade. Although its been a long time since then, he still knows what a proper blog should look like. Archives
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