He’s making a list, checking it twice, he’s gonna find out who’s naughty or nice. Except he isn’t, because Animal Crossing’s titular reindeer Jingle doesn’t remember so good (we’re talking City Folk here, not any of the later versions, where he just becomes lazy and makes you do his present giving for him in exchange for rewards). Upon your first meeting, he’ll happily regale you with festive cheer, give you a present, then carry on walking on his merry way around your town. And if you walk up to him again as you are, he’ll admonish you for being greedy. Who would be greedy enough to ask for another gift, after all?
You, that’s who. If you talk to Jingle and just accept that one gift, then you’ll only get one piece of festive furniture for the whole year (note ‘festive’, not ‘Christmas’; Animal Crossing doesn’t name this particular holiday, you see) when there’s a total of about 11 pieces, you’ll have to wait another 11 years. Be reasonable. You’re not gonna do that. You’re gonna squeeze this sucker for all he’s worth. How? Just wear a different outfit. Yep, you heard right. Just pop on some different shirt, hat and leggings and…bang! Walk up to Jingle again and, while he may appear to recognise you at first, he’ll disregard this suspicion and hand you over another gift for your collection. Nice.
You’ll also find a similar memory problem in Guy Pearce’s Leonard Shelby. Not that he gives away presents to greedy folks because he can’t remember giving them in the first place, but, without going into plot details, his short-term memory allows characters to manipulate his trust. Sufficient to say, while tricking the reindeer provides a bit of yuletide fun, the tricks that Shelby is exposed to are more dramatic and consequential. Not to say that tricking a reindeer out of his stash isn’t consequential, it’s just that City Folk is a video game targeted at young children with anthropomorphic creatures, whereas Memento is a more mature psychological thriller aimed at a slightly more mature audience.
Either way, short-term memory loss ain’t a good thing for either of these dudes. But if you’re feeling in a tricksy mood this Christmas, then power up City Folk again, and don’t come as you are, as a friend, or as they want you to be. Come to Jingle in multiple different disguises and receive multiple different prizes. This post is more about City Folk than Memento, isn’t it? Perhaps, but the similarities with memory issues remain.