Animal Crossing has quickly cemented itself as one of Nintendo’s best-selling and most beloved franchises. It has had multiple games across the majority of Nintendo’s platforms, all of which are as iconic and loved as the next. While the series has evolved and grown over the years, its base formula of exploring a sleepy town inhabited by talking animals, catching bugs, fishing, and decorating a house has never really changed.
It is this formula that has earned Animal Crossing a place among the very best life sim games of all time, with many titles, especially within the indie space, being inspired by it. However, what many may not know is the origins of Animal Crossing and how it was almost an entirely different game. Not only is that story fascinating, but the bones of what Animal Crossing could have been are actually surprisingly compelling and could make for a very good modern spin-off entry within the storied franchise.
Animal Crossing Started As An Unusual RPG
It Saw Players Explore Dungeons With Their Animal Companions
In an interview from 2008, transcribed and translated by NintendoWorldReport, Satoru Iwata sat down with other key members from Nintendo to discuss the creation of Animal Crossing and how it became the beloved life sim everyone loves today. During that interview, Iwata explains that the vision people have of Animal Crossing now, one of a “forest that animals lived in […] where you just live how you choose” is very different from how it initially started out, and that actually “during the initial phases of planning not even a fragment of that had been thought up yet.“
The original idea for Animal Crossing was actually an RPG in which players would be a defenseless hero that’s guided through dungeons by their animal companions. Hisashi Nogami, the original creator of Animal Crossing, explained during the interview that each animal had “their own strengths and weaknesses” and that the player would give commands to these animals to help them get through each floor of a dungeon. However, eventually, players would reach a point in which their animals were no longer strong enough, and they’d have to get help from another player.
“There were various different kinds of animals, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. The player is powerless, so they would issue commands to the animals as they proceed forward, and eventually you would come to a place where you simply couldn’t proceed forward with the animals you had at your disposal.
It turns out that the original Animal Crossing was intended to be a multiplayer game of sorts, aided by the 64DD, which was a failed add-on for the N64 that allowed games to utilize an internal clock and online multiplayer, both of which the series eventually adopted in later entries. Iwata mentions how players would be able to communicate with each other and request help with certain situations. Nogami then further elaborates by stating that players would have to bring different animals that work well with one another in order to overcome each dungeon.
There were even meant to be four different islands, each with its own dungeons, but all of these ideas were scrapped when the 64DD was branded a failure and was no longer a viable option for new games. This forced the team to reduce the concept down to just a singular island, which they believed robbed the game of its adventurous nature. So, they pivoted and ended up creating the real Animal Crossing for the N64.
How Animal Crossing Could Bring Back The RPG Concept
It Could Be A New Spin-Off Experience
Of course, the idea of an Animal Crossing RPG seems a little far-fetched now, especially considering the series went in a completely different direction and now fits squarely into the cozy genre. Giving Tom Nook a sword and asking him to hack a slime to pieces just doesn’t feel like it gels with the atmosphere the series has cultivated over the past few decades. However, fans have felt like some of Animal Crossing’s changes aren’t great, with many lamenting the loss of meaningful villager interactions.
An Animal Crossing RPG could be a combination of Pokémon and Dragon’s Dogma, with a sprinkling of life sim mechanics and even base decoration to help keep it tethered to the mainline games
It may be the best time, then, for a spin-off that completely revamps the series and gives a fresh new direction. The original RPG concept for Animal Crossing could serve as the perfect way of accomplishing that as it’s both bold and would still be able to incorporate many of the life sim elements that make the mainline games so great. For example, the animals that fight for the player could work like Dragon’s Dogma’s Pawn mechanic, with players even getting to customize a main one and then cycling through all the iconic villagers throughout the main story.
Ostensibly, an Animal Crossing RPG could be a combination of Pokémon and Dragon’s Dogma, with a sprinkling of life sim mechanics and even base decoration to help keep it tethered to the mainline games. Tom Nook could serve as the blacksmith or shopkeeper, while other notable characters like Isabelle, Brewster, K.K. Slider, the Able Sisters, and more could take on key roles. The multiplayer component could even be kept intact, with players needing to band together in order to take on certain multiplayer-specific dungeons.
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There are plenty of ways Nintendo could revive the original idea for an Animal Crossing RPG without sacrificing what the series has since become. Nintendo has found great success with its other franchises by completely switching genres, so there is no reason why Animal Crossing couldn’t have the same fate. Of course, while it’s perhaps easier to understand the leap between classic Zelda titles and BOTW than Animal Crossing and an RPG, when one considers it was the original concept for the game, it doesn’t seem so illogical.
Animal Crossing Spin-Offs Deserve To Be Great
There Is Plenty Of Potential There
It is fair to say that Animal Crossing’s track record with spin-offs hasn’t been particularly great. The critically panned Amiibo Festival failed to capture the spirit of the series while offering a fairly mediocre party experience that appealed to no one. Similarly, Happy Home Designer, while certainly a better experience, was too singularly focused. It is absolutely about time that Animal Crossing got a good and worthwhile spin-off that players can reliably look to for an alternative yet still enjoyable experience.
An Animal Crossing RPG could offer exactly that, especially on the Nintendo Switch 2, where the improved specs would allow the developers to craft a bolder and more ambitious experience. It could finally be a strong spin-off entry, something that other Nintendo franchises, especially Pokémon, have enjoyed for several years. It would also be a good demonstration of Nintendo’s willingness to innovate during this new era, especially if it was a first-party Switch 2 launch title.
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It is unlikely that Nintendo will ever revisit this idea, and, should it never exist, that isn’t inherently a bad thing. The fact that the current iteration of Animal Crossing was spawned through necessity as a result of hardware limitations restricting the developer’s ambitions is a good thing, as it meant that fans got one of the best video game series ever. However, should the day ever arise when fans get an Animal Crossing RPG, especially one that resembles that initial concept, it would be incredibly exciting.
Source: NintendoWorldReport
Simulation
Adventure
JRPG
- Released
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September 16, 2002
- Engine
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Havok
- ESRB
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e
- How Long To Beat
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100+ hours
