Thoughts about the next game in the series. Really would love to hear yours!

[TheKryptoKnight]

A bunch of thoughts about the future of the series

This is going to be a little ramble-y and all over the place probably no irl friends play, so no one to discuss with!

I'm really worried that the next game is just going to be New Horizons+, similarly to how City Folk was just Wild World+. I LOVE New Horizons, it's my favorite game in the franchise, I could write an essay pushing back against the community narrative that it's inferior to New Leaf. But I really don't want the next game to be New Horizons with a little bit extra, because I've already played NH. But I'm worried they'll see the massive success of NH and play it safe, not wanting to lose new fans.

Animal Crossing is the epitome of a series where imagination is the only limit to what they can do, imo. It's a strange, quirky franchise, so pretty much everything goes. We haven't had a new event npc or special visitor except Lief since City Folk (unless I'm blanking....) Like if they added a ninja kitsune special visitor who you had to play hide and seek with to get a reward... That fits in with a ghost who's scared of ghosts, fortune teller, shipwrecked sailor, and black market peddler just fine. We've had furniture made of candy, ice, playing cards, mushrooms, and eggs. Rainbows, fire, bones, gyroids wouldn't be out of place for furniture themes. They could expand on the city or campground spaces and make something actually explorable and lived in with activities beyond shopping. Make an apartment building where we can rent an apartment for an extra room or two to decorate or meet villagers who are renting, and see their space and maybe be able to convince them to move to our town... Or maybe they just stay there, and it re-introduces villagers who we can't control if they stay or go, while letting us retain total control of our main area so we get the best of both systems in one game.

I also just got back into pocket camp, and it's been said over and over, but there's so much there that is cool and would be great to see in a main game. Absolutely crazy furniture ideas. Stuff villagers can highly interact with. Or why not give us the option to make our town terrain spooky or increase the likelihood of storms, snow, rainbows, northern lights. Plus, rooms in that game are so much bigger than anything we have had in a main game... Let us have the controllable room and huge spaces.

I don't know. I could go on and on and on. And I know these ideas are way too much and if I expect this extreme a shift I'm going to be disappointed. So, to be clear, I don't expect the more radical stuff here... But I'm fairly worried that the next game is only going to be different in unremarkable ways. More real world furniture. An extra room in our house. More flowers and trees and bushes. More fish and bugs.... And I really hope that's not what we get... Animal Crossing can be almost anything, include almost anything, and I'd rather see them go wild and do stuff that doesn't work than play it safe.

So, yeah. Thoughts? Feel the same? Feel optimistic? Wanna share crazy shake ups you'd like to see?

 

[nightglow]

I think the dlc is a great hint on to what they have in mind for the next game. So, new horizons with the dlc expanded on as the base game.
Maybe instead of just choosing northern or southern hemisphere, there will be a couple of more options for the biome via indirect questions or directly asking the player x or x.
NH also played around with the camera, so I think they will do more with the basic game camera this time. Maybe more rotation or full rotation in the overworld. Would be nice for angled buildings
NH also messed with slipping through tiny spaces (couch and table) and over view editing. So I think we could see 8 directional item placement instead of just 4.
Due to the many hints about cooking and eating, I think we will be cooking for villagers and they will have likes and dislikes.
Or facility buildings will need decorated or even staffed. Maybe needing supplies. Maybe have your own to sell whatever to villagers and other players, like your muffins, craft project, or native produce.
I could see them leaning into trading with other players even more tbh. So I could see full on produce locks while NH had partial locks- or in some cases like the flowers and nook mile items, NH also had temp locks.
Stuff like that. Nintendo has a history of playing things safe. My concern is, will they take larger steps in the the safe direction they chose.
I think they will go ok. Nl to NH I think were large steps, and I think some of the features in NH was hinted at in NL.
I can't wait to see some snippets of the next AC game. It will be fun to talk about and theorize what the plan for the series.

 

[Alolan_Apples]

Next game should have a mix of features from both ACNL and ACNH.

