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[PoppyPumpkin]

I love ACNH. It's probably my favorite game in the series. That said, I understand why some people feel like it's lacking. I love the ability to do what I want with my town, but it really does kill me that they took away so much of what made the villagers special in terms of personality. I'm crossing my fingers that an update will see villagers patched to where they have their dialogues and personalities back. I miss some of the stores and stuff, but like I said, I'm hoping that we'll see updates bring those things in, since the game isn't even a year old yet.

 

[wolfie1]

I feel like this has been repeated many times now (by myself included), but my biggest issue is the way they're handling the regular updates. I believe they've decided to release stuff little by little instead of making everything available from the beginning in order to keep people interested in the game and to prevent them from dropping it after a month or two, but after 10 months now I can say it's having the complete opposite effect on me.

Building upon that, I don't like that they're making us wait for months between updates only to add back stuff that was in previous games without a single change, or very few changes. Is that what you're making me wait for? To have Jingle 8 months after the game launched and to have a watered-down version of Toy Day that could've been there from the beginning? I don't know, if you're going to make us wait, at least redo the whole event so that it truly feels new. Otherwise I don't see the point in making players wait for months or even years to add characters and events with literally the exact same funcionality (or less) they had in the past. The same applies to Nook's Cranny, which hasn't had an update since April, I believe. The whole "deserted-island package" is long gone. People who have been playing since March are no longer living in deserted islands since they probably will have decorated a huge part of their islands, so that doesn't work anymore.

I rarely play more than 30-40 minutes a day now, when I used to play for around 2 hours at the beginning or even more (there was a day I played for literally 10 hours straight lol). Sure, it's been 10 months now so playtime is bound to be reduced as you collect everything there is to collect as of now and finish decorating your island or house (in my case, I'm not too fond of redoing my whole island every few days, I still have Halloween decoration that I'm not planning to put away anyitime soon because I like how it looks), but I just find myself repeating the same daily tasks over and over until the next update, which may bring new stuff for 4-5 days (?) tops and then I go back to repeating everything again.

And yeah, of course New Horizons also has positive things. The fact that I take issue with the aforementioned doesn't mean it doesn't have good things. If anything, the fact that I'm voicing my issues with this game means that I want it to improve so that it becomes a game that is worth purchasing €60 for and playing. As of now, I believe it's only worth playing if you're new to the game, because that's when there are more things to do and get. I don't recall having grown "bored" with an AC game this soon, other than with CF, which I played for 4 months, I believe.

 

[Che5hire Cat]

I mean don't get me wrong, I love NH, it became my favorite AC title mainly because I really enjoy using the new features and all. However, I do agree with the point that this game misses a lot what the previous games had, whatever it's the variety of items, certain NPCs & shops, smaller events (like those from Wild World for an example), more activities with the villagers etc. I do hope they gonna add all this in upcoming updates and I also hope for any regular updates which getting dropped frequently and just adding some typical content which has nothing to do with any event or (IRL) holiday.

Honestly, I was kind of hoping after HHD, we would also get to help decorate public buildings that could be used by the villagers. Like you get a blank slate building and can make it whatever you want inside and you could see the villagers use it for whatever you designed it to be (like a cafe, school, health clinic, etc.).

Unpopular opinion, but instead of The Roost or any other NPC shop, I would love to get blank slate buildings and being able to design them my way. This is so much more fun rather than getting just already finished designed buildings which you place somewhere on your island and that's it. This would also fit to the whole theme of NH, like Tom Nook being proud of you that you turned a deserted island into a little paradise, now goes further and gives you even more responsibility by giving you the task of creating new buildings for said island and turn your ideas into reality. I would spend days if not weeks just to design those. Take note Nintendo, this idea is amazing!

 

[Fraxxo]

The thing for me it's that... heh, I don't like "doing tasks".
Everytime I open the gamemy island is a mess because of little rocks and tree branches everywhere; and as soon as I pick them up, I start beating the hell ouf of the rocks to obtain materials to craft things, just for my shovel to break after 5 hits or so.
Instead of relaxing as soon as I log in, basically, I spend half an hour doing those little things, and I just get bored after that, so I put the game down and I pick it up the next day.
I don't want to compare it to past AC games, NH is NH and NL is NL, but I just don't feel relaxed when I open the game, and that's what I want in an Animal Crossing. If I want to stress myself out over tasks every single day I'll just play an RPG.

 

[DrewAC]

I’ve played every single AC game during their prime and I disagree.

To me, the fact the game doesn’t have features people list on paper and declare as “missing” does not inherently make ACNH a bad game by any means. Do I miss Brewster, the cafe, Pelly, a dedicated post office, and the extra shops amongst the other features/NPCs? Sure! But what’s more important to me is what is currently in the game, the features there, the QoL enhancements, and the future of it as well.

I recently opened up ACNL for the first time since ACNH released because I really wanted to see if I would feel the same way as others. This will be a long post, but I wanted to share my experience to really emphasize why ACNH is so great to me. This is not to criticize anyone else’s opinions, but only to provide my perspective!

Upon opening my game, I opened my inventory to check what I’ve been doing. And, gosh, I forgot how horrible it was to have such a TINY inventory! I also noted my player was too pale, can’t change the skin color. Walked over to Main Street. Didn’t feel like going to Katrina, Nook’s Homes, or Club LOL because they just felt redundant.

Started with Shampoodle, loved the experience of getting a haircut but there I went yet again, googling a hair guide. How annoying. Went to the Able Sisters. Tiny selection, poor quality clothing, and no dressing room. Had to go to another room for accessories. Went to Kick’s. It was nice, but I’m happier with buying shoes/socks from Able way more and I like him visiting my town square more. Saved best for last, Nookington’s. Love that it’s a huge department store, full of items. Pretty much nothing bad to say here other than how I missed the coziness and details that come with the ACNH shop. Went to the Post Office to send a letter to Kiki because I miss Pelly, Pete, and Phyllis and my cozy post office!

