Lost It's Charm

[DinosaurDumpster]

I feel the same. It's way too easy to unlock everything.

Also, villagers are just objects in our islands at this point. Yes, I get that you love to sit, Raymond. Please stop saying how much you love my island's grass.
I miss it when your villagers would make fun of you.

 

[Moritz]

I feel the same. It's way too easy to unlock everything.

Also, villagers are just objects in our islands at this point. Yes, I get that you love to sit, Raymond. Please stop saying how much you love my island's grass.
I miss it when your villagers would make fun of you.

Play an older game then
Bullying isn't cool these days and since saying someone's useless trash can cause major issues to someone with mental problems, expect to never get abuse on here again

 

[Tindre]

Play an older game then
Bullying isn't cool these days and since saying someone's useless trash can cause major issues to someone with mental problems, expect to never get abuse on here again

Bullying irl is very different to animals in a game being upset with you. Ive been bullied most of my life and i laugh when tiny animals insult me. They are not real and they do not know you.
Instead you get the tsundere effect; you have to win them over and make friends. The moment they stop calling you useless trash is when you get to feel connected to them.
Believe me I have tons of mental scars and I played OG AC on gamecube and none of them stem from that experience.

Also I find it funny how someone earlier complained that in New Leaf you "only fish and catch bugs" while someone later said that they "fish and catch bugs and stuff" in NH. Lol.
For me the main issue with NH is that its stressful. Its better now that I no longer feel like I have to collect wood and rocks everyday but it never felt as chill as earlier titles. The music plays a big part in that too... its so bad. There are so few memorable tracks and they all just.. drone on and on... listening to the old soundttacks on yt where you know every song still is so amazing.
As for Brewster and getting a coffee "being boring". Not for me. It was the epitome of cozyness. You aren't supposed to play AC for hours on end. Youre supposed to, late-game when you've paid your loans, go in; talk with some animals. Check the stores. Get a coffee.. water some flowers. Get a new bug or fish and earn some bells. Done. And then feel chill. I dont get that from AC NH. It feels more like a "game".

What kills me with NH is that dialougue is soooo slow.. and theres soooo much of it... and it doesnt say anything... its so gimmicky (sweat... bugs) and it doesnt feel like the villagers are people but robots. Dialouge irl is repetative too. "How are you? Fine thank you" but if I spoke to someone and they everyday talked about bugs I would call someone to come check up on them. There's no normal dialouge. Its all very directed towards specific things.
New leaf dialouge is so fast compared to it and if you have seen it before you can easily skip it. Here it just feels like a drag, the acutal text loads much slower, so I have stopped talking to my villagers.
I miss feeling like things like how the town looked was out of my control and creating stuff for outside was an achievement.. i miss the extreme item variety in New Leaf.. there are.. like 5 sofas in NH?.. color variations are cool and all but where are my princessy furniture? The glass tables?.. karaoke machine? Kaiten sushi?.. regal furniture?... the sewn together set, ... is there a star projector?..
No I vastly prefer NL still. It has some flaws for sure. It has aged. But it puts me in that cozy state that only animal crossing can do. Its my home away from home and NH feels more like a dollhouse to me.

And for transparency sake I will add some screenshots with my playtime here. I have more than doubled my playtime in NH compared to NL. But to me its the difference between eating popcorn and fine chocolate. NL had quality and NH has quantity and the hours I spent in NL meant a lot more to me.

