March 2020, Animal Crossing: New Horizons drops, right at the moment when I need it the most.
Fast forward almost a year and—despite logging hundreds of hours and restarting my island multiple times—I keep finding myself back at that title screen, bopping my head along to those cute, fun tunes.
It might be monotonous to some, but the daily activities in Animal Crossing: New Horizons were a godsend for me during the lockdown, and they continue to be a welcome thought on my mind as we continue through this weird time of our lives. That being said, I've yet to actually log back in and jump into the grind once more.
But why? You might ask. Why spend so much time thinking about this game if you don't actually have any plans to play it.
Well, it's not really that simple. It's not that I don't have plans to play it. I've planned many times to jump back in and start back up my island—even musing over the idea of completely restarting and doing it all again, just to get lost in it. But then I think, what if I restart and I lose ALL that progress and I just don't feel like doing it all again?
Still, there's always that welcoming thought of what was such a beautiful game (and still is) during one of the times that I needed it the most, and I think that's why I find it so welcoming and comforting. Just logging on and loading up the title page and listening to the menu music is calming, and helps curb the anxiety that rises in my stomach sometimes.
It does make me wonder, though, are there any games that you keep going back to that you don't actually play that have a similar effect on you? What do you think about those games? How do they make you feel?
Also, shout out to my boy Sherb for never forgetting me.
