Animal Crossing - Get on that train and start your new life!
The Train Ride:
When you first turn on Animal Crossing you'll find yourself sitting in a train car, when all of a sudden a strange cat named Rover decides to walk up to you. Apparently Rover isn't quite sure what time it is, or even what day it is, and it is up to you to tell him if he is right of wrong. It may seem like a stupid question, but this simple question will play a very important role in Animal Crossing, and it should be answered truthfully. After answering his question, Rover then proceeds to ask if he can sit down next to you, which you can either happily allow him to or simply yell "no way;" however it doesn't matter what you say, since he'll actually sit down anyway.
Being the nosey cat he is, Rover will then begin to ask you different questions about your life, and once again you can decide how to answer them. While the first question is a simple one asking for your name, the next few questions are more along the lines of responses to his other questions. After telling Rover your name, he'll then ask you how you feel about your own name, and although the game doesn't flat out state it, at this point you are actually deciding what sex your are. You can answer this question in a few different ways, one being the "cool" male option, another being the "cute" girl option, and the third being a "that's not my name" option, but depending on how you answer, you can also change your characters personality. For example if you tell Rover you think your name is cute, he'll respond saying it's a cute name for a girl, which you can then respond to by either thanking him, or telling him you aren't a girl. By doing so, this "cute" personality will be reflected in your male character.
After finally getting your whole name "issue" sorted out, Rover will then proceed to ask you where you are headed, and why you are heading there. This is the point where you actually get to name the town you are headed to, and it is also the point where Rover will realize that you are heading out there with no real plans on what you are going to do. Even though Rover can be a bit nosey, and annoying, it turns out this cat is actually a cool guy, and that he is willing to help you out. It turns out he has a buddy who runs the local town shop (in whatever town you are going to), and apparently he can help you get started with your new life. Rover then decides to give his friend a call, only to return to you to ask if you have any money. Once again you are given an option which shows that you have confidence, and an option that shows you that you are really unsure of yourself. Once again depending on how you respond to Rover, your life will be effected, but either way the game will still play out the same.
Finally your game of 20 questions is over, and you have now arrived at the train station. You finally say goodbye to Rover, and step outside the train to finally start that new life of yours. Depending on how you answered the questions your character's features, such as their eyes, will be effected, and if you don't like how you look, you can always reload and face Rover once again.
Tom Nook the Crook (not really):
After stepping off of the train, and stepping foot in the village, you will be greeted by Rover's friend Tom Nook. It turns out that Nook has been waiting for you, and he has four different houses for sale that he wants to show you! So with no other choice, you will then find yourself following Nook down one "block" to the housing area, and you will be given the option to pick whichever of the four houses you want. There's a house at the top left, top right, bottom left, and bottom right, and they are all pretty bad... Nook allows you to look inside each house, but for the most part you'll see the same thing. Rotten wood/concrete floors, and rotten wood/metal paneling walls. The houses also all have a radio, a card board box, and a notebook included, but that really doesn't help them look any better.
Once you have finally decided which house you want, Nook will then begin to go on and on about how you should go meet people, how to save, and how the town works, but listening to his explanation will be the least of your troubles as soon as you find out how much your piece of junk house actually costs. Yep, it costs 19,800 bells, and you only have 1,000. That's a problem.
Since you don't have enough money to pay off the house, you will then forced to be put in Nook's debt, and you will find yourself working at his shop part time. Welcome to the game's tutorial! Basically Nook will tell you the location of his shop (which the game uses a grid system so you can easily find objects on the map by knowing its location), and he will then expect you to show up for work. So, that is what you must do.
Soon after arriving Nook will give you some cloths to change into, and he will then send you out on different jobs. From planting flowers outside of his shop, to meeting every villager in town, Nook will make sure you learn the basics of learning in town, and he truly will help you get your start; however that only goes so far. After a few quick jobs, Nook will decide to let you go and have you make payments on your house instead. Payments can be made whenever you want, but the thing is, you are now without work and it is completely up to you to decide what to do next. This is Animal Crossing!
Your Animal Crossing Village:
Each and every single town in Animal Crossing is randomly generated which makes your town unique from everyone else who plays the game. The river that flows through your town will be in different areas, the cliff that leads to the upper and lower parts of town will run across the town in different ways, houses will be placed in different locations, shops will be in different spots, and your trees, as well as what fruit grows on them, will be different as well. In other words, even if you decide to start a new game, things will be different for you each time, although the basics of the game will stay the same.