 

[buny]

What kills me with NH is that dialougue is soooo slow.. and theres soooo much of it... and it doesnt say anything... its so gimmicky

i was trying to think of what bothers me with the dialogue, it definitely feels very gimmicky in this game, especially some dialogues that read like twitter posts like "feel free to validate my life choices!" ... ; o ;

NH feels more like a dollhouse to me.

and as much as i love the game, i can see why you feel this way, cause they focused a lot on being able to customize your island and in the process they got rid of a lot of interactions with our villagers and other characters and it's sad cause not everyone plays this game to create a beautiful island :c

i don't necessarily agree with villagers saying straight up unreasonably mean things (even though i find it hilarious sometimes i know a lot of kids got stressed from it), i do think there's a better way to tackle that to still have the feature of character development and friendship like in other community games like stardew (i think?) where some characters starts cold to you and they gradually warm up to you through your effort to be friends with them. This way it will still feel rewarding and meaningful without any stress attached to it

 

[Tindre]

i was trying to think of what bothers me with the dialogue, it definitely feels very gimmicky in this game, especially some dialogues that read like twitter posts like "feel free to validate my life choices!" ... ; o ;



and as much as i love the game, i can see why you feel this way, cause they focused a lot on being able to customize your island and in the process they got rid of a lot of interactions with our villagers and other characters and it's sad cause not everyone plays this game to create a beautiful island :c

i don't necessarily agree with villagers saying straight up unreasonably mean things (even though i find it hilarious sometimes i know a lot of kids got stressed from it), i do think there's a better way to tackle that to still have the feature of character development and friendship like in other community games like stardew (i think?) where some characters starts cold to you and they gradually warm up to you through your effort to be friends with them. This way it will still feel rewarding and meaningful without any stress attached to it

Yeah absolutely, I am not saying they have to be mean like in GC AC; but more that it really doesn't affect me personally even though I know what bullying is like.
Starting out as friends almost instantly just feels kinda off to me.

 

[buny]

Yeah absolutely, I am not saying they have to be mean like in GC AC; but more that it really doesn't affect me personally even though I know what bullying is like.
Starting out as friends almost instantly just feels kinda off to me.

yeah it's not rewarding and makes the "bond" feel less meaningful so it ruins the immersion :< they don't have to be mean like you said, we just want to see some gradual development

 

[theplushfrog]

I've played Animal Crossing since it's release on the gamecube, and not every single one was a banger. I would sit and play the GC for hours, feeling like my town was so impossibly BIG, and still finding little special things like a random ball being left out and kicking it around. Since then the maps have been super small and tight feeling. NH was one where the map is actually finally bigger (or as big) as the GC's map (if I'm remembering correctly) and I was super excited about that! But there's nothing to really "find" on the island after your first go around. Sure there's npcs that wander, but they don't really add anything new beyond your first meeting and then spamming them for their items. Wisp is particularly weird since his mechanics mean you can stand right next to him and nothing--but talk to him and "OH NO".

Before NH, City Folk was my least favorite AC game. It had super long loading screens and took FOREVER to get anywhere... and there wasn't really ever anything particularly interesting about the places you were going. The game otherwise was okay, but my wii mostly existed to play gamecube games, I'll be honest. Wild World was fun but so limited by being dumbed down to mobile that it was like playing with kid gloves on. New Leaf was basically everything I wanted from an AC game. Mobile so I could play anywhere. A moderate map (smaller than GC but bigger than WW) with lots of buildings to explore and npcs to chat with. The main thing I hated was how the villagers moving out was just completely random and could happen at anytime. I did love, however, how you could still see your old villagers at the shops and they would remember you. That made it feel a LITTLE less depressing when your favorite villager moved out. A little.

My biggest issue with NH, however, is how the villagers are. I very much agree with @DinosaurDumpster that the villagers are just objects in this game. Sure they change SLIGHTLY if you boost up their friendship.. but it's really barely noticeable. They still repeat the same [insert event phase here] or [insert comment on a DAILY activity here as if it's brand new] over and over... NL had a little bit of an issue with this, but they would quickly snap out of it and go back to comments that actually had personality behind them. I would purposefully push villagers together in NL to get them to befriend one another and hear for days about the effects of their falling out or new found friendship or etc. NH they act like cardboard cutouts. The silly lazy villagers constantly make the same exact comments about bugs or laying on the floor. It's nearly worthless to talk to them at all in this game and I'm so sad, because they're my favorite part of this series.

