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It comes as no surprise that the main goal of many Animal Crossing players is to collect their favorite villagers and get them to stay in their town forever. It scratches that collectors itch that many games strive for, and with about 400 villagers and 35 different animal species, Animal Crossing has a formula where no two towns have the same group of animals. This would especially be the case if players let any villager move when they wished, however, that is not often the case with how people play the game.
Animal Crossing is a strange lesson in how players have issues with letting go. Before Animal Crossing: New Horizons, villagers moving out with no warning was more common, much to the agony of players. Nintendo caught wind of this, and now villagers moving with no warning without permission no longer happens. However, based on the game titles and the more obscure Animal Crossing movie, it is possible that the point of the series was to let go of villagers in the first place.
The Animal Crossing Movie, and Moving On
Like the video game, the Animal Crossing movie is about a young human moving into a village full of quirky animals. The human, Ai, quickly befriends villagers such as Margie the elephant and Rosie the cat. Margie, in particular, is close to Ai but wants to pursue her dream to be a fashion designer. To pursue that dream, she has to move away and this breaks Ai's heart. However, Ai eventually respects Margie's decision and supports her move. The two keep up by sending each other letters.
The movie was never officially translated to English, though it did get a fan translation, but as a result it was not widely viewed outside of Japan. However, its story is quite familiar to anyone that has played an Animal Crossing game, especially at a young age. There is a sense of loss when a favorite villager like Shino leaves, and the movie explores this, but comes to the conclusion that letting friends go is a part of growing up. It also does not necessarily mean they are gone from your life, as you can still connect through memories and hand-written letters.
The Significance Of Animal Crossing Titles
The Animal Crossing title, on its own, relates to the way the villagers are constantly moving around. The town itself is meant to be a crossing path of these cute characters. They may stay a while, but they are eventually fated to move on. Additional parts of the titles also reflect this idea, as titles like New Leaf and New Horizons are only mentioned when a villager brings up that they are thinking about leaving. They will mention wanting to "turn over a new leaf" or "see new horizons." This echoing of the titles in their desire to leave does make the villager's transient nature seem to be a significant part of the game.
However, the subtle messages of game titles and the way players actually play the game can be utterly different. Villagers tend to be either in the "keep forever" category or the "get rid of as soon as possible" group. Like the flowers and furniture, they are another way for the player to make their perfect town.
What Villagers Staying Says About Players
Players are not bad people for keeping their favorite villagers. In fact, it shows a very sentimental and patient side to how they play the game. It's possible that the subtle messaging of animals constantly on the move was due to the game developers thinking that players would get bored of having the same villagers all the time. After all, there are only eight different personalities for these 400 animals at the end of the day. It can be easy to have a shallow view of all of them, but that is not what happened with this fan community.
Also, hard goodbyes with friends can be a difficult part of the real world, so there is no shame in escaping that in how Animal Crossing is played. If Nintendo made more unlockables and collectibles based on how many villagers cross through a town, though, that could change how the game is played entirely. However, since New Horizon's big update just came out, it will be a long time before any big change like that could happen.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now on Nintendo Switch.