What does the game mean to you almost a year on?

[Islander]

Now the game has been out for nearly a year, how do you feel about it now?

For me, the year has been extremely difficult in general, with lockdowns and restrictions even there wasn't a lockdown. I admit, the game has helped me through 3 lockdowns now, keeping me sane in spite of my mental health, giving something to do each day that feels normal in a way. It also enabled me to celebrate Christmas and my birthday in a semi-normal way in spite of two separate lockdowns.

For these reasons I do think NH will always be special for me. However, my feelings are more mixed due to the lack of things to do, e.g. Brewster and island tours. During lockdowns, I just needed anything to do, but as lockdown is eased, there will be other things to do and perhaps the game won't have the same meaning to me, though as stated in will be grateful for the role it played for me during the lockdowns.

What about you?

 

[Moritz]

To me the game is the best animal crossing game they've ever made and perhaps the best switch game (harder to quantify since different genres exist).

I take breaks from the game now and then but always finding new things to do in it.

The game certainly has helped a lot during this lock down. It gives me and my friend something to talk about in a world where we do nothing.

As time goes on, of course there will be less im excited to do in the game. That's natural for any game. But I think I will still be visiting it for years to come.

I love how the game still has a devoted fan base that's excited about the game. I love how new people are finding it each and every day.

It may have been what the world needed when it came out, but ultimately I don't see time changing my love for it.

 

[charmingpeach]

I've grown to love the game in my own way. I feel like in order to enjoy this game to the fullest, you have to play it without any comparison in mind. That is, forgetting what New Leaf used to be and taking this game as its own thing. With that in mind, I think the game is rather enjoyable and I love the growing furniture sets, albeit I'm missing niche sets like more pastel or princessy ones.

However, I can't help but get excited with every update, and in a way, it's kept me glued to the game. I think everyone can agree that updates are rather exciting and it makes me go to bed like a little child who has a school trip the next morning. I completely know there are things missing, but I feel like those will come in due time, the datamines are looking good and I have good hope on this game. I also love it because it's the first game I'm playing with actual friends who never touched the franchise before. It's a way of expressing oneself andit's lovely. I wouldn't say it's where I'd expect it to be one year after release, but I'll keep patient, things are looking good in my opinion and it's the only switch game I've spent more than 500 hours on.

I see myself spending years with this game, so it's fine by me that they keep updating it for years to come. I never got tired of New Leaf and I always kept coming back to it, so I know it'll be the same with New Horizons.

 

[LuluLove102]

I owe NH big times because it kept me smiling through multiple lockdowns. I remember my 22 birthday, during lockdown last year. I had covid during that time and I couldn’t even celebrate with my family because I was isolated in my room. I got up feeling so sad, but somehow, celebrating it on my island made me smile a little.
With that being said, I’m still enjoying the game, and I’m playing more that I used to recently because we are, yet again, in a sort of lockdown in Italy and my region is, yet again, the worst one so yeah, a lot of home time. But there are things I wished would change, mostly about the game play. I don’t particularly care for more forniture or mini games, like a lot of people here, but I wish the villagers felt more alive and I’d like to be able to see their personality more. Also, I’m missing the small events a lot, villagers visiting your house, the flea market, Katrina, Gracie and of course, Brewster. Overall, this is a great game but there is a lot of wasted potential at the moment

 

[Xara]

a year later, while i’ve definitely gotten burnt out a bit, i still love new horizons with all my heart and i owe it a lot. it’s the reason why i came back to this forum after my hiatus and i’m so glad i did as i’ve made so many wonderful friends and memories here over the last year. the game has also provided lots of comfort and entertainment during the pandemic and i’d probably be bored out of my mind without it. >_< overall, while there’s certainly things that i’m hoping for and ways that the game could be improved, i’m happy with it for what it is and i’m happy with all of the good that it’s brought into my life.

 

[azurill]

I still love this game and will be playing for awhile if not years. I have not been on lockdown and have been working the entire time and animal crossing has helped me relax especially on bad work days. I enjoy the updates they have brought some great items and QOL improvements. There are plenty of reasons I like this game better. Being able to terraform and not lose villagers. I do hope they bring back some of the furniture of NL and Brewster but I might have to accept they won’t be back.