Sure some people have pointed out that the villagers have been losing their mean streaks since GC and that's true. GC villagers would call you ugly and string insults together at you. As a kid it felt worthwhile when they'd finally warm up to you, but I can understand that's not everyone's cup of tea. I don't NEED my villagers to insult me. In NL they were super nice but just kind of blandly friendly before they'd get to know you and they'd open up. I think that worked just fine. They still had some personalities be jerks, like the snooty and cranky villagers, but they were sickly sweet when they warmed up to you, so it still felt good. Plenty of people hated those personalities for how rude they were tho, so apparently Nintendo decided to do away with mild friendliness and a few jerks, and just make everyone bland as toast...

I saw someone comment that animal crossing is an "aesthetic game", and I'm so sad because it's true. Sure you can make your island lovely and have all your villagers match your theme... but there's no real heart in the game now. It's just a "design" game now. And I'm glad some people enjoy that, but I miss the parts of the game that weren't related to how pretty everything is.

I'm already waiting for the next game, hoping it's better than this one.

 

[buny]

but I miss the parts of the game that weren't related to how pretty everything is.

as much as i love decorating, i can definitely feel this... i want Ruby to visit my house :c
and i never see them being angry anymore i just realized they don't have emotions in this game? I think New Leaf dialogue wasn't much better than NH tbh and i enjoy both games, but we had more interactions with the villagers in NL and they often got mad at each other and other stuff. You'd sometimes see them being extra happy and singing, i miss that ; o ; am i the only one who doesn't see any of that NH?

edit: i want to point out that i still love new horizons and any animal crossing game before anyone comes at me for being fake or something XD you can love something and criticize it! ^^ i think it's perfectly normal when you're passionate about something, there's a lot of things i love about the game and i share them in the ACNH positivity thread :3

 

[theplushfrog]

as much as i love decorating, i can definitely feel this... i want Ruby to visit my house :c
and i never see them being angry anymore i just realized they don't have emotions in this game? I think New Leaf dialogue wasn't much better than NH tbh and i enjoy both games, but we had more interactions with the villagers in NL and they often got mad at each other and other stuff. You'd sometimes see them being extra happy and singing, i miss that ; o ; am i the only one who doesn't see any of that NH?

Yeah I really miss them emoting and being angry or extra happy with each other... NH really feels soulless compared to the previous games. I'm glad villagers can sit and eat ice cream or do yoga in the town square... but they no longer really feel like those animations have any meaning to them. Villagers don't really react longterm to anything anymore.

It feels like they spent all their time and funding making this crafting system no one asked for (I can deal, but really, why) instead of making it homey. Previously they would talk on the Nintendo Tree House about how long they spent localizing the games and taking the time to make even the animalese chatter different in each region so even if you couldn't understand them, you still felt like they were.. well your own personal small town. Carefully translating text so it fit the slang and turns of phase of the location, instead of straight translations--which some other games still do. Now it feels like each personality only has like 10 phases they say a day like a random townie of an rpg game, instead of a game based around your town as the central focus.

edit: i want to point out that i still love new horizons and any animal crossing game before anyone comes at me for being fake or something XD you can love something and criticize it! ^^ i think it's perfectly normal when you're passionate about something, there's a lot of things i love about the game and i share them in the ACNH positivity thread :3

I still really love the AC series as well. Just because I don't like one game in a series doesn't mean I'm gonna burn all my AC plushies or etc. Like I said, I am glad some people do enjoy it. I just miss the parts I liked before that didn't return in this specific game. And obviously I'm still playing NH and finding enjoyment in it. I'm still here being passionate about the series and playing NH on my switch anyway.

 

[lexy_]

In my opinion, new horizon is a happy designer game version so it is more like a spin off than the real AC games.
I wish that ACNH was like smash bro, an ultimate game and not an incomplete game.
too bad.

