Well, this is a long time coming. Yes, I am aware that Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer has been in stores for a few months now. Sadly, I have not been able to review this game until around Christmas time because I actually had time to play the game. If anyone knows me, I am a huge animal crossing fan and have been since the first animal crossing game came out on the gamecube in the early 2000's (Except for Animal Crossing Wild World on the Nintendo DS since City Folk was already out by the time I got the wii).
Let's start out with the main idea of the game:
You start out working for Nook's Homes (which is basically the Happy Room Academy just with a different name). As obvious with the title, you are going to be designing homes! I gotta say, when I began playing this game, I thought this was going to be a lot like Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Actually, some aspects of the game are like New Leaf which I will explain later. Anywho, you can actually create your character in the way you want him or her to look which is different than how it is in the Animal Crossing franchise. You have to answer certain questions and each question would randomize a certain why your villager would look. This idea is genius and I kinda wish this part of the game was incorporated in the previous games in the series.
You meet the characters of the game that you will be interacting with throughout the game. Lottie (the cutest pink otter you have ever seen!) and she gives you the ropes on how to design a home. She goes on to explain that pretty much everything is done with your stylus. There are different categories you can sort through and you can pretty much style a home in any way you want! The more villager's homes you design, the bigger your catalog will get. The possibilities are endless!
Isabelle will eventually come into the game and tell you that now you can design facilities such as a hospital and a school. Again, the more facilities you build, the more facilities open up for your to create in your own way! And don't worry if you don't like the furniture you have already. If you keep designing for villagers, your town will start booming and you can always talk to Digby in Nook's Homes if you wanna redo a facility.
This is unlike any other Animal Crossing game ever made. Even though it's primarily on designing homes, the possibilities are endless. This game never ends just like the rest of the games and basically is something to hold us hardcore casual gamers for another installment in the animal crossing franchise (Although, not sure how they're going to beat New Leaf). And yes, this game was to promote the amiibo, but the amiibo cards unlocks tons of other content therefore making the game even more enjoyable, plus, they have a wireless network where you can design other people's homes through their blueprints in the second story of Nook's Homes.
This is a very enjoyable game and well worth the forty dollars of fun. I give this game a four out of five. Despite this only being about home design, it does keep the attention of the player.
Now if only I can get my hands on a wii u...
