my experience with animal crossing is i played it for 30 minutes and made a comment about "i hate this landlord guy" and someone made a giant seething callout post about how i could possibly dare call tom nook a landlord and not a leftist icon
i don't play animal crossing anymore
"how dare you call him a landlord when he doesn't charge interest" he makes you take out a mortgage to put a tent on a deserted island
@kat His character development arc also sees him graduate from shopkeep and store manager (Forest, Crossing, Wild World, City Folk) to real estate agent and boss (New Leaf, Happy Home Designer) to retired private island developer (New Horizons).
He and his two kids are also the only canonical tanuki of the setting, so you're literally paying the local trickster spirits for a roof over your head.
So it's a thing.
@kat That said, he serves a purpose to the setting, which this does a good job of explaining: https://fuckyeah-animalcrossing.tumblr.com/post/668048555795234817
He's aware of his role as token financial obstacle that serves a point, and in earlier games, even cracks a joke about your town not having social security after you pay off your entire loan. Which is why they set him up both as a sympathetic character (he's a foil used to deliver a message) and not (he canonically gets rich off your efforts over the series).
@kat But yeah, a lot of that lesson aged poorly, when the arrangement he offers now looks like a great deal compared to cartoonish evil and unattainable housing.