 

[NeonGunner]

Now the game has been out for nearly a year, how do you feel about it now?

For me, the year has been extremely difficult in general, with lockdowns and restrictions even there wasn't a lockdown. I admit, the game has helped me through 3 lockdowns now, keeping me sane in spite of my mental health, giving something to do each day that feels normal in a way. It also enabled me to celebrate Christmas and my birthday in a semi-normal way in spite of two separate lockdowns.

For these reasons I do think NH will always be special for me. However, my feelings are more mixed due to the lack of things to do, e.g. Brewster and island tours. During lockdowns, I just needed anything to do, but as lockdown is eased, there will be other things to do and perhaps the game won't have the same meaning to me, though as stated in will be grateful for the role it played for me during the lockdowns.

What about you?

The lockdown has been rough, coming from a European country, I've felt it many times during the past year and a half. I'm so grateful for video games in general, I play my switch and 3DS like it's going out of fashion (and I believe they haven't yet despite the age on the 3DS, I just love to play pokemon alpha and mystery dungeon.

 

[nightglow]

A great game to chill out with. I do feel like it is getting a little stale, but lets be honest, most people have been binge playing it lol.
I think it has encouraged me to have more of an open mind about simulation games. I mean, I hate the sims but I love New Horizons. Maybe I shouldn't hate the sims and just say I dislike it. Also playing the game has also helped me know what kinds of things I'd like or dislike in a type of game like that and seeing if I can find something that is more of a target.
Checking out Stardew Valley soon as a result, and watching the development of Hokko Life on Discord out of curiosity because I like New Horizons. Always taking suggestions of what to check out btw...
Playing New Horizons was a positive experience in my opinion. However, it has been the game to also encourage me to move away from Nintendo completely. I can't say it was solely the game to push me, but rather seeing certain things manifest that I saw before in other games... and how the consoles are... yeah...
When I think of Animal Crossing now, I think of Megan the purple bear. lol. And how villagers are weird like Beardo who I also love.
The thing I enjoyed most with New Horizons was collecting stuff for the museum. I guess that is something that I tend to enjoy in other kinds of games too..
I think the thing I will miss in the future when I move on and away from New Horizons are the weird looking characters surprisingly being a favorite or loved by people. You know, the hidden gems.

 

[Licorice]

The lockdowns did not change anything in my life because I’m an “essential worker” and I hate hanging out with people so I didn’t care stuff was closed. New Horizons was so fun when I first started my island on release day. I’m still enjoying it and finding projects for myself. I’ve taken short breaks that lasted maybe a week tops.

 

[VanitasFan26]

Okay I will just come out and say how I really feel. I know I'm going to get a ton of hate for this but at this point I am just going to say how I really feel. Truth be told I never played a single Animal Crossing game before. I picked up Animal Crossing New Horizons during a time when there was a pandemic. I had to find something to play in order to get my mind off of stuff that was going on. So I got the game. At first I was having a relaxing time just playing around in the game, getting my island to 3 stars, and I finally got a chance to terraform my island.

At first I didn't know what to make my island feel like. I just felt so stressed and pressured to figure out what to make on the island. So I looked at what people done to their islands and now I have an idea what to do. I tried making my island feel more stand out from the ideas. Eventually it was working but then by April 2020 I had an emotional breakdown that just made me hate the game. I restarted my island and I got a new map layout to work with. I got better at designing but I still wasn't happy with it.

I did make friends along the way but the experience I had was nothing really good. I would have people just come to my island, running over my flowers that I spent hours planting when I was in the process of breeding, I would have some people going into my home asking if they can catalog my items. At one point I saw someone stole my item while I was not looking and I didn't realize it until it was too late. It was then I felt very mad and angry about it. I know its silly to think "Why would I get upset over flowers and items getting stolen" well the thing is I worked hard on getting the flowers planted and getting items taken from you. By June 2020 is when the game made me feel depressed. I was not having a good time. My friends only came to my island when they needed stuff from me. Most time I have my island open to my friends but no one would come. I began thinking "why am I doing this? What is wrong with me?"