When you first start Animal Crossing your town will only have a few different animal villagers, and each one of them will have their own personalities and personal tastes. When you first meet each villager there will only be so much they have to say to you, but over time you can actually develop a friendship with them; however there is much more to these villagers than that.
Although villagers will act like "real" villagers and comment on events happening around town, or even talk about other villagers behind their back, they also are a part of what you might call this game's "quest system." Whenever you talk to a villager you can also ask them if they need any help, and you can then go on a job for them. Sometimes these jobs simply involve bringing an item to someone, or getting an item back, but other times these jobs will send you on a wild goose chase which will take more time. Need to get that axe back from Bob? Well it turns out Bob gave it to Peanut, and Peanut gave it to Freckles, and Freckles gave it to Teddy who isn't home. Yes it can be quite a pain sometimes, but in the end it is well worth it.
By doing these jobs for villagers you normally get some pretty good rewards in return. These rewards can range anywhere from new cloths, to umbrellas, to wall paper, or even even furniture! They really are a great way to get your start in Animal Crossing, but at the same time these rewards may not always be something you want. For example, sometimes animals will dump off junk items on you simply to get rid of them, and other times they'll just flat out do something without your permission. Like your nice blue colored roof you just spent money on? Well apparently one of your neighbors decided to do you a kindness and repaint it! Pink! Although these "gifts" are random, they can be quite annoying, especially since the shop only sells different colors of paint on different days. Who knows, you may just be stuck with that pink roof for the next week or so...
Besides the villagers, each town also has a few different buildings you can go to as well, and they are all very important.
Tom Nook's shop is the basic shop where you can buy a wide verity of objects. From tools such as fishing poles, to furniture (and even plants), his shop sells all of the basic items you'll be needing, and he has a completely different stock each day. The only down side is that his shop does start out quite small, and it takes quite a lot of money before he upgrades it, so if you want to have a better selection of items, you better start buying as much as you can. (Just keep in mind that Nook will close down for a day to remodel, whenever you do finally spend enough, you'll be kicked out of the shop for a day).
The second main shop you'll be visiting is a little shop known as the "Able Sisters." The Able Sisters run a cloth and pattern shop where you can buy different clothing for your character to wear. Just like with Nook's shop, the Able Sisters restock each day, but they also have a special section that never changes; unless you want it to change. The custom pattern system in the Able Sisters shop allows you to make your own designs for both clothing and umbrellas, which you can then put up for display in the shop. Although you simply use these displays to save your different designs, they also have an effect on the village, and you'll even see villagers wearing your designs if they become popular enough. Although it really doesn't effect the gameplay that much, it still can be quite fun to see your designs around town. You can also talk to Sable, who works in the back of the shop, and befriend her (unlike Tom Nook).
Besides the stores, every Animal Crossing town has a police station. Although crime never happens in the Animal Crossing world, well as far as the towns folk know, the police station is a key building, and it can be very helpful. This is where all of the items in the "lost and found" go, and that can really help you out in the long run! Since a lot of useful items show up here, free paper, cloths, and furniture, it is one of them places you really should check often if you want to get free stuff. Since no other villager will claim anything in the lost and found you are free to leave it there without worry, but once 20 or more items are stored, the cops will begin to get rid of older ones.
The Post Office is another building you will be making quite a lot of visits to, especially when you still need to pay off Tom Nook. At the post office you can send letters to other villagers, including gifts, you can check your bank account, and you can also send payments to Tom Nook. Since you'll need to pay off Nook if you want to upgrade your house, this building is sure to be one you'll visit quite often; however that isn't all that is here. You can also customize the "Town Tune" outside of the post office, but I'll talk about that a little bit more later on in the review.
Another key place in your town is actually not really a place at all. Since Animal Crossing was released before it was cool to go green, every town has a dump, and people use it. At the dump you can drop any junk items you don't want, and they will be picked up every Monday and Thursday. Since there are a lot of junk items you can get from fishing, you'll most likely be using the dump quite a bit, but that isn't the only reason you'll want to visit it. Every time a villager gets a new item for their house, they'll actually throw out old items to make room for it, and this is your chance to pick it up. Although it can be a bit cheap, if you ever see something in someone's house that you want, you can always send them the junk you would normally throw away to that villager, so they will throw their good items out and you can take them. It is a system you can easily abuse, but at the same time it really makes the town look bad. Either way, towns folk will still throw out good items from time to time, so it's always a good idea to check by the dump.
