Is Life Better Inside Animal Crossing?

There was buzz surrounding Animal Crossing: New Horizons even before the Nintendo Switch game dropped. Celebrities like Brie Larson and Lil Nas X patiently awaited the moment they could bring their islands to life, and the masses speedily followed. Within days of its launch, Animal Crossing memes dominated our timelines and its lo-fi music soothed our souls. It turns out, a fictional island where you could make your residence, chat with your animated neighbors, and invite your real-life companions over for a casual hang was exactly what we all needed because the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus forced us all indoor. Right considering that, how else can we join an impromptu meet-and-greet with Ross Butler (courtesy of Noah Centineo, no much less) while in this anxiety-ridden period of social distancing?


With its vibrant interface and anthropomorphic woodland creatures, Tom Nook’s world rapidly became a halcyon salve in these uncertain times. Although has the good class of life indoor Animal Crossing surpassed that of the real world, or are we nearing the unsettling world of Ready Player One a little bit also quickly?


Welcome to Cross / Pop, where MTV News navigates pop culture's biggest questions with logic, reason, and personalized preferences. In this week's edition, Social Impact Editor Christianna Silva and Culture Writer Brittany Vincent debate whether life is just better indoors within the game.


What would life look like indoors Animal Crossing?


Christianna: You wake up as soon as you want, converse with animals, make crafts, and vibe. It’s like the perfect Sunday, almost every day, nevertheless without the Sunday scaries as well as a 100 percent chance that everything will turn out fine. As soon as it rains, you don’t require a coat; you could catch tiny magic fragments whenever you visualize a shooting star; you could visit neighboring islands and hang out with companions and family member you can’t in real life because of social distancing. Sure, the eggs are a little bit weird, yet it’s a little price to pay for proper serenity. And the tunes! Not only can you catch a concert by music’s preference dog, K.K. Slider, yet immediately after you upgrade your Resident Services building, the background music changes every hour.


Brittany: If only life were so idyllic! On my island, you wake up, fret over how several Bells and NookMiles you owe your corporate lord and master, and look around your residence as you realize you still haven't toiled enough for a residence that contains more than bed as well as a couple of trinkets. And also you peel yourself out of bed — despite the high probability of getting stuck in conversation with your oversized chicken of a neighbor who won't stop squawking about their preference thing to do — and work from dawn 'til dusk in the hopes that today is the day you catch that rare stringfish you've been looking for since three weeks back, only to sell it to pay for your furry neighbors' homes. At least my town tune is Tame Impala, so I get to hear "Borderline" every so often.


In what ways does Animal Crossing resemble real life?


Christianna: I craft a lot in real life, and I craft a lot in game. All of the villagers in my town are so wildly diverse, not only in that they are literally different breeds of animals, yet they have different personalities, tastes, and hobbies. Despite it all, they come with each other under shared values, which vaguely mirrors how each person in my community is stepping up to the plate to help each other while in this pandemic. You should pay your mortgage to Tom Nook, which is similar to real life in that I also have to pay rent, unfortunately. However in Animal Crossing you get to pay on your own schedule with Bells, which you collect by selling items like bugs and fish. You’ve also got that good, good stalk market, a turnip-based stock market, that can really help to bring in some cash if you’re smart.


Brittany: Exactly. You work all day and night for a boss who's as greedy as they come, and you have got to save and invest your cash in an educated manner or you'll just be running circles with your wealth. You've constantly got bridges to build, both literally and socially. In the event you don't speak to the other villagers they may get a little bit testy with you. Also, some days once you go fishing, all you catch is a boot; some days those cool items you find on the beach are actual tin cans. That's how life is.


Is dealing with local management (Tom Nook) better or worse than dealing with a landlord?


Christianna: Way, way, better. I’ve been asking my actual landlord to repair the hose in my yard for weeks, nevertheless you ask Tom Nook for something, and it’s done! Down with capitalism, naturally, yet for an insane raccoon rent shark, he’s very community-minded and is usually down to get some help sprucing up the place. Plus, I don’t have to stick to a payment schedule each month in the game like I do with my actual landlord.


Brittany: Sure, nevertheless currently, the office personnel at my real-life apartment detailed can't guilt trip me into helping them raise funds to construct a store on the property for me to funnel even more funds into. They also don't hold a monopoly on all real estate. If I want to leave, I can just terminate my lease. In Animal Crossing, Nook is a shrewd businessman who owns just about everything. As soon as you're on an island with Tom and his tanuki Nooklings, you could as well be a worker drone — every Bell you have goes back inside their racket and "improving" island life.


In what ways is life in Animal Crossing fully bonkers?


Brittany: you could outfit yourself solely in costumes from JoJo's Abnormal Adventure. You could live out your Beastars dreams, also. If you’re really creative you could decorate your house with your preference vinyl (I’ve got Era Vulgaris in mine). And there really are no real laws; there really are no regulations for the fruit and fish you collect and sell to a family member of raccoons, who presumably pass it on to villagers.


Christianna: you could visit your companions and family member without a 6-foot germ radius! You can contain a room to your residence or move an entire building in 24 hours! Your neighbors are talkative and kind and never steal your packages! My character has big pockets, a unknown privilege to someone like me, who has spent her entire life wearing entirely impractical jeans. And then there’s the egg thing, what is that?


Does the social aspect of the game feel like an adequate replacement for IRL get-togethers while we’re all social distancing? (And will it still hold up post-pandemic?)


Brittany: It's a nice facsimile, although it makes me wish to leave the residence as a substitute opposed to meet up in-game more than ever. It's fun to hold birthday parties and quick get-togethers, although there's still so much you can't do. I can go to friends’ islands to purchase products and steal the fruit from their trees — that's good. However I can't strike up an interesting conversation due to the chat restraints: Typing out a sole message on a virtual keyboard takes ages. Staring at an avatar, no matter how fashionable, has never made me feel closer to my long-distance acquaintances. And unlike other simulation games, like Stardew Valley, it lacks an accommodating element that makes it brilliant for long-term play.


Christianna: Nothing beats IRL get-togethers, although during the age of social distancing, it holds up! What’s nice about hanging out with companions in Animal Crossing is that, unlike FaceTiming or texting, you don’t have to talk the complete time. You could just vibe. In a post-pandemic world, any time vibing in public is once again allowed, I’m not so sure it’ll hold up. However for now, it’s been somewhat of a saving grace for me, my companions, and my family member, to coordinate our gameplay and virtually sit together for a quiet visit to everyone’s islands.


Consensus Says:


The unruliness of life indoors Animal Crossing can be fun — for a little bit while. Although as we move deeper into our socially distanced lifestyles, there really are characteristic of the real world that we’ll begin to really miss, like the ability to mention goodbye to overbearing landlords, should we need to, and quiet afternoons spent doing nothing with family member and friend physically by our sides. Hugs just aren’t the same online.