Eventually it all came to a stop when I asked for help but so far no one wanted to help me. I was only helping them the first time and now it seems like whenever I ask for help they would just ghost me and not say anything. Someone even told me that I had to give them a gold rose just so they can help me. I felt like I was being taken advantage of so I removed people from my friends list and blocked them. The good news was that I had another friend who saw what was going on and she was there for me when I was going through my dark time in this game. She expressed to me how she felt the same way too when people gave her the same treatment. So we remained friends since then.

As time went on I began to just question myself and asking. "Why am I still playing this game and why is it making me feel so mad about it?" maybe because of the terrible experience I had but, I knew at that point I had to take a break. I had so many thoughts of restarting my island since I know the burnout was getting to me and I was not feeling any joy to the game. So then by the help of some people on this website I decided to take a much needed break since I put in 3,000 hours into this game. I know its crazy but most of that time was just spent on me having to redesign my island and not to mention waiting on people to come to my island whenever I was trading.

Overall, this game after 1 year of playing has me feeling really mixed. On one hand it did really make me feel good about playing something different to get my mind off of the crazy stuff that was going on in the world, but then again I had bad experience with playing with other people. I guess I just played with the wrong ones. I know people tell me that animal crossing is one of the "nicest" community ever but I beg to differ and I just feel mentally drained and tired of playing the game. I don't know maybe if I didn't try so hard and didn't let the people get to me I would've had a different experience, but I just had to express how I really feel because looking back I could've done better. Its already done and over with. I am taking a much needed break from this game until I can get that "joy" spark in me to start playing again.

 

[udinafrog]

It keeps entertaining and relaxing me.
I got it during lockdown while I had to work from home, so it was nice to invest some free time working on the island and reading all the talking in the forums and the internet about the game, as being part of a community~
I still enjoy it.

 

[tajikey]

It means a blanket of comfort at a time of global uncertainty. It means a consistent force that is always there when I hit the Power button. It means engaging in discourse with a large contingent of like-minded individuals that have come to adore such a powerful series. It means knowing that though the world felt like it was collapsing, I had control of a little world of my own.

 

[Moritz]

Okay I will just come out and say how I really feel. I know I'm going to get a ton of hate for this but at this point I am just going to say how I really feel. Truth be told I never played a single Animal Crossing game before. I picked up Animal Crossing New Horizons during a time when there was a pandemic. I had to find something to play in order to get my mind off of stuff that was going on. So I got the game. At first I was having a relaxing time just playing around in the game, getting my island to 3 stars, and I finally got a chance to terraform my island.

At first I didn't know what to make my island feel like. I just felt so stressed and pressured to figure out what to make on the island. So I looked at what people done to their islands and now I have an idea what to do. I tried making my island feel more stand out from the ideas. Eventually it was working but then by April 2020 I had an emotional breakdown that just made me hate the game. I restarted my island and I got a new map layout to work with. I got better at designing but I still wasn't happy with it.

I did make friends along the way but the experience I had was nothing really good. I would have people just come to my island, running over my flowers that I spent hours planting when I was in the process of breeding, I would have some people going into my home asking if they can catalog my items. At one point I saw someone stole my item while I was not looking and I didn't realize it until it was too late. It was then I felt very mad and angry about it. I know its silly to think "Why would I get upset over flowers and items getting stolen" well the thing is I worked hard on getting the flowers planted and getting items taken from you. By June 2020 is when the game made me feel depressed. I was not having a good time. My friends only came to my island when they needed stuff from me. Most time I have my island open to my friends but no one would come. I began thinking "why am I doing this? What is wrong with me?"

Eventually it all came to a stop when I asked for help but so far no one wanted to help me. I was only helping them the first time and now it seems like whenever I ask for help they would just ghost me and not say anything. Someone even told me that I had to give them a gold rose just so they can help me. I felt like I was being taken advantage of so I removed people from my friends list and blocked them. The good news was that I had another friend who saw what was going on and she was there for me when I was going through my dark time in this game. She expressed to me how she felt the same way too when people gave her the same treatment. So we remained friends since then.

As time went on I began to just question myself and asking. "Why am I still playing this game and why is it making me feel so mad about it?" maybe because of the terrible experience I had but, I knew at that point I had to take a break. I had so many thoughts of restarting my island since I know the burnout was getting to me and I was not feeling any joy to the game. So then by the help of some people on this website I decided to take a much needed break since I put in 3,000 hours into this game. I know its crazy but most of that time was just spent on me having to redesign my island and not to mention waiting on people to come to my island whenever I was trading.

