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Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival |OT| Enbrace your Party Animal!

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A lot of people were asking for the OT, so I guess I can make one. Our good friend HULEN10 is having some computer trouble so I hope I can make them proud lol.

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Title: Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival
Release date: November 13th (North-America), November 20th (Europe), November 21st (Japan and Australia)
Platform: Wii U
Price: $59.99
amiibo support: Yes, through Animal Crossing amiibo cards and figures

What comes with the game?

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The game itself comes in a miniature bundle with Isabelle and Digby amiibos, plus 3 exclusive Amiibo Festival amiibo cards; Stitches, Rosie and Goldie. The box mentions that Digby is a "Limited Time Offer" in the bundle, indicating a possible standalone release.

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Animal Crossing amiibo Festival is a Mario Party-esque game that features a main "board game" mode and an assortment of other mini games to play. Different games have different rules and player capacity and also vary in their use of amiibos and cards.

The main board game mode is called "Board Game"...uh kind of catchy, right? It requires you to use an amiibo as a game piece (think of Monopoly) and you move around a village corresponding with each day of the month (for a total of 28-31 moves depending on the month). The game will force you to play this when you first turn it on...so be prepared to plunk down and play for an hour and 15 minutes. (You can set time limits but I don't remember if it asked when first playing)
After playing the first round, you'll have to play a second round, and you'll also have the ability to select the month now. (this is when you should select a 30 minute time limit if you're excited to play other modes)
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Once completed, you'll be let out into the main plaza which is where you can select other attractions. Each attraction requires a certain amount of tickets which you can earn by winning happy points on various attractions. These other attractions are:

  • Resetti Bop [1 player; 3 amiibo cards]- "Can amiibo card characters pound on Mr. Resetti? Bop the inflatable Mr. Resetti dolls that pop out of holes in front of the characters. But you can only bop the dolls if you can beat them at a rock-paper-scissors test. So bop carefully!"
    This mode is very difficult as you have to have coordination between the rock-paper-scissors logo on each of the cards, AND pay attention to the Resetti dolls. You'll have to be quick scanning them in too as I found a little bit of lag time and missed out on quite a few bops....

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  • Desert Island Escape- [1 Player; 3 amiibo cards] "Set up a band of three characters and have a survival experience on a desert island. Different characters will have different abilities. Collect resources to build a raft, and escape within the time limit. Don't run out of food!"
    This one is probably the best out of any of the games available. It's charming, and has many layers of strategy involved and I fully believe you can turn it into a multiplayer game by having someone main the gamepad and the buttons and 3 other people saying where they want their character to go. There's a little bit of exploration involved, you'll also need to collect resources to build items (slingshot to help against enemies, fishing rod to catch fish, etc) and collect food to survive each day. Each villager has a different ability, for instance Goldie can sniff out items on nearby spaces, Rosie can collect fish without a rod, and Stitches can easily get honey/fight off bees. There's 10 levels spread across 3 difficulties (and different time limits) for a total of 30 stages to play.

  • amiibo Card Battle- [2-4 Players, 6 amiibo cards] "Each person plays an amiibo card. Whoever has the highest-value card wins."
    I haven't actually played this one, but it would appear you play a card, the highest dice value wins, although there's modifiers like zodiac symbol and reversals that can change the outcome.

  • Fruit Path- [2-4 Players; 1 card+ ] "Touch an amiibo card to the NFC touchpoint, and the character on the card will take the same number of steps as printed on its card. The player who gathers the most fruit in three rounds wins. But watch out for pitfalls along the way!"
    This one requires you and another player or more to play a card, then you travel along a path collecting fruit. As you get more, your pack becomes heavier and you have a higher chance of falling into a pitfall and losing a bunch of it. This is one that you'll really likely be able to play easier with more than one amiibo card.


