Playing after the "main" part of the game has been completed ...

[Daisuk]

So KK comes to your town and plays, you get access to terraforming and all that jazz, and start making a nice island. Then what? You can of course just continue with the daily routine, get furniture in, get some bells, catch fish and insects, all of that. But at some point, that'll become a bit stale, no?

... but surely, the developers have thought of a way to keep players engaged for longer, right? Seeing as New Leaf had way more stores, and the fact that dataminers have found something looking like a cafe going to be available for the museum - how do you reckon the developers will keep engaging with players?

- Events (the easter thing now, something for summer maybe?)
- Certain stores becoming available at certain points

Any other ideas about what could be coming? Anyone care to speculate? I've read that the developers also did Splatoon, and frequently updated that with items and tasks. Which is really cool! I hope the do it for AC as well. Never played an AC game before though, so not entirely sure what to expect.

Anyone care to speculate?

 

[Lavulin98]

I think this is it really. Last thing you have to do is to get 5 star island.

 

[Romaki]

I still believe we see most things return. For fun I tried my NPC amiibos for the camping grounds and they all said something like "they're not available to talk at the moment" which is the same text the K.K. amiibo got.

 

[cainhurst]

I'm sure they'll be updating continuously, whether to add new things like furniture sets (or perhaps new villagers, even) or full-blown events. It would be a major missed opportunity for them not to go that route, especially considering how eager most video game companies are to abuse the DLC/expansion/pay-for-more-stuff aspect.

I have no doubt that Nintendo will keep giving us little things to do. My only worry is that they're going to ask us to pay double and triple what we paid for the base game itself in order to do any of it.

 

[Daisuk]

I'm sure they'll be updating continuously, whether to add new things like furniture sets (or perhaps new villagers, even) or full-blown events. It would be a major missed opportunity for them not to go that route, especially considering how eager most video game companies are to abuse the DLC/expansion/pay-for-more-stuff aspect.

I have no doubt that Nintendo will keep giving us little things to do. My only worry is that they're going to ask us to pay double and triple what we paid for the base game itself in order to do any of it.

Yeah, I reckon micro payments for a lot of things could well be a possibility.

I've never played an AC game before, but judging from the community surrounding it, some people have put in hundreds or thousands of hours into the game - I guess my question is, what have those players been doing after the end game? Is it in the end mostly about making things look nice and pretty, complete everything in the museum and talk to your neighbours?

 

[moonolotl]

I have no doubt that Nintendo will keep giving us little things to do. My only worry is that they're going to ask us to pay double and triple what we paid for the base game itself in order to do any of it.

They did say free updates though, right? so hopefully it doesn't come to a whole DLC thing, because if that happens I will be incredibly mad.

 

[Ganucci]

Not sure if you're new to the series but the whole "story" was very new to AC. We've had tutorials which are about as close as it got to a story, but those used to last an hour or so if that.

Now that the "story" has ended this is what people, including myself, love about that game. The relaxing day to day where you make bells, talk to villagers, occasionally get inspired to do something creative with your house or island. Some days you'll be visited by special characters and some days you won't. Each day is different as there are so many variables. If you like making goals then you of course can also try completing your museum or cataloguing every item or getting all hybrid flowers. For TTers I can see why the game gets stale fast as you can complete things at a much faster rate, but for the day to day players, this is the best part! This is where what we love about AC begins!

The events and updates will definitely bring a bit more excitement and I know I can't wait to see what's in store, but even if it was just like past games, it would still be great.

 

[Krissi2197]

For newcomers it seems like the game is over but as Ganucci said, this is where the real game begins for a lot of us veterans. The objectives and storyline were really new for this game.

 

[Altarium]

For newcomers it seems like the game is over but as Ganucci said, this is where the real game begins for a lot of us veterans. The objectives and storyline were really new for this game.

Not sure if you're new to the series but the whole "story" was very new to AC. We've had tutorials which are about as close as it got to a story, but those used to last an hour or so if that.

Now that the "story" has ended this is what people, including myself, love about that game. The relaxing day to day where you make bells, talk to villagers, occasionally get inspired to do something creative with your house or island. Some days you'll be visited by special characters and some days you won't. Each day is different as there are so many variables. If you like making goals then you of course can also try completing your museum or cataloguing every item or getting all hybrid flowers. For TTers I can see why the game gets stale fast as you can complete things at a much faster rate, but for the day to day players, this is the best part! This is where what we love about AC begins!

The events and updates will definitely bring a bit more excitement and I know I can't wait to see what's in store, but even if it was just like past games, it would still be great.

Came here pretty much to say this. I think this sort of "story mode" was added in order to hold the hands of the newcomers to the series and guide them for a while, as they have actively tried to bring new players to AC this time around, I see it as a tutorial really. Now, for me at least, the real fun begins: completing the museum, decorating here and there, hunting for dream villagers... it's the day to day playstyle I love about AC.

 

[Foxxie]

Not sure if you're new to the series but the whole "story" was very new to AC. We've had tutorials which are about as close as it got to a story, but those used to last an hour or so if that.

