Is Nintendo ambitious enough with Animal Crossing

[Boccages]

I was looking at a video of Animal Crossing (Gamecube) and I was struck by how little this intellectual property has changed in the last 18 years or so. Look at Majoras's Mask and Breath of the Wild or Mario Kart 64 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for example. Both these franchise have been constantly evolving and you could say the Nintendo 64 titles really pales in comparison with the latest offering on Nintendo Switch.

I fear Nintendo might just take Animal Crossing fans a bit for granted. It can be argued that in some aspects, Animal Crossing has even regressed with the transition to a mostly handheld title. Indeed, the acre system has been reworked in favor of the rolling effect to accommodate the Nintendo DS's less powerful hardware and it hasn't changed since then. The art style that was designed for the Nintendo 64 still remains the same to this day. The number of maximum villagers has been lowered from 15 to 10. To be honest, the art style makes me think it could be a Facebook freemium title.

I'm afraid Nintendo won't be ambitious enough with Animal Crossing for Nintendo Switch. I'm afraid we will be treated to Animal Crossing: New Leaf HD. I'm afraid Nintendo sees the sales of Animal Crossing: New Leaf (13 million copies and counting if I'm not mistaken) and considers this a bargain intellectual property. Compare the budget allocated to produce The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, a title that had at one point more than 300 persons working on it to Animal Crossing: New Leaf. The Legend of Zelda had lackluster sales for a while until Breath of the Wild. I'm hoping Nintendo takes the time and the opportunity to push Animal Crossing into uncharted territories and considers it an AAA series with a big budget and a nice graphical overhaul. I don't want a rolling effect, I don't want small blocky garden shed as houses anymore. I don't want villages that spawns on about 50 m X 50 m large territories. And since Animal Crossing is announced for next year, I hope Nintendo took the time and spent enough money to satisfy the Animal Crossing fanbase on Nintendo Switch.

 

[smonikkims]

Well, nobody can tell you you're wrong to fear those things. However there are many things in there that you have mentioned that many people quite like. Those are artistic choices and aren't necessarily indicative of taking anyone for granted because just as many people are able to like them as dislike them. I'm talking about the rolling log world, and the art style.

I'm quite sure that Nintendo understands the reason for this series' success and how much people want it, otherwise they wouldn't have teased it in quite the manner they did during the last direct. They know we're anticipating something and wanted to play on that. Plus, they also know that we don't want to be messed around with a New Leaf style wait between the announcement and release. Just because the game will release soon after the announcement doesn't mean that they've only just started work on it. The timing of the announcement was strategic.

I don't think budget necessarily has anything to do with giving the fans what they want either - many people are happier with a simple Animal Crossing game, and I've seen many people bothered by the grandiose ideas some of us have. This is one series I think that doesn't need a huge budget to be just what most fans are asking for. It's upsetting to be on the other side of the fence, I understand, but I think Nintendo is making educated decisions.

 

[thegunpowderincident]

I don't think Animal Crossing is the type of game that needs to push the limits, or get more complicated. The games should have differences and improvements from the previous titles, but as smonikkims said, a lot of people enjoy the simplicity of Animal Crossing. Take Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons as an example. Part of the reason that series has lost popularity is that players don't enjoy the side-quests or "gimmicks." They prefer plain and simple farming. To reiterate, I'm not saying the game shouldn't improve, but I don't think Animal Crossing a game that really needs to "evolve."

 

[LambdaDelta]

the n64/gamecube's acre system was because it had to load in the stuff each time you move to a new section (which is why you have that brief delay and screen snap transition every time)

that said, I do wish they'd bring it back, even if it didn't need to have the constant transitions when moving between them. just for map organization's sake


and the series has still had tons of adjustments and improvements since it's initial release. just because it's visually similar across the board (though new leaf overhauled even that quite a bit) doesn't mean they're constantly just rehashing the same game

hell, even city folk which I like the least due to just feeling like a lazy wild world clone to me had quite a bit new going on. problem is I found its new stuff generally p bad, combined with dropping things from wild world that I did like, and well....

 

[Stalfos]

It's time for the series to take a huge leap forward. It's time for "Animal Crossing 2.0".

