Animal Crossing: New Horizons – the video game where we can still be together - MW

I was leisurely passing TikTok when I saw her, dragging the bijou Bentley queen to follow her routine to Nicki Minaj's remix of Anaconda. With her ponytail and green duo, I immediately realized that she was not just giving the audience an allure - this was cosplay.

Isabelle, my personal assistant since I was mayor of a town in Animal Crossing: New Leaf. If you have played it, she is also your assistant. She is the heart of the game, your advisor, your companion. She is a yellow dog in a flexible business attire, and she is always happy to meet you. Benny bijou Bentley sat around the floor with a clip. The crowd went wild, throwing dollars at her feet. I'm thinking for myself, yes Yes, Isabelle - works.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons marks the fifth game in the franchise, starting in 2001 on Nintendo 64. In the game, you move into a village with some random humanoid animals. You are placed in a small house, and then you just live. You discover, you fish, you plant, you talk - there, there is no end, no goal. You go at your own pace. There is no hurry.

There is also no conflict or tension - the game gives you a sandbox environment to pursue a softer life. The environment changes with the clock inside the panel - in the winter, vegetation shrinks and insects disappear, only to stir in the green pixels again in the spring.

At the center of most of your daily activities is a character: Tom Nook, a cheeky businessman who not only runs the village store, but also, local real estate agents. You pay him a mortgage in cash, in whatever amount you want. Tom is a cute, wide-eyed panda, a carefree form that believes in the fact that he functions as the Godfather of Animal Crossing.

I am aware that these game play mechanisms make a sound somewhere between mundane and vague threats. In fact, Animal Crossing is not. That is the charm beyond belief.

My first step in this lighter life came when I went to work more than two hours a day to study at university. My Nintendo DS is a comfortable escape from cluttered trains and slow buses, and the sweet world of Animal Crossing contrasts with the teenage drama of a teenager. Break up, betray, hangover, balance classes with work, find out who I want to be, none of which is the question here. Animal Crossing life is refined into basic tasks, basic pleasures and basic connections.

The relationship with my neighbors in the game is very easy in that they trade. Friendship, if you can call it that way, progresses around the exchange of gifts. When prompted, you can enter a nickname for your friend that the conversation generated by the algorithm will then integrate into the conversation. It was predictable, but for me it gradually escalated in a way that felt comfortable. I caught and collected the fruit that I sold to Tom, for the game of currency - the bell. I listen to chippy, instrumental and calming music. And because there's no end to Animal Crossing, there's no storyline, I've never been in danger of emotion rising in any way. There is no chaos.

Years later, my husband and I lived in a town in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, where I inherited the role of mayor from an old turtle. By reflex, and I say this with my hands, I'm a bad servant. I always thought my assistant Isabelle, well, was working. I am less busy with town planning than digging the antiques. Although if I sold them to Tom for the bells, I would do the job faster to pay off my mortgage. Instead, I boldly donated them to the original barren museum, operated by a lone owl. He is a reliable, friendly face, and always seems grateful for my contributions to local cultural resources.

The filling of this museum lit up the synapses in my brain that responded to collection: similar things were torn apart by Pokémon. Here, we have the same chance of capturing you, although there aren't any victories in the end. Or any ending at all. Our prize is not a legacy, heroism or a trophy, but a place in a small, fictional community - a sense of a well-done job. I am part of a generation that is finding it difficult: job patterns have changed, security is gone, continuous email access and the developing economy has changed the boundary between work and home. It's easy to feel as if there's always something else to do and every task completed simply gives way to another task. To build something that feels tangible and fun is a cure for this, even if it's a small town, your contribution to something: the happier neighbors, A full museum, a house with many rooms.

When I talk to other fans of the series, they also have similar stories. What I really love about the series is speed, he says Ian Cummins, 32, works at Facebook and is the only person I've ever met with a full Pokédex. After a long day at work, walking and reading the news made me relax. He meditated for me picking fruits, checking with neighbors and fishing before going to bed. It also allows me to live the illusion of abandoning the city to live on an island, while fully acknowledging that I certainly won't prosper if I do it in real life.

There is a lot to imagine this - manageable tasks, stable relationships, risks that don't exist. Tom Nook will not send his boys to break your kneecap if you are late for a payment. This is a place where progress and value do not depend on ambition. Our villagers are very sweet and quirky - there are gorillas, cats, porcupines, horses, there's a music dog named KK Slider who plays the guitar, even a bright red duck named Ketchup. Sure, sometimes they can be against each other, but you can often take them everywhere with a gift of fruit, or by sending a letter to their home.

I think the Animal Crossing community has served me the way Twitter serves me now, he said Dearbháil Clarke, 22, participated in his final year in animation at IADT. One of those pocket-sized friendships, there isn't any weirdness or commitment in real life. You just need to order a gift and receive an affirmation ... even if you are no longer reminded of a new conversation, the friendship doesn't feel empty. They just have the same rhythm of an old friend telling you the same mediocre story and you'll hear and smile because it's so good to hear and be heard.

Clarke captures the essence of Animal Crossing: enthusiasm, predictability - the feeling of a home and community gradually increasing to meet you. I remember vividly visiting the Able Sisters clothing store every day in the New Leaf: not necessarily giving my hard-to-find bells for clothes, but saying hello to the silent hedgehog named Sable, sitting in the back. the back of a sewing machine. Initially, when I approached her, she even greeted me. But day after day, she grew up to recognize me. Finally, she began to provide information about herself. Technically, the award to win her friendship by talking to her for 10 days in a row is a QR feature that extends the clothing options, but I know that what I really achieve Be the little secret of her life. There is a structure in this novel. The progress from silent to warm. The real reward for this mini game, completed entirely by interaction and perseverance, is knowing Sable, without any risk to you truly knowing yourself.

Animal Crossing provides one thing in this strange context in 2020 that it feels a generation is extremely lacking: a sense of security. When New Horizons was released, communities around the world began to socialize or isolate themselves due to the spread of Covid-19. But with this game, by chance, these new islands will give us a place to escape from terrifying news scrolls, when all we can do is stay indoors and hope for something. the best.

The safe, fictional landscape is a balm. There is no danger lurking outside the trees, no urgency in paying your debt, no betrayal from selfish neighbors. When I saw the bijou Bentley perform, it made me realize that Animal Crossing had a life beyond the DS or Switch. The quiet life we ​​have in this world is connected to our reality. The quiet life we ​​have in those screens is connected to our reality: scenes from these places become more memes, they become modes of expression.

Limited in our homes in real life, we will compare the different fruits that grow on our trees (some will have pears, other peaches), we will compare our neighbors We, visit other island islands. We will be safe together knowing that every Saturday night when the internal control schedule comes at the right time, a white dog named KK Slider will take his guitar and play a show in all markets. Our virtual town. We will be unified on the dance floor as he sings in that familiar, familiar digital voice. If possible, I would throw the bell at his feet like rain.

MW