Now that the "story" has ended this is what people, including myself, love about that game. The relaxing day to day where you make bells, talk to villagers, occasionally get inspired to do something creative with your house or island. Some days you'll be visited by special characters and some days you won't. Each day is different as there are so many variables. If you like making goals then you of course can also try completing your museum or cataloguing every item or getting all hybrid flowers. For TTers I can see why the game gets stale fast as you can complete things at a much faster rate, but for the day to day players, this is the best part! This is where what we love about AC begins!

The events and updates will definitely bring a bit more excitement and I know I can't wait to see what's in store, but even if it was just like past games, it would still be great.

Basically this. I know a lot of people new to the series feel completely lost and I've also seen a lot of complaining about the game being "too short", but there really is no end game here... not set at least. There's always something to do, but it's a chill game and as such, many days that "something" will be just chatting to villagers, weeding, watering flowers and other basic maintenance.

 

[Dormire]

I don't know why people consider the game being "over" after the timegated tutorial lol. It's more of like making people get used to the island life rather than make it a purely objective game. AC in itself is like, doing menial tasks or making your island pretty. Have you seen the dream villages in New Leaf? The people who are into themed towns or those ones that look kinda "aesthetic"? They set that goal for themselves. It just gets more hardcore from now on for those landscape maniacs now you can literally mold the dream town you always wanted. In New Leaf, you had to hack your town to make it pretty since we had no terraforming back then. Not anymore in New Horizons. For others who aren't into the landscaping part, you can do literally anything you want! Like collect bugs and fish for the Museum or just cataloging.

TL;DR This was never an objective game to begin with, it's really up to you to set what you want to do.

I'm hoping the DLC will include Brewster someday though. I loved being a part-time Barista! ALSO, maybe we can make our own coffee, finally! It was kinda sad you can't brew your own coffee with the coffee beans Brewster gives you lol...

 

[Daisuk]

Thanks for all the feedback, guys! This was basically what I was after - hearing what you veterans find appealing with the game. I'm new to the game, yes, and have found myself addicted to it, and I like the decorating part of it, but not sure for how long that will keep me interested, but we'll see. It's a very enjoyable to game to play.

 

[JordanRhysBaker]

I've played since ACWW and even back then, I was on it everyday, redoing my house, making my town the way I want it by hacking. Back on the DS, there was no DIY, or landscaping options, there was limited clothes and furniture; but today, you can design how you want, dress how you want.. so many features. No Animal Crossing game will ever be completed as I think of it as your own virtual life.

 

[Edge]

The best part of this game is that it is never really over, there is always some goal that we can make for ourselves. AC is like a dream game for in video game collectors like me. Lol.
As far as DLC goes, I think we will see quite a few updates as the year goes on and not just event related. I bet we will see a museum expansion and with that the return of Redd, I also think we might see Gracie and new furniture added, as well as outside decorations through Nook Miles. I would be ecstatic if they ever released a gazebo item.

 

[DinoTown]

We already know for a fact that the cafe is returning.
We already know that the game is going to be updated with more content for free for at least a year.

This is the 'end' of the game until this update with new stuff comes out later this month. People seem to forget that these updates are a thing. There is more to the game, it just isn't released yet, and this game isn't designed to cater to TTers who get everything after a few weeks of playing.

 

[Krissi2197]

Thanks for all the feedback, guys! This was basically what I was after - hearing what you veterans find appealing with the game. I'm new to the game, yes, and have found myself addicted to it, and I like the decorating part of it, but not sure for how long that will keep me interested, but we'll see. It's a very enjoyable to game to play.

Animal crossing was never a game to play for hours and hours straight on a daily basis. I play for about 5 hours maximum on days where I have stuff to do (I just unlocked terraforming so I've been spending a lot of time doing that) but on days I have nothing to do I play for maybe 2 hours!

It's okay if you dont play for too much a day. A lot of people I know only play for an hour a day to do their dailies and some work on their island before turning off for the night c:

 

[Daisuk]

Yeah, I have to say, one of the things I really, really like about the game is the pacing - that there'll be something a little new every day, and that unless you time travel, you just have to wait for it. I really love the concept of a game following "our" time, so to speak. I wouldn't really dream of TT'ing, as I can see that completely destroying the fun for me with this one. Also, that I can only catch certain fish in such and so months is brilliant, and what will make me return to the game, I hope! Anyways, I'm talking as if I'm not playing it, which of course I am, I guess I'm just scared of getting bored of it, haha, because I'm enjoying it so much now. Sounds quite ironic.

 

[Fridaynightcatlady]

As others have mentioned, AC is not a game you can finish quite like others. Not only are we supposed to get more updates but there’s lots you can do every day, regardless. Also, if you’re a completionist: consider catching all bugs/fish, recipes, tools, get a 5-star island rating, getting all KK songs, all fossils, and presumably in the future, all gyroids and art work (also: all sets of items, lol)

 

[DJStarstryker]

There's an Earth Day event that is coming out via an update later this month. They only said maybe 2 sentences about it so far, but they said something about that update also adding more features. So there's that to look forward to.

 

[carackobama]

there’s no way there won’t be more updates and DLC, we’re not even a month into the game being released after all