The Wishing Well is the final key place in your town, and it is a place you will visit quite often. By going to the Wishing Well you can both check on how your town is doing, and say you're sorry for not finishing any jobs you've taken on, but it's main use is a meeting place for town events. Animal Crossing actually has many real life events, and each one of these events normally start at the Wishing Well. From holidays such as Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July, to Animal Crossing events such as the fishing contest, the Wishing Well is the place to go if you want to be a part of them!
Although the buildings and places you can go in your town do in fact play a major role on what you do in game, these places aren't even half of what Animal Crossing has to offer.
The Museum:
Ok, so I lied. There is one more key building in your town, but it is directly related to three other key activities, and that is the Museum.
The first time you walk into the Museum it is flat out empty. There's a bug room with no bugs, a fish room with no fish, a painting gallery with no paintings, and a dinosaur bone exhibit with no dinosaur bones. So what do you do about this? Well go hunting for stuff! What else? Fishing, bug catching, and digging up hidden objects plays a key role in the world of Animal Crossing, and not just because of the Museum. Yes anything you find can be donated, and I recommend you do so, but at the same time these are pretty good ways to make cash in game as well. Since every object out there can be sold to Nook for a few bells, and since the supply of fish and bugs are unlimited, it may end up becoming your main way of making money, while hunting for dinosaur bones and paintings will mostly be all for the museum only.
In order to fish in Animal Crossing, you must first go out and get a fishing rod (which is sold by Tom Nook), and then look for some fish to catch. Whenever you're walking next to the water, doesn't matter if it's a river, pond, or the ocean, you should notice a shadow every once in awhile, and well, these shadows are fish. Once you spot one of these shadows, make sure not to run or else you'll scare it, you can then cast your line out in front of it, and wait for it to bite. Fish will often bite at your line a few times before they actually grab a hold of it, but as soon as they do, you must be ready. Pull the line up too soon, and the fish will be scared away, don't pull it up fast enough, and it'll let go and be scared away again. Fishing really does take a lot of timing, and it may take quite a bit of practice before you've mastered it.
Bug catching, much like fishing, also takes quite a bit of practice and skill to pull off as well (especially when it comes to catching bugs such as bees). Although bugs don't really show up in the winter, they will be out in every other season, and each bug requires a different skill to catch. For example, some bugs are flying bugs which will simply fly through the air until you catch them, but other bugs will actually fly away if you get too close to them. To catch bugs such as these, you have to learn how to sneak up on them, ready your net, and swing it when the time is right or else you'll miss them. Other bugs, such as bees, can also only be found if you do special things. Bees fall out of trees and can sting you, but if you're fast enough you can actually catch them before it's too late, while other bugs may be hidden under rocks which you can only uncover if you hit them with a shovel. Bug catching is a lot more challenging than fishing, and it can be quite hard to find them rare bugs.
Just like with the fishing rod and bug net, a shovel can also be bought from Tom Nook, in fact it's the first tool you can buy, and it also has quite a few uses. Although, as I stated before, the shovel can be used to uncover some special bugs, it's main use is to bury and dig up hidden items. Every once in awhile you'll find cracks on the ground which shows you that something has been buried there. Although most of the time these cracks will normally be rare gyroids (little statue like things that move and make noise, which you can put in your house), you can also sometimes dig up furniture, or even dinosaur bones. Now dinosaur bones will actually appear as a normal fossil when you dig them up, but once you take them to the museum to be appraised, they will turn into an actual dinosaur bone, or an actual fossil (which can then either be donated to the museum, or brought back to your house as furniture). The shovel also has other uses, such as using it to knock the random ball in town around, planting trees, and burying pitfalls to push your neighbors in, but digging for dinosaur bones will be one of your main reasons to even dig in the first place.
As for paintings, there really isn't too much that you can do about them outside of buying them from shops, and from the random black market which will come to town; however keep in mind that not all paintings will be legit, and sometimes you'll be stuck with a 10,000 bell useless painting that can't be donated to the museum.
