WORKING AT THE ROOST
Yes, Animal Crossing has already been generally represented on this list, but a certain feature in the newest iteration for the 3DS is just begging to be included on this list.
That feature is the ability to work at the Roost, the local coffee shop. In prior games, the only two things you could do at the Roost were buy coffee and attempt to make small talk with Brewster. New Leaf attempted to incorporate more activity into the coffee shop by not only allowing you to order coffee to go, but to actually go and work as a barista for a little bit. Sounds neat in theory, and you do get rewarded for your trouble, but there's just one problem: it's CRYPTIC AS SHIT, needlessly over-complicated and practically luck-based if you're not the note-taking type, and let's be real, you are NOT sitting there playing Animal Crossing with a goddamn pen and pad.
So you're behind the counter, taking people's orders, right? Well, imagine if you were working at McDonald's, and someone told you they wanted a sandwich with no pickles. They give no other descriptors other than that, and you're supposed to assume what the rest of their order is. You give them a cheeseburger with no pickles, and they get hostile and mad at you because they wanted a double cheeseburger and a side of apple slices to go with it.
That's bullshit. You had no way of knowing that's what they wanted, right? Well, guess what? That's EXACTLY how this dumb fucking minigame works. Sometimes, your neighbors and the special NPCs have the decency to tell you, oh, maybe one necessary ingredient if they're feeling generous, but then there are the fucksticks who just tell you they want 'the usual...' and that's fucking it! They just ASSUME you know what their order is already, even if you've never prepared anything for them before! NOBODY DOES THIS IN REAL LIFE, NINTENDO! NOT EVEN STARBUCKS! If I was a real-life barista and someone asked me to make their usual order, even if it was one of my closest friends, I'd ask them to elaborate or get the fuck out of here!
There is only one 'correct' way to obtain the villagers' favorite orders - by talking to them incessantly until they bring it up in casual conversation, and jotting it down somewhere. And I'm going to be honest, in my hundreds of days of playing the damn game, I've only ever seen any one of my neighbors crow about their favorite coffee ingredients TWICE. AND THEY ONLY TELL YOU ONE AT A TIME. And guess what? It could be all for naught, as since the residents of your town are constantly moving out and moving in, you could get all your neighbors' orders completely right and be ready to ace the minigame, and have one of them move out and be replaced by some dickhead whose favorite order you then have to learn through the painstaking process of annoying them until they spill the beans. Oh, and named NPCs like Kapp'n or Digby? Pff, you're boned. You may as well check the wiki, because THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE DIALOGUE ABOUT THEIR FAVORITE COFFEE INGREDIENTS.
It is, of course, voluntary - in a game where practically everything is voluntary, that doesn't amount to much - but completionists? Sorry, there are exclusive furniture and clothing items obtained through this minigame. It's safe to say consulting a guide is all but mandatory if you want to get those without wanting to hang yourself.
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