Things you'd like to see in the next AC installment?

[bebebese]

"Katsuya Eguchi, a Japanese game designer, was inspired to create the series after feeling isolated when he moved away from home at age 21 to work at Nintendo headquarters in 1986. The game explores themes of family, friendship, and community."
-From Business Insider,Apr.2,2020

Animal Crossing really needs to go back to its original core themes as stated above: family,friendship and community.I like New Horizons but its core themes seem to be crafting,terraforming and replacing broken tools.NH lacks the depth of previous AC titles(specifically Population Growing and New Leaf)and I believe that has considerably shortened the shelf life of this game for many players.

He wasn't directly involved in NH and it really shows I'm all for having new people work on things but I think the NH team went a step too far from what made AC what it is.

 

[KittenNoir]

I would like to see more multiplayer options I would love to be able to do a lot more things with my friends and I would love 1 Million more items like pocket camp. I honestly thought that when new horizons came out the items would be better than new leaf and would have similar quality items.

 

[JKDOS]

Other than my laundry list of things I want in New Horizons. A new multiplayer system.

The current system feels like it hasn't been updated since Wild World. It's antiquated.
+ We shouldn't have to stop and wait for players to arrive and leave, and we shouldn't have to spend so much time to open our town.

+ We should be able to move furniture while guest are over.

+ 50% of the game's features shouldn't stop just because the gate is open.

+ Increase the amount of text we can send for talking.


If Minecraft can handle multiple players building and crafting in 1 multiplayer session, then Animal Crossing should be able to handle moving furniture or even online terraforming.

 

[AkiddoRBTwentySix]

I'd wish that they'll give you the ability to change your villager/mayor/rep's height, as far as I could see, Population Growing humans are the shortest of them all while New Horizons humans are probably the tallest, so it would be very fun to see human villagers at different heights.

 

[McRibbie]

OK, a few thoughts here:

• As I said the other day in the unpopular opinions thread, I don't think the next game is due out until sometime later this decade. I also don't think NH is going to be 100% finished until at the earliest 2023, and at the very latest 2025, so I kind of don't see the point in going "hey, what's next?" until we've gotten to this point, especially because it's going to be a good couple of years after that that we finally get the next AC game. NH CAN and WILL change, even if it takes us a while. Just because the present is kind of annoying, doesn't mean it's time to go "hey, what's the next game going to be?"
• I am going to make a couple of predictions: like Eguchi and Nogami also getting promoted to EPD's managers at some point in the past, Aya Kyogoku's promotion in 2019 means NH is the last AC game she directs, and there's going to be another director for the next game. I think all three of them will be involved in production of it, however, even if as a "Special Thanks" quote (like Nogami in NL or Isao Moro in NH), and it will reuse NH's engine and models, purely so they don't end up with another "AAAA I DON'T UNDERSTAND GAME DEVELOPMENT, WHERE IS EVERYTHING?!"
• However, I'll tell you one thing I DON'T want to see: them just going "we gave it a go, but now we're going to just make this game that's basically exactly like another Animal Crossing in the series because hey, that's what people want", because that just sounds like they've given up. I want them to at least take the positives of NH away with them and use it to make a completely new game with a new central theme, like every other game since the original has done (getting to know people, village and city life, becoming the mayor of a small village and making it grow into a town, being amongst nature and using its resources to build a village). The sheer variety of event items and handhelds, having a good amount of travelling visitors after LGTTC/NL didn't really have much in the way of that, the GORGEOUS graphics... these are just some of the things I think NH does well.
• I also feel as if we, the Animal Crossing fanbase, are partially responsible for how NH turned out. The fact that terraforming was inspired by how we'd reset for layouts, the fact that crafting is yet another workaround for "It's inconvenient for me to play this game at this time, do something about it" and our demands for more and more control over what our villagers do and where they move, and even IF they move, without thinking about what the side-effects of it would be, have had somewhat of a disastrous effect, and we can't just go WAAA THEY RUINED ANIMAL CROSSING without at least acknowledging the fact that part of the blame... is on us. I don't think making New Leaf again with those features added is necessarily the right choice here, because we'd still be backed into the corner AC is currently backed into. The right choice would ultimately be "make the player character a normal villager again, at best give you the ability to use amiibo to scan villagers in and the ability to do SOME level of exterior decorating" but even then, I don't really know how they'd put a new spin on it (this is basically just DnMe+). Just remember, sometimes getting rid of restrictions means there isn't really much there as a result.
• I'm also somewhat irritated everytime I see that "family, friendship and community" quote, mainly because it's always used in the context of what's in the game and as part of a mushy gestalt of what "older games" did, rather than what the game does in the grander sense of things: the game is ultimately meant to be a shared experience between players that includes interaction with villagers, not specifically "you interact with villagers, that's it, that's the game". That's not to say I don't think villager interactions have suffered in this game, because they HAVE, and in the past few games they've suffered in some way, shape or form, but please, seek out other interviews and do some research into the wider context of Animal Crossing, don't just use this one quote as a weapon.
• In terms of requests of things that probably won't come to NH? Morning Aerobics, mainly. I KNOW it's a Japanese thing, but in general Nintendo's gotten less squeamish at the idea of *GASP* having things from different cultures to learn about!

