even with the QoL and new features that the other games bring to the table, i still find myself coming back to this one the most. while it definitely isn't perfect, there's a lot to love about this one, and it has a lot of cool features that i think a lot of people overlook when playing this game blind.

for starters, the villagers. i don't need to say much about them, but they're near perfect in this game. they all have the perfect balance between nice and rude, with a lot of wild and unpredictable lines thrown into the mix to give every villager life, and enough dialogue to last a lifetime, without getting stale. their chores, villager photos and gossip about other villagers really does help to make you feel included with this fictional town, but not to the point where they flatter you for doing anything. on another note, the special characters are easily at their best in this entry - each one is very distinct from each other, and while we don't see them interact with each other often, the many stories they tell (which have a surprising amount of depth to them) about their experiences with other characters in your town just makes these characters feel more relatable and realistic in some ways (sable's episodes are a real good example of this), and does a good job of linking the whole world together.

gameplay wise, i will admit it is pretty basic on the surface, but the desire for more things to do is designed to make you think outside the box and discover many hidden secrets. customizable patterns can allow for some really creative town designs (if you're willing to spend the time designing them) along with flower breeding, golden tools, (the golden axe sequence may be tedious, but i just think how they went about it is so interesting compared to city folk) unlocking hairstyles at nookington's, and a whole lot more. there's even features that i'm still finding out recently, e.g. tapping on your villagers across the riverside will make them wave at you, wtf
also while it's not officially up anymore, i also want to state that multiplayer is a reallly big part of this game, to the point where whole ass item sets are locked behind them somehow. while the multiplayer is pretty barebones and doesn't allow 3 people inside the same building for some reason, there is quite a lot of potential with this form of online that could have been utilised better, but was still very innovative and interesting for its time. the funniest thing to me is that hackers used to have whole gangs that would break towns by spamming buildings everywhere, or "seeding") as its called

as perfect as i want this game to be, there are obviously some issues. the game runs like ass, even for a ds game. it's playable and easy to get used to, but framedrops when every villager is out and about is unacceptable. it's definitely not a ds issue either - games like Mario Kart and Metroid Prime released around the same time as this, and they achieve a stable 60/30fps while looking a lot better. must have been a hell to make this game, considering how it's optimised poorly as well. i also don't mind the removed holidays, but they could have at least thought of cooler ones to replace. i'm not a fan of la-di-day or yay day, they seem really lackluster in comparison to the bright nights and acorn festival.

there's a lot of other stuff i love about this game that just goes under the radar in many people's eyes. celeste and the constellations, wishy the star,, the "Talking to Myself"/ "Message of the Day" posts on the billboard, blanca, katie/kaitlin, but at the end of the day, i still think this game holds up extremely well in comparison to the other games. most people may think i'm nostalgia blinded, but realistically we all are in some way, can't blame me for it :)
if you're a fan of other games in the series, don't miss out on this one, there's definitely something to be loved here - just play for more than a week!