Pocket Camp Complete Review

This post has no direct connection to Seaside, but many of the same individuals who are attracted to games like Seaside love Animal Crossing as well.  In fact, during the pandemic,  Animal Crossing becane a sort of alternate reality for individuals across the entire globe.  It may have been the most played game and individuals who never played a game were inspired to become involved with Nintendo's immersive and deligbtful world of talking animals and museum collections of fossils, insects and fish as well as landscapng and the cross-breeding of flowers.

Animal Crossing originally was designed for the GameCube.  I wrote a guide that was over 1000 pages for that game and it later was released for handheld systems like the DS.

The Animal Crossing New Horizons game for the Switch was the version that took the world by storm during the pandemic.  People were desperate for a safe exit of any kind from the prisons of their own homes in situations of lockdown.  Animal Crossing gave them that and more.

Seven years ago, Nintendo released a sort of free companion game for mobile devices entitled Pocket Camp.  It was a smaller version of the Animal Crossing vision.  Originally, players had a caravan instead of a house to decorate as well as a canpsite but the game was expanded to include a house wirh three floors.

Like every AC game, it was a game of friendships with animals combined with interior and exterior designs of a caravan, house and campsite and the collection of an enormous variety of fish and insects as well as furnishings and a huge array of clothing.  As it was a 'free' game like Seaside, premium items gradually were introduced but the game never became egregiously expensive.

At the end of November, Nintendo shut down the original Pocket Camp but offered an inexpensive new paid version of the game.  Nintendo always has been conscious of the emotional investmrnt of its players as well as the time spent in its virtual worlds.  The new paid Animal Crossing Complete allows a player to keep all existing items from the original but after the purchase of the paid game for a rather inexpensive price, there are no premium items and nothing requires payment in actual cash.

Any version of AC is a collection game.  Items are unlocked in different ways.  There are special collections and landscapes for every season and it is at your campsite that you can create an amazing world for yourself still.

For my part, the extraordinary seasonal landscapes, especially Sakura theme for Spring, falling maple leaves for Autumn and many different landscapes with festive lights and snowy trees and rivers for Christmas made me feel the new game had value.

In seven years, I had become less hardworking in the old game.  If I needed a fish or insect to give to an Animal, I usually could find it in a friend's market stall.  One could buy out of events to some extent.  I still played every day but spent very little time on it.

The new version has revitalised my interest.  The fact that one never needs to spend actual cash again creates a new dynamic.  If a player wants something, it must be earned, but rewards are easily earned and very generous.  With the new currency,  I was able to outfit my character in adorable Christmas attire I could noy havr ad

afforded in the original.  The current lists of special items to add to the catalogue are available for a month.  The pressure is gone now.  There is no pressure either from other players.  Every player can save up to 20 different landscapes and designs now and every player has an Animal helper who will  collect useful items throughout the day.  These were premium options in the other version.

Coins and Leaf Tickets as well as special new themed collections are earned in timed events.

You will unlock new Animals by sending Gulliver's ship out to sea and then using Blather's

Map to bring the Animal to your island.  Every Animal has a special item of furniture that is unlocked for you to craft at a specific level.  Crafting is very much a part of this game.  Items crafted are added to your catalogue and can be used on your campsite, in your caravan, in the house, or stored or sold.

You can fish, catch insects or grow flowers as gifts to Animals to raise their friendship levels and gain rewards.

Animal Crossing is a charming, slow paced game that is educational as well as somehow a stress reducer.

When I have recovered more from these surgical procedures necessitated by a new cancer that invaded, I will write a post with strategy 'tips and tricks', that really are gameplay suggestions really based on the new version.

Meanwhile, if you love Sraside but are finding it increasingly expensive and stressful, you might enjoy the peaceful atmosphere of Pocket Camp Complete.  The graphics and Toy Day items are truly magical, especially at this holiday season.