Mr. Resetti
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Mr. Resetti, full name Sonny Resetti (also known in Japan as ), is a fictional character from the ''
Animal Crossing is a social simulation video game series developed and published by Nintendo. It was created by Katsuya Eguchi and Hisashi Nogami. The player character is a human who lives in a village inhabited by various anthropomorphic animals and can ...
'' series of video games by
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. His first appearance was in the
Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, in North America on September 29, 1996, and in Europe and Australia on March 1, 1997. As the successor to the Super Nintendo E ...
game ''Dōbutsu no Mori'', released in Europe and North America on the
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as ''
Animal Crossing is a social simulation video game series developed and published by Nintendo. It was created by Katsuya Eguchi and Hisashi Nogami. The player character is a human who lives in a village inhabited by various anthropomorphic animals and can ...
''. Mr. Resetti is a
mole Mole (or Molé) may refer to: Animals * Mole (animal) or "true mole" * Golden mole, southern African mammals * Marsupial mole Marsupial moles, the Notoryctidae family, are two species of highly specialized marsupial mammals that are found i ...
whose role in the series is to remind players to save before quitting the game, and to give a lecture if they do not. Mr. Resetti has received mixed critical reception, with critics taking note of both the unique creativity and perceived hostility of his role.


Development and concept

During play testing of ''Animal Crossing'', players would
reset Reset may refer to: Film and television * Reset (2015 film), ''Reset'' (2015 film), a 2015 French documentary film * Reset (2017 film), ''Reset'' (2017 film), a 2017 Chinese film * Reset (2024 film), ''Reset'' (2024 film), a 2024 Sri Lankan sh ...
the game and turn the
system time In computer science and computer programming, system time represents a computer system's notion of the passage of time. In this sense, ''time'' also includes the passing of calendar date, days on the calendar. System time is measured by a ''sys ...
backwards to make the daily stock at
Tom Nook Tom Nook, known in Japan as , is a fictional character in the Animal Crossing, ''Animal Crossing'' series who operates the village store (or the Resident Services building in ''Animal Crossing: New Horizons''). He first appeared in the Nintendo 64 ...
's store change. In order to prevent this, the development team implemented Mr. Resetti, in hopes that players who want to cheat would be deterred due to the long speeches. If a player resets the game enough, Mr. Resetti will want the player to type out sentences such as "I am stupid." and "I stink." Contrary to popular belief, Mr. Resetti does not delete the player's saved file if that player keeps resetting the game. Mr. Resetti's English dialogue in ''Animal Crossing'' was written by Nintendo Treehouse team member Tim O'Leary, who intended the character to speak with a deep
Bronx accent The sound system of New York City English is popularly known as a New York accent. The accent of the New York metropolitan area is one of the most recognizable in the United States, largely due to its popular stereotypes and portrayal in r ...
to complement the character's Osaka accent in the original Japanese. He is designed to make the player believe he knows them and is yelling directly at them, and the European '' Let's Go to the City'' manual warns that young children may find Mr. Resetti's authoritative tone of voice disturbing. Within the series, Mr. Resetti is treated as the mascot of the seasonal holiday "
Groundhog Day Groundhog Day (, , , ; Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia: Daks Day) is a tradition observed regionally in the United States and Canada on February 2 of every year. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if ...
". In the first game, the villagers would gather together to go watch Mr. Resetti, though in later entries of the series the player would receive a tiny doll version of the character instead.


Appearances

Mr. Resetti's role in the ''
Animal Crossing is a social simulation video game series developed and published by Nintendo. It was created by Katsuya Eguchi and Hisashi Nogami. The player character is a human who lives in a village inhabited by various anthropomorphic animals and can ...
'' series is to advise the player to remember to save before quitting the game. If the game is shut off without saving, Mr. Resetti will appear outside the player's house the next time the player starts the game, and will give a lecture on why saving is important. Those lectures grow longer the more times the player resets. Also, after resetting multiple times, Mr. Resetti will make the player repeat phrases, and will not let them play until they get it right. If the player retaliates against Resetti, he would insult the player back. In '' Animal Crossing: New Leaf'', Mr. Resetti appears the first time the player turns the 3DS off without saving. However, he explains that the Reset Surveillance Center (the facility Mr. Resetti works for) has been closed down, and that he will not be able to make any more visits. If the player so chooses, the Reset Surveillance Center can be reopened, allowing Mr. Resetti to resume his former role. Due to the auto-save function on the
Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...
, Mr. Resetti does not return to the same role in '' Animal Crossing: New Horizons'', but is running the new in-game rescue service as the operator. He also appears on the communications error screen. In the game's 2.0 update, he can randomly appear as an NPC in The Roost café. When interacting with him at café, he reveals that he has become a lot more peaceful at his new job although is saddened by the fact he doesn't get the chance to meet new people as much. Resetti also reflects on the act of resetting, believing now that resetting can be a force for good.


