If the town development and relationship building of Animal Crossing: New Horizons were laying the groundwork for an archetypal JRPG story, it could be the most heart-wrenching JRPG of all time. The Animal Crossing games are laidback life simulation experiences, and the absence of high stakes is one of the series’ main draws. In New Horizons players venture to a deserted island and develop it into a fully functioning town populated by adorable talking animals. Many typical JRPG stories begin by showing the protagonist’s life in a similarly tranquil, bucolic village, before disaster strikes. These peaceful hometowns are often wiped out in an attack by monsters, or an evil empire, in such narratives, prompting the beginning of the central character’s heroic journey. Some gamers are already pondering what the next Animal Crossing might have instead of islands for its central theme, but very few players would be prepared for the tragedy of an invasion by goblins and orcs.

While there are some JRPGs that drop the player into the action in medias res, the more traditional format involves establishing a status quo that is disrupted by some malign force or unexpected circumstance. This rubric is present in many of the Dragon Quest games, Japan’s most iconic traditional RPG series, as well as other genre classics like Chrono Trigger. A festival is a common plot device used at the start of such games, as the hero of Dragon Quest 6 is asked to retrieve the Spirit Crown needed for the village’s Fortune Festival when they first cross over into the World of Dreams. Similarly, Chrono Trigger begins with Chrono attending the Millenial Fair when Marle is first transported through time. It is not hard to imagine Animal Crossing Bunny Day eggs being hidden in preparation for the arrival of Zipper T. Bunny when something even more terrifying approaches, like a raging red dragon or a fleet of magically propelled airships.

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The notion of Animal Crossing morphing into a JRPG was popularized by a recent tweet from @LonelyGoomba: “After 5 years of playing Animal Crossing your town should get attacked by an evil wizard and it all burns down. You must then embark on an epic quest to save the world. Thats [sic] when the true game starts. It’s the most immersive JRPG introduction ever.” A five-year prologue to a heroic JRPG adventure goes well beyond the scope of even the longest games, of course. Dragon Quest 7, one of the lengthiest games in the storied series, still only featured about two hours of buildup before its first battle.

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Pondering five years of bonding with animal villagers and building up an island city before its destruction suggests the main character would have aged from ACNH’s childlike human player avatar by the time the epic plot unfolds. On a player’s birthday, K.K. Slider has a birthday surprise in ACNH, but it consists of music and good cheer from the town’s inhabitants, not some apocalyptic event or startling revelation. The most recent eleventh Dragon Quest game, Echoes of an Elusive Age, begins with the hero’s coming of age ceremony at the village of Cobblestone, at which time the protagonist’s true lineage is revealed. Given the player’s ability to reshape the land and change the course of rivers in ACNH, it might not be surprising if a birthday event included Tom Nook unpacking the truth about how the player is descended from an elemental or a demigod.

Not every JRPG focuses on the destruction of a city, and there are a few that even offer a limited taste of Animal Crossing’s town-building gameplay. The original Dark Cloud paired a standard dungeon crawler with a city-building simulator, and Breath of Fire 2 also included a city-building minigame alongside a traditional JRPG turn-based epic. While the towns of Dragon Quest 11 are pretty great, none can match a player’s own ACNH city, built with the power of DIY and friendship. Hybrid RPGs that combine town development with battling monsters and exploring dungeons continue to find an audience, like My Time At Portia. Thankfully, none of these games wipe away a player’s hard-earned creations simply to increase the dramatic stakes of the story. It is for the best that Animal Crossing: New Horizons remains a relaxing getaway from the stresses of life, safe from the threats of JRPG wizards and monsters.

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Source: @LonelyGoomba