I came across Hokko Life on the eShop the other night and I couldn't believe how similar it is to New Horizon, but with what looks like loads more things included.
I've shared my thoughts in another thread. For $20 it's not a bad purchase. It does some things better than Animal Crossing, but overall, it's not as good or polished as Animal Crossing and is more of it's own game rather than a clone. Playing Hokko Life just made me want to play Animal Crossing again.
The game runs on a factitious clock and calendar system like Stardew Valley rather than running in real time. Some players may like this, some may not. While it can make Animal Crossing feel slower, I actually prefer the real time clock as it makes me feel more vested in each day in the town.
From what I can remember.
Pros
Better Crafting.
Tools don't break
Better preview of where you're placing a house/bridge/incline
Don't like the placement of a bridge/incline? That's fine. Pick it and and place it again.
Instant placement of structures. There's no waiting until the next day.
No donations needed to build such. Just get the resources and craft it.
Bugs/Fish stack
Cons
Villagers aren't as cute as animal crossing, and a little bit creepy looking
Villagers feel lifeless. Their only useful for progression.
Every storage chest has its own storage. Think Minecraft. The way New Horizons handles storage is something I like more
catching bugs is really hard.
Right now, there are only butterflies and months in the game.
The clothing store is small, very small. And it only rotates it stock every 2 in game days. I actually placed a bed in the shop and skipped past 1.5 years in the game just to find a specific clothing item I wanted.
You'll often feel lost. You need to progress, but you have no idea what needs to be done to trigger the next progression.
Aside from starters, all villagers move in with like 3 pieces of furniture. You are required to furnish everyone's house.
Funny:
You can place down furniture anywhere you want. I mean anywhere. Like in any shop/house/building.
You can rob your villagers by taking all their furniture for yourself.
You can carry storage containers. This means you can have near infinite inventory space since you just place down a storage container, fill it up, and then pick it up. Nowadays with storage sheds, you can do this in Animal Crossing now I suppose.
Forget what Animal Crossing taught you about trees. Tree stumps regrow into full trees, and you should cut the trees down fully while gathering wood.
If you can, I'd buy it through Steam. The Steam version has much better graphics, and has access to the Steam workshop.
