POLL---Be Honest: How do you REALLY feel about New Horizons?

[bcmii]

I feel like a lot of people around here aren't completely honest and/or stay quiet about their feelings about the game because they don't want to upset others and start any drama. I thought it would be interesting to see how people really feel about the game. Since this is entirely anonymous, I want you to vote completely honestly.


I thought it'd be interesting to see the results.

EDIT TO CLARIFY: First option refers to all games in general, not just Animal Crossing.

 

[Moritz]

Can we have an option between its the best game I've ever played and just being okay?

Like it's the best animal crossing game I've ever played (played them all apart from amiibo festival) but I wouldn't say its the best game I've ever played in my life either.

Or did you specifically mean best animal crossing?

 

[bcmii]

Can we have an option between its the best game I've ever played and just being okay?

Like it's the best animal crossing game I've ever played (played them all apart from amiibo festival) but I wouldn't say its the best game I've ever played in my life either.

Or did you specifically mean best animal crossing?

Ah, sorry. It won't let me edit the options anymore now that someone has voted. I guess you would best fit in the second option. I suppose the first option could be interpreted either way--I was more thinking about all games in general, not just Animal Crossing on the first one.

 

[Moritz]

Since this is entirely anonymous

Its not anonymous
I can see who voted for what by clicking on the number of people who voted it

 

[Corrie]

I'm going with "it's okay." Like it's fun, it's an Animal Crossing game! But with all the issues I have with it, those issues just burn in the back of my mind while I play. It doesn't feel like an AC game too much with the QoL features missing. The entire vibe is off as I don't actually want to "live" on the island and talk to my villagers like I did in the previous titles.

The terraforming is good though and has been what's kept me playing. Without it... I dunno.

 

[bcmii]

Its not anonymous
I can see who voted for what by clicking on the number of people who voted it

Hmm...Maybe I can change that. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[DinosaurDumpster]

It's an okay game. Just as good as the other games I have played. Definitely not my first pick of the best games, but i still absolutely love it at the same time.

 

[Nefarious]

Need an option for "It's a great game in it's current state, but am always up for seeing more added" and "it's just as good as previous games".

Every installment has pros and cons between each other and New Horizons is no different. I still love New Horizons despite some of it's faults that I acknowledge it has.

 

[ForgottenT]

It needs a lot of work, but it already shredded the charm every AC game have had up to this point, I’m just playing it as a cut down version of HHD, but at least the entire island can be decorated, so it got that going for it I suppose.
It’s a worse AC game than New Leaf, it’s a worse designing game than Happy Home Designer, and Nintendo gives all of their love and attention to Pocket Camp while New Horizons is sitting here feeling like a pay 2 test alpha game.
New Horizons does have potential, but I’m not holding my breath.

 

[Dunquixote]

I think the game is really good but needs a lot of work. I’ve done my best after the first several updates to keep my expectations low, but even so, I still feel like they could have done more with this game. This game has the potential to be better than it is. I do love this game a lot, but it is not my favorite.

Please do not attack me for being too greedy. I really do not like how people cannot seem to discuss their opinions (regardless which side) in a constructive manner without being bashed for it. I do not like how the people that make constructive criticism are being lumped into “nitpicker” and “too greedy” group. I understand how annoying constant complaining is but I think constructive criticism makes good discussion and should be separated from complaining with no purpose other than for attention or to aggravate others or to complain about something irrelevant to the topic like an appreciation thread.

It’s great to me that there are players that like the game as it is and don’t see shortcomings and there is nothing wrong with there being players that are disappointed. Not everyone is going to support every little decision Nintendo makes with AC or in general.

I am one of the players that is enjoying the game as it is and appreciate the improvements from the previous games. but still think it could be better. For a new game of the series and past acnh’s one year anniversary, I am a bit alarmed by how much is still missing (whether it is “new” stuff or old stuff like npcs and buildings). I still feel like a lot of the stuff brought to us by the updates are miscellaneous knick knacks and clothes.

This is just my opinion. Not looking to fight. I understand not everyone feels the same way.

 

[Rosch]

I'll reserve my full judgment of the game until Nintendo is done supporting it. But I'd like to echo that New Horizons is indeed a great game in it's current state. It's not the best in the series, but still a great game nonetheless.

