{"id":842,"date":"2020-06-15T19:15:43","date_gmt":"2020-06-15T23:15:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gaminginsurrection.com\/reviews\/?p=842"},"modified":"2022-07-17T17:08:35","modified_gmt":"2022-07-17T21:08:35","slug":"animal-crossing-amiibo-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gaminginsurrection.com\/reviews\/index.php\/2020\/06\/15\/animal-crossing-amiibo-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival \u2014 1Q2017<\/span> issue"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Rolling the dice with Ani\u00admal Crossing<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Judg\u00ading from the stand\u00adpoint of an avid Ani\u00admal Cross\u00ading play\u00ader and enthu\u00adsi\u00adast, the con\u00adcept of new games com\u00ading into my beloved fran\u00adchise is not always wel\u00adcome. There have been par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly good games (i.e. Wild World, the orig\u00adi\u00adnal game) and mediocre offer\u00adings (Hap\u00adpy Home Design\u00ader and City Folk). Ami\u00adi\u00adbo Fes\u00adti\u00adval is a lit\u00adtle bit of both: It\u2019s a fun take on the Ani\u00admal Cross\u00ading uni\u00adverse, but it needs a lit\u00adtle bit of pol\u00adish and more things to do to keep the con\u00adcept of a board game based on the fran\u00adchise interesting.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve always referred to Ani\u00admal Cross\u00ading as the series about doing noth\u00ading. Ami\u00adi\u00adbo Fes\u00adti\u00adval takes that con\u00adcept and turns it on its head. With Fes\u00adti\u00adval, you\u2019re tasked with mov\u00ading around a typ\u00adi\u00adcal Ani\u00admal Cross\u00ading town in the form of a large board game. The town is trans\u00adformed by spaces that can be events, Stalk Mar\u00adket sale stops and vis\u00adits from the usu\u00adal assort\u00adment of guests that vis\u00adit a nor\u00admal town in the franchise. <\/span><\/p>\n

What makes the game fun is the usage of all things Ani\u00admal Cross\u00ading. Game time is deter\u00admined by a cal\u00aden\u00addar that uti\u00adlizes events com\u00admon\u00adly found through\u00adout the series, and vil\u00adlagers that you would encounter in town show up to help out play\u00ader char\u00adac\u00adters. <\/span>The play\u00ader char\u00adac\u00adters them\u00adselves are Ami\u00adi\u00adbo fig\u00adurines that you pur\u00adchase and input into the game. For exam\u00adple, GI<\/span> has about 25 Ami\u00adi\u00adbo, eight of which are Ani\u00admal Cross\u00ading relat\u00aded (Dig\u00adby, Celeste, Isabelle, Vil\u00adlager, Tom Nook, Mable, Rover and K.K. Slid\u00ader) that can be used to play through a ses\u00adsion. These char\u00adac\u00adters can col\u00adlect points to unlock new out\u00adfits and modes in the plaza based on game per\u00adfor\u00admance. The tie-in to the series ben\u00ade\u00adfits the oth\u00ader\u00adwise-tired Mario Par\u00adty for\u00admu\u00adla and enhances the charm of what would prob\u00ada\u00adbly be a tire\u00adsome exer\u00adcise in board game management.<\/span><\/p>\n

Using some of that inher\u00adent charm of Ani\u00admal Cross\u00ading, Ami\u00adi\u00adbo Fes\u00adti\u00adval plays well and looks great. There is a notable pas\u00adtel sheen over every\u00adthing in-game, but it still looks just like you\u2019d expect Ani\u00admal Cross\u00ading to look: Bright, col\u00ador\u00adful and smooth. Because we\u2019re long past the janky block graph\u00adics of the orig\u00adi\u00adnal game, Ami\u00adi\u00adbo Fes\u00adti\u00adval is clos\u00ader in style to the lat\u00adest game in the series, New Leaf, and it works in its favor. The sound\u00adtrack is also in line with the New Leaf era and it\u2019s ser\u00advi\u00adca\u00adble. It\u2019s not the main fea\u00adture of the game, so I\u2019m not expect\u00ading it to reach the realm of New Leaf\u2019s great tracks, but it\u2019s not unpleas\u00adant so it works just fine for what it\u2019s asked to do.<\/span><\/p>\n

My main com\u00adplaint about Ami\u00adi\u00adbo Fes\u00adti\u00adval, how\u00adev\u00ader, has more to do with the pol\u00adish of the final prod\u00aduct and some of the addi\u00adtions. It feels as though there isn\u2019t enough to do in-game, quite hon\u00adest\u00adly. While the board game is fun, it\u2019s not enough to keep me inter\u00adest\u00aded long-term. The addi\u00adtions in the plaza \u2014 mini-games that use Ani\u00admal Cross\u00ading ideas \u2014 are cute but get old quick\u00adly, and some are out\u00adright frus\u00adtrat\u00ading, even for a long\u00adtime play\u00ader like myself. <\/span><\/p>\n

The triv\u00adia sec\u00adtion, for exam\u00adple, tests your knowl\u00adedge of the series. Set\u00adting aside the fact that there shouldn\u2019t be a time lim\u00adit to answer ques\u00adtions that test your prowess of a series that has at least sev\u00aden games, the ques\u00adtions are incred\u00adi\u00adbly obscure most of the time and require that you have ency\u00adclo\u00adpe\u00addic mem\u00ado\u00adry and under\u00adstand\u00ading of how the series works. Most peo\u00adple just look\u00ading for a fun board game aren\u2019t going to know the answers, let alone know them quick\u00adly. I have been play\u00ading Ani\u00admal Cross\u00ading since the \u201cPop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion grow\u00ading!\u201d days of 2003, and I had trou\u00adble with quite a few of the ques\u00adtions asked. There should be more to do, more inter\u00adac\u00adtion with the town that you play in and more of an attempt to dig deep into that well of sev\u00aden games.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ami\u00adi\u00adbo Fes\u00adti\u00adval is a unique take on a series that has man\u00adaged to endure and improve over the past 15 years with new con\u00adcepts and inno\u00adva\u00adtion. If there is some con\u00adso\u00adla\u00adtion prize for stay\u00ading on this board, it\u2019s know\u00ading that while it could use some pol\u00adish and flesh\u00ading out, Ami\u00adi\u00adbo Fes\u00adti\u00adval is a good roll of the dice and gam\u00adble that paid off for the Ani\u00admal Cross\u00ading franchise.<\/span><\/p>\n