Now that work on Animal Crossing: New Horizons has wrapped up, many fans are looking to the future and the series' new games Nintendo might have in store - but others are focusing on the past, and boy, was the first-ever entry different before it was localized.
In a new excerpt on Polygon taken from Boss Fight Books' recent book on Animal Crossing, the gap between the original game's Japanese version and its localized release in the West is explored in depth. "It's standard for a game to tone down or change cultural references in the localization process," reads author Kelsey Lewin's text, "but the original Dōbutsu no Mori is painted especially thick with Japanese elements."
