Game of the Year and Animal Crossing New Horizons Should it win or not?

[Uffe]

I'll be honest here. Animal Crossing is a great game, but it only went mainstream due to the pandemic.

This game, while it brought amazing new features (terraforming) and adorable visuals, is technically incomplete (missing characters, furnitire, events, etc).

I've spent 700 hours in this game. I love it very much. It deserves the nomination, but I don't think it deserves the title.

My thoughts exactly. If this pandemic never happened, I feel like this game would've mostly appeased a demographic of people who have already been familiar with the series. It probably would have gotten a few more people to jump onboard and play the game, too. But yeah, the popularity mostly came from the pandemic. Two people I know who have never played any of the games and ended up buying it due to the pandemic, just to see what it was about.

 

[marea]

I saw a list of the games it was up against and, with that taken into consideration, it would be my pick. But i havent played any of the other games, am not interested in trying them out.

 

[Holla]

I’d say maybe. It’s been a big hit and helped a lot of people cope over this past year. It would also be nice to see a non-action game win game of the year.

At the same time though I haven’t played any of the other the nominees and they could be just deserving if not more than Animal Crossing. My friend for instance loves AC but he strongly believes that Hades deserves to win over AC.

This probably isn’t the best place to ask the question if Animal Crossing deserves to win cause in general being an AC forum most of us will be biased. Heck some members here have a Switch only for Animal Crossing.

If the people as a whole believe AC should win by being the majority of votes then that’s great. I personally don’t know enough about the rest of the nominated games to feel like I should vote.

 

[mocha.]

It’s been a form of catharsis for many people during the pandemic, and I believe that’s one of the reasons why it rose in popularity so quick. As much as I enjoy the game, it’s not my favourite AC game and I chose “maybe” on the poll because I don’t know if it’s good enough to be game of the year. Haven’t played any of the others so can’t say for certain!

 

[SarahSays]

I see both sides here, but I think NH deserves to win. People who have never played Animal Crossing are hooked. Sales for the older versions have increased too. You cant find a NH themed switch to save your life rn. Nintendo released one game and it revitalized the entire franchise, which is special in my book. That’s a game that deserves to be recognized.

I agree that being drip-fed content is frustrating, but I’m looking at this from the angle of a brand new AC player and how they view the game. The visuals/sounds, events, and overall gameplay is pretty great, Imo.

 

[Jinglefruit]

Simply put: ACNL did not win western awards in 2013. So ACNH should not win this year unless it's been a very sorry year for gaming. - which is hasn't!


EDIT: Just voted in the poll, and I am going to say I bet the other nominations don't have fan sites where 58% of the fans on a dedicated forum aren't certain those games should win!

 

[cherrygirl]

As much as I love animal crossing its up against some cult classics which have huge fan bases and honestly I don’t think it should win when you have the last of us, doom eternal and ghost Tsushima all nominated as well. The only reason why animal could win I think is bc this year was a pandemic and it sucked for so many people. With animal crossing being the only escape. Plus most of the fan base for animal crossing I’m guessing probably doesn’t even know or care about game of the year.

 

[Mick]

Meh, maybe. I never care too much about awards being given to games. "Game of the year" is a particularly meaningless title to me, so many different groups award that title. I think picking just one of them as 'the' award isn't really a good idea either.

For me personally, ACNH isn't it, even though it was definitely one of the bigger games this year. Then again so were Fall Guys and Among Us, and I really don't think explosive popularity is a good measure of "best game".

I just don't think ACNH is innovative/different enough, or even good enough quality wise to qualify for the title, no matter how many hours I have in it. I'd rather see it go to a game like Doom Eternal, which I just had a lot of fun playing, or The Last of Us II, which despite some of its flaws had me feel stuff like no game has in a long while.

 

[Lenndrix]

My vote would have to be yes just based on the bizarre global landscape with covid right now.

I think its a matter of right game during the right time (or wrong time, but surely you see my point) - the simple reality is that Animal Crossing New Horizons really helped a lot of people to cope with many things that were consequences of covid.

Boredom alone is one thing, but i think that the importance of being able to stay virtually in touch with people you are physically disconnected with cannot be understated.

People locked inside for months still have an outlet for noncompetitive social activities. They still have a way to go outside, even if its only in digital space, and run amidst butterflies and flowers. Teenagers graduating still have a way to celebrate their accomplishments with their peers. Birthday boys and girls dont have to spend their birthdays utterly alone.

These things are so so important right now. All we have is each other, and in a day and age when being physically close can harm or kill those who you love, this game is a god send.

So thats my vote. Maybe Im just being dramatic. Maybe I have too much free time on my hands these days. Or maybe whats important to me is what's important to you guys too.

Im looking forward to seeing what everyone has to say

 

[maria110]

I wish it would win but I've been reading up on the other nominated games and the press seems to think a couple of them are much more likely to win--Ghosts of Tsushima or Hades.

 

[DarkSlayer1331]

Honestly, I say yes BECAUSE of the fact that it was the perfect game we needed during the most difficult year of our lifetime. During a horrible, bleak year, this was something that brought people together, and helped shine a light. And honestly, I think that's the most important thing right now.

