The villagers, localization, and Nintendo's "kid-ification" of a great franchise

[moonchu]

Rex had a conversation with me that broke the fourth wall as he was telling me about a dream he had where he was a character in a game and his whole life was a simulation! That’s was pretty funny and not something I ever saw in New Leaf

yeah filbert did this to me, also.

i will say, i enjoy the villager's interactions with each other. raymond has really bullied other villagers on my island for sure. stealing all of their catch phrases.

 

[meggiewes]

The villager dialogue could be more varied and interesting. It is ok not to like a game. I find myself really liking New Horizons for designing and the villagers are really the cherry on top.

I feel the same way about the Sims. TS4 is fantastic for build mode, but it makes a rather poor life simulator and I vastly prefer TS2. So, I understand completely why people who started with the older ACs like the gamecube version and Wild World are disappointed when the main focus in them was living in a community.

That being said, I feel like they are starting to fiddle with the dialogue in updates. My two lazies and my two normal don't repeat the exact same thing in a row anymore. So, it is possible they could work to improve it in the coming year.

 

[iamjohnporter67]

This franchise might as well call themselves "Design Crossing" because there seems to be more focus on decorating aspects than on the animals themselves. I find myself not wanting to engage in conversations as much as I wanted to. Sometimes, when two villagers of two personalities converse with each other, I simply ignore them because I already know the dialogue that they will use. The insipid dialogue is more noticeable in NH. My first AC game was NL, which hands down has better dialogue than NH. Other users here have remarked how the dialogue has gotten worse each game. I believe them. I think it might be partly because the developers received complaints from fans, yes from FANS, that some villagers like crankies or snooties are "mean". Resetti in this game is basically absent for this reason. Complaints were voiced to them that Resetti's dialogue upset them so they "removed" him from the game. Well...the dialogue won't be changed anytime soon. They need to keep it "safe" for all players.

Thats the biggest issue with the game. Even if you have villages with the same personality they will all say the same exact thing. Something that people don't mention is that Villagers often ask you the repetitive questions over and over again even if its one a new day. Like for example: I was talking to Raymond and he asked me "Have you ever been inside (insert villagers name) home before?" and then when I talked to Molly she asked me the same question about being inside someone's home? Its that type of dialogue I really don't like. Even if you heard it once why would you need to be reminded about that? Even worse is that they always comment on your outfit even though you heard it for like the 50th time. Same with the objects around you.

I just tell myself "well whats the point in talking to them if thats all they are going to say" it kills the immersion that the villagers once had. I replayed New Leaf and I find them saying interesting things a few times and never repeats. There are times they do that but its not too frequent. New Horizions they just feel like lifeless robots who will only follow things they are allowed to say and not wanting to change it up. Its been like this since day one. I know you can try and talk to them multiple times but the problem is that next day they will still repeat the same conversations. Again it would be better if they said different stuff each day and not repeat the same conversations day by day.

 

[maria110]

Does anyone else notice the lack of personality and character, or am I just being cynical? I legitimately feel zero attachment to any of my Villagers.

I agree with you that the villagers are underdeveloped. The main problem I have is that the members of a personality all have mostly the same dialogue and even their voices are difficult to distinguish.

However, they do insult me when I wear the same outfit day after day. And they complain about some things.

 

[Splinter]

Every game since the first has weakened and weakened the personalities, they don't really want to offend anyone I suppose, but it has taken away a lot of the games charm and personality. It's moved away from the original formula where the main gameplay mechanic was interacting with your villagers, now it seems mainly about decorating your island and the villagers are just an extra.

The personalities are bland and boring.

 

[Solio]

Ever considered that growing up is a thing? That kids are more excitable than adults?
Ever considered that the novelty wears off after a while? Especially when you have played the previous title?


ACNH has problems, but the dialogue isn't as bad as people claim it to be. Its biggest problem is that the villagers go through a checklist of topics before they get to the quirky, random rants.
Add to that the fact that people are hopelessly nostalgic for the older titles and dont want to admit that the dialogue was never really that deep.