 

[Fraggle]

I do wish there was more content, I love my island but I’m bored as hell. When March 21 rolled round I was excited to see new things only to find bunny season and cherry blossom season was the same stuff I already had. I can’t understand why it’s so hard to put anything new into the game, all the new stuff they have done is finished in a few days max. At least give us new bugs and fish!

 

[maria110]

I think this game is very charming and it still has a lot of charm for me but it is becoming more boring after a (for me, almost) year. Yesterday was a day off work and I earned the gold bug trophy finally and today I'm changing some of my custom stone paths to in-game stone paths so I can get that great clop-clop sound when I run on them. I'm still trying to earn villager photos. So... there are things to do but for people who had perfect plans and realized those plans and worked steadily for all the achievements, I guess it could be getting dull.

 

[VanitasFan26]

I think this game is very charming and it still has a lot of charm for me but it is becoming more boring after a (for me, almost) year. Yesterday was a day off work and I earned the gold bug trophy finally and today I'm changing some of my custom stone paths to in-game stone paths so I can get that great clop-clop sound when I run on them. I'm still trying to earn villager photos. So... there are things to do but for people who had perfect plans and realized those plans and worked steadily for all the achievements, I guess it could be getting dull.

At this point we really need to see new content and new features being added to this game. Like I mentioned before there is the 2.0 update, but again because Nintendo is not really good with communication we really are not sure when its going to come out. Speculations are all over the place, but until I see confirmation from Nintendo about the next update I will remain skeptic about what some people predict or speculate will happen.

 

[Che5hire Cat]

A hot take here, but I think NH didn't lost it's charm, it's just different and came out on on a difficult time. NH stands out from any other AC game because of how much the game play got changed in comparison to previous titles. Unlike in NL for example, you start here off on a desert island, where you have to build everything from scratch. You even have to go through a tutorial first before you get the into the actual game. The main theme/goal of NH: Turn this island into a paradise, this also seems like what Tom Nook wants more or less from you. This might be something that not everyone enjoys, as it seems NH focus a lot on decorating the island, with the terraforming, outdoor decoration and such. Now what about the missing content? Yes, this game is missing content, there's nothing to denied about this point. And well, this might be a even hotter take or more like a crazy theory, but what if the game got released "uncompleted" because it becomes "completed" over the time? Much like how you build up your island, the game itself gets build up too. And perhaps Nintendo did this on purpose: Not only did they wanted to release a AC which is different than any other title before, they also may use a tactic to keep the game longer alive, by dropping updates which includes new and old content to hype the people and motivate them to continue playing it, instead of including everything right from the beginning. Although it seems not every update can present something that everyone likes, Nintendo just does their own thing in their own pace. Whatever this is a good idea or not is up to you, personally I just don't think another delay would have changed anything on the game's release and imo, Nintendo (or more like the team behind AC) could have delayed it again if they needed more time. I mean, it's not the first time where a game got delayed more than once and therefore took longer time for development.

Maybe it was also a bit Corona's fault, people spent too much time into the game right at the beginning and therefore losing faster interest in it. Keep in mind, back when NL was still a big thing, we all had a different life, there was no pandemic that suddenly changed everyone's everyday life. NL was more like a game which you played for like a few hours per day on your free time when you came back from work/school, you were also busy with more duties. Back in 2020, the majority of people around the world had suddenly so much free time, they sometimes didn't know what to do with it, as they couldn't go back to work/school/whatever, because everything was for most of the time closed. Hence why also the Animal Crossing fandom became so much bigger, because people looked for "time killers" and NH caught their attention. Same issues still exist unfortunately in 2021 now.

Again, this just a hot take/theory. Otherwise, Idk why so many people don't enjoy NH in the same way as any other AC game before. Maybe they grow out of this franchise and start to feel less connected to it. Maybe it's really too different and can't offer the same feeling as people know it from previous games. I for myself still enjoy playing NH. Yes, I'm also not happy with certain things here and there, then again there's no game out there which is 100% perfect. NL and previous titles also had their faults, this is totally normal. Who know's, maybe update 2.0.0. can deliver the game changing experience the game needs that those who stopped playing getting back into it. And if not, then maybe just move on. AC is a game that can't keep anyone happy for years, this goes for any game out there. Just my two cents on the topic here.

