What does the game need?

[Moritz]

Before you answer that question I want to ask you to not mention what past games had AT ALL.

I want you to pretend that this game was the first game of its kind. So there is no missing NPCs because nothing existed before it.
No missing furniture set you liked from new leaf because new leaf was never made.

So what do you think new horizons needs added to it?

For me the answer is something to do with friends. It's designed as a social game but there is nothing social to do in it.

What are your guys thoughts?

Edit: for clarity if you feel like you're limited to what you can do by not enough variation in types of furniture, that's an answer that's within the scope of this question because it's not tied to a past entry. Its just you actually feeling there's a lack of it.

 

[river]

I'd love it if there was more stuff to signify some kind of game progression, I think that Nook's Cranny upgrades would be a good example of that. More furniture to buy, maybe more customization options, maybe even new special items to unlock as you play.

I think that adding more optional buildings would be a great way to do this too, you could have really developed city-like islands and very simple rural ones, it would add more variety and I'd love to see how people would arrange them, stuff like that.

Also I'd love it if there was some reward to completing each museum area, it would be nice to have something as a token of all your hard work, you know?

And yes, absolutely more activities to do with friends hitting each other with nets gets old very fast lol

 

[Airysuit]

They need more things to do in multiple player! Like mini games, more extended shopping experience, decorating or building or terraforming together, more interactive furniture to enjoy together. Thinks like that I guess. I doesn't need all of it but 1 or 2 things more thoroughly worked out would be great.

Also: scarves. Short scarves, long scarves, circular scarves, summer scarfs, scarves that dangle behind you when you run. Would be so friggin cute

 

[CrankyCupcake]

Off the top of my head, I think it would be nice if the game gave us the ability to craft more than one item at a time; alert us if we already own the clothing item we're about to buy in Able Sisters; allowed us to island-hop without having to return to our island each time.

On a different note, what the game needs, probably, in some measure, depends on the individual's style of playing. So there are probably as many different answers as there are NH players.

Here's another crazy thought. (Overthinking is my forte. Unfortunately. ) If all the suggestions to make the game better from all the players were implemented in the game, would that make the game perfect? And if so, would that perfect game make everyone perfectly happy? Or is it pointless to talk about perfection because perfection does not exist? A sandbox game is supposed to allow the players to be creative about enjoying the process of playing the game. But would a perfect AC not restrict or remove this aspect, because a perfect game leaves no room for player input and a perfectly happy player would cease to see any shortcoming? Okay. I have no idea what I'm talking about anymore.

 

[VanitasFan26]

It needs a new chapter for you to do when Tom Nook wants you to work on something special for the Island. Just like in the beginning when we had to work hard to get 3 stars on our island, invite enough villagers, just to invite KK Slider. I bet if they were to bring back the missing NPCs I think Tom Nook would tell us something similar to get them more comfortable joining the island.

Also there needs to be daily goals for you to do daily to earn different rewards instead of just Nook Miles. We've already have enough of them and there needs to be more variety of stuff to do instead of simple tasks that we are so used to. Like since we are so skilled at the game there should be advanced tasks which can be a bit hard to do, but once you do it you will be rewarded for your hard work.

Of course this is all wishful thinking, but this is something I personally think that the game really needs.

 

[Chris]

More furniture and clothing items that fit a punk/goth/alternative aesthetic.

 

[tiffanistarr]

I’m still going to say furniture because even if i had no knowledge of previous furniture, i would still be wondering why Nooks Cranny sells the same junk over and over again.

For me i couldn’t care less if there is more things to do with online play with other people. AC games for me are meant to be solo experiences and i’ll only play with you if you’re a close person in my life of a significant other or something of the sort.

Also maybe more things to do outside of the usual dailies. Or keep the villagers on the mystery islands even if your spots are full. Let me craft more than one item at a time.

 

[Livia]

More nook miles stamps. I love having achievements like that to work towards and I’m a little sad that I’ve completed most of the stamps on my main character.

 

[Felix Felicis]

More furniture: food for example, if someone wants to create a restaurant, or even for hospital (bed... (remembering in HHD we had to create one)). Maybe more general furniture as well: old and modern ones (I don't know how to express myself, but like... to create a very modern city) and more "big" things to be placed outside and we can interact with: teacups ride are not enough. Items to be placed on the ceiling as well.

You should be able to buy multiple items of clothing at once from the clothing store, or craft multiple items at once as well. The game lacks liveliness: the villagers wander around and have something in their hand sometimes, but they don't really catch fish, don't talk much together. We should also be able to do activities with them. The treasure hunt is not enough. Invite them to our house, drink tea, play games. The same goes for multiplayer. There is nothing to do.