 

[rainadash]

I don't like the tedious nature and inconvenience in this game with features like terraforming and crafting. I'd like to see that change. Some people have been redesigning their islands and have done various themes. That seems to be the main activity in this game. For me personally , I'd enjoy doing such if it wasn't so disciplining. I don't want to spend countless hours terraforming 1 tile at a time or removing all the decor if I want to reset my island's layout. I like that in pocket camp , you can remove everything through a menu button and can place things right from your storage. Wish acnh allowed you to do these things

 

[Nunnafinga]

I'm also somewhat irritated everytime I see that "family, friendship and community" quote, mainly because it's always used in the context of what's in the game and as part of a mushy gestalt of what "older games" did, rather than what the game does in the grander sense of things: the game is ultimately meant to be a shared experience between players that includes interaction with villagers, not specifically "you interact with villagers, that's it, that's the game". That's not to say I don't think villager interactions have suffered in this game, because they HAVE, and in the past few games they've suffered in some way, shape or form, but please, seek out other interviews and do some research into the wider context of Animal Crossing, don't just use this one quote as a weapon.

Sorry to have caused you to be irritated seeing that I was the one who posted the "family,friendship and community" quote.I think the three items contained within said quote are important because they are some of the basic tenets Animal Crossing was originally based on.Obviously,they are not what the game is all about,just a part of the game's original foundation.Personally,I don't want any future AC games to be "mushy gestalts" of past games.I'd like future AC games to contain more of the spirit of the older games but not be simply carbon copies.As a video game series progresses over time it becomes more difficult for the game designers to come up with ideas that are new and fresh yet still satisfy the game's loyal fan base.I've seen this happen with the Halo series and even though I enjoy New Horizons,I'm hoping that Nintendo can come up with something better in the future.

 

[JKDOS]

Another thing that needs a major overall in the AC games is to stop hiding everything behind a wall of text menu trees and dialogues.

If we want to use the crafting table, wardrobe, store cabinet, changing room, airport, and more, we should just be able use it on demand. Don't spam us with the same dialogue time and time again.

The game asking things like this is completely unnecessary.

 

[Moritz]

Thought of something else I'd like to see in the next game.
I would like to see more mini holidays that did something. Smaller than like Halloween or festival, but bigger than like shamrock day was in new leaf or the lunar new year in new horizons.

Just something that throws a random fun activity your way. It would make things more exciting.

And since someone here said they didn't want things like terraforming and crafting to return.

I'm going to say that I absolutely want them to return. They're one of the best things to have ever happened to this series.

I also don't want terraforming made "easier". This game is all about putting in effort and getting rewarded as time goes on.
If you're reshaping your whole island, effort should be required.

Just maybe add bulk crafting for items that you obviously want more than 1 of. We don't need it for items like benches and stuff, but fish bait really needs it since no one wants only 1 bait.

 

[McRibbie]

Sorry to have caused you to be irritated seeing that I was the one who posted the "family,friendship and community" quote.I think the three items contained within said quote are important because they are some of the basic tenets Animal Crossing was originally based on.Obviously,they are not what the game is all about,just a part of the game's original foundation.Personally,I don't want any future AC games to be "mushy gestalts" of past games.I'd like future AC games to contain more of the spirit of the older games but not be simply carbon copies.As a video game series progresses over time it becomes more difficult for the game designers to came up with ideas that are new and fresh yet still satisfy the game's loyal fan base.I've seen this happen with the Halo series and even though I enjoy New Horizons,I'm hoping that Nintendo can come up with something better in the future.

It's fine, don't worry about it. I basically feel the same way as you at the moment going by the rest of my post, and it wasn't intended to single you out.

 

[Mairen]

In the next animal crossing game, I'd love to see further interaction with furniture. Let me get drinks and snacks out of the vending machine for 100 bells. Let me ride the teacup ride and hop in the pool, etc.