  • Quiz Show [1-4 players; 1-4 cards]- "Play as your amiibo card character, and answer questions related to Animal Crossing. Each participant will have one chance to call up an amiibo character to get hints. "
    Hope you've been brushing up on your painters and artists. This mode is hard, even for a veteran of the series (and a guy who took 2 years of art history....) like myself. The game asks you a variety of questions related to catchphrases, KK songs, clothing items, sculptures/paintings, and sizes of bugs/fish. I think someone who hasn't played an AC game will definitely have a rough go of it. You use your amiibo card as your "character" and the amiibo figures can be used as a "phone-a-friend" in a sense.


  • Balloon Island- [1-4 players, 1+ card] "Characters from amiibo cards perform a daring freefall from high in the sky. Hold an amiibo card to the NFC touchpoint to hold your character as close to the center of the island as possible, popping balloons for points on the way down."
    This mode would probably be a blast with friends, and unlocks when you first get access to the plaza. Simply hold an amiibo card down and lift it up to drop your villager. You only really need one card, and you can use the same card 3 times across 4 players.


  • Mystery Campers- [1 player, 6 cards] "Try to guess who's hiding in each tent"
    Another I haven't personally unlocked, looks to be a simple version of guess who with AC villagers.


  • Acorn Chase- [1 player, 3 cards] "Control 3 amiibo card characters to pick up all of the acorns and head for the goal. But don't touch the rotten acorns! And if the Cornimer car catches you, the game will end!"
    This mode is another like Resetti Bop that is exceptionally difficult as you have to quickly scan the card in to move. You're basically looking at the screen and over to your cards and back to the screen to see which direction is next.

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Other helpful stuff:

[Official Website]



 
Just an extra note, if you'd like, I made a few impression posts over here in this thread.

Essentially, my verdict is that I think the modes are kind of mediocre for the most part, but I've yet to test it in a party setting where there's other people playing. (we're a group of 4 24 year olds playing Nintendoland for hours and hours and perfectly content playing those different attractions)

I think your money may be well spent by buying another party game..actually like Nintendoland, but I think there is some sustenance there in the Desert Island Escape mode. The whole thing is a very tiresome way to unlock other attractions and you really can't get a feel of how fun they are until you actually play them (and some of them are incredibly unfun! and I wanted my tickets back lmao) unlike a lot of other games where everything is open immediately to you. The tickets idea could have been better spent elsewhere, perhaps as a currency to unlock other outfits for your amiibo figures or villagers you scan in that populate the different areas of the game.

The amiibos themselves are the star attractions; every one I've seen has been very high quality, perhaps because they're not as detailed as some other amiibo, like Palutena or Ganondorf. Each of them is whimsical looking and they look great on display. There's a severe lack of customization with them and the "default" villager characters that appear as CPU players for multiplayer modes (Like...i can change the name, but not their appearance? Can't even let me slap a mii face on them?)

So basically I'd say you'd be better off skipping the game unless you're a big fan of Animal Crossing and/or you have friends or family members you'd be playing with. If you're an amiibo collector, the figures are rad and you'll get a lot of use out of the cards if you've been collecting those. It's kind of a lackluster single player game and coupled with HHD being pretty OK, it makes me feel like these two games could have been combined to make a pretty interesting outing in the AC series...but maybe these are just stopgaps for an upcoming AC game. I noted in the discussion thread that there's a TON of assets here; interiors for houses and stores like Nookling Junction and GracieGracie, furniture, villagers, clothing (even shoes!) and even new models (I've never seen Resetti in a suit...unless i missed him in another game) and everything is in HD. They absolutely HAVE to be using this stuff or these models for a new game.
 
D

Diggeh

Unconfirmed Member
Awesome OT, Spyro! I got all my figures and I'm gonna give the game a fair try. Seems like there's a lot more modes than expected.

It really is all about the figures. :p
 

Sami+

Member
Played it with my friends last night, thought it kind of sucked. Moves way too slowly and it's so heavily coated in gumdrops and rainbows that it's just not fun to play at all. There's no stakes and you can tell it's made by the Mario Party 10 team and their dumbass "everyone's a winner!! :) :) :)" no fun design philosophy. I didn't really see where skill could even possibly factor into the board game - my friend's 10 year old brother was kicking our asses the whole time from lucky rolls when all of a sudden two turns before the end of the game, my friend just happened to stumble on a "money tree" that gave him 90,000 bells free (for reference, at the end of the game the rest of us were hovering between 10-20k and his little brother was far ahead with 35k) out of nowhere.

