Animal Crossing: New Leaf Image
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88

Generally favorable reviews - based on 70 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 920 Ratings

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  • Summary: There are no points or levels, just a myriad of sights and sounds, places and activities...all ready to explore. Spend your time passing new ordinances—or going fishing. Hang out at a coffee shop or visit a tropical island. It's up to you. Your game is what you make of it—and personalizingThere are no points or levels, just a myriad of sights and sounds, places and activities...all ready to explore. Spend your time passing new ordinances—or going fishing. Hang out at a coffee shop or visit a tropical island. It's up to you. Your game is what you make of it—and personalizing your world is part of the fun. Create cool patterns for clothing or furniture, build new structures in your town, design gardens and museum displays, and so much more. Time passes in the world of Animal Crossing just as it does in real life. Celebrate holidays and see the seasons change. Meet new visitors or get gifts from your neighbors. Expand
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E3 2011: Animal Crossing Official Trailer
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 64 out of 70
  2. Negative: 0 out of 70
  1. Aug 26, 2013
    100
    Animal Crossing: New Leaf represents not only the pinnacle of the series, but also the ingenuity of the life simulation genre.
  2. Jun 4, 2013
    97
    It’s not something that you can marathon, it’s not something you can “beat,” and going in without those expectations will ruin it for you. Its portable nature, plus all of the extra features that they’ve been adding since the first game on the GameCube make this not only the best game in the series, but also a perfect starting point for newcomers.
  3. 90
    The definitive version of one of the best feel-good franchises ever.
  4. 90
    Animal Crossing: New Leaf is a beast of a game, featuring hundreds of hours of open-ended gameplay. If you were turned off by the lack of structure and real goals in previous Animal Crossing games, nothing here will change your mind.
  5. Jul 12, 2013
    90
    New Leaf is a truly magical game. It is the best entry in the series yet.
  6. Jun 4, 2013
    84
    New Leaf has an addictive bent unmatched in most other titles, and it will keep those even mildly interested coming back for days and days.
  7. Jun 4, 2013
    70
    A new leaf has not been turned. Rather, an old dog is on display. Faithful, loyal, and hard to dislike, but you know what it can do already.

See all 70 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Negative: 9 out of 206
  1. Jun 9, 2013
    10
    Much different than the previous DS version I popped in the old game today to see the difference, and "Animal Crossing: New Leaf" is so muchMuch different than the previous DS version I popped in the old game today to see the difference, and "Animal Crossing: New Leaf" is so much smoother and better in every way! The whole game seems happier and Nintendo really listened to its fans. It may sound silly, but being able to sell all your items at once or have the owl appraise all your items at once saves a ton of time and is so convenient! No game is perfect, but this is so close! 9.9/10 Expand
  2. Feb 1, 2020
    10
    It’s Animal Crossing. Always 10/10! But to elaborate, the games puts you in the position of mayor. You can change ordinances and build ships.It’s Animal Crossing. Always 10/10! But to elaborate, the games puts you in the position of mayor. You can change ordinances and build ships. You can even construct public works projects. This game is all around amazing! Expand
  3. Jul 4, 2013
    10
    So addicting that I am constantly changing the time on my 3DS in order to get what I want in the game. Overall, Animal Crossing: New Life isSo addicting that I am constantly changing the time on my 3DS in order to get what I want in the game. Overall, Animal Crossing: New Life is just fun and wonderful to play when bored. Expand
  4. Sep 6, 2013
    9
    This is my first Animal Crossing game and I have no regrets. This game was basically my summer, giving me lots of things to do everyday,This is my first Animal Crossing game and I have no regrets. This game was basically my summer, giving me lots of things to do everyday, growing my town, gaining the respect of my residents and developing my own house. If I have any issues with this game, is that the chatbox when talking to others is very short. Other than that, everything is so perfect that I don't even notice the little flaws. This game is known to be the best in its series, and I'm not surprised. Expand
  5. Sep 15, 2017
    9
    Animal Crossing: New Leaf is an excellent fourth outing for the cutesy Nintendo life simulator series. Traditionally, Animal Crossing gamesAnimal Crossing: New Leaf is an excellent fourth outing for the cutesy Nintendo life simulator series. Traditionally, Animal Crossing games draw you in with a basic premise: create a character, move in to a new village, make some animal friends, and live your life. While the series has moved on from some of the more vulgar conversations that one could have with animals on the original Gamecube title, New Leaf does offer so much more that blows every other AC game in the series out of the water.

    Basically, there's just so much to do. You've still got fishing, bug catching, and everything else you should be familiar with if you've ever played an AC game. The difference in New Leaf is that now your villager is the mayor. You decide what projects to take on and fund. Essentially, the entire village's appearance is now at your fingertips. Clothing design at the Abel Sisters has improved, having added a QR code reader to download user-created content online. There's also compatibility with another AC game on the 3DS, Happy Home Designer.

    Nothing is perfect however as you will have to wait a long time to unlock all of the shops and building materials. Simply put, you will need to put in more work than ever before to get things to look exactly how you want them to. Unfortunately, by the time you actually have everything that you want at your disposal, you may have already lost interest in the game. There's also the issue of Amiibos and Amiibo cards. They are all ridiculously expensive and there are a lot to collect. All this aside, I highly recommend Animal Crossing: New Leaf to fans of the series and newcomers alike. I suppose the best praise I could give to this game and the series in general to sell it to anyone is very simple: this is the best game to just sit down and relax with. Play it.
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  6. Sep 6, 2019
    9
    New Leaf is designed to be played in small chunks, every day, over a very long period of time, and stresses this fact by slowly unwindingNew Leaf is designed to be played in small chunks, every day, over a very long period of time, and stresses this fact by slowly unwinding events in real-time. Yet it is apparent from only a comparably short time — as opposed to months and years — spent with the game that Nintendo has done a great deal to address the complaints of its Wii predecessor, and provided plenty of exciting new features and buildings to enjoy. Taking on the role of Mayor is a great innovation to the series, finally giving the player a real reason to keep coming back time and time again.

    It's a shame that powers of the Mayor are slightly limited to installing benches, instating pre-designated laws and occasionally building bigger venues, however the vibrant visuals and delightful gameplay of New Leaf stop this from ever becoming too much of a problem, making New Leaf the latest essential member of your 3DS collection.
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  7. Dec 10, 2020
    0
    A very soulful and memorable game, whose virtual world, every sound and every melody remains in the heart for life. Thanks for this miracle!

See all 206 User Reviews