Gaagaagiins treefroggy 穴 I think the different episodes of Animal Crossing actually espouse different shades of social dynamics and politics. It’s not just about progressively embracing capitalism. I would certainly love a version that allows exploring different economic principles such as a life without fiat currency.
I would argue the 3DS generation is the most traditionally capitalistic one. The main game embraces a modern Western power dynamic: there is a clear governmental structure in place with the player accessing the control of the local government by becoming mayor. Many of the locals are operating a local privately owned business (more so than in New Horizons which currently lacks many of the usual shops such as Brewster’s café). The secondary game is literally about the real estate industry and the topic of home ownership, one of the most American desires on Earth.
New Horizons is more of a libertarian dream, or can be alternatively experienced as an anarchist paradise as well if you roleplay it a certain way. New Horizons is the first episode which I have played for more than a month (for obvious reasons). I played it daily for about exactly a year, and a pleasantly round “600 hours” according to my Switch. In retrospect, my fondest memory is certainly not as deeply personal and powerful as 穴’s relationship to the game, but it is quite political in nature.
At one point, my self-inflicted objective obsession became to raise the village’s ranking and reach the ★★★★★ grade from Isabelle, foolishly thinking that clearing this goal would provide a sense of fulfillment and free me from the island’s clutch. Consequently, I began paying much more attention to my fellow citizens’ needs and wants ; in doing so, I came to the realization I was mostly surrounded by animals who had the personality of low education conservative pricks with a love for gossip and primal fear of foreigners.
At one point, my village score actually went down because there were too many trees on the island and it made the inhabitants unhappy. But we actually needed the fucking trees! By that point, the entire economy of the island depended on the many exotic fruits I had gathered and planted back in order to farm and sell the (literal) fruits of my labor, the resulting profits allowing for the structural changes (roads, ramps etc.) which my neighbors otherwise needed. I ran the only dependable industry on the entire island and these carefree idiots were trying to make my business more difficult! Also: you guys are all animals! Why do you hate nature so much?
This led to a souring relationship between me – most literally The Man – and my furry and feathered and wooly neighbors. I felt betrayed. I think this episode had me forcing a few of the more toxic inhabitants out of the island. Also, this little local fruit tree crisis was right in the middle of Brexit, another situation of uncultured low income conservatives somehow getting convinced to to vote against their interests, and the echoing of the situation was almost cathartic for someone who had grown up being spoonfed the utopian political and economic ideal of the European Union, and was now seeing it progressively crumble.