But that doesn't mean I don't care about it's flaws. I want most of the cut content back, and this game needs improvement. Currently, it may not have everything I was hoping for, but this is the first game in the series that I've played daily for over a year, and it's the game with the most hours I've spent it in my entire life (beating Tomodachi Life). I keep going back to it. It keeps me engaged. And I still enjoy it. That's what's important to me.

 

[Firesquids]

I need an option between the bottom two. (perfect thanks! lol)
I think New Leaf was still better over all, but I'm sure they'll keep adding to NH. I think it could definitely be better. A lot of little things frustrate me about the game and there's a lot that I feel like should have been implemented in the series by this point. That being said I've spent almost 2000 hours playing NH so I must like it lol

 

[oak]

I picked "it's okay but could use a little work" but I would use the word "good" rather then okay. I just didn't want to call it super amazing cause that's too strong. I have thoroughly enjoyed the game but can also see that if you're not much of a decorator, New Horizons is limited activity wise.

 

[bcmii]

I picked "it's okay but could use a little work" but I would use the word "good" rather then okay. I just didn't want to call it super amazing cause that's too strong. I have thoroughly enjoyed the game but can also see that if you're not much of a decorator, New Horizons is limited activity wise.

Yeah, I didn't mean to keep it like that, but I can't edit it now.

 

[a potato]

I mean, it’s definitely good, but it’s not my favorite. I don’t have any feelings against it, I just prefer the atmosphere of New Leaf. I think there are some questionable omissions, too, but I don’t think they negatively impact the game. As we have seen, the game is great without them.

 

[BalloonFight]

I think it will eventually be the decisive AC game... but it's not quite there yet. I personally prefer it slightly to NL now with the recent additions. I don't think it's quite the definitive AC yet as there's an obvious strong argument for NL. Nintendo could EASILY turn that around at any point by giving us just a handful of obvious things they need to add (expanded shop, gracie, more furniture sets etc), but time will tell.

I do think that if your first AC game was ACNH, it would be semi hard to go back to the other AC games for first playthroughs simply because the freedom for designing your island is so incredibly massive in NH. Also as mentioned previously, I have WAY more time in ACNH than the other AC's (Wild World coming the next closest), so I guess it's fairly obvious what my personal favorite is (...although quarantine definitely helped hours wise).

 

[Moritz]

I need an option between the bottom two. (perfect thanks! lol)

Did you still have the original 3 options showing?
I was a bit confused when you said the bottom 2 as that places it between it needs work and it sucks. Which didn't line up with your 2000 hours XD
So that would make more sense haha

 

[azurill]

I really enjoy playing New Horizons it’s why I ended up getting a second island. It does have some faults and things I would love to be added eventually but even if they are not I will still enjoy NH. I love that villagers don’t move unless they ask and island hopping is a fun way to find villagers. I do like crafting and terraforming.

As much as I love this game it can use some updates. Hoping we can get some new buildings , a Nook’s cranny upgrade with the future from NL , the return of some NPC’s. It would be nice to have villager visits come back Bulk crafting and bulk buying would be nice but don’t think that’s going to happen.

 

[Nefarious]

I'll reserve my full judgment of the game until Nintendo is done supporting it. But I'd like to echo that New Horizons is indeed a great game in it's current state. It's not the best in the series, but still a great game nonetheless.

Sure, it may not have everything I was hoping for, but this is the first game in the series that I've played daily for over a year, and it's the game with the most hours I've spent it in my entire life (beating Tomodachi Life). I keep going back to it. It keeps me engaged. And I still enjoy it. That's what's important to me.

Same here, I think my full judgement will wait till they've stop supporting the game. Still think it's a great game for what it currently is, I'd say it's pretty on par with what New Leaf started as, before the Welcome Amiibo update.

 

[VanitasFan26]

Its a good game, but yeah it does need some work. I am somewhere in the middle. While I think there is things in the game that do way better and it does do really good from past AC games there is still other stuff that sets it back from being a perfect game. Here's the thing I remember way back in the day on the GameCube you would used to have 2 towns on each memory card. When I saw New Horizons I was hoping to make multiple islands but instead it has the one island per switch which did annoy me very much.