Halfway though the game he just turned and was like "uh... you guys wanna play Fortune Street after this game is over?"

Fortune Street is fun.
 

IzzyF3

Member
Great job on the OT! I bought the game because of the Isabelle amiibo, but I haven't opened it yet. I'm leaning on keeping the game though since I bought it at a discount from Target's B2g1 and I'm assuming there is a mainline Animal Crossing game in development that would make use of the amiibos and amiibo cards. But that Isabelle amiibo... I can't resist.
 

Sami+

Member
The amiibo are shockingly nice - way better than the Smash ones imo. Good detail and they feel solid.
 

Hazu

Member
Finally an OT! :)

Bought the game yesterday, haven't tested it. Will probably wait for my girlfriend to do so!
 
Thanks for the OT!

Quoting myself from another thread:

I just wanted to give some more impressions, since there is no OT and people were asking for some. My wife and I played the two rounds of the board game needed to unlock everything else, the balloon game, and the island game. To preface, I am a fan of the main animal crossing games, and my wife has just gotten (really) into happy home designer but hasn't played any of the main games.

The board game was a fun, solid, but basic board game. There are actually way more events than just what the calendar shows, and there is some sort of special space to land on more often than not. Usually these will let you play a game or buy a card that have effects on the board, erase debt, or dice cards let you move a specific distance. The holiday events vary quite a bit in what they do, but usually change all the spaces to something different that causes various holiday events to occur (like fishing spaces for different rarities of fish) and are a good time to have the dice cards. The real meat of the competition starts when the stalk market opens in the second week. It basically lets you gamble your money on turnips from Joan. In our first game I took a long shot gamble on them that really paid off and got me something ridiculous like 80,000 bells, but I got really lucky. Overall, I thought the mode was fun, but just ok. My wife on the other hand really liked it, and wanted to play again right away. I'm really curious to open up more of the customization for the board.

The balloon game was simple fun. Spyroflame had a pretty good description of it so I don't have much to add. After popping the balloons you need to land on a moving island that has multipliers on it, and if you fall in the water you lose everything. This led to some intense moments and laughter in our house. We played if for about 15 minutes, but had a pretty good time doing so.

The island survival game was probably my favorite. We just played one easy level on it, and used a pass the pad style where we each played for one of the characters and swapped off on the third. We only played it once, but it seems like all of the amiibo cards have decent variety in their abilities. For example, I used Kapp'n and was excited to see that he had 6 movement points, which is a lot, and that he can move through shallow water. But this came with a drawback, because he used two movement points when traveling on land. While we were playing, my wife said "This seems like a game you would like to play by yourself." and I think she's right. It has just enough light strategy to be a good killing time type of game by myself, but I think it was more fun to play it as a team and talk strategy.

Overall so far, I'm glad we bought it. We didn't really take to the new mario party well so we were jonesing for a new board game-game to play. The amiibo usage is just a touch sketchy, since the main game at least shows that they don't really need them with the (human) villagers, but since they come with it for the price of a normal game, it isn't so bad. I'm hoping someone makes an OT soon, because I'd like to hear what others are thinking too!

A couple of things I've seen confusion/disagreement on too:

1. You only need one amiibo to play with any number of players on the board game. It just lets you use human villagers.

2. A game is actually quicker with two or three players, because they won't add computers. We got through in 45 minutes.

3. You CAN set a time limit for the very first game.
 
Are there collectibles/things to unlock in this game?

You unlock each of the attractions. The manual mentions unlocking features to add to the board game that change things up, like a windmill or light house. I haven't actually gotten to that option yet though.
 

Stopdoor

Member
1. You only need one amiibo to play with any number of players on the board game. It just lets you use human villagers.

So you don't need 4 amiibos then?

There must be some restriction for players who don't use amiibos - Mario Party 10 let you play as cardboard cut-outs, but then you couldn't use tokens.
 

andymcc

Banned
i bought this dumb game and the dumb amiibos for my SO.

will i have a good time at all when she forces me to play.
 
