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

[Bugs]

I've put maybe, because it's the only game released this year that I've really played. I've missed a lot of stuff this year now my PC isn't up to date anymore and I haven't really bought anything for the switch either. It's a good game but another game probably deserves it

 

[Chris]

It is up against 2-3 other titles I would say are objectively better games, therefore I would have to say no despite how much I personally love it.

 

[Cakecrazy909]

im saying yes with zero bias

definitely zero bias

i'm biased

 

[Tindre]

Even if it doesnt win GOTY it's still my game of the year. I've had so many goid experiences thanks to it and other people in the community, live streamers, trading on nookazon etc..

 

[absol]

I picked maybe for 2 reasons
1. I haven't played any of the other games and I don't know much about them either
2. acnh has helped me a lot through the pandemic and it's a great game but there's still so much content missing, lackluster villager dialogues, things just taking forever - from mass crafting to visiting islands etc.

 

[AssassinVicz]

Animal crossing New Horizons is a good game and has probably kept alot of people entertained.

But game of the year? I don't see it. Animal crossing is a title that has a very slim audience and alot of the enjoyment you'd get out of the game, is by your dedication to play. Its a game which never ends (Unless you hit the year limit on most older games) and unless you enjoy the slice of life simulation of real life, it'll bore you.

I'm not saying animal crossing is a bad game, because I personally love this installment and the previous ones that i've played. But linear story games such a Paper Mario, give more of a replay value and holds people interest more. Since anyone can jump into it.

Also as someone who has Project Diva Mega Mix for the switch, its all dependant on personal taste. I see so many people hate on that installment of games because of the graphics, but its literally solid port.

 

[Feraligator]

I said maybe, but it's the only game I've bought from this year so it would be more of a yes for me lol
I'm enjoying it a lot, with 800 something hours. Obviously I want stuff from previous games back and dislike a lot of things, but if I was so sour about it I wouldn't have played it so much.
It also feels like it is slowly getting better with updates. I just hope it gets the PC treatment where PC started out so dry and became an amazing mobile game.

Either way it's AC and I treasure the series with my life

 

[niko@kamogawa]

Despite a lot of shortcomings, I don't see myself clocking that many hours in a single game. Does it deserve the title? Maybe. It did well in sales. I don't see why not.

 

[Matt0106]

I would say yes, because overall I do love. Yes they removed stuff, but I've arguably been more excited for holidays then with New Leaf, and for once, I'm actually extremely pleased with my town is I can craft it the way I want to. Also yes, you could say the pandemic gave it the boost in popularity, but even if people didn't career for it, it still was an amazing way for me to "hang out" with my friends and chill, despite not being able to see them in-person, and I think many players tend to forget about that aspect of the game and what it has done for so many people this year.

With that said, obviously I feel like this is veryyyyy subjective. Anyone can give a million reasons as to why it deserves it or doesn't due to shortcomings (the latter has been very apparent on the forums from the beginning of launch).

Overall, whether you like the game or not, no one can deny how great it is that the series is FINALLY being recognized

 

[Yorli]

I'd say yes, with the pandemic more people than ever tried out ACNH despite not having played previous titles in the franchise but the game is good enough on its own merits thay players have stuck with it and its still making headlines. The new diversity of hairstyles in the update was higly praised and shows the devs are really listening (even if we do need more design slots)

 

[SirOctopie]

I'd like it to win because I love Animal Crossing, but I'm giving a maybe for my vote. I think it gained a ton of traction because it launched right when most of the world shut down because of the pandemic and people needed something to keep them occupied everyday. It's by no means a perfect game, and there are a lot of things I feel are missing from it that previous AC games had. I can see it winning just for the fact that it's popular/mainstream, but I can also see it winning because the pandemic is a thing right now.

It is quite funny to see it lined up with the other games, though. The others are all action-oriented, story-driven games, and NH is literally just a daily slice of life game lol.

 

[Rika092]

I voted yes, even though I don't really passionately care about this type of stuff. I think the game has the advantage in that it launched at a really really good timing - because of the worldwide quarantine and stuff, people are locked at home, and this game provided an escape for a lot of people and as a result got a lot of traction, even become well-known outside the gaming community. That said, i don't think it's as popular as it was back in Mar/Apr of this year, so who knows if there's another game that came along that outshined ACNH ( I don't really pay much attention to the other games to be honest...)

What would be nice though, is that if they do end up winning, Nintendo gives us some kind of special items in game as a token of appreciation to the players i think that'd be really nice way to commemorate this special milestone.

 

[Slaxmax]

I think it should win because it helped so many people survive the insanity of the pandemic and quarantine. It's also constantly updating now, which is great because otherwise it was slowing down a little. I love it, but I admit, there are other games this year that were also amazing.

 

[Airysuit]

I personally would say yes. This is the ultimate game for me, despite some of its downsides.

Objectively however I'm not so sure. But I don't have enough experience to judge the other games, so I might not be the besf person to answer this question haha

 

[coldpotato]

I say 100% yes for many reasons. Some being that the game not only entertained me for thousands of hours but brought joy to my life during dark times and improved my relationships with friends and family. People may say it's "just a game" but it actually had a very personal and huge effect on my life. This has never happened to me with any other video game I've played. I can imagine myself playing this game for years as a form of stress relief and creative expression. I do realize it lacks some content and I am definitely one to vent about that sometimes myself, but overall I absolutely love the game and everyone I know who has played it does as well. I bought a switch and the game for my non gamer friend, and she tells me how grateful she is for the game and how it helps her de-stress. My elderly dad, who had never played video games before and struggles with depression, seemed to become much more calm and positive after playing the game. It appeals to non gamers and gamers and has a very positive effect on their moods, which I think is extremely rare and special for a video game.

