For the last 2 weeks, we’ve been playing Animal Crossing every day. Between my wife and our little island is coming along nicely. We’ve just built the tailor shop and a campsite and are currently working on paying for another bridge.

Animal Crossing’s local multiplayer leaves a lot to be desired.  For one, the first character created is the only one who can progress the island. It’s like Tom Nook is too good to talk to anyone but me which is frustrating because at this point my wife plays more than I do. I and she would love if we could both be the Resident Representative. We’ve been taking turns placing buildings and choosing infrastructure to work on but it would be nice if her account could initiate these things instead of waiting for me. What bothers me is the dialog for a lot of these options says all residents can chip in. But by all residents, they mean me because he refuses to talk about it with anyone else…

And then there’s the “two-player” option. It’s there, it’s an option, but it’s not a great option. All the second player can do is collect things that go to a recycling box. They can’t access their pocket, they can’t talk to anyone, they can’t interact with anyone. It’s like when you gave your younger sibling a controller and said: “Look you’re playing now too.” We were playing this way for a while but now we just play on our own because it’s not fun to be the follower. Thankfully, switching the leader is as easy as shaking the controller. We now use this feature to trade DIY recipes we don’t have or materials that Nook needs.

In other news, Leopold moved on to our island. There was no choice in this. Tom Nook demanded it! Neither my wife or I cared for Leopold’s attitude or Nook’s master plan to lure a celebrity to our island by filling it up with residents so we’ve placed Leopold’s house on a ladder accessible area without an incline. We’re hoping we’ve banished him from the town for the time being. Only time will tell if he’s able to get down from there.