Played it with my friends last night, thought it kind of sucked. Moves way too slowly and it's so heavily coated in gumdrops and rainbows that it's just not fun to play at all. There's no stakes and you can tell it's made by the Mario Party 10 team and their dumbass "everyone's a winner!! :) :) :)" no fun design philosophy. I didn't really see where skill could even possibly factor into the board game - my friend's 10 year old brother was kicking our asses the whole time from lucky rolls when all of a sudden two turns before the end of the game, my friend just happened to stumble on a "money tree" that gave him 90,000 bells free (for reference, at the end of the game the rest of us were hovering between 10-20k and his little brother was far ahead with 35k) out of nowhere.

Halfway though the game he just turned and was like "uh... you guys wanna play Fortune Street after this game is over?"

Fortune Street is fun.

there is alot of strategy involved in board game mode int he form of Turnips trust me when i say every sunday use all your money in turnips and then sell when there high money can play a huge factor in who wins. I lost a match to a friend because he had a move forward 1 space card and ended up selling his 600 turnips for 348 bells a piece and then i got stomped because i only sold mine for 186 :(


So you don't need 4 amiibos then?

There must be some restriction for players who don't use amiibos - Mario Party 10 let you play as cardboard cut-outs, but then you couldn't use tokens.

Normal villager players you cant change how they look since they cant level up and gain new outfts
 
So you don't need 4 amiibos then?

There must be some restriction for players who don't use amiibos - Mario Party 10 let you play as cardboard cut-outs, but then you couldn't use tokens.

As far as I can tell, you lose out on a few cosmetic things, like unlocking new costumes and maybe using emotes that you can use during the game. It even lets you rename the human villagers, I guess in case you have one you frequently use.
 

Stopdoor

Member
Normal villager players you cant change how they look since they cant level up and gain new outfts

Is leveling up just to gain new outfits? Do the new outfits do anything other than cosmetics?

Edit: Ok, I see. Any more info you guys figure out would be cool to know.
 
Ahh man disappointed to hear that this isn't that fun. I was quite interested in getting this because I'm a big AC fan, but I think I'll hold off for a potential sale.
 
Are there collectibles/things to unlock in this game?

There's the attractions first and foremost, and then playing with the amiibo figures on the board game you can unlock alternate costumes. I haven't played it much but I got Digby the raincoat outfit. It's purely cosmetic and does nothing.

The villager amiibo cards can be scanned in to customize the board, and then there's also spots to put PWP-esque attractions which it says can be used to expand routes on the board but they cost tickets and I'm dumping them into the attractions first.

So you don't need 4 amiibos then?

There must be some restriction for players who don't use amiibos - Mario Party 10 let you play as cardboard cut-outs, but then you couldn't use tokens.

It all depends on the attractions. The board game for instance if you play with more than one person (lets say two), you'll need two amiibos. I thought it forced CPUs into the other two spots, but bulletbill says it wont add more which is nice. If you have four people playing, you'll need four for that mode....at least that's what I'm understanding?

I might be totally wrong though. There's 8 human villagers that the CPU selects from which I would assume you can use if you dont have a character figure, and then you obviously wont get the happy points for leveling up for them.

i bought this dumb game and the dumb amiibos for my SO.

will i have a good time at all when she forces me to play.

You might have some fun with friends and SOs. But I think its dependent on how much you like the series and such.
 
It all depends on the attractions. The board game for instance if you play with more than one person (lets say two), you'll need two amiibos. I thought it forced CPUs into the other two spots, but bulletbill says it wont add more which is nice. If you have four people playing, you'll need four for that mode....at least that's what I'm understanding?

I might be totally wrong though. There's 8 human villagers that the CPU selects from which I would assume you can use if you dont have a character figure, and then you obviously wont get the happy points for leveling up for them.

I just double checked to confirm. In a two or higher player game, you still only need one amiibo and the other folks can just be the human villagers.
 