Although the museum is the main place to take fish, bugs, dinosaur bones, and paintings, you also really don't have to. If you catch a rare fish that you want to show off, keep it in your house as a pet, you earned it. Find a rare dinosaur bone which sells for a good sum of money? Why not just sell it? Really it is completely up to you what you do with everything in this game, so you really shouldn't feel pressured to do something you don't want to do. If you want to fill up the museum and get that rare "museum house model" to put in your house, then go for it, if you don't care, then don't even worry about it. The game doesn't make you do anything, it your choice.
Golden Tools and Fish and Bug Catching:
Although the museum and money are two very good reasons to go fishing and bug hunting, them aren't the only reasons. In Animal Crossing there are also special tools known as golden tools to unlock as well, and many of them provide you with extra bonuses that are well worth it (for example, the golden axe never breaks, no matter how many trees you cut down with it, while a normal axe will crack only after a few swings).
Although for most of the tools are more of "hidden" tools in the game, which require you to figure out how to get them, the golden rod and golden net are two that are a special case. From early on in the game, villagers will talk about the rewards you get for catching all of the types of fish and bugs out there, and that may just be enough to push you to try; however the task isn't as easy as you might think.
There are 40 fish and 40 bugs to catch in Animal Crossing, and every single one only appears under special conditions. Although fish appear all year around, there are many different types of fish that only show up during different seasons, and in different areas AND only during different times of the day. For example one rare fish may show up only in winter after 8 PM, but another might only show up in the summer at the beach. This means if you want to catch all of the fish in the game, not only will you have to play the game year around, you will also have to try out different locations just to see what can be caught there. There's ponds, there's the water fall, there's the river, and there's the ocean. Each one of these bodies of water have different type of fish in them, and many of them are in fact quite rare. Heck you may catch over 100 fish before you even get that single rare one that's hiding out there.
When it comes to bug catching, it really is no different than when it comes to catching fish. Although bugs don't show up in the winter season (except for bees and a few others), a lot of different types of bugs do show up during the other seasons to make up for it. Still, the big difference when it comes to bug catching and fishing is the fact that bugs ONLY appear under set circumstances, while fish are always in the water. When it comes to catching bugs, you have to try many different things to actually get the bug you want to appear. To get ants to appear you'll have to leave out rotting food, and if you want to catch a bee, you're basically going to have to shake trees until you get attacked, and then hopefully pull your net out fast enough to catch one! Bug hunting really isn't a simple task at all, and it may end up actually taking you longer than fishing; despite the fact that you only have to play for three out of the four seasons.
Your House and Customization:
The world of Animal Crossing is one that is greatly influenced by you, and because of that, the customization system plays a huge role.
The first thing you can customize in the game, is, well, your house. Although it starts out small and looks pretty bad, by paying off Nook you can actually upgrade the size and add rooms! While the main room can triple in size, an upper level and basement can also be bought, and this really allows you to customize your house a lot more.
Since there are hundreds of items out there for your house, including standard furniture and theme sets, you have almost unlimited possibilities what you can do with your stuff. You can make your dream house, or you can go completely crazy with it and just have fun! It is completely up to you, and it just lets you design a house without the real hassle of moving around furniture in real life. You can also change your room's carpeting and wallpaper, but you can also make your own by going to Able Sisters as well. Either way, customizing your house is a major part of Animal Crossing, and you will easily find yourself spending hours just trying to get that next piece of cool furniture.
Although, like with everything else in this game, it is completely up to you what you do with your house, there is also another little system known as the "Happy Room Academy" in place. The HRA is basically a group which will come in to your house each day, when you are not playing the game, and rate your house based on it's contents. They will judge you based on your theme selection, they will judge you on your furniture layout, and they also will judge you on your use of feng shui. Still, if you don't care about the rewards having a high scoring house will bring you, this is another system you can completely ignore, and you might as well just throw away their letters of advice they send you everyday.
Custom patterns are another fun feature to play around with when it comes to creation as well. As I stated before, you can create patterns by going to Able Sisters, and you really aren't limited on what you do. From making sprite based shirts, to just making simple clothing designs, it really is up to you what you do with the pattern system. Still these patterns can also be used for umbrellas, and you can also use them as wall paper and carpeting in your house as well. So basically, if you can't find something you like, you can just make it your self!