 

[lars708]

That's a very fair concern and I think that it may actually be a problem. Many of Nintendo's games on the Wii U were underwhelming compared to predecessors that released over a decade prior to those games on inferior hardware. That said I do have faith as Animal Crossing is a very big game nowadays and Nintendo has been doing good work for other big franchises. Think of Zelda and Mario.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see

 

[tsukune_713]

i dont think they have been doing badly with innovating animal crossing since i think they are limited in what they can do before its not animal crossing anymore
but i would hate if they do a new leaf 2.0 for the switch though

 

[Boccages]

I’m cool with some of you that wants more of the same. But at the very least, we need a graphical overhaul.

 

[smonikkims]

I agree! I don't want the style to change, but that doesn't mean it can't be adapted to include more detail. The kind of transformation to the MK8 track is the kind of adaptation I would like to see. It's the same style but modernised and beautified.

 

[Loreley]

To me, innovation isn't always a good thing - if your formula works, why change it?
For me personally, New Leaf already came close to a perfect Animal Crossing game, with the only flaws being the bland dialogue and simplified villager/npc personalities and the feature of villagers being able to move everywhere.

While I love watching videos about what people would like to see in the new game and reading about everyone's ideas, I can't help but feel a little afraid when people talk about bigger towns, placing furniture outside, more and more customization and so on. Don't get me wrong, I love having lots of options in customization - but I think Animal Crossing also benefits from having certain limitations. To me, it's important that a game offers achievable goals in a reasonable amount of time; so that casual players don't get overwhelmed by everything you can do.

 

[PrismaticVoid]

I personally feel like the series doesn't need a massive formula break, but it's definitely time for a shakeup. Public Works Projects were a nice addition to the series in New Leaf, but that was the only massive new mechanic, and even that lacked a lot of depth that could have made it interesting.

I think that, instead of adding new features, Nintendo needs to go back and extend some of the old ones. Pattern designing needs a lot of work; pro designs helped a lot, but there's still a lot you can't do with it. No pants, no socks, and no shoes means that custom clothing is pretty limited. The eight-pattern limit is also a massive pain if you use your patterns to customize furniture or place down roads.

House customization also needs a lot of work. It feels like every house is the same box with different contents, since they're always the same shape. Give us some real creative freedom and let us decide how the place is laid out. Give us the ability to put doors between rooms, set up staircases wherever we want instead of putting them in the doorway, and maybe even give us the exterior decorations from Happy Home Designer too.

To me, Nintendo doesn't need to have a massive shift like Ocarina of Time to Breath of the Wild, but it needs more improvement than it's been getting.

 

[Imbri]

One of the things I like about Animal Crossing is its nostalgic look. It does still have an older feel, but that adds to its charm.

I think they can make other improvements/upgrades to the game (decorating taken from HHD, improving villager interaction, etc.) without losing that simple charm that makes it a fun, relaxing game.

 

[RooftopsRevolution]

I actually disagree. I think being too ambitious and changing too much will be the ultimate downfall of the game.
City folk was something of a higher definition remake of WW, not much changed other than the reprisal of old events that were removed and it was resoundingly popular. The city was a small addition at the end of the day. If you think about it, New Leaf didn't change very much either-- Most of the 'new' features aside from PWP were from previous games. The new capabilities of the system were there to help make it neater and have a few new bells and whistles such as house placement, but the core game stayed the same. I think keeping the formula similar isn't a bad move by nintendo, and adding the right mix of new and old will be successful.

MY fear is with Switch online. AC is fun for me because of playing online but I'm strongly against the idea of paying for wifi capabilities. I think that'll ultimately be the downfall of AC Switch since it cuts back on the online community and limits you a lot if you can't afford the price tag.

