Fourth wall

Resetti breaking the fourth wall in Animal Crossing

The fourth wall (conjectural name) is a term for the metaphorical barrier between a fictional work and its audience. The phrase "breaking the fourth wall" refers to someone/something in a fictional work referencing the fact they are fictional.

Instances of fourth-wall breaking

Note: Instances of the player talking to themself (e.g. catch quotes) are not recorded here.

In Animal Crossing

• Resetti breaks the fourth wall on several occasions during his dialogue by mentioning resetting the game. Other examples include:

• "Anyway, let me just say thanks for buying this game, Animal Crossing. Um...on behalf of everyone at Nintendo, I...um...I... What was the next part?"
• "Forget about other games for a minute, will ya? I'm here to suggest that you try and play THIS game, Animal Crossing, without hitting RESET. Got it? I know what you're thinking: 'Whether I hit RESET or not should be up to me. After all, it's MY Nintendo GameCube!' Well, sorry. Rules are rules, OK?"
• On the player's seventh reset, Resetti pretends to delete the player's save data, making the screen go dark for a few seconds. When the screen returns, he says, "Gotcha! How you like them apples? Did we break our controller? Did we, maybe, kick our TV?"
• On the player's eighth reset, Resetti turns to the camera and speaks to the player directly, saying, "Whoa! ......I never noticed before, but you got some nice eyes. Yeah, real hypnotic..."

• When talking to Tortimer on Sale Day, he references the official Animal Crossing website, saying, "Oh, I buy all my presents online! It's quite convenient! I just go to www.Animal-Crossing.com. It's terrific!"
• Villagers may reference the Game Boy Advance's compatibility with Animal Crossing, telling the player that they heard a rumor about a boat appearing when the handheld is connected to the Nintendo GameCube and saying they wish they had a Nintendo GameCube Game Boy Advance cable.
• When creating a save file, K.K. Slider tells the player they will enjoy the game more if they get friends to play too.

In Wild World

• As in the previous game, Resetti breaks the fourth wall by thanking the player for purchasing the game.
• Pelly and Phyllis break the fourth wall by telling the player to press the desired button to open the map, and so does Tom Nook when telling the player how to equip their uniform.

In City Folk

• In City Folk, villagers break the fourth wall by giving the player advice about tools, looking up to the sky, and taking pictures.

In New Leaf

• Isabelle breaks the fourth wall by telling the player how to plant the town tree.
• Digby breaks the fourth wall when he tells the player about the HH Showcase.

In New Horizons

• In New Horizons, lazy villagers may mention to the player a rumor that everyone is just in a game for someone's entertainment, referring to things such as how fast trees grow, the fact that wood always comes in three specific types, music playing everywhere, and the generous house payments. The villager then tells the player (who reacts to the rumor without player input) they were joking, having instead got the idea from eating a lot before going to bed.
• If the player interrupts Kapp'n's Song, he will be angry at the player. One of the things he might say is "How dare ye? I'm here havin' a good sing, and ye're all clicky and button mashy and whatnot... It ain't right!" referencing players mashing buttons on their Switch to speed up the gameplay.
• Isabelle, Lottie, Niko, and Tom Nook break the fourth wall by telling the player how to do something by pressing the selected button.
• If free communication is blocked Orville will mention parental controls

Notes

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Gameplay elements

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