 

[Blueskyy]

I found myself revisiting New Leaf yesterday, while it was still a bit boring I was able to enjoy the 10 am music, do a side job at The Roost, fixing my hair at Shampoodle, and catching up with villagers. I might revisit more today and play some island tours. These are the things New Horizons is missing that would make the game much better.

 

[k e r f u f f l e]

I can totally see where you're coming from! Though I think New Horizons is still super enjoyable (plus I'm hopeful for future updates), I've often said that this Animal Crossing feels like Animal Crossing.

The current NPC limits, loss of nostalgic music, minimal work/time requirements, and the general aesthetic of an Animal Crossing game leave a husk of what the games once were, albeit pleasant.

 

[Starboard]

I do like the game overall and I think it still has charm, but I do feel like they needlessly took steps backwards in terms of features. I don't think it would have done any harm if they had left certain things from previous games in, and I wouldn't consider it to be a New Leaf clone because there are enough new features (and a new style) that New Horizons would still be it's own game. Plus I don't think too many people want to be playing multiple games just to get the "full Animal Crossing experience". Also if they had left features in or at least reassured players of what's coming back, then people wouldn't be making so many posts about their disappointment. At least the more people talk about it the more likely Nintendo will see/appreciate our opinions...

 

[Marshmallows]

I think NH has moved away a bit from some of the fun and quirky things of past games, but it makes up for it in a lot of the quality of life improvements and graphics... not to mention the freedom we have to decorate and terraform. I do wish they had kept some of the old npcs/shops, or at least replaced them with something else. We don't have hardly any new NPCs. At first it seemed really convenient to be able to change our face or hair whenever we want, or to just lay in our bed at home to dream, but the shops and npcs add to the whole experience.

Things have been changed to be less cartoony and more realistic, which for me, is a bit less charming because I liked the odd or over-the-top things, though I recognize the game is beautiful.
Peaches, the exterior house options, things like using real world English and Japanese instead of the AC 'language'. I don't want the villagers to be mean, but yes to say new and interesting things -- just not so overboard like the lazy bug talk.

Change is welcome and good... the game has to evolve. I am okay with Brewster, Katrina, Harriet, Kappn, and all the other 'missing' npcs never returning if they add other npcs or things to do in the game. Same with the furniture sets. I don't want exact copies of the old furniture, but more choice would be nice.

I love the game and feel it still has plenty of charm (the stars on the beach after a meteor shower, the washed up bottles, the flyover cut scene, Redd's boat)... but maybe could use a few more things to keep it interesting.

 

[annex]

I loved New Leaf and all the other games. One of the things I love about Horizons is I can easily redecorate an area. In New Leaf you had to tear down a pwp, wait a day for it to be gone. This could take days just to move a bench and a couple of street lamps. Then you had to put up the ones you wanted, that could also take days to complete. Not to mention how costly it was. I didn't redecorate areas very often in New Leaf because of that. In Horizons, I can remove everything, add terraforming and waterfalls and add in the decor in a few hours or less. This has kept me playing, because I often find areas that could use a make over.

As for charm, I do like Horizons music, but it just doesn't compare to past games. I really miss some of the past games hourly music.