Sami+

Member
there is alot of strategy involved in board game mode int he form of Turnips trust me when i say every sunday use all your money in turnips and then sell when there high money can play a huge factor in who wins. I lost a match to a friend because he had a move forward 1 space card and ended up selling his 600 turnips for 348 bells a piece and then i got stomped because i only sold mine for 186 :(

But they change value every day. In Fortune Street someone can tank your stock value by forcibly buying out a shop you need or by pulling a ton of stock out of a district you own if they invest in it early - losing money that way makes the game more fun because that almost cutthroat system plays up the drama and makes playing with friends really exciting.

Amiibo Festival is just "oh no stock went down. fuck."
 
But they change value every day. In Fortune Street someone can tank your stock value by forcibly buying out a shop you need or by pulling a ton of stock out of a district you own if they invest in it early - losing money that way makes the game more fun because that almost cutthroat system plays up the drama and makes playing with friends really exciting.

Amiibo Festival is just "oh no stock went down. fuck."

doesnt always go down they can also go up there is also cards you can get from redd that can change the turnip prices. Also depending on the month you play in if it has lucky day turnip prices double.
 

Sami+

Member
doesnt always go down they can also go up there is also cards you can get from redd that can change the turnip prices. Also depending on the month you play in if it has lucky day turnip prices double.

Didn't know about the turnip price card but landing on those spaces is all chance anyway so eh. Yeah, prices go up, but you can't really choose to maximize profits with any meaningful strategy because you don't know what days they'll go up or go down. I had a move four space that would have taken me to a really great spot to sell (like 300 or something) but in the turn I wanted to use it the stock prices tanked. Trying to actually plan a few steps ahead is discouraged and it's more like straight up gambling than anything else.
 

ngower

Member
I just see this as software made to give Nintendo an excuse to sell more amiibos.

Pretty much how I feel. It's especially disappointing considering how universally praised New Leaf was. What could have been tremendous momentum leading into the Wii U game turned out to be a quick cash-grab on both systems and, in my opinion, may have done some damage to Animal Crossing's reputation.

I have the game but haven't opened it yet and don't know if I will (may return, still awaiting more impressions and reviews). I just want the Isabelle and Tom Nook amiibo, but they held my waifu hostage in the bundle. She could be the first amiibo I actually import.
 
My wife and I enjoyed playing it with our daughter so much yesterday and today that we plan on playing it by ourselves later on. We're pretty big Animal Crossing fans though.

I really enjoyed Desert Island Escape. I'd buy that released separately on the eShop in a heartbeat.
 

rpmurphy

Member
Got my box yesterday via Amazon and it was banged up. There was even a tear on the top cover, wtf. :(

Btw OP, you spelled huelen's name wrong.
 
Really good OT - and great to hear about various impressions... had this preordered on the off chance it was worth a punt but nice to be able to make an informed purchasing decision!
 

IzzyF3

Member
My wife and I enjoyed playing it with our daughter so much yesterday and today that we plan on playing it by ourselves later on. We're pretty big Animal Crossing fans though.

I really enjoyed Desert Island Escape. I'd buy that released separately on the eShop in a heartbeat.

I paid $40 for this after b2g1. Assuming Isabelle and Digby would have been $13 each separately and the 3 amiibo cards at $1 each, The extras without the game would have been $29.

Is the Desert Island Escape worth $11?
 
I paid $40 for this after b2g1. A summing Isabelle and Digby would have been $13 each separately and the 3 amiibo cards at $1 each, without game would have been $29.

Is the Desert Island Escape worth $11?

I mean, I only played it three times, but I'd say so. I'm a huge Animal Crossing fan though.
 

maxcriden

Member
I just see this as software made to give Nintendo an excuse to sell more amiibos.

I'm pretty sure there's an interview with the AC development folks saying they thought AC amiibos would be neat, then made a game around it. So you're not far off. I mean, I'm sure true effort and genuine hard work were put into making the game, but it still seems just...a lacking product.
 

Richie

Member
I'm one to appreciate original takes on old concepts, and yet, Desert Island Escape aside, it sounds like this game would be much more appealing if it had been like the old Mario Partieswith an Animal Crossing skin. 80 or so fun AC-themed minigames with wacky things going on in AC-themed boards and I'd actually be looking forward to it.
 