 

[JKDOS]

I'm gonna have to say a hard NO. AC had potential to win, but they have fallen short by choosing to give us half of the game, and then slowly give us the rest over the next year or more. I have no problem with Nintendo releasing new content through updates (such as new hairs, items, and reactions), but some of this stuff should be in the initial game.

These things should have been included from release
- ALL holidays
- Leif
- Redd/Art
- Swimming/Diving & Pascal and Gullivarrr
- Dream Suite
- Cloud Saves


These things should have made it to the game by now..but also should have been included in release
- Café
- Further upgrades for Nook's Cranny
- Re-tail (Flea Market)


These things shouldn't be an issue, but they are. (This list can be summed down to this thread https://www.belltreeforums.com/threads/the-acnh-rant-thread.478641/, but I'll list some of them personally)

- Item colors. This is probably the absolute worst thing about the game. Please, give us all colors Nintendo.

- Terrible Cloud Save implementation. Who cares about cheaters, just let us manage our own cloud saves.

- 1 Island per Switch. This is beyond ridiculous. Let each Switch player have their own New Horizons island, and each save should host multiple players like past AC games.

- Unable to move the town hall or plaza. In a game focused on letting us move buildigns, we can't even move the most important one.

- Unable to drop items in the plaza. I get it, the plaza is for events, but all past AC games have let us drop items in the event plazas. The items just get moved to recycling, and it's the player's responsibility to understand that.

- Unable to add items manually to the recycling bin. Okay, trashcan items help get rid of stuff now, but this small feature would still be appreciated.

- Too much repetitive and unneeded dialogue in places like DAL or Abel Sisters. Even using the cabinet at Nook's Cranny is bad. How many times must Abel ask if we're trying to use the dressing room? How many times must Timmy/Tommy ask if we're trying to look in the cabinet? How many times must DAL tell us that using Dodo codes means strangers can join the island?

- Multiplayer is badly optimized. It has not improved at all over the years. It still takes forever to leave and enter the town, and interrupts gameplay for all.

- Limited online play. So many features of the game are cut when you're online.

- Unbreakable tools? Ok, it's fine that flimsy tools break, but why not offer us a path to unbreakable tools? Gold perhaps? Gold Tools are pointless, and I don't even bother crafting them because I can just customize a normal tool for infinity to keep it repaired.

- No option to change volume levels of sound, ambience, and music. I know this has never been a feature in AC games, but it's 2020, I think it's appropriate that all games have these options.

- Tree limit set too low. It's 220, which is not much. Needs to be 250 at least.

- No option to craft multiples. Crafting around 40 fish bait is truly despicable for a game like this.

- No option to turn off auto-saving This needs to be an option so people can experiment with terraforming, and go back if needed.

- Villager dialogue is lacking

- Starting villagers never get a proper home

- K.K. Slider crowding the plaza all day long. Either give him a proper place to play (Club or Cafe) or make it so that he will not enter the Plaza until 6PM or something like that.

- Complaining to Isabelle about villagers' clothing is pointless. They just put the clothes on again 5 minutes later.

 

[mattu]

Being game of the year is more than about being technically the best or the most popular.

Like Oscar wins it can also be about how the medium has capture the moment or was a commentary on the times.

In this regard there is actually no other game that comes close to New Horizons this year.

There are better technical games, there are more dramatic / cinematic games, better online games....but no other game really symbolises 2020, stirred up as much positivity, helped so many people, became a ray of light in an otherwise dark year.

I mean seriously doom or last of us as the game of the year in 2020 feels well almost morbid.

Animal crossing game of the year 2020 feels right.....it was the sun shinning through the clouds, it created a movement in people, so many got behind it and, it even led to brands, celebrities and a future us president getting in on it.

 

[Che5hire Cat]

Well, I would say maybe here. I mean sure, it's probably the 2020 game out there imo, it came out in a problematic time where people needed something to get their minds clear and just having fun without dealing for a moment with the dimensions of the pandemic. It's basically the perfect game for something like this. Lots of new people joined the Animal Crossing community, the fandom is bigger than ever. It's still a game which gets tons of attention (whatever in a positive or negative way, if you count any twitter drama etc., ahem), therefore it would kinda deserve the title GOTY 2020.

On the other hand, I'm not sure how much impact the other nominated games has/had this year, like in terms of how popular they are and so on, as I didn't play and care for any of them at all. Overall, it wouldn't surprise me if something like The Last of Us would win, whatever it's a deserved win or not. Overall, I think it's nice that New Horizons even got a nomination, I at least didn't see this coming tbh.

 

[Halloqueen]

I can appreciate the argument people have for New Horizons being a great escape from the pandemic, but I feel like if you are going to try to come to a decision about what would be considered the "best" of the year, it would be appropriate to separate it from those extenuating circumstances and look at the game on its own merits. Would it still pass muster and meet...whatever criteria it is that these things are judged on in any other year?

That said, especially given mattu's post above mine, I can see it being a valid and viable path to victory and it wouldn't be unimaginable for it to happen. Considering I don't have enough interest in awards to know, maybe the year itself is always inextricably linked to the decision making process, in which case yeah it has helped a lot of people cope and nothing else probably compares. I don't have experience with the competition though, or even know what all is in the running, so hey.

I don't care whatsoever about award shows, regardless of medium, so it doesn't matter to me whether it wins or not. If it wins, cool. If it doesn't, oh well. Ultimately seems too subjective a matter to invest any interest in personally.

 

[lexy_]

ACNH is a good game but still incomplete so it is weird to say it the game of the year to me because the game is not finished yet, well it is my opinon.