Overall, this game after 1 year of playing has me feeling really mixed. On one hand it did really make me feel good about playing something different to get my mind off of the crazy stuff that was going on in the world, but then again I had bad experience with playing with other people. I guess I just played with the wrong ones. I know people tell me that animal crossing is one of the "nicest" community ever but I beg to differ and I just feel mentally drained and tired of playing the game. I don't know maybe if I didn't try so hard and didn't let the people get to me I would've had a different experience, but I just had to express how I really feel because looking back I could've done better. Its already done and over with. I am taking a much needed break from this game until I can get that "joy" spark in me to start playing again.

I dont think you'll get hate for saying that

Playing online with people can always be a mixed bag so I avoid it myself where possible. Like trades and giving stuff away is fine with me but I don't trust people to be left alone.
Only got 2 friends on my list. A close friend from when I went to school and my husband.
Sucks you had the bad end of the deal on it.

And while it's not other players faults, with how some people have amazing islands they show off, it can be really easy to catch yourself falling into almost like youre competing with others. Like you're not good enough at the game.
If that happens it can be almost like you're playing for others and not yourself anymore.

And animal crossing is a very nice community, but I think with lockdown stress and it having grown by like 200% since new leaf, it's a lot more likely to find bad apples than in the past.

So don't worry about others thinking bad of you for saying that as I think nearly all of us can relate to varying degrees

 

[Etown20]

For me, it's probably going to be my top Switch game, and probably the game I associate with this period of video games.

There will be more Animal Crossing games in the future, but this may become my sentimental favorite because it was the first Animal Crossing game that I spent a lot of time with.

 

[Louise_]

It is a great game it came out at the right time just when lockdown was started I still play it a bit just not as much as before

 

[Rosch]

It's been a part of my daily routine. Can't skip a single day without playing it, even if it's just short bursts. It relaxes and relieves stress most of the time (except seasonal DIY grinds and catching the rare critters which are stress-inducing, which I am glad that I am finally done with).

Sure it's still incomplete, but nostalgia aside and without bias, it's a great game for what it is.

 

[-Blue-]

@SoraFan23 I'm sorry you had to go through that and deal with such crappy friends, but at least you found a great one among that pile of garbage. Those types of friends will show their true colors when it comes time for you to need help in some way.

I used to have a friend like that. We played NL a lot. For their birthday I wanted to do something nice for them and so I spent a good day or two just doing island tours to rake up enough medals to buy the mermaid series. That's a very time consuming process and then I had to hop between islands to find each piece which took even longer. They invited me over one day so I could gift it to them. They rushed me the whole time, I had to dump the series near their train station, and they just ended the session before I could say anything lol. I should had just kept it.

I know what it's like to have 'friends' like that.

 

[mirukushake]

I really appreciate that the game came out when it did. It was a great stress reliever throughout all the uncertainty of the past year.

And as much as I wish we could have more than one island per Switch, it's actually been pretty fun working on it together with my daughter (well, it's been more fun one she stopped picking up all the furniture lol). It's so wonderful to see her discover her creativity and learn about all kinds of animals through the game, and it's turned into a wonderful shared activity/shared memories for us.

 

[mooseco]

I started playing on gamecube when I was really little and it was a bonding experience for me and my sister. Our Godmother introduced us to the game and so we'd call her all the time to ask for advice on what to do / how to make bells.

I was never really good at the game when I was little but as I got older and more of them came out the student became the master. New Horizons doesn't really do it for me in the same way the older ones do- still love the game but it can't beat nostalgia. I'll boot up the gamecube one and feel the guilt from leaving so long, clean up the town, catch up with villagers, and play for a week before leaving it aside again.

New Horizons and New Leaf got me into this online community. Sure some of my friends play, but finding an online community to grow in has given me a new interest in the games, and the economy of this online world has kept me here. Love these games, and love the people.

 

[The Loyal Rat]

New Horizons gives me faint feelings of happiness whenever I play, something I haven’t gotten a lot of because of personal non-pandemic reasons.
The game makes me happy, it makes me forget my problems, and it makes me relax.