Alone Disciple said:
But what do you do? You didn't mention anything about what you 'do' or 'goals' are to be gleaned from visting the city, or the game. Visting NPC's and stating they have slightly larger dialogue trees doesn't explain to me what I could look forward to as a person who has never played AC before.
It appears this 'preview' assumes that we all know what all previous incarnations of AC is supposed to be about. I don't.
Fair enough.
In Animal Crossing, you move to a new town, make friends, get a job, and amuse yourself with activities like fishing, catching insects, and decorating your house. There are many ways to earn Bells, the game's currency, such as selling the things you catch to Tom Nook, who runs the town store. You can also buy all manner of things from Tom, including new clothes, flower seeds, and all manner of furniture for your house.
You'll make friends with NPCs by chatting with them, doing errands, for them, and sending them presents and letters. If you keep your town beautiful, by planting trees and flowers, more characters will come to live in your town, but if you let weeds grow and litter, your neighbors will move away.
There is no real goal or object to Animal Crossing - it's not a game you win. Think of it as a much cuter, simpler Sims, and you're not terribly far off the mark. One important difference, however, is that time passes in Animal Crossing in real time - it's synced to the clock in your Wii. If you try to play at 2am, for example, you'll find that most of your neighbors are asleep. The game will also change with the seasons, and mark holidays like Halloween and Christmas (though they have different names).
Does that help?