Animal Crossing vs Tomodachi Collection: Which is the better hang-out?

[Looking at Tomodachi Collection: New Life’s release in Japan last week, Daniel Feit compares the playful life sim with Animal Crossing: New Leaf in this guest article reprinted from his blog.]

Spurred by questions regarding Tomodachi Collection, I thought I would whip up a quick list of comparisons between it and Animal Crossing, the other 3DS game where you hang out in a town with no real purpose.

Please note the most important difference right from the start: Animal Crossing will release in English on 3DS this summer, while Tomodachi Collection may never leave Japan.

SIMILARITIES: Both games put your character in charge of a community. There is no story or “goal” other than to enjoy yourself. Both games have an economy (Bells in AC, Yen in TC) and you will need money to buy things and unlock more game options. Items for sale include clothing, hats, food, and materials for decorating your home.

In Animal Crossing:

Your character is a human living among CPU furries. You can chat with them, do favors for them, but they mostly do their own thing.

Making money means collecting things (fruit, plants, fish, etc) and selling them. There is a constant push to spend your savings on bigger/better accommodations or other town amenities.

You have a lot of control over how the town looks. Trees can be cut down, flowers can be planted, houses can be redecorated.

All this means there are a TON of things you can buy/find/trade/sell.

Multiple people can share a single cartridge, so you and your friends can all “live” in the same town – though only one player can be the mayor.

Co-op activities are possible if you and a friend both own the game. The co-op is local only – no Internet.

In Tomodachi Collection:

You oversee a community built entirely from Miis you elect to import – no one lives in your town unless you put them there.

You do not directly control any on-screen character. Rather, you watch the Miis live and interact with each other, offering advice or help as needed. Even your Mii is an independent character.

The town is pre-arranged. New locations unlock based on your progress re: the residents (how many there are, how many problems you solve, etc)

You are constantly making money just by interacting with the Miis. Say a Mii tells you “I’m hungry.” You buy food, give it to the Mii. If he or she likes it, you get money. If he or she REALLY likes it, you might also get a gift. Gifts can be items meant to be used or treasures for collecting.

The game doesn’t have the sheer breadth of stuff that Animal Crossing includes, but it has more potential characters to play with since you choose who lives in the town

It’s strictly single-player. Streetpass/Spotpass does get you more items in stores, though.

Which one is “better”? Tough to say at this early juncture, but so far I am more excited by Tomodachi Collection’s anything-can-happen spirit. A session of Animal Crossing is easy to predict: you earn some money, pay off whatever debt is hanging over you at the time, and move on. When I boot up Tomodachi Collection, I have no idea what to expect. Will a love connection occur? Will friendships be forged…or be broken? And don’t get me started on the dreams these Miis have.

I like both games, but Tomodachi Collection is more amusing to me because all the Miis in my building represent real people that I know in real life. What’s more, the text-to-speech feature means everyone can talk. The residents of Animal Crossing are just that… animals. They “say” cute things sometimes as a series of chirps and whistles, but when they move away I don’t miss them.

One last thought: if you’re really curious about Tomodachi Collection now but don’t own a Japanese 3DS, there was a DS version that is region-free. You need to understand basic Japanese to play it, but it could be a fun way to help you understand the language better.

[You can read more from Daniel Feit at his Tumblr, and on his Twitter account @feitclub.]