• Go back to the cliffside town with two ocean boundaries, but allow terraforming like in ACNH.
• Bring back Main Street, but make it like Happy Home Paradise. Most places like the Museum and Nook’s store belong in the main town.
• When creating your character at the beginning (like determining eye shape and color, skin color, hair style and color, and other features), there should be some clothing customization with a limited palette of clothes to choose from at the start.
• Bring back all of the tropical fruits and perfect fruits, but keep the vegetables and add grapes, strawberries, onions, and lettuce.
• Bring back the furniture series from ACNL, but make some of them DIY only and others shop only. Also have other holiday objects that are DIY and holiday objects that are shop only.
  • For example, the Cabin Series is a DIY series, but the Ranch Series is a shop series.
  • Another example: the Christmas tree is a DIY item, but not the snowglobe.
• No more breakable tools. We had enough. But I do like the fancier tools added in ACNH.
• This is from City Folk, but when you remodel Nook’s Cranny for the first time, you can choose between Nook ‘N’ Go, Nookway, and Nookington’s. But do have the closet store shelves like ACNH did.
• No more new hourly soundtracks. You should choose between one of four sets through town hall.
• At the beginning of town creation, you can choose between airport or train station.
• Bring back Tortimer’s island, but have a customizable house like Harv’s Island. Additionally, make non-palm beetles stop spawning on palm trees. But you can invite villagers from Tortimer’s island.
• Actually have a special visitor based on the Bell Tree Forums (perhaps Phineas can fill this role). Want to buy balloons, bubble wands, glow wands, or party poppers? It should be from an animal character that recognizes TBT. So this forum can get a shout-out in the next Animal Crossing game.

 

[Yoshi155]

• No more new hourly soundtracks. You should choose between one of four sets through town hall.

I agree with everything except this. I think they should do this but still add new hourly themes, especially for people who haven't played since an earlier game like Population Growing so they can experience nostalgia.

Now as for other things I want, I think the best thing they could do is combine the features of NL and the customization of NH, and add in the missing features from the other games, like being able to choose an earlier upgrade for Nook's shop after reaching the last one like in City Folk. Or the Sports Fair. I also want more optional things instead of just removing them, like an option for a meaner Resetti similar to in New Leaf.

 

[DarkSlayer1331]

One big thing that I would really like to see, is more events in the game. Just throughout the year, more random "holiday" type things. I feel like that's missing in New Horizons. Maybe it's because there's so much going on between October and December, or even February really, but it seems like there are stretches of time where there's nothing cool going on.

After Toy Day we get Festivale. After that is Bunny Day, which is my least favorite celebration in the game. Festivale is right behind that, so having them one after the other is pretty boo worthy for me. And then after Bunny Day... what? May Day Tour Maze? Museum Rally Stamp? And I know a lot of people like the Wedding Season, but that is definitely not something I consider to be like a cool day or anything. So for me... it goes Bunny Day to August's Summer Fireworks Shows.

I don't need anything big. Not some huge celebration. The Tour Day Maze and Museum Rally Stamp things are totally fine. I just want more stuff like that, or even single day sort of things. Maybe it's just me, I just wish that we had more random things pop up throughout the spring and summer months.

 

[returnofsaturn]

wishlist [ADHD style]:

Spoiler

I wish they had new fruits or at least tropical fruit. This game has the most customization for the outside area in the series, yet they someone missed out on adding new fruit. Also you are on an island how could they forget tropical fruits lol
they added the dead tree as an item but I really wish they would have just incorporated it into the trees lol cuz obviously it makes it feel fake (and you cant cut them down) I'd like to have a variety of trees, also the dead tree from ACNL looked good in some areas.

- randomized villager exteriors there I said it (more options)
- bring back nosegay and new villagers!! new octopus especially.
- bring back thee ball

I looove the idea sm of having like a randomly generated role in town. I just hope there's a lot more randomly town-specific things or tiny special details or day-of-the-week/month specific stuff. That's the magic of the game for me, not feeling like every day is the same but being able to expect a variety of events for the whole town to participate. ALSO more multiplayer things, I'm sure. I bet Nintendo has learned a lot from the release of this game and the controversies it's raised for the things it's been lacking alongside the awesome additions.

