Animal Crossing: New Leaf

 3DS
User Score
8.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 920 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 799 out of 920
  2. Mixed: 76 out of 920
  3. Negative: 45 out of 920
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  1. omfgkj
    Jul 21, 2023
    10
    The game is amazing! Calm and fun, where you aren't forced to do anything. The characters are lovable, the music fits perfectly, and it's a fun calm game at general.
  2. romapavlov
    May 15, 2023
    10
  3. MythicallyLegen
    Apr 8, 2023
    9
    I think to this day it’s the best animal crossing game there is. Much was added compared to the previous versions, town was lively and interesting, multiplayer was casual and fun. Only downsides are it can get quite repetitive but thats kinda animal crossing in a nutshell.
  4. oopkp
    Apr 1, 2023
    10
    FINALLY THEY GOT FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA TO DIRECT AN ANIMAL CROSSING GAME! He made 'em an offer they couldn't refuse and got his spot in the director's seat for the first time since the Godfather Part III (although I've never seen that movie). His influence shines through in every part of the game. First of all, the weeds of Wild World are massively toned down since this game came out 8FINALLY THEY GOT FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA TO DIRECT AN ANIMAL CROSSING GAME! He made 'em an offer they couldn't refuse and got his spot in the director's seat for the first time since the Godfather Part III (although I've never seen that movie). His influence shines through in every part of the game. First of all, the weeds of Wild World are massively toned down since this game came out 8 years later, meaning there hasn't been as much time for weeds to accumulate in my town. But also, Tom Nook is clearly inspired by crime boss Michael Corleone. Nook's corruption peaks in this entry, as he scams the player with really expensive houses. They also made him have a more sinister personality which I really appreciated. My only problem with this game is that it lost some of the charm that the other games had, but it's still a masterpiece in my eyes.… Expand
  5. SatinFoil
    Jan 1, 2023
    10
    My favorite 3DS game, and most favorite animal crossing game (other then original)! If you have a 3DS, I definitely recommend playing it!
  6. AlexMakesToast
    Nov 23, 2022
    7
    New leaf = 7/10
    ...........................................................
  7. ZangBang
    Oct 24, 2022
    4
    45/100
    Animal Crossing New Leaf is an immersive experience full of warmth, where the relaxing rhythm of everyday life lulls the player into a state of quietly fulfilling, mundane bliss, surrounded by friendly faces in a charmingly peaceful setting. The villagers are endearingly vibrant and unique thanks to various personality types, even though their presence starts to feel hollow after    45/100
    Animal Crossing New Leaf is an immersive experience full of warmth, where the relaxing rhythm of everyday life lulls the player into a state of quietly fulfilling, mundane bliss, surrounded by friendly faces in a charmingly peaceful setting. The villagers are endearingly vibrant and unique thanks to various personality types, even though their presence starts to feel hollow after some time, mainly due to the lack of many meaningful ways to interact with them and a somewhat disappointing amount of lines of dialogue. Nonetheless, the game partially makes up for it through its astonishingly rich customization options. An immense catalogue of clothes to change your appearance, but also countless furniture and hundreds of items to decorate the interior of your house and the landscape of the town as well, not only through the growth of various kinds of trees and flowers, but also projects that vary from small fountains to new facilities hosting new activities. As time passes, new shops and locals will open allowing the player to shop more, access new features and meet new characters. Slowly but surely, players will discover the incredible richness of the decorative and self-expression options the game has to offer, making for a gratifying long-lasting experience. However, as much as it offers an astounding amount of content and a unique atmosphere, the overly simplistic and excruciatingly repetitive nature of the few available activities, namely fishing and catching bugs, leaves New Leaf thriving more off of ambience than actual content.    … Expand