 

[RollingAntony]

One thing people have to realize is how the villager dialogues are coded. Villagers will always speak first about upcoming events (fishing tourneys, KK being in town, Holiday events), then they will usually talk about what’s around them (items), and stuff you’ve done the day before (gathered resources, shot balloons, etc.), and then they will start talking about random stuff or ask you for favors. If you just talk to a villager once or even twice in a row, you will never get to the meaty, intelligent monologues or you will quite rarely get asked for favors.

My advice is talk to your villagers 4-5 times in a row so they get distractions out of their system (events, surrounding items). You should now get a lot more interesting interactions with your villagers.

Last Spring I thought dialogues were subpar. Then I started talking to my villagers 4-5 times in a row, and that was a revelation. They are actually on the same level as New Leaf. Cranky villagers are actually crankier than in New Leaf. Gonzo lets me know pretty much every day that I am semi-annoying.

Yeah, this is totally how it works and I agree that it needs a "quick" fix so people don't assume they don't have enough things to say. I'm not a code person, but I'm guessing they could tweak the priority a bit so you have access to the interesting bits earlier than now. I'm still missing lots of dialogue, including the ones exclusive to conversation between the same personality, so I'm still surprised from time to time. Talking to a villager and breezing through the contextual dialogue 3 or so times takes me less than 1/2 minutes, so although I'm not bothered by the layers, I understand it'd be better with less layers.

They also perform a function that people always request for Isabelle, which is to inform you about the visitors. If the team moved that, they'd have less dialogue.

I can't compare to previous entries and the absolutely amazing dialogue they had, so I'm just happy I'm able to enjoy the interactions and conversations present on NH.

 

[psiJordan]

Regarding the rude villagers thing: if they included similar dialogue that was in the old games, I definitely don’t think that would go down well with many players.

A lot of people had issues with how the Snowboy reacted when he was built wrong in New Horizons (which was very tame), so I think villagers calling you ugly, a freak, and a mess (quotes from the older games) would have a very bad reaction. Why would you want that anyways?

 

[MidnightAura]

I play all the AC games daily. So my experience isn’t nostalgia, it’s things I see every time I play.
Without a doubt the dialogue has been toned down and it’s very noticeable how bland NH is.
For example I have Tangy in two towns, AC: Population Growing and Wild World. In both those games she is sassy, she doesn’t suffer fools gladly and while she can be sweet, she has an edge. A conversation with her is never boring. The dialogue is long and she asks questions I get to answer. She references a boyfriend and she tells me that she thinks Ribbot and Lily are dating. She will also gossip about other villagers. I.e she told me she saw Nan and Pudge fighting on the beach. She also asks me if i Think she is overweight and I have to answer on a scale system.
I don’t have Tangy in NH anymore. In NH she is a talking prop. I love Tangy but her NH model leaves me cold. She repeats the same lines of dialogue all villagers do. One statement about the fishing tourney, one about what I did yesterday, one about my outfit, one about my friend who visited 6 days ago and then she will talk at me not to me. I barely get to reply to her. She asks how she looks and you can’t respond. Even New Leaf allowed you to respond to that question. My favourite part of AC is the villagers and interacting with them but I think NH has the worst dialogue of all the games. New Leaf had dialogue toned down but I think NH is worse for it. In NH I have to create stories and dialogue in my head, I don’t have to do that in the other games. Like Kitty told me in New Leaf she moved to my island as she gave up performing and I could respond with different dialogue, that doesn’t exist In NH. All back stories seem to have been removed. Look at the Able sisters and Blathers as examples.

 

[Fraxxo]

A lot of people had issues with how the Snowboy reacted when he was built wrong in New Horizons (which was very tame), so I think villagers calling you ugly, a freak, and a mess (quotes from the older games) would have a very bad reaction. Why would you want that anyways?