Outside ''Animal Crossing''

In the ''Animal Crossing'' film, Mr. Resetti appears a number of times as a handyman and reminds characters about following the rules of the Animal Village and scolds those who do bad. Mr. Resetti has made several minor appearances in the '' Super Smash Bros.'' series of video games, including as a collectible trophy in all games beginning with '' Super Smash Bros. Melee'', as an assist trophy in ''
Super Smash Bros. Brawl ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' is a 2008 crossover fighting game developed by Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Wii. The third installment in the '' Super Smash Bros.'' series and the successor to '' Super Smash Bros. Melee'', it wa ...
'', and as a background character on the ''Animal Crossing'' themed stages in '' Super Smash Bros. for Wii U''. In ''Brawl'', his assist trophy summons him onto the stage to yell at the fighters, causing his lengthy text box to obscure a large portion of the screen. In '' Mario Kart 8'', Mr. Resetti makes an appearance on the ''Animal Crossing'' race course included within the game's second
downloadable content content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can be added for no extra cost or as a form of video game monetization, enabling the publisher to gain ad ...
pack. On this course, he erratically pops up from the ground during the race, forcing players to avoid crashing into him. Additionally, the Mr. Resetti amiibo figurine can be utlised to unlock the Animal Crossing costume for the Miis. In '' Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate'' Mr. Resetti is a craftable character as a costume for the player's Palico in-game as part of the June DLC pack.


Critical reception

Mr. Resetti has received mixed reception.
Destructoid ''Destructoid'' is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017 and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022. Histor ...
's Jonathan Holmes called his actions one of the "more creative" examples of
fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance dramatic convention, convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. ...
breaking alongside '' Metal Gear Solid''s Psycho Mantis. ''
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''s Chris Kohler featured him at number six in a list of the "10 meanest tricks videogames ever played on us." He cited tactics such as pretending to reset the game during one of his lectures.
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called Mr. Resetti an irritant, but ranked him the sixth best ''Animal Crossing'' character, stating that while they do not love him outright, his outbursts are a part of the game's charm.
Joystiq ''Joystiq'' was a video gaming blog which was part of the Weblogs, Inc. family later owned by AOL. It was active from 2004 to 2015, acting as the primary video game blog for the group, and operating alongside ''Engadget'' and sister blogs such ...
editor Chris Greenhough stated "Animal Crossing games would be a lot less awesome without Mr. Resetti," referencing the way he "teaches his lessons through tough love."
Kotaku ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...
editor Luke Plunkett stated that "Resetti may be just about the best thing about Animal Crossing," and said that "his furious tirades are, after all, both entertaining and informative." Mr. Resetti was named as the 17th best Nintendo character of all time by
GameDaily GameDaily (GD) was a video game journalism website based in the United States. It was launched in 1995 by entrepreneur Mark Friedler under the name Gigex and focused on free game demo downloads. The site changed its business model from a flat fee ...
, saying "he's helpful, while at the same time completely annoying". In 2010, ''
GamesTM ''GamesTM'' (styled as ''gamesTM'') was a British multi-format video games magazine. The first issue was released in December 2002 and the magazine was still being published monthly in English and German up until the last edition was published on ...
'' listed him among the greatest game characters, commenting that he "may be one of the most annoying characters in gaming" but "Mr. Resetti is so meticulously designed with the express purpose of annoying that it's hard not to respect the thought that went into him." The development team found that Mr. Resetti caused young children to be scared by him to the point of crying. As a result, they made it optional whether players encountered him in ''New Leaf''. Destructoid's Jonathan Holmes did not agree with the decision to make him optional as he felt that the game is "better when it can make you feel awful." Jamie Madigan in a
Gamasutra ''Game Developer'' (known as ''Gamasutra'' until 2021) is a website created in 1997 that focuses on aspects of video game development. It is owned and operated by Informa TechTarget and acted as the online sister publication to the print maga ...
article discussed the use of the word "cheater" by Mr. Resetti and how the label can be used to shame people away from breaking rules.
GamesRadar ''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites ''Total Film'', '' SFX'', '' Edge'' and ''Computer ...
's Ryan Taljonick featured Mr. Resetti on his list of gaming's most "hate-filled characters."
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
's Patrick Kolan felt that despite the quality of his rants, they felt "vanilla" and didn't surprise anyone anymore. Destructoid's Anthony Burch wrote an article that explains why Mr. Resetti was the "most heroic videogame character ever created" and suggested that he is "the only character in the ''Animal Crossing'' world whose sole job is to protect the entire universe from paradoxical destruction."


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Resetti Animal Crossing characters Animal characters in video games Anthropomorphic video game characters Fictional characters who break the fourth wall Fictional moles Anthropomorphic moles Male characters in video games Video game characters introduced in 2001