Another part of the town that can be customized is what is known as the "town tune." The town tune is a short little tune that plays when you do just about anything. When you talk to someone it plays, the clock tower's chime plays your town tune, and the town tune will also play whenever you enter a building. Although the tune does in fact have a different sound depending on who you talk to, the tune is always the same, and will remain that way until you change it.
By going outside the Post Office and checking the board out there, you can actually make the town tune whatever you want. Although there is a limit to how many notes you can use, the game does give you plenty of notes to use to at least create the main part of your favorite melodies. The town tune really helps set the mood for your town, and it really is a nice feature to play around with.
As I said before, you can also become friends with the different villagers as well, but what I failed to mention is that they can be customized as well. Although they can't be customized in the sense of you having complete control over them, they can still be changed up quite a bit based on your actions. Each villager has their own greeting and ending when talking to you, and once in awhile they'll actually ask you to come up with a new catch phrase from them. Once again you are limited on the amount of letters you can use for these catch phrases, but it does allow you to somewhat influence their personalities (rather they know it or not). Want them to be a jerk? Go for it. Want them to yell out internet 1337 speak? Nothings stopping you! Besides the catch phrases, villagers will also sometimes give you nick names, which other villagers will sometimes start using as well. If you like the name they've given you, tell them so, and if not, tell them you hate it. It's just another way you can change the villagers. (Also, although I stated it before, villagers will also wear your designs from time to time, and they will put furniture you send them in their house.)
The final aspect of customization in Animal Crossing is the town its self. Everyday weeds will pop up which you must pull, you can plant different types of flowers, you can plant trees, you can plant fruit trees, and you can also cut down trees and dig up tree stumps. The thing is, your town actually has a special rating which can't be seen, and it is up to you to try and figure out the best way to improve your town. By planting flowers and trees in different blocks of the map you can help improve this rating; however at the same time too many trees and flowers can degrade your rating. It can be quite the challenge to keep your town a "perfect town," especially since things change everyday, but by going to the Wishing Well you can get an idea on what you should do to make the town "perfect."
K. K. Slider and the Music of Animal Crossing:
One thing that really makes Animal Crossing great is its use of music. Every single hour of the day has its own track, and the music also changes with the season. Each track in this game is sure to give you that nostalgic feeling, and it really helps set the overall tone of the game; a happy go lucky world where you are free to do whatever you want and just have fun. Still there's actually much more to the sound track than meets the eye.
Every Saturday night at 8:00 PM, a white dog named K. K. Slider (who is based on the sound designer Kazumi Totaka) will show up in front of the train station to play you a song. Now you can either request a song, if you know the name, or have K. K. play a random one, but either way the result will end up being the same. You'll find yourself watching the game's credits as K. K. sings to you some of the most well known music in Nintendo's history. All of K. K's songs are great, and with over 50 songs for him to sing, there is sure to be at least one song for everyone out there. Heck he even sings the famous "Totaka's song" (which can be found in almost every game Kazumi Totaka has worked on)!
Once K. K. finishes his song, he will then hand the tune over for you to use on your sound system that you have in your house. While normally your house is quiet without music, by using the songs gained from K. K, you can choose the background music for each room. It's a really nice feature, and once again, it helps set the mood for your house.
Visiting Other Towns:
Although it isn't a key feature in Animal Crossing, it is also possible to visit your friends towns as well! By putting another memory card into your GameCube, you can get on the train, talk to Rover (or the faceless cat who asks you to draw her a new face), and set foot in the town your friend has worked so hard to build.
By going to other towns, not only does it allow you to see a new stock of items in the stores, you can also meet new villagers, and also pick up rare fruit which may not grow in your town (which sell for a lot more money might I add)! Still going to other towns also has other effects, some of which you may not always like.
Whenever you go to a new town and meet new people, they remember you, and things you do in your game will actually effect them. For example if they like you enough they may actually move to your town, but at the same time villagers from your town might move to your friends as well. Whenever things such as this happens, game records are mixed, and both towns will begin talking about the other (you might want to think twice about telling your darkest secrets to a villager, who knows, they might just show your letters to your best friend). It really is a nice feature that helps add to the world of Animal Crossing, but at the same time it's too bad that it wasn't expanded on.
Since there's no real multiplayer in Animal Crossing, you can't actually play the game with your friend, and all you can do is run around their town as if it were your own... (Still the good news is this was a feature added into later versions!)