Yeah, I noticed that too.
I remember in old game if you made Snowboy with a bad shape he will even tell you things like "Life sucks" or "I cannot show my face in public, you are a cold-hearted person." At least in my country translation.
In New Horizons, when I made an ugly snowman, I tought "Oh gods, is he going to make me feel guilty?" and that... didn't happened. He just told me "I am not good, next time try to to better". Not a single harsh word, nothing.

 

[Fridaynightcatlady]

I've said this many times before and I know it's super unpopular at this point but imo, NH dialogue is very good and is probably just below WW and the original GCN game. I don't remember seeing memorable dialogue in NL, not once. Most dialogue in NL was in the manner of, "go fetch me this; find me that; let's play this". NH dialogue is reminiscent of GCN. I also happen to read, in the most audacious ways, that NH dialogue is too repetitive. As opposed to what? People probably don't remember, but GCN and WW had repetitive dialogue as well. GCN especially (I fondly remember my villagers asking to trade something for their stuff or taking my stuff out of my pockets, but oh boy was it repetitive). And tbf, if you're logging in over 400 hours (like me), you'll eventually get more repetitive dialogue. But even know, I get dialogue I've never had before and Nintendo is probably adding even more dialogue to the game (depending on seasons; events, new characters and items, etc).

 

[JKDOS]

I've said this many times before and I know it's super unpopular at this point but imo, NH dialogue is very good and is probably just below WW and the original GCN game. I don't remember seeing memorable dialogue in NL, not once. Most dialogue in NL was in the manner of, "go fetch me this; find me that; let's play this". NH dialogue is reminiscent of GCN. I also happen to read, in the most audacious ways, that NH dialogue is too repetitive. As opposed to what? People probably don't remember, but GCN and WW had repetitive dialogue as well. GCN especially (I fondly remember my villagers asking to trade something for their stuff or taking my stuff out of my pockets, but oh boy was it repetitive). And tbf, if you're logging in over 400 hours (like me), you'll eventually get more repetitive dialogue. But even know, I get dialogue I've never had before and Nintendo is probably adding even more dialogue to the game (depending on seasons; events, new characters and items, etc).

I started replaying New Leaf at the end of December and I see the dialogue is just as bad. And I can get constant repeats, such as one villager passing along gossip/rumors about the relationship between 2 other random villagers.

It's been a while since I play WW, so I can't say what the dialogue is like anymore. I have recently played City Folk, and the dialogue is so bad, it's just flat out broken.

 

[Mu~]

Not just the villagers, they even changed the name of items, for example the cider in my game is called apple juice -.-

 

[Twisterheart]

I've said this many times before and I know it's super unpopular at this point but imo, NH dialogue is very good and is probably just below WW and the original GCN game. I don't remember seeing memorable dialogue in NL, not once. Most dialogue in NL was in the manner of, "go fetch me this; find me that; let's play this". NH dialogue is reminiscent of GCN. I also happen to read, in the most audacious ways, that NH dialogue is too repetitive. As opposed to what? People probably don't remember, but GCN and WW had repetitive dialogue as well. GCN especially (I fondly remember my villagers asking to trade something for their stuff or taking my stuff out of my pockets, but oh boy was it repetitive). And tbf, if you're logging in over 400 hours (like me), you'll eventually get more repetitive dialogue. But even know, I get dialogue I've never had before and Nintendo is probably adding even more dialogue to the game (depending on seasons; events, new characters and items, etc).

Yeah, I definitely agree with you. If you talk to your villagers enough in NH, I find them saying all kinds of funny and unique things. Sure, it does get repetitive, but like you said so did past games dialogue. I really think some people look back at the past games with rose colored glasses. When NL was the current game, people complained constantly about the dialogue and how boring it was. Now all of a sudden the dialogue in NL is “great” and people miss it. Same with CF. When CF was the most current game, people complained about the dialogue there. And I’m sure when WW was the most current game, people complained about that too. But now that all those games are older people suddenly love the dialogue there and I’m sure years down the road when the next AC game comes out, people will say the dialogue sucks and they miss how villagers were in NH.