 

[princepoke]

i think i agree with the others in that im honestly rlly fond of the aesthetic that acnl currently has. and in all honesty, if looked at in the small details and stuff, u can really really see the amount of effort placed into detailing zmall things (such as the difference in attitude of one bug to another, or where salmon would be at a specific time), but i agree that improvements generally can be made in existing features

the ability to fully renovate the house would be alright, but i think the ability to design socks, shoes, pants, maybe even masks would be amazing in all honesty - it would really push that customization ability that i think would be amazing. (im alright with the limited canvas size tho, as i feel that limitation is whst rlly lets lots of thing shine)

i think the ac series COULD have some things tweaked in terms of villagers and NPC as well, since things can feel a little repetitive after a while, and become chore-like. especially in terms of interaction with npc like isabelle or the able sisters, timmy and tommy, etc. since we only seem to meet them for their "role" and i feel more could be pushed with them. the amiibo update with the ability to call em with the cards were great, but i still feel its lacking smthing for me to build a bond

ik ive read some threads around regsrding what ppl think could b added tk the new game - including things like the ability to be an animal character instead of human, decorating the outside or different lures for fishing at different times/places. i think outside decoration can honestly just be placed on through pwps at this point, and limitations in customization there makes the game fun too. fishing and bug cstching since im thinking it could b improved, but also i think complicating it with lures or whatnot isnt what i rlly want to stress over/fill my bag with, so im unsure whwt im wanting..

im droning on but uhh my opinion overall is just that similar to prismaticvoid, i feel that im not wanting like. OVERHAUL CHANGE EVERYTHING is what im rlly wanting, nor do i rlly want small gimmicks but rather improvements to current gameplay thru stuff like more npc bonding and oh - perhaps some other incrementally achievable/unlockable stuff

 

[Boccages]

I understand we all want it to remain an Animal Crossing title at the core and we can argue about how much change we want in this new version. I think people missed my main point here.

I'm afraid Nintendo won't spend enough on the production of this title

They have hundreds of people working on Zelda (an IP that sells less than AC) or Mario for years on end, yet I still feel that Nintendo thinks the development of an Animal Crossing title is a low key affair. Add to that the fact that most of the fans are : 1-Not very demanding, 2-Are OK with an art direction dating back to the N64, 3-Will buy it nonetheless, I think my fears are, at this point in time, logical.

I downloaded AC: Pocket Camp. Toyed with it a few days. Was unimpressed in every possible way. Uninstalled it. It struck me at how simple looking and ugly that game is. 2014 Facebook graphics material if you ask me.

 

[Tinkalila]

My wish is that AC Switch is treated like Breath Of The Wild. Instead of keeping things the same and barely improving, or drifting too far from the series roots, I want them to do what they did with BOTW. BOTW was based on the first LOZ game, BOTW was the kind of game you would imagine the original LOZ being in that era. I want the team to look at the original AC game and think about the kind of game they would've made with no technical limitations back then, and make that.

There's lots of cool ideas for new features, but it does concern me a bit. If there's an overwhelming amount of features, and you have too much control over the game, is it even an Animal Crossing game? I feel like an important element in Animal Crossing is feeling like you're just one small part of this strange town.

These are just my thoughts! There are new features and such that I'd like to see, but I think first and foremost animal crossing should return to its roots the way BOTW returned to the roots of LOZ.

 

[Frisket]

My wish is that AC Switch is treated like Breath Of The Wild. Instead of keeping things the same and barely improving, or drifting too far from the series roots, I want them to do what they did with BOTW. BOTW was based on the first LOZ game, BOTW was the kind of game you would imagine the original LOZ being in that era. I want the team to look at the original AC game and think about the kind of game they would've made with no technical limitations back then, and make that.

I would cry with happiness. I also believe that if there's too much control that removes a lot of what makes Animal Crossing, Animal Crossing.

 

[Feunard]

Honestly, now that Animal Crossing has become such an important franchising, I have the feeling that Nintendo will surprise us with changes, as with Zelda Breath of the wild or Super Mario Odyssey.

 

[oath2order]

The thing with Animal Crossing is what I feel the BBC (and now Channel 4) has done with Great British Bake Off. They know that the big factor of their show is that it's relaxing, it's calm, and it's different than other competition shows, without the gimmicks and without the over-the-top antics.

That's what I think Nintendo does with Animal Crossing. They know that people don't want a drastic change, just a nice happy little experience with friendly animals.

 

[Snowesque]

I can see if you feel this way given the spin off titles, as they sort of gave me the same feeling.
In regards to how this game plays, what it is now works and is making them money, so they may not be in the biggest hurry to give it a big push in terms of changes.
I personally don't have a problem with how it is now, but it certainly could use more.