Animal Crossing: New Leaf Official Game Guide

August 15, 2013 at 8:18 pm

I bought this Animal Crossing: New Leaf Official Game Guide a few weeks ago but wasn’t able to photograph it until now due to the recent problems with my camera. Alas! I’m excited to share my feelings about the book with the world because many good things have come from buying it.

Note: Featured in the photo with the guide are my limited edition Animal Crossing 3DS XL and an ACNL protective case.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been an Animal Crossing fan/player since the first game was release for GameCube, much thanks to Kathleen’s excitement about it. Mom, Beth, Kathleen and I had been fans of Harvest Moon and Kathleen had a gut feeling that Animal Crossing would be even better. She was right! So, thanks to her, I’ve had a lot of experience playing all of the games. That’s why I didn’t think a guide would make any difference in the gameplay for New Leaf. I was very wrong: it made all the difference in the world.

The Official Game Guide offers a ridiculous amount of information about the game, including long, detailed lists of just about every house item available for purchase in New Leaf. Even better, images of all the items are included with the descriptions. Other lists include bugs, fish, art, plants and clothing. Information like the time of the year they’re available, where they can be found/purchased, their values and other miscellaneous details are listed inside the book.

Besides being useful, the book is aesthetically pleasing to the eye. The cover and all of the pages in between are thick, colorful and full of quality. I have to admit that not all reasons for owning the book are practical; a part of me simply enjoys the prettiness of every page!

My one gripe with the guide is that bits and pieces of the information provided are dated, meaning that Nintendo must have submitted a draft to the book’s publisher before the game was actually set for release. Doing so caused some of the info to be slightly inaccurate at times. While the flaws can be frustrating at times, I don’t let them deter me from enjoying all of the other helpful pieces of information the book includes. The item images alone have allowed me to compile an extensive and changing ACNL wish list to share with my friends online.

As much as I’ve come to rely on the internet to search for information about the games I play, there’s nothing quite like having a tangible book to flip through at a moment’s notice when I have a question about an item. I don’t need my phone. I don’t need my computer. With the book, I have Animal Crossing information within reach at all times. I have it on hand with me when I travel with my 3DS and it’s become a fun source to flip through whenever I have some down time. And if I decide that getting help the old school book way isn’t my thing on any certain day, I can always browse the online guide that the book gave me access to when I bought it. Every guide includes a user code to an online catalog, a similar but not as extensive, database with some of the book’s item information. Very handy!

The ACNL Official Game Guide will run gamers $19.99, a fair price for such a lovely and helpful source of information.


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