 

[-Lumi-]

I think that New Horizons has less charm than New Leaf overall but it still has some charming elements to it. I do wish we would see updates that would bring back some of the New Leaf aspects, though! From New Leaf I really miss the following:

-Retail! I miss Reese and Cyrus tons. I'm not sure what purpose Cyrus would have since we can customize things on our own - maybe he would be the one able to customize Nooks Cranny furniture? I miss Reese and Retail, though. I thought it was a cute idea and I like how she paid more bells for my stuff, lol

-Nook's Cranny getting upgraded. I genuinely can't understand why Nooks doesn't upgrade at all. I'm not saying it needs to have the same upgrades as New Leaf because I'm not sure the big emporium would suit island life but the fact nothing changes? That bothers me. I remember being so excited and intrigued when I first saw the shop being covered up in New Leaf! And it helped make me feel like I was progressing in the game getting to see new shops open and the Nookling's shop get upgraded. Plus with the upgraded shop we would be able to see Gracie come back and get all her furniture sets which would be nice.

-More shops in general, honestly. I don't enjoy the mechanic of having Kicks & Leif be pop up guests who comes sporadically to sell stuff or having Labelle be a fashion checker. Like Nooks, I wish we would see Able's upgrade. It doesn't need to be a huge upgrade but I was really let down when I realized Labelle's fashion checks didn't lead anywhere. I would've loved for her to move back in with her sisters! With Kicks & Leif it's the same feeling. I was waiting for the day when they'd say, "wow! I'm pretty popular here on the island I think I'll open up shop," but that never happened. Neither of those NPC's need to have big stores and I think it would be charming to have a small garden shop like Leif's first New Leaf store and Kick's little shoe store. I'm not sure where Dr. Shrunk would fit or what his role would be since we get reactions from villagers so I could go either way on his inclusion, honestly.

-Snow family. I think the whole snow family in New Leaf was adorable. Excluding them in favour of us only being able to make a snowboy in various sizes was a bummer, honestly. I loved having the little snowtyke, snowmum, snowdad, and snowboy. It added variety when I was trying to make snow people! They could've kept the core mechanic the same (ie: getting a DIY & big snowflake for every perfect snow person) if they really wanted too but it would've still been nice to have that variety.

-I think the music in New Leaf was more charming but I know that's a person preference thing. I just feel like New Leaf's music is more calming/relaxed which suits the atmosphere of the game better.

-Brewster's would be nice to have back as well! I didn't understand how to play his mini game, lol but I miss having the coffee shop and getting to walk around with a to-go cup of coffee.

-Phineas The Badge Man! I miss him. I know we get our badges through the Nook Phone now but there was something so whimsical and fun about having Phineas come to visit.

-Post Office. I miss the post office and all the postal workers. The small postcard rack in the airport is not a stand in for the post office.

-Dialogue. I'm not saying I want the villagers to be mean to me - because I don't. I really don't mind at all that the villagers are all really sweet and friendly, lol. But that's not an excuse for the dialogue to be as bland and repetitive as it is. New Leaf's villagers were also really nice to the players but at least their dialogue had a little more variety. They'd ask me to play games, invite me to their house/ask to come to mine, randomly ask me questions out of a magazine quiz they read, and just in general it didn't feel like I was seeing the exact same dialogue every day. It wasn't perfect by any means but that meant that New Horizons should've been better. It should've built off of the New Leaf dialogue but instead it feels like we took a step back which is odd.

-I hate the tools breaking. I hate it. Part of the charm of Animal Crossing is catching bugs, fishing, gardening, etc. It's not charming for my tools to break when I'm in the middle of watering my flowers or catching butterflies.

I feel like New Horizons got stale a lot quicker than New Leaf did, at least for me. That's not to say that New Horizons doesn't have it's charms or positive aspects to the game! Because it certainly does. I just feel like when you weigh both games against each other New Leaf has more charm, more whimsy, and more creativity thrown into it. When I look at New Horizons I see a lot of, "almost great" ideas. I don't know if it's that the game needed more time in development or if the developers decided to favour make the game more like a dollhouse (just placing pretty things together) and less like an actual little alive island. I barely talk to my villagers anymore because they're always saying the same thing. I can't interact with most of the furniture I've placed. It's not as enjoyable to fish, catch bugs, or even garden in this game. I'll do those things still but it's not as fun and calming as it was in New Leaf.