I'm one to appreciate original takes on old concepts, and yet, Desert Island Escape aside, it sounds like this game would be much more appealing if it had been like the old Mario Partieswith an Animal Crossing skin. 80 or so fun AC-themed minigames with wacky things going on in AC-themed boards and I'd actually be looking forward to it.

To be honest I still have a blast playing the candy game on Nintendoland. I would have loved to see some sort of game like that here or similar multiplayer titles.
 

Blues1990

Member
I have the Sable and Tom Nook amiibo's, and I'm going to pick up the rest tomorrow. I need something that's a bit more laid back, and with this and Cards Versus Humanity, it's going to be a fun party night.

Oh, and before I forget, Timmy & Tommy, Kapp'n, & Rover will be included in future waves.
 
D

Deleted member 20415

Unconfirmed Member
Kind of feel like a sucker with this game. Bought everything... Didn't realize you really don't need more than a couple amiibo, and the cards are really the locking mechanism for the mini games.

Kind of shitty for Them to put "everything you need to play!" On the box, then have a bunch of mini games needing 6 cards to fully use.

Love Nintendo more than anything, but this feels like a cash grab, and a diehard like me feels burned... I mean, it's really the most boring board game mode of all time... Amiibo JUST to roll dice? Come on!
 

Choomp

Banned
The newer footage at the new direct looked kinda cool actually. As a huge Animal Crossing fan, this getting announced rather than a mainline game was pretty disappointing, but I guess I'm part of the problem as I'm going to end up buying it + some amiibos.
 

finalflame

Member
Is embrace intentionally misspelled in the OT title?

Anyways, got the game primarily for the Amiibos. Gameplay itself is dull as hell. The biggest purpose this game serves in my life is to make me depressed in realizing how amazing an actual AC game would've looked on the WiiU. For all its shortcomings, this game has the most beautiful rendition of AC's universe. Shame about the game itself.

Oh well.
 
I want to buy some AC amiibos Nintendo, I really do, but not when they're tied to such a worthless looking game. It's incredibly sad that two Animal Crossing games get released in a year and neither one of them are at all appealing to me.
 

IzzyF3

Member
I want to buy some AC amiibos Nintendo, I really do, but not when they're tied to such a worthless looking game. It's incredibly sad that two Animal Crossing games get released in a year and neither one of them are at all appealing to me.

Yeah, it's a problem when the amiibos are more appealing than the games.
 
I want to buy some AC amiibos Nintendo, I really do, but not when they're tied to such a worthless looking game. It's incredibly sad that two Animal Crossing games get released in a year and neither one of them are at all appealing to me.

Happy Home Designer is great though?

Amiibo Festival is pretty fun too.

And speaking as a person that is still playing New Leaf daily, I do not want another console Animal Crossing if it's gonna be City Folk all over again. I'll gladly take spinoffs if it means the next Animal Crossing will be a Wild World to New Leaf leap in quality.
 

Haines

Banned
I'm pretty sure there's an interview with the AC development folks saying they thought AC amiibos would be neat, then made a game around it. So you're not far off. I mean, I'm sure true effort and genuine hard work were put into making the game, but it still seems just...a lacking product.

I remember that. I think maybe right from e3.

Its a shame, but with new leaf being so good and selling it must just be a stop gap money maker til we get the real deal on nx.
 

alf717

Member
Nice OT. Game looks really fun but I don't open my Amiibo boxes. =( Guess I'm screwed. =D At least the box art is nice.
 

Chindogg

Member
They're holding Isabelle hostage. :(

The side of the box says it's Isabelle in a winter outfit.

I expect another Isabelle amiibo with another outfit in the future.


It's a fun game, especially if you have all the amiibos available. I think it's better than Mario Party 10.
 
The side of the box says it's Isabelle in a winter outfit.

I expect another Isabelle amiibo with another outfit in the future.


It's a fun game, especially if you have all the amiibos available. I think it's better than Mario Party 10.

We've already played it more than mario party 10, but that was our least favorite mario party by a fairly wide margin. We actually like this game quite a bit so far!
 
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