As Animal Crossing Turns One, A Writer Contemplates How Its Look And Sounds Have Accompanied The Pandemic

Amal El-Mohtar: “While the animal-people of the game speak incomprehensible approximations of their textual dialogue — not unlike hearing language in a dream — and the jaunty soundtrack provides comedy noises when you get stung by wasps or bitten by mosquitoes, the sounds of your character moving physically through the island are astonishingly immersive. … The visual cues may be cartoony, but the sound’s realism translates the green triangles of grass into vividly encountered texture.” – NPR