There is alot of issues that bother me like the online is not all that good. All you do is just shop on their island, and sure you can interact with their villagers, and of course have a fun time hanging out. There is literally no modes. I know when the Dream Suite came out last year in August 2020 I barely use Dodo airlines anymore. Its 2021 and we still have to deal with the constant load screens. I mean why can't it just be you can still do stuff on your island, while someone else is coming or leaving?

Then there is the villager dialogue. Villagers seem to only talk about themselves depending on their personality and they would prattle on the same topics about what you are wearing, who visited your island, reminding the player what they did yesterday, and of course always asking you same questions about being inside villagers homes or just asking about other player's hobbies. This can be cute at first, but it gets tiring to hear them say it everyday. Now sure the argument can be made that villagers do same more unique things when they are inside the shops, museum, and when they are in events. While that is all cool it still doesn't make them interesting. New Leaf villagers used to come to your home when they ask you to and sometimes they would ask you to pay hide and seek. That is no longer a thing in New Horizons. Villagers need to have more life to them than just repeat the same topics over and over again.

The Crafting and DIY are good additions to the game but the way it was executed and how it was handled after 1 year later it really doesn't hold up too well. The constant grind for looking for DIYS is RNG and the crafting takes a long time just to get items you really want. If Nintendo would've took inspiration from Minecraft and Stardew Valley maybe the Crafting would've been better.

As far as the shops I am just going to say this New Horizons compared to past AC games in terms of upgrades has the least amount of shop upgrades. You can upgrade the shop 5 times to reach to the full potential. Even in New leaf when you got the final shop upgrade you had Leif joined in and then Gracie Grace was up in the top floor. It was by the best thing we've ever seen. Why is that the Nook Shop in New Horizons has only one upgrade? There should be a new upgrade where it adds new items that we never seen before. I get that in past updates the nook shop would always display items that are limited time which is a good idea but the problem is that the variant you have is a different color and the only to get that said variant that has a different color is to trade with someone else. In past AC games the nook shop was always your go to whenever you wanted new furniture and it always was refreshing whenever new stuff was added even in the full upgraded shop there is so much stuff to get and you can see what they have. This one in New Horizions just doesn't do much. There needs to be more variety and a reason to keep shopping at the Nook shop.

Lastly is the Nook Mile Shop. Its probably the most underdeveloped thing in this game. One year has passed and the nook miles shop has barely seen any sort of upgrades to it. Yeah sure in the updates you can use Nook Miles to get new Reactions but thats just it. The items remain the same ever since you first started playing. There is no way to customize the items you just got from the Nook Mile shop. You have to ask someone else if they have say a Green Streetlamp for example.. but you only have the black version on your island. What bothers me is that when you catalog these items, you cannot buy them at the Nook Mile shop. Its available on the Nook Shopping Catalog but its "not for sale" so whats the point? You might as well just trade these items in for different colors which can be tedious to do. The point is the Nook Miles could've been better if the game actually added new items to the Nook Mile shop that encourages you to earn them more all the time when doing tasks everyday when you play the game. I would've loved it if there was like new features added that you have to get nook miles to unlock it. Remember in the beginning you had to spend a lot of Nook Miles for your Tool Ring, Hairstyles, and Pocket Size? To me that felt rewarding and you felt accomplished for unlocking them. After one year of playing there is barely anything new added to the Nook Mile shop.

With that said I will mentioned what I do like about the game. The graphics on this game are some of the most impressive I've ever seen on a Switch game. The way the flowers move, the trees, and anything else in the wind is just really nice. There are really small details where you can put a Fan inside your home and you can see how different objects affect based on the direction the wind from the fan is coming from. The sounds of the bugs were well done, the water waves were really great, and the wind is a helpful mechanic whenever you're looking for Balloon gifts. The way you control your character is really responsive and you can run all over your island. Everything from using tools, shopping, swimming/diving, and basically storing items have felt more fleshed out compared to past AC games. There is more pocket storage, you can store more things in your home more than ever, and there is Nook Mile tasks to do whenever you want to feel accomplished. By far the best thing about this game is the customization and terraforming. You can customize certain furniture and items from crafting, have a lot of custom patterns or objects on your island from someone else who designed it using the Kiosk, and of course the one thing that stood out the most is terraforming. Making your island the way you want and how you want it to be has never been so expressive and giving you the freedom to do whatever you want.

So yeah thats my brutally honest thoughts on what I think on Animal Crossing New Horizons as a whole.