  8. Dairy
    Sep 19, 2022
    10
    An absolute masterpiece of a game, it has everything an animal crossing game has ever needed, it isn’t watered down like New Horizons, I would say NL is the most balanced in then series feature wise. The music is simply outstanding like 5pm, 7pm, and even the main street theme! Only complaints are grass deterioration, and the lack of other minor special npcs like Frillard, or Serena butAn absolute masterpiece of a game, it has everything an animal crossing game has ever needed, it isn’t watered down like New Horizons, I would say NL is the most balanced in then series feature wise. The music is simply outstanding like 5pm, 7pm, and even the main street theme! Only complaints are grass deterioration, and the lack of other minor special npcs like Frillard, or Serena but that’s pretty much it. If you have to play only one game in the series it has to be New Leaf.… Expand
  9. varkaromlu
    Jun 13, 2022
    9
    The game was very addicting. I played it for two hours or more a day, everyday, for months. After a while, it gets really repetitive, so I dropped it. But the time I spent on the island was magical, a really great experience.
  10. Paperplayer
    Apr 13, 2022
    10
    To be honest its better than new horizons because of the villagers they have more emotion in this game than the villagers in new horizons but you can't build outside allthough there are items that would look better placed outside but okay I always wanted a steamroller inside my house.
  11. Anthony_is_AFK
    Mar 9, 2022
    10
    While I may sound like pretty much everyone in the Animal Crossing community, I think this is one of the best AC games, I think the mechanic of being the mayor is one of the best ideas, it really changes the gameplay compared to the games before it. The character customization is great with tons of different options for clothing and tons of new hairstyles (with some of them not evenWhile I may sound like pretty much everyone in the Animal Crossing community, I think this is one of the best AC games, I think the mechanic of being the mayor is one of the best ideas, it really changes the gameplay compared to the games before it. The character customization is great with tons of different options for clothing and tons of new hairstyles (with some of them not even appearing in New Horizons to this day). The UI is easy and simple to understand for new players, and also has that Animal Crossing charm to it of course. The special NPCs are very charming and unique (my personal favorite being Digby), the music is great, and the online is fun. If your thinking about getting an Animal Crossing game soon would 100% recommend you to pick up a cheap 3DS or 2DS and get this game because it is one of my favorite video games of all time, and I think you should play this if you are interested in playing life simulation games, but speaking of life simulation games, I just want to say Animal Crossing is absolutely nothing like Tomodachi Life, they are completely different games with completely different art styles, gameplay, UI, and controls.… Expand
  12. albegres
    Feb 5, 2022
    9
    89/100
    This game has so much charm and is so incredibly relaxing. Animal Crossing is unique in the gaming industry and you need to play it to understand it. At the beginning you might not understand it, but the more you play it the more you enjoy it
  13. MunhozMCM
    Nov 4, 2021
    9
    My Score:

    (9) - Great!

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  14. KNX2501
    Jul 17, 2021
    8
    Es un buen juego sobre todo si disfrutas de realizar pequeñas tareas para pasar el tiempo. Lo recomiendo para jugadores casuales o para aquellos que quieran algo mas relajante.
  15. dojarat
    Jun 16, 2021
    10
    truly one of the best games on the 3Ds, i remember when i first picked this game up in 2013 i continued playing consistently for almost 5 years and i still find myself checking in on my villagers!
  16. TheBlueBouquet
    May 14, 2021
    10
    Even though Animal Crossing: New Leaf is not a perfect game, I think it has way more personality, more things to do, and more life compared to Animal Crossing: New Horizons and is the closest you can get to perfection. When I was playing the game for two to three months, I really got board of the game because there wasn't anything to keep me interested. As of now, there are less buildings,Even though Animal Crossing: New Leaf is not a perfect game, I think it has way more personality, more things to do, and more life compared to Animal Crossing: New Horizons and is the closest you can get to perfection. When I was playing the game for two to three months, I really got board of the game because there wasn't anything to keep me interested. As of now, there are less buildings, shops and other places you can visit, villager dialogue is far more repetitive, there are less special characters to interact with, and most of the "new" features added into the game are honestly nothing special. Sure, teraforming gives the more creative players more freedom when designing their town, but for the interactive players, myself included, are held back by these selling points of the game. Also, the updates in that game are re-adding things from New Leaf that were already in the game at-launch and were spread out monthly to pad out development time and adding things in the game so that they can give the developers more time to implement things at their own pace. Sure, in New Leaf, there was only one update, but it added substantial amounts of content. And in that game, the execution was so much better because of how they envisioned the game. And taking your mark as mayor sure helped to change the conventions of the franchise and gave players more freedom with what they can do. And in this game, there are far more special characters, lots of fun mini-games to play with yourself, or with friends, and much, much more. And since New Horizons was held back by a global pandemic, it was stopped from being the best it could be. And since New Leaf was developed when there was any compromises, they didn't have to worry about delaying content implementation. And New Leaf just is much more special to me, and I will continue playing it for many years to come.… Expand
  17. Hedaki
    May 12, 2021
    9
    Amazing! Amazing! And Amazing! The only thing is that the music in the OG GCN game is better, but in place, it puts you as mayor on a town.
  18. Kefero
    May 7, 2021
    9
    Animal Crossing: New Leaf kept me interested until the end. It's a very good and interesting game. If you want engaging material, then look no further. With Animal Crossing: New Leaf, you become a mayor of a town. I would recommend Animal Crossing: New Leaf to any fan of the genre.
  19. CharlestonBit
    May 2, 2021
    10
    This game.... Its quite powerful,
    To Anyone who has never played it before you need to, the game itself is great but there's something else that is just really amazing. It has this memorable spark of nostalgia after a few months of playing and that never goes away. Which is why this game is a 10 out of 10!
  20. yeet2009
    Apr 11, 2021
    10
    I love this game its really fun its a lot (in my opinion) the best one in the series, better than "New Horizons"
  21. redpandaman
    Apr 6, 2021
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. this si my 4th fav game behind 1.cat quest 2 2. cat quest 3. terraria btw reccomend all of them cat quest 1 2 are cheap on switch well terraria isent that cheap its more cheap on mobile and also on pc okay but new leaf is amazing its better than the sequal the costs for the furniture is cheap which is nice you dont have to use your retirement funds to buy the good looking stuff also the progression in the shopping district also the game is just fun i can imagine myself decorating my house over and over and over again because i can afford all the furniture and there is no cap of how many you can get per day well 10 because your mail will fill up but you can then time trave to get the stuff and then boom also the island and tours are so good… Expand
  22. TG098
    Apr 6, 2021
    10
    Really fun, one of, if not the best 3ds game. I have put 100's of hours in and it still has something new to offer every single day. Every villager has so much character, which I can not say about new horizons, in my opinion the best game in the series.
  23. omniface
    Mar 8, 2021
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. already rated the other three animal crossing game
    but only one open so this is my second new horizons review
    since animal crossing is in the same series

    not my review but completely agree with this except i dont want to change my current
    review

    here it is https://www.ign.com/articles/animal-crossing-new-horizons-good-bad-opinion    … Expand
  24. MrTheMan
    Feb 20, 2021
    5
    I understand why so many people love this game, but to me, it feels like an app I have to check on every day for an hour and do nothing gameplay.
  25. marcelkuvshee
    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!
  26. obthegeek
    Nov 22, 2020
    10
    the pinnacle of the series, and one of my all time favourite games. i've sunk so many hours into this game for a reason. i'll always love the memories i made with it.
  27. Luccio
    Oct 20, 2020
    8
    New Leaf brought animal crossing to a whole new generation with marvelous splendor and arguably perfected the gameplay loop. Incredible game anyone can enjoy, however derivative it is of its previous entries.
  28. gamerz4life
    Oct 12, 2020
    5
    What can be said about this game? On paper, the game sounds like it should be fun. You become a mayor of a town in which you move in, you get control of designing the inside of your house and eventually the outside, and you are in charge of beefing up the town and bringing in new residents. It seems almost like it should be a Sims or SimCity type game. But then you start playing.

    First,    What can be said about this game? On paper, the game sounds like it should be fun. You become a mayor of a town in which you move in, you get control of designing the inside of your house and eventually the outside, and you are in charge of beefing up the town and bringing in new residents. It seems almost like it should be a Sims or SimCity type game. But then you start playing.