 

[skarmoury]

I haven't played the other games so I can't give a solid judgement, but I answered yes for the following reasons.

One, it's a game of the year, and what has this year been but a series of misfortunes? Turning to a life simulator to escape the stresses of real life is exactly what a lot of people needed, and ACNH gave that. Building a perfect island, meeting different villagers, taking things one day at a time (or time travelling if you want a different gameplay, thats cool too!); it quite the stress-reliever.

Two, it's something that you keep coming back to. I've also been in that burnt-out slump, doing the same tasks daily and just decorating depletes my fuel. But with so many players clocking 500-1000+ hours of gameplay, ACNH is definitely a game you want pick up after a long period of inactivity, just to check in on your island. The drip method (or whatever you call the occasional updates) I think is Nintendo's way of making ACNH still relevant even after months of the release, and they're pretty effective. I personally like anticipating the events and new things to do!

Overall, does it have the best specs compared to the other games? No, I also think it has major flaws. I'm not surprised it didn't get nominated for most of the "Best ______" titles like the other GOTY nominees did. But it's an all-around relaxing, at-your-own-pace game that makes you want to come back, and in the context of how chaotic this year was, I would actually like to see it win GOTY.

 

[zanily]

I think so. It's an enjoyable addition to the franchise and the most popular / spoken about game released this year. Along with being a major marketing tool for countless brands, a presidential candidate used the game to advertise. Memes about the game are basically universal and it even had a POGO moment where it seemed like everyone was playing it.

 

[xlisapisa]

I think it's pretty amazing to see how far animal crossing has come and to have been able to personally witness it from the beginning has been a delight! So, YES! I do think it deserves the win, but I also wouldn't be mad if any of the other games won either.

 

[FriendsWithFauna]

I'm highly biased and I think yes. This is an animal crossing forum. I bought a switch just for this game. There is nothing else that's ever celebrated my birthday with me and made me cry. The joy seeing Fauna again was like being reunited with an old friend. I'm highly emotionally attached to this series.
It is special and important that it came out in this year. It finally got attention. People played it more than they ever would have. Its the perfect game for connecting. My mom use to say she didn't like video games because they were all fighting. This one isn't fighting, only friendship. Animal crossing us super unique and deserves the award.
I LOVE ANIMAL CROSSING DID YOU THINK I WOULD SAY NO??

 

[oranje]

Obviously I'm a bit biased but I do think ACNH should win or at least be a top contender. It's not a complex game or the most stunning visually, but it's been a great escape this year and it's been keeping people connected and helps builds community in a time where we're all isolated from one another. I can't really go outside and have fun, but I can via Animal Crossing and that has been such a nice emotional boost for me. I can take each day at a time and can always have something to do. So NH has my vote for being essentially my psychological comfort food.

 

[Vintage Viola]

As far as relevancy and sales, it absolutely deserves it. To the veteran player the game is incomplete, but people have to look at the bigger picture. It came out in March yet you still see it all over the internet, especially over social media, it’s consistently being updated and paid attention to, and the sales numbers are steady climbing. As far as those things go, it deserves.

 

[elphieluvr]

while I see the positives to the patch update system (keeps me interested! Not possible to TT and complete everything from day 1!), it was undeniably done in part because the game was simply not ready at launch and had already been several months delayed. We just passed the one year anniversary of when the game was originally supposed to launch! While I think what happened was best case scenario for this situation, where they were able to release a mostly finished product and have been reasonably attentive in terms of rolling out new content and fixes, they still gave us an incomplete game. I would argue it’s still incomplete. Therefore, I’m doubtful about whether it deserves to win game of the year. But I agree that it is definitely what has gotten me through the pandemic! Is there an award for that? Lol

also, it’s worth noting that AC is viewed by most as a casual gaming kind of experience and those kinds of games rarely win the GOTY award. I can’t think of the last one that fit that category (although I have not played every winner, someone correct me if I’m wrong!). This isn’t to say the game is less worthy in any way, just that it’s not likely to win this specific award. But who knows, it did experience serious growth in popularity due to the pandemic as other posters have noted.

 

[MidnightAura]

I don’t think it does deserve it. For the reasons listed in the OP and also because there are so many better games that released this year that deserve the title more.

 

[Purities]

I’m giving it a very solid maybe. It was a great time of release due to the pandemic, and was very exciting but after finally getting my hands on it there WERE some notable issues /disappointments I had with it. In preparation for Animal Crossing for the switch I really indulged in Pokémon games such as Let’s go Eevee and Pokemon sword which were the most difficult games to put down. ACNH isn’t really an exciting game, sure it is when updates roll around and if you have something set in mind but it’s a very slow game, and with shortening attention spans aimlessly running around doing little tasks isn’t for everyone, and isn’t the most fun or brilliant. And because the switch is a relatively new console lots of classics coming out with new adventures and game modes, as well as brand new games altogether makes it really hard to put Animal Crossing first :/
I think Animal Crossing New Horizons is a very good game, but not really revolutionary like some other games that have come out for the switch