One Word Review

Animal Crossing: New Horizons has taken over my life. Like many people, it could not have come at more perfect time. I have not been trying to game the systems, like so many people who have been writing articles online. I have just been taking it at my own pace. 

マイペース (My pace) This is a Japanese gairaigo. Gairaigo are loan words from other languages so of which may or may not be grammatically correct or recognizable in that language. An American would never say, “I did it my pace.” But, in Japanes this is something that people say on a daily basis. I guess the English dictionary form of this isn’t too far off. We would probably say, “taking/doing something at one’s own pace.” I’m playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons at my own pace. 

I bring all of this up because I have been playing Animal Crossing in Japanese. 

I first started playing it in Japanese with Animal Crossing: New Leaf on the 3DS. I got that game as a going away present from my supervisor when I left the JET Program, a program for English teachers in Japan. 

Most schools will spend hundreds of dollars on a bouquet of flowers and some other knick-knack that is related to Japanese culture. Most of it ends up in a garbage pile or stuffed into some box in so many mothers’ basements around the world. 

This illustrates the unique relationship I had with my supervisor. He was one of my best friends. We kept in contact with each other, until he died suddenly the year after I returned from Japan. 

I spent three years back in American and it took three years and a terrible earthquake in Kumamoto for me to realize that I felt more at home in Japan than in America. (Having an asshole as president helped me make the final decision.)

During those three years I played a lot of Animal Crossing: New Leaf and I felt my Japanese improve, or at least it didn’t dwindle away like so many other people who shared my experience. 

I came back to Japan and I have been very happy ever since. I’ve gotten married, had a baby, and started working more on my website and my writing. 

Last month Animal Crossing: New Horizons debuted on the Nintendo Switch. I pulled out my 3DS, after mixing up the release dates, and started playing New Leaf after a long absense. At that time, I realized that I had played New Leaf off-and-on for seven years. 

When I finally was able to access Animal Crossing: New Horizons, I started my town. I purchased the game on the American store because Japanese games are more expensive than games in America. (We are overdue to increase the price of games but I’ll take advantage of the cheaper price while I can.)

I started the game in English with every intention of making a Japanese island as well. 

I put in 10 hours or so in English then went to start an island in Japanese. I switched my system language, I booted up the game, and I realized that my Japanese account would only be joining the island I already made in English. 

I have seen a lot of articles written about how Nintendo chose to handle the issue of multiple accounts on a single Switch. I don’t like it anymore than anybody else but this is how it was on 3DS and it doesn’t really surprise me that they handled it the same way. (It’s just one more bullet-point on the list of things Nintendo doesn’t get about modern gaming.)

Once I realized that my island would be named in English, the main account on this game would be named in English, and who knows what else that might affect down the road, I decided to start over.

I immediately cleared my save data and started all over again. I named my island in Japanese, I named my character in Japanese (with a small mistake that I’ll have to live with), and I feel some much better now that everything is back to the way it should be – for me.

I feel much more comfortable playing Animal Crossing in Japanese. I learn bugs, fish, and dinosaur names and information in Japanese. The Japanese used in game is a good mix of language used so children can understand, more advanced language for adults, and dialects used in different parts of Japan that aren’t so thick that they are unintelligible. 

I understand almost everything in Japanese but I am learning everyday as well. In this way, Animal Crossing isn’t just a game about daily life. It is so much more.

It is a learning tool for the culture than I have chosen over my own. It helps me feel more at home in a place where I feel out of place sometimes. It is a safe and comfortable place to hide away at this scary time in world history.

I hope other people use Animal Crossing in this same way. I’m an evangelist for playing it my pace. Don’t let this game become another game that you try to squeeze everything out of and put the game case on the pile of game you’ve “conquered.” Use it as a way to explore a new world in a new language. Take it at your own “my pace.”