I also agree that multiplayer really needs a rehaul - all of the waiting around while each and every person flies in, plus all of the dialogue to go through at the airport simply to open the gate/fly to someone else's island does not feel like 2020 at all. I was disappointed with the fact that as much as they push multiplayer with this game, that half of the island's activities are shut down while with other players. The lack of minigames is also very noticeable. It's never a good image for the series when a previous game did things better than the current game (I mean this in terms of the multiplayer specifically)

I do, however, love the freedom of terraforming and being able to shape the island to my liking. I also like how the islands are just fine as they start out as too for those who don't like it. I never understood the people who cried "gah! I hate terraforming! it's ruined this game!" My husband isn't into terraforming and hasn't changed his rivers or cliffs at all and has still built a fantastic island.

I think a lot of people are so stuck on looking back at what isn't here from New Leaf that they are having a difficult time seeing what's been brought into this game. Outdoor decorating, being able to choose where villagers houses go, villagers not leaving unless you allow them to, an actual path/road system, fences, balloons that actually drop useful and fun items, an amazing museum, and more. This game is not without fault and it is surely missing a lot of what we imagined what was going to be put into the game, but while the first year of New Horizons has been underwhelming, I don't feel like it's entirely done yet. I'm still holding on to hope that we may get a few more big updates that may or may not redeem the game.

 

[annex]

I would keep playing if.....

We could enlarge the three small rooms in our house. You would have to pay off your basement first. I have 8 characters and only one has a payed off house. I would need roughly 17 million to pay off the other seven houses. That's not counting the cost of enlarging some of the small rooms. I would start fishing, catching bugs and buying turnips again. Not to mention the fun I would have redecorating all those enlarged rooms.

island mini games with lots of new items to earn. This would get my family playing again and it would be fun playing games together. Getting to decorate our Island would be great too, and earning enough points to build a house on the Island would keep us busy for awhile.

Bring back Gracie Grace or have Label set up a store in Nooks or the Able sisters. Give us lots of expensive clothes and furniture to save up for.

This would be nice, but probably wouldn't keep me busy for too long.....

Brewster's and gyroids.

New house exteriors. I miss the candy house, cabin, and the one that looked like a shack from New Leaf.

More veggies to grow and make recipes with.

The Nintendo app has been a bit disappointing. I liked the items they gave us, but I was expecting more to be added. Things I would like......

piggy bank
Froggy chair and lily pad table.
fancy frame from New Leaf
more npc pictures.
Some of the items we got from welcome amiibo in New leaf, and amiibo figures. Like the meat roasting on the fire, fairy in a jar, the chicken that clucked when you pressed A, and lots more.

I don't play pocket camp, but I'm so jealous of some of the items it has. Like the hotdog cart. I wish they would give some of those to Horizons.

I miss the Jingle furniture. I was hoping we would get it, but it would be new and improved.

 

[Mezzanine]

Deleted

 

[Moritz]

Wait, is this true?! This would explain A LOT of New Horizons shortcomings.

I highly doubt it matters 20 years later
Sure someone had a vision 20 years ago.
But it does not mean that they have stayed in that place.
That their wants have stayed in that place.

Its a different game. Buy that doesn't make it a bad game. To me it's vastly superior to other titles.

It removed all the bad parts like shampoodles and the post office. And gave us the creative freedom we wanted.

 

[Croconaw]

Another thing that needs a major overall in the AC games is to stop hiding everything behind a wall of text menu trees and dialogues.

If we want to use the crafting table, wardrobe, store cabinet, changing room, airport, and more, we should just be able use it on demand. Don't spam us with the same dialogue time and time again.

The game asking things like this is completely unnecessary.

View attachment 393509

Seeing that every time does get tedious. It would be easier to cut the questions altogether, minus the first ever use.

 

[Jewli]

- I wouldn't mind if they removed crafting the next game. I do not like crafting in games (part of why I don't play games like Minecraft) and when I heard they were adding it I was just like "oh no..."

- I don't really like terraforming, but I wouldn't mind it's still in there I know many people like it. I would like if it's optional and you don't need to do it for a 5 star town.

- I would like if the town is surrounded by cliffs again, it felt comfy.

- It would be nice to have many more items back. The thing with older games, you could complete your town and still have things to do like to finish collecting every item because there are so many. But here it seems much easier to finish your catalog, unless you have no Nintendo Switch Online then it is almost impossible. But in older games it was more in the middle and I liked that.

- Better villager dialog. I feel like every game it was lessened, to what it is now where everyone just always compliments you and things like this. I wouldn't mind dialog such as in Wild World, City Folk or the Gamecube version.