    First, you’re provided with a tent as you’re told you need to have a down payment of 10,000 bells for them to get you a one-room shack as though you just moved out west. Then once you finally get your house, Tom frickin’ Nook has the nerve to say you now owe 39,800 bells for the place and you can’t upgrade the house at all until you pay it off. Oh and don’t worry those expansions will be even more exorbitant fees. It would be okay if in like the Sims you had real ways of making money but oh wait, you don’t. You have to shake trees for fruit, go digging for fossils, pick up shells, some of the most mundane tasks imaginable and then the shop offers you a couple hundred bells if you’re lucky. And don’t forget that while you’re collecting things you have limited inventory! So after you pick up a couple items (your required tools count as pocket space) you have to run over to immediately sell or plant your items, hopefully it’s the right time of day and they’re open!

    As for upgrading the town itself, your assistant tells you a few Public Works Projects you can set in motion, but oh wait those cost hundreds of thousands of bells, that you’re pretty much expected to come up with out of your own pocket. You can set up a fund for the community to pitch in but they either don’t even notice that this is going on or they’ll give you 2 bells. Wow am I on my way now!

    The villagers are pretty annoying, many of them, especially the people at the stores that you have to interact with constantly, will say the same few lines over and over again, and you can’t speed through the lines of text! And sometimes you’re tasked with finding certain villagers but they’re not always at home, they’re busy wandering around the place at the same time you are so you’re most likely going to go through town several times before coming across them. Oh and then the real question. Why are you the only human in this town? And you’re not even given the option to be a different creature, you can just choose human boy/human girl.

    Time in-game is real time, there is no speeding up. You want nighttime? Well you better be playing at night. You have a contest during the day? Too bad if you’re not home to play. Time and day randomize the store items for you to buy as well. So if you want that fishing pole or butterfly net you have to check the store each day, crossing your fingers that it’s in stock today. And then there’s hardly anything to ever buy in store. What is the point?! Not to mention the awful clothing choices, where if you’re playing as a boy you can still be offered skirts and dresses?, where you can tell the only real reason those are still being sold is to cover up their lack of choices in that department. And not only that but you can also use your wallpaper colors and patterns to change your clothing patterns, like what?!

    At the beginning, you think this game is kinda fun until you get several hours in and realize that you’re expected to do the same thing day in and day out, it never changes. And you realize that you don’t have any real power in this town as mayor. The loan-shark Tom Nook has more power in this town than you. This game is just a major time-waster where you can do real world chores digitally. I don’t see the appeal of this series and I’d rather spend my time playing a game that has meaning, a story, and is FUN! (Or doing my chores in the real world, thank you very much.) This is more a game for little kids, people who don’t want anything out of a game, or hardcore Nintendo fans.    … Expand
  29. TEMP0
    Sep 6, 2020
    10
    Best Animal Crossing game of all time, or maybe even one the best games of all time. The 4th installment of the Animal Crossing franchise is an endless experience that can allow hundreds of hours of open-ended gameplay.

    New Leaf is something I'd recommend for many people
  30. Botwisbestgame
    Sep 1, 2020
    0
    https://youtu.be/NOaSdO5H91M this game sucks its just a mario party wanna be.
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Awards & Rankings

4
#4 Best 3DS Game of 2013
4
#4 Most Discussed 3DS Game of 2013
4
#4 Most Shared 3DS Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
88

Generally favorable reviews - based on 70 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 64 out of 70
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 70
  3. Negative: 0 out of 70
  1. Pelit (Finland)
    Oct 7, 2013
    91
    Animal Crossing: New Leaf is excellent for meditation, coffee breaks, grinding, goofing around, self-expression and, naturally, having loads of fun. [Aug 2013]
  2. Level7.nu
    Sep 10, 2013
    70
    It is not too shabby to be a major. Animal Crossing New Leaf continues the series tradition of being as charming as it is relaxing. The repetitive nature of the tasks in the game has an allure that somehow never gets old. Fans will of course feel right at home and welcome the occasional tweaks and news the game has to offer. It’s just too bad that New Leaf while being a game with lots of content still offers very few surprises.
    Read full review
  3. Universo Nintendo
    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.
    Read full review
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