-BOTH Porter and Champ make returns (together)
- More requests, for example: when they would make us get signatures in other people's towns/ask us to cut a tree down in a friends town for good luck/ bringing Katie back to Kaitlin - that would add some spice to the lack of multiplayer fun.
-I hope they add more tiny subtleties like in City Folk if you took the bus and didn't click through the dialogue for awhile, Kapp'n would eventually start singing his sea shanty.
-I want to unlock [new] things as we progress through the game like filling our museum, buying a lot from the shops/running errands/building friendship, etc. But I'm not talking just nook miles because they are almost redundant in game because of the lack of things to buy with them- I think we didn't really need that new currency but I guess it would only be cool if they brought back all of the old currencies for some fun reasons [and uses].
- I'd always thought it would be nice to have seen them upgrade the nook miles shop to include purchasing special character buildings or exteriors or something like that. Also tbh if you have a full island the mystery islands aren't all that valuable nor interesting.
- from previous games: Nooks special items, 50% off days, monthly lotteries, nook points. Upgrades.
- Harriet, shampoodle, wigs. (She was my favourite NPC)- FLESH OUT HER STORY AND MAKE HER FUN AND USEFUL NINTENDO ;--;
- Exterior building customization throughout town
- to be able to choose between the train, bus, or boat to arrive to your forest, cliff, or island?? and if so,
- choosing or earning the role your character has, so that you can fit the setting you're going with. Rep, Mayor, President, Citizen, King/Queen, etc.
- make friendship to the villagers feel deeper and more meaningful, and less like they are cardboard.
- Villagers sharing things amongst each other (preferably often cause I love the tea) like showing letters to one another and having it come back to you or something lmao.
- tbh I liked when they stole stuff from you lmao
- Villagers remembering things about you and starting "rumors" about the player again. - always thought those were fun. "Word around town is you're a pro listener / time-traveler / civic leader."
-> and in WW you had a "reputation" and there's some really cute and weird ones I wish the whole concept and all would come back. Example:

Spoiler

• pizza face
• black thumb
• garden boy
• lonely boy
• lonely girl
• festival freak
• happy guy
• smiley girl
• mad dog
• pest
• bug freak
• chopper
• fish philosopher
• flower hugger
• pro wrestler
• ninja
• pilot
• soldier
• cherub
• chef
• police officer
• pirate
• big brother
• little brother
• king
• flower girl
• tango boy
• parasol girl
• prepared boy
• rainy girl
• rain boy
• storm chaser
• snowbird
• wannabe tailor
• fashionista
• morning person
• morning person
• night walker
• night owl
• pocket packer
• mean girl
• mad boy
• frosty girl
• jerk boy
• queen bee
• tough guy
• pretty princess
• best buddy
• bug buddy
• bug princess
• fish lover
• fish queen
• bug-napper
• bug emperor
• bug meister
• fisher king
• poor kid
• light pockets
• nouveau riche
• big-timer
• fat cat
• millionaire
• four-eyes
• bookworm
• librarian
• nerd
• three-horn girl
• muffinhead
• braid babe
• bob girl
• curly girly
• dunce
• baby boy
• carefree G
• stylish slob
• normal boy
• class president
• roomie
• winter wonder
• snowman
• foliage girl
• fall girl
• ray of sun
• summer lounger
• spring girl
• spring boy

 

[Shawna]

Like @/Alolan_Apples said, it would be ideal if the next Animal Crossing game had features from both NL and NH, since NL and NH both have advantages over each other. In fact, I just got through with listing them all (almost all) in a previous post.

Some other stuff I would love:

* I have recently talked about this in a similar thread, but I will again, as I am an astronomy nerd: I want the moon to have a more accurate depiction to real life. I love how the phases are aligned to the real life moon, but I would love for the moonrise and moonset to align with real life. You see, in Animal Crossing, the moon schedule is always opposite of the sun schedule, regardless of its phase. This is not always the case in real life. The moon schedule is always changing, depending on its phase. It is only during full moons (and maybe gibbouses) that this is the case. New moons, for example, have the same (or similar) schedule to the sun. First quarters rise at approximately noon and set at approximately midnight, vice-versa for third quarters. I know it is not a major deal to normal people, but for an astronomy nerd, I would love this.

