Perspective of Villagers between Games

[nightglow]

For those who have played older animal crossing games (at any time) have you found that you may like the same villager more in one game over the same villager in another game?
Can you pinpoint why?

Separate but related...
Have your favorite villagers changed between games because of dialog differences, art style changes, animation change, or because more variety of villagers were introduced later, or a combo?
Or is it more of time passing and taste change?

 

[VanitasFan26]

From what I understand the villagers really have changed a lot over the years. The most noticable one are the Cranky villagers. They were very mean in the older AC games but they soften up a bit by New Leaf and New Horizions. They are not cranky they act more like old Baby Boomers who are not used to how things work these days.

 

[Halloqueen]

I've played Animal Crossing for the GameCube, Animal Crossing: City Folk (barely, didn't enjoy it and stopped), Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but I go out of my way to not repeat villagers throughout my games, with few exceptions, so I can experience more of the animals. I had Ankha in my main New Leaf town for years but then decided I wanted her on my New Horizons island since she fit the theme really well, so I moved her out of the New Leaf town entirely and replaced her with Freya. I also had Tucker, another resident of my New Horizons island, in that New Leaf town briefly but he was only temporary. So I have a little bit of experience with this sort of thing. I haven't really noticed my feelings about them changing between games, I liked both then and I like both now.

What affected me moreso was the seeming overhaul to the Smug personality's dialogue from New Leaf to New Horizons. I don't have and haven't had any of my New Leaf resident Smugs in New Horizons, but I'm glad for that because I kind of worry that I would like those favorite Smugs less with this new spin on the Smug personality. By all metrics, Cephalobot should be one of my absolute favorite villagers, and he probably would have been if he was introduced in New Leaf, but the Smug personality as a whole for me has downgraded from being my favorite male villager personality to being replaced by the Cranky personality in New Horizons.

 

[Xara]

i’ve only played wild world, new leaf, pocket camp, and new horizons so far. lolly was one of my favourite villagers in new leaf— i thought her design was so adorable, she was super sweet, and we were neighbours since her house was right next to mine, so she was often the first thing i saw when i booted up the game.

i was so fond of her and have so many precious memories of her from my new leaf days that i planned on having her as one of my permanent villagers in new horizons as well. i was beyond excited when i found her while island hopping back in 2021-2022— she was so adorable, i couldn’t wait to make new memories with her! except, even though i still thought she was beyond precious and adorable, the vibes were different. the fondness that i had for her in new leaf wasn’t there.

i still love her and consider her one of my favourite villagers, but i didn’t vibe with her like i did in new leaf, because it was the lolly that i knew and had in new leaf that i was fond of. her being a random move-in, her house being right next to mine, and her usually being the first thing i saw every day were special factors in my love for her, and since my experience with getting her and having her in new horizons was different… so was how i felt about her lol

i only really started having favourite villagers in new leaf and new horizons, and my favourites definitely changed a bit between when i stopped playing new leaf in 2017, and when i started playing new horizons in 2020. i still like all of the villagers that i did back then (though maybe not the same way), the main difference is the villagers that i like now that i didn’t back then.

i wouldn’t say that design, dialogue, etc changes have really played a factor; i think it’s mainly that my tastes have changed over time, and i’m more open to meeting and having villagers on my island now that i avoided at all costs in new leaf. pietro was my #1 least favourite villager in new leaf— i genuinely don’t know why, but i hated him so much that i swore to reset my game immediately if he ever moved into my town LOL

i still wasn’t super fond of him when i first got new horizons, but i eventually warmed up to him, and even invited him to live on my island! his interior in new horizons is honestly an eyesore lol, but he’s not a bad villager at all! clown sheep is honestly a cutie i’m not sure why i hated him so much, just like i’m not sure why i no longer hate him— because it’s because i’m less into cutesy designs and more into bright, colourful ones now, or maybe it’s because i’m trying to not “judge a book by its cover” when it comes to villagers and their designs anymore? idk, but the change definitely has less to do with the games and the villagers, and more to do with me imo.

 

[TN4U]

The two personalities that I thought got better with time were the lazy and cranky personalities.

• Lazy villagers have always been hilarious to talk to, and in each installment, find new ways to be weird.
• Cranky villagers' insults being toned down in newer games was something I expected, but I actually like how they went from being straight-up mean to becoming old farts who know little about current trends. I think the new dialogue is good enough to make me chuckle a bit.

The normal, snooty, jock, and sisterly personalities haven't really changed much, so not much of an opinion from me here.

• Normal villagers have always been nice and caring. Many popular normal villagers have remained popular because of this.
• Snooty villagers have always been self-egotistical; thinking they're better than everyone else.
  • Toned down a bit in newer games, and they show a bit more respect towards others as a result.
• Jock villagers have always bragged about their muscles. I think their dialogue since GameCube has mostly remained the same.
• Sisterly villagers are still kind of new to the series, but the way they talk has always been cool.

Peppy and smug villagers got worse in my opinion.

• Peppy villagers have always been a bit annoying and repetitive - always wanting to be famous. In New Horizons, they catch on to late 2010's social trends, and I just go "ugh" every time they replace "the" with LE. If you ignore the so-called fancy language, they're alright otherwise. You're still #1 in my heart, Dotty!!!
• Smug dialogue has become the cringiest. It was cool in New Leaf, but it was somewhat gender-heavy. Starting with New Horizons, every human character is referred to by neutral pronouns. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but the smug dialogue had to be altered. They now act like a mix of peppy and snooty villagers due to them bragging about how cool they are all the time. Yes, they still have their fun moments, but I kind of wish their new dialogue was done better.

This is just my opinion, but I don't really let dialogue determine if a villager is good or bad. There's definitely more than just this when it comes to such things.

 

[TheKryptoKnight]

It really varies by personality type for me. GC and WW the villagers were all pretty great. CF was a huge nerf with indoor villagers getting stuck with repeating one short line over and over again.

New Leaf is where things fall apart. All personality types are neutered, and I would think every single villager is Normal or Jock if I wasn't familiar with past games. They had all of the personality sucked out of them in favor of being nice and worshipping us and sharing how they feel about rumors. Dialogue in NL is atrocious.

New Horizons, some personalities start to come back. Lazy and Peppy are hilarious. Sisterly I love the vibe of. Jock was distinct the entire way through, even in New Leaf, so no real movement there. It's never really changed. The only downgrade in NH for me is cranky. Like TN4U said, they're less cranky and more out of touch now. And snooty have probably become too kind.