- More activities. As mentioned in older games you can finish the outside and still have more to do and look forward to. You could do morning aerobics, playing ball, make constellations, take care of the light house, run errands, have villagers at your house, go to their house, have the flea market, sometimes clean Gracie's car, feed Wendell, and more. There are also small holidays like acorn, La Di Day, and more. And there are minigames from New Leaf. I know these are not all from the same game but if these all came back it would be nice. These are small but they add up to a fun game.

- I already said but the minigames from Tortimer Island should come back. It was fun to play with others, to get medals for special items. I play so much with my sister and her friend, and people I met in Club Tortimer. Club Tortimer too, it was fun to meet random people, and you can visit eachother town after.

- The Happy Home Showcase, it was fun to see others' home. And get some things. Since there isn't streetpass maybe it can be people in your friends list.

- Gracie's store!

- Copper and Booker and the police station, or they can be guards again.

- In general having more places to go in and do things!

- The cafe, and cafe minigame/job.

- Ordinances back would be nice.

- I would like older NPCs back sometimes. Maybe Harriet can give you special hairstyles, maybe ones like the wigs on Pocket Camp, and then you can still stay at the mirror for the other hairstyles. Maybe Harriet just can sell wigs from Pocket Camp? (I really like the music in her store .)

- The missing fruits and also perfect fruit would be nice.

- To customise resident services or town hall or what it's called in the new game. Maybe they can have options so it looks like in older games, along with options for having the stones in front of it.

- Maybe the progress tree from New Leaf.

- Option to turn off smoothing on patterns.

- In between let out curly hair. Currently the let out curly hair is only wavy or very tight curls. I am glad those are added in now though.

- I wouldn't mind Pelly and Phyllis to come back.

- I wouldn't mind if in-pocket mail slot is back. You can use it for storage and I liked it to write a letter and maybe I can add the gift after. It wasn't so disrupting for writing letters this way. Though I like you can send letters for people in other towns from your town, it would be nice if that stays.

- Reese and Cyrus or at least Cyrus to customize furniture instead of variants.

- Touch screen for custom design again. (And for bulletin board.)

- Red turnip to grow! That is fun from Wild World. Other plants to grow too.

- More minigame/job with NPCs. Like cafe and to wash Gracie's car, but also what you had to do when Saharah visits in Wild World (I won't spoil it if somebody want to play and see!)

- Maybe a cooking mechanic?

- Maybe the old holidays music (for Turkey Day, and for Toy Day. Or at least make the tune for the Toy Day tune the same again )

- The ability to edit a round umbrella!

- I wouldn't mind if they add a city again like City folk and New Leaf, but if they don't it wouldn't be the worst.

- Flowers can be run over again and wilt, so you can get rid of them.

- Maybe a thing to cause natural paths, like running did in old games, but this one not caused by running instead maybe you can put something down to 'make the grass wither' and then it looks like a natural path, and then to fix it if you want you can 'plant grass seed' it will grow back? I thought natural paths looks nice on New Leaf. (The dirt path is just different...)

- Maybe less long loading time if possible... and shorten dialog for things like opening your town. And someone else said a "go back" option, that would be good!

- If they do keep crafting... bulk crafts. And maybe storing DIY to be allowed. (And it would be nice if the type of wood is based on the tree as I saw someone post once.)

- Maybe minigames that you can play on the 3DS and WiiU on New Leaf can come back.

- It might be cute if villagers can redecorate their house sometimes, like in Wild World (not when you give them something and they place it, but they sometimes just shift their furniture around and rearrange it, that is cute. )

I think that is all. Even if it is a bit long there are still things I like about the current game, some I already put and some I didn't (incase anybody think I just hate New Horizons! It is my least favourite Animal Crossing but it's so close because I still enjoy it, I think I have near or more then 1000 hours. This game is not bad to me. It's just I enjoy the other so much! Calling it "least" makes it sound bad which I don't think. The thing is, most of what they have or put in the game they did very well, I think, even if there are some things I think they can add. Such as the graphics and new animation/emotions.)

 

[Brookie]

-snip-

Man, reading this...just made me realize how much of AC's core content is missing from NH. What a shame

 

[Mezzanine]

deleted

 

[Croconaw]

Tortimer Island was my absolute favorite part of any Animal Crossing game. When I had WiFi, I’d go to several different islands chatting it up with everyone. Of course, you got some trolls in the mix but you did meet some relatively nice people. I met this girl from Japan that clearly didn’t speak English, and was typing different things. We couldn’t understand each other, but we were playing games and communicating using the different reactions. It was so wholesome and it was a great way to meet people.

 

[Disneyfangirl23]

I’d love the cafe
and items from new leaf
maybe more amiibos we can use