Similarly...I never made in island in the southern hemisphere (as I live in the northern), so I do not know if this is already a thing in New Horizons, but in the southern hemisphere, the moon is said to appear "upside down". It is also said to illuminate from the left to the right, while it is the other way around for us in the northern hemisphere. I think it would be awesome if Nintendo did all this for the moon in the next AC game.
Anyway, I distress...thank you for letting this selenophile go off on a tangent about how the moon works.

* I do not know if this is the case for New Horizons (I know it isn't for New Leaf), but I would love for the next game to better prioritize which villagers want to move out next. For example, if it is a villager you treat poorly or ignore, that villager will want to move out next, not a villager you are attentive to. In fact, it is the opposite in New Leaf from what I've heard, which is...messed up in my opinion. .-.

* Villagers should treat you the way you treat them. Take cranky and snooty villagers for example, they will talk to you in the same way they act in the GC version, if you are mean to them...but if you be nice to them for long enough, they will start to get heartwarming. I always thought making it to where certain dialog was locked behind your friendship/enemy-ship with a particular villager was a brilliant concept.

* I know I have talked about this FOREVER, but we seriously need some type of lock or DND thing for our house. Don't get me wrong, it can be fun to get a surprise visit from your favorite villager, especially if it is unexpected...but sometimes villagers barge in at the most atrocious times (this goes for NL AND NH). I think it would be awesome if there was a toggle, similar to the main house lights. It can either be a separate toggle, or tied to the house light in your main room (i.e. if that light is turned off, DND is on...and vice-versa). Or it can just be a DND sign, but I like the toggle idea better, so we can save our door for other decorations. Villagers should not barge in after a minute or so of going into your house, in case you need to turn the light off/DND on (like if you are doing into your house to decorate or put something in/get something out of your storage), and will have enough time to do so.

I've noticed they start out as a weekly thing (for me at least)...I am curious if they become more frequent as your friendship gets higher. I've heard people say it can happen on multiple consecutive days (even from the same villager), but for me...it seems to be a weekly occurrence. For example, I got barged in on these last two past Mondays; the 11th and then the 18th, both by the same villager.

I am still too early in the game to get barged in on in New Leaf (I think it will start happening in October), but I remember it being a weekly thing for me on there as well. In fact, I remember getting barged in on, on three consecutive Tuesdays in on of my previous towns during February 2020-March 2020: Feb. 18th 2020 (THAT ONE WAS A DIASTER), Feb. 25th (I WAS TRYING TO DECORATE), and Mar. 3rd (it was leap year, so it looks like six days, between Feb 25th and Mar. 3rd, but it was actually seven. And again, by the same villager. I have always been a habitual resetter in NL and NH, so I have never gotten REALLY, REALLY far into my games, but I tried making a vow to keep my NL and NH towns for a long while...maybe I will see if people are right and see if barge-ins can become more frequent in these games as friendships become more deep. O__o

I am curious to if villagers can barge in on us if it's in the time frame of midnight-6AM. That would be absolutely insane, if villagers could barge in on you in the middle of the night (most of them are asleep during this time frame, but Cranky, Snooty, and Uchi villagers are still up for a portion of it). I am gonna try to decorate during that time frame (I am a night owl, so it shouldn't be too hard). I am genuinely curious about whether if they can or not...this goes for NL and NH. I kinda hope not, so I can at least have SOME PEACE WHEN I AM DECORATING!!! Who the HELL breaks into your house IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT!?!? -.-

Like I said, this can be a nifty feature if it happens at the right time, but I have had my fair share of this happening at the most atrocious times. And ah, if I get barged in on AT MIDNIGHT while I am decorating (again, goes for both NL and NH), I might just lose my ****!