Animal Crossing Island and the E-Reader:
Animal Crossing is another one of them games that used the Game Boy Advance to unlock extra features in game. While some games used the GBA for maps and what not, Animal Crossing used it to bring you a smaller island with a brand new villager to talk to. To get to this island you must have your GBA connected to your GameCube, and then take the boat across the sea, listen to the captain sing one of his songs, and wait as you slowly reach the island. Although the island really doesn't have much besides a single islander, you can also catch a sun tan (and even get burned), and you can also get special items as well. The Game Boy Advance also allows you to play with your villager, kind of like a virtual pet, when you're not on the island, but it really is just an extra mini game without too much of a real use.
The E-Reader could also be used along side the Animal Crossing Island, and the Game Boy Advance link cable, but sadly it really wasn't one of them features that was used that much. While some E-Reader cards will provide you with special in game mail, the others simply allowed you to move in other villagers (who would normally move in on their own). If you can manage to get a few card packs they are nice to have, but they really don't add enough to the game to be worth it.
Plug in your NES:
Although it isn't uncommon for games such as Animal Crossing to have mini games, the way Animal Crossing included mini games is actually pretty shocking! At times you'll be able to come across old Nintendo Entertainment Systems which can be placed in your house as furniture, but the thing is, these are actually real NES games! Yep that's right, Animal Crossing has a built in NES emulator, and it has a pretty good range of games that can be found in game to be played on it!
These NES games are in fact complete emulations of the original NES games, and because of that, they include all of the features the original games had. Multiplayer games are still multiplayer, games with glitches still have glitches, and the flashing effect is still there as well. If it wasn't for the GameCube controller in your hand, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
Once again you can also use the Game Boy Advance, and the E Reader to play NES games on Animal Crossing, but once again this wasn't always that useful.
The Clock IS Ticking:
The final key feature in Animal Crossing, which sets it apart from many other games out there, is the fact that it runs on a completely real time clock. Yep, that's right! Remember when I was talking about playing the game year around to see the different seasons? Well I wasn't kidding!
Animal Crossing is a game that is always running even when you're not playing it. Everyday different events happen, towns people talk, trade items with each other, different items go on sale in the shop, new items show up in the dump, items are found and put in the lost and found, and villagers even come and go. The game is basically a living world, and it WILL move on even if you aren't there to see it.
For example, if you play Animal Crossing non stop for a year, and then quit playing it for another three years, by the time you finally come back everything will be different. Your friends most likely have moved out of town, other villagers have come and gone, other new villagers are now living in your town, and your town will also be a complete mess with weeds allover the place. Whatever villagers you knew who still remain WILL comment on how you've been gone so long, but they really wont care. You being gone hasn't effected them at all, and they will just continue on with their virtual lives. Sure you can always check the board outside your house to see what you missed, but there's only so much room for news updates, so you really shouldn't expect to find out everything.
The real time clock really is a unique feature, and it really gives you something to look forward to when playing this game. Every single day you turn Animal Crossing on something new will happen, and you just never know what to expect. Trees and plants grow over time, Tom Nook will expand his shop, new items show up each day to buy, the dump and lost and found have new items, new villagers may have moved in, other villagers may be moving out (unless you convince them to stay), and town events/holiday events happen as well. So basically, if you want to win that fishing contest, you better be up early and playing or else you're going to miss out!
The Good and Bad of Animal Crossing:
Animal Crossing really is a great game, and it really doesn't have any bad points what so ever. The gameplay is solid, it's a nice game that allows you to relax and play at your own pace, and it allows you to have fun with life. If any game can make the adult hood daily grind fun, that game is Animal Crossing! Even so, this really isn't a game for everyone.
Although Animal Crossing is great and filled with content, heck you can play the game everyday for a few years and still not do everything, not everyone likes social style games. If you're not a fan of daily life games, this is one game you should really stay away from. Sure the old NES games are cool and all, but if you hate social style games, they really aren't enough to make Animal Crossing a must have.
Still, if you love this style of game, you should have stopped reading this review the moment I brought up "starting a new life" and bought the game for yourself! It is a great game, and a must have if you own a GameCube! I give Animal Crossing a 10/10!
"Through sea air, I'll float where me soul compels" - Kapp'n