Then I visited my police station. This would be nice to see again, not really a necessity though. Then I got bored of my town so I went to Tortimer Island to see if I could run into others. And I was surprised that there were so many people still there! And, of course, the whole experience got ruined. Hackers are rampant, and they really ruin the experience now, spawning things in the island and trapping people all over. This is a world of a difference from ACNH where the hacking hasn’t gotten as out of hand as ACNL, and the developers have shown a clearly stronger commitment to ensuring the integrity of the game and the game’s economy, which is so important to me, as someone who loves trading and online connectivity.

I met some people, and asked if they wanted to do tours. They said no, too much of a chore. Bummer. So, after running into a hacker that spawned players into the void for fun, I decided to leave the island and hit up Brewster. I love the NPC and the idea of the cafe so much, but man, if this were included in ACNH exactly the same, I’d be so disappointed. Working the shop is fun, but it’s a game of dialogue choices and googling coffee preferences. I hope they’ll bring it back, but make an interactive mini game out of it. Coffee to go is really neat, but the experience of drinking coffee inside the shop just feels a little redundant now.

And that was really all I did before putting it down and going on ACNH instead because I missed crafting/gathering and decorating my town with actual items instead of the cumbersome PwP system. My town in ACNL was pretty much as I left it, but aside from the awesome nostalgic music, I didn’t really feel like staying for anything else. The graphics are dated, things are scaled poorly, there’s no wind blowing the trees/flowers to immerse me, a villager I loved and tried SO hard to get years ago just randomly moved away with zero notice with a random plopped where I didn’t want anyone. Frustrating.

I highly encourage anyone to return to the past games, specifically New Leaf, as I do think it’s the most content rich game of the predecessors. As wonderful as it is with what it has, and as much as I absolutely adore it as an entry in this series, I simply cannot call it better than ACNH at all. I think some, not all, are looking through rose colored glasses when they say it’s better. New Horizons has refined so many aspects to the game and, while it hasn’t carbon copied every single little thing from New Leaf, it sought to refine the experience of Animal Crossing itself by providing fun new perks like crafting and terraforming, which I enjoy so much. And, because of its strong sales, Nintendo is very motivated to support it with plenty of updates to come, so things will only get better for both people who are still enjoying the game and for those taking a break! Try revisiting when those updates come, try to change your style of play in ACNH with fun new ideas, and if neither are an option for you, the predecessors are there to be enjoyed again! But if your experience is anything like mine, you’ll probably be back in ACNH soon.

 

[Monokuma73]

@wolfie1 I do prefer, like you - to but fully released game, with completed events, and everything what should be in the game.
I don't believe, if someone played since March 2020, getting new update related to some imaginary event will be tempted to come back to this game if this game has been dropped already.
After one year everything will be explored, know, achieved and developers will have to introduce some kind of miracle trying keep players interested for longer period of time.

@DrewAC Despite the fact, I really dislike to play on small screen of 3DS, since New Year's Eve I'm playing NL every single day with NH. Comparing both games is fun for me, spotting small differences and thanks to that, I have a really good experience.
Do I love NL unconditionally? No, I'm not. I really dislike many things in NL, like inventory, lack of auto-stacking some goods and money, lack of ability to change houses placements any many more. However, playing NL gives me something I can't FEEL in NH.
In NL I can feel like I'm the part of their community... even simple task, like give a fruit, because resident is hungry, request for furniture replacement, invitation, asking for permission to visit my place... is something... living.
But, as been mentioned by someone before and I have mutual feelings... in NH we can play many hours, and none of villagers will approach us or initiate the conversation. Sometimes I feeling excluded, exactly like playing in Minecraft.
Without your encouragement I "went back"... or actually started new game in NL and I feel no regret. Maybe, because I'm playing both games and this is giving me more than one game... I don't know.
I'm not planning to abandon NH, not planning to stop playing this game... this is not my intention and not suggesting anyone to do this.
For example... NH, Snowboys. We have only one kind, getting recipes when build properly and snow flakes. It has a common sense and it serves purposes. However, NL gives us Snowboys, Snowmans, Snowmams and thanks to this variety we have something difference. Maybe, result at the end of the winter season would be the same - but playing bingo, hunting for snowflakes for Snowmams or just to wait for next-day-delivery from Snowboys in my opinion is more interesting.

And, because of its strong sales, Nintendo is very motivated to support it with plenty of updates to come, so things will only get better for both people who are still enjoying the game and for those taking a break!

You sound really optimistic, but I personally have a strong feelings, like they don't really care. Department responsible for graphics / animation and all visuals done great job, however another department responsible for quality of life... obviously been on holiday since March 2020 or redundant for some reason. But... this is my opinion and not forcing anyone to agree with me.

 

[MidnightAura]

I have three New Leaf towns active and two wild world towns active as well as the original AC and city folk on a less regular schedule. I have been playing more ACNH recently as I’ve been sick but it’s purely to decorate because I want a 5* island. If I want to enjoy NH I have to have the mentality it’s not an AC game otherwise I can’t enjoy it.
My experiences isn’t from rose tinted glasses. I play all my NL and WW towns every day. Sure, they aren’t perfect but they have something ACNH doesn’t have.
NH may look prettier and have more details but that’s to be expected, it’s not fair to compare games of a certain age to it. It’s like the sims 4. It’s pretty but the sims 2 and 3 wipes the floor with it gameplay wise. That’s kinda how I feel about NH.
I agree that drip feeding content feels really redundant, I understand that it’s probably to attract players back but when we do get new content actually very little of it is new. It’s things we had before and sometimes it’s worse than before.