I am taking into consideration that this is possible...I've learned the hard way to not put anything past my villagers. I wanna give them the benefit of the doubt and believe barge-ins cannot happen from midnight-6PM, but deep down, I know these villagers are beyond capable of such insanity. They surprise me more and more all the time. O______o


I'll think of more later. ppp

 

[Khaoticnoize187]

A rhythm game styled music section i think would be an instant hit feature.

 

[NellTheBean]

Villagers fight eachother and can have beef
Not everything should revolve around the player

 

[erinz]

A bunch of thoughts about the future of the series

This is going to be a little ramble-y and all over the place probably no irl friends play, so no one to discuss with!

I'm really worried that the next game is just going to be New Horizons+, similarly to how City Folk was just Wild World+. I LOVE New Horizons, it's my favorite game in the franchise, I could write an essay pushing back against the community narrative that it's inferior to New Leaf. But I really don't want the next game to be New Horizons with a little bit extra, because I've already played NH. But I'm worried they'll see the massive success of NH and play it safe, not wanting to lose new fans.

Animal Crossing is the epitome of a series where imagination is the only limit to what they can do, imo. It's a strange, quirky franchise, so pretty much everything goes. We haven't had a new event npc or special visitor except Lief since City Folk (unless I'm blanking....) Like if they added a ninja kitsune special visitor who you had to play hide and seek with to get a reward... That fits in with a ghost who's scared of ghosts, fortune teller, shipwrecked sailor, and black market peddler just fine. We've had furniture made of candy, ice, playing cards, mushrooms, and eggs. Rainbows, fire, bones, gyroids wouldn't be out of place for furniture themes. They could expand on the city or campground spaces and make something actually explorable and lived in with activities beyond shopping. Make an apartment building where we can rent an apartment for an extra room or two to decorate or meet villagers who are renting, and see their space and maybe be able to convince them to move to our town... Or maybe they just stay there, and it re-introduces villagers who we can't control if they stay or go, while letting us retain total control of our main area so we get the best of both systems in one game.

I also just got back into pocket camp, and it's been said over and over, but there's so much there that is cool and would be great to see in a main game. Absolutely crazy furniture ideas. Stuff villagers can highly interact with. Or why not give us the option to make our town terrain spooky or increase the likelihood of storms, snow, rainbows, northern lights. Plus, rooms in that game are so much bigger than anything we have had in a main game... Let us have the controllable room and huge spaces.

I don't know. I could go on and on and on. And I know these ideas are way too much and if I expect this extreme a shift I'm going to be disappointed. So, to be clear, I don't expect the more radical stuff here... But I'm fairly worried that the next game is only going to be different in unremarkable ways. More real world furniture. An extra room in our house. More flowers and trees and bushes. More fish and bugs.... And I really hope that's not what we get... Animal Crossing can be almost anything, include almost anything, and I'd rather see them go wild and do stuff that doesn't work than play it safe.

So, yeah. Thoughts? Feel the same? Feel optimistic? Wanna share crazy shake ups you'd like to see?

i think there are a few things i would love!!

- being able to have multiple islands!!
i love having themes, and while i have quite a bit of money for my age, im not entirely sure i want to buy another switch just to have an extra island!! it'd be so amazing if we could have the option to have an island per user, so that i could meet even more villagers!
- having more villagers on the island!!
i personally think we don't get enough villagers on ours islands, i love your idea about apartments and i think it'd be so easy to implement something like that!
- maybe not be on an island?
dont get me wrong, i love the idea process! i just think that... it feels kinda isolated? wouldnt it be cool to have multiple island with bridges going between them, or maybe our own little city? idk
- easier to decorate!
you know how in houses we get the option to just drag furniture around in the menu instead of using our character to do that? yeah lets get that outside too please
- more crossover villagers!
im in love with the sanrio villagers, but i think theres so much potential! we could have mario villagers, legend of zelda villagers, etc. etc.! i'd love to knock on a door and see a villagers who loves heartstopper walk out!

i think thats all i can think of rn, theres lots more things that could be done tho!