And I totally agree with SoraFan23: after the arrival of K.K there is nothing to do. The first three days in the game are busy, and then it's over: we talk to our villagers (who always tell the same things and are very binary), we go fishing, we catch bugs and we talk to special characters and we visit the shops. Whoever they want to exploit their island and decorate it, but other than that? You have to wait for the events to have a little originality (and again: it's repetitive) and most NPCs are over in five minutes? Catch this, fish that ... I don't know, there's something missing. It's just a decoration game in the end.

 

[Magnolia_]

I need quality of life updates. Let me delete a whole section of cliffs that I’ve terraformed in one go. Let me create a huge section of cliffs in one go. Let me buy more than 1 NMT at a time. Bulks of 5 in the Nook’s shop isn’t enough!!! Things like this make playing ACNH really tedious. And if I sat here for a while to think, I’m sure I can think of more examples of features that could be done more efficiently if Nintendo added some QoL updates

 

[Marshmallows]

I would like more progression. Leif's and Kick's little stands in the plaza are cute, but it'd be nice if they upgraded to a bigger stand or even their own shop. I don't know if it makes sense if they're not going to add more stuff to sell, but my island feels very small-timey still. KK could be DJ KK sometimes and light up the whole plaza or have a hidden club under Resident Services. A new building with a job we could do, similar to Brewster's cafe. Could be the cafe, or a pizza shop, or spa.

I would really like it if they filled out some of the themes so it'd be easier to create a different setting than the quaint look. Paths, fences, bridges, lightposts, and building sidings that represent themes like futuristic, gothic, farm, regal, sweet, etc. More indoor and outdoor items for those themes as well. Building customizations (new roof, door, and siding styles) for player homes and Resident Services would be great. More food items.

More villager interaction. More games we can play with them and other ways to increase friendship. A more noticeable line of dialogue/progression from just met to best friends.

 

[Nunnafinga]

What this game needs is a change of focus.It should be more about the player character's relationships with the villagers and other players and less about terraforming,crafting and decorating.I enjoy this game but I don't have as much of an emotional connection with it as I've had with other past games of the same genre.

 

[Jillenium]

I would like more progression. Leif's and Kick's little stands in the plaza are cute, but it'd be nice if they upgraded to a bigger stand or even their own shop. I don't know if it makes sense if they're not going to add more stuff to sell, but my island feels very small-timey still. KK could be DJ KK sometimes and light up the whole plaza or have a hidden club under Resident Services. A new building with a job we could do, similar to Brewster's cafe. Could be the cafe, or a pizza shop, or spa.

I would really like it if they filled out some of the themes so it'd be easier to create a different setting than the quaint look. Paths, fences, bridges, lightposts, and building sidings that represent themes like futuristic, gothic, farm, regal, sweet, etc. More indoor and outdoor items for those themes as well. Building customizations (new roof, door, and siding styles) for player homes and Resident Services would be great. More food items.

More villager interaction. More games we can play with them and other ways to increase friendship. A more noticeable line of dialogue/progression from just met to best friends.

I like the idea of DJ KK!

 

[Etown20]

I think it would be interesting if it had more of a living game structure and they could add smaller stuff that makes the game feel different from week-to-week. Even though there have been monthly updates and the game uses the system's clock, it doesn't really feel like it is as connected to real time as other contemporary games.

Even though I prefer New Horizons overall to Pocket Camp, as someone who plays both games, there always seems to be something going on in Pocket Camp in a way that New Horizons doesn't have. I understand the mobile/console structure is different between the two games, but there are also games like Fortnite (which I don't play or know enough about) that seem to utilize a similar model on consoles.

I don't think any of this stuff will happen during New Horizons, but I think it'd be something interesting to think about when they do the next iteration of the game.

 

[Halloqueen]

I'm going to echo the need for activities to do with friends, whether they be minigames or something else. A friend of mine who I played a lot of New Leaf with doesn't really bother to play New Horizons anymore because there's nothing to do after a certain point other than visit each other's shops for like five minutes.

I would also really like if all of the rooms of the player houses were bigger when fully upgraded. As someone who has always enjoyed decorating the rooms in these games and who only really decorates the island out of a sense of obligation to maintain the 5 Star rating and grow Jacob's Ladder flowers, I have had to make compromises to my creative vision for too many rooms now because the back and side rooms are too small and the basement and second floor are too long and narrow. Why it was decided this was a necessary change, I have no idea.

Also, whether they were returning characters or not, I feel like we need more NPCs to interact with. There's a lack of "life" to the island. More NPCs to interact with brings about a more engaging experience. Preferably new shops but not necessarily.

Kind of difficult not to pull from the past games and cite examples because this game doesn't exist in a vacuum, but hopefully those answers are suitably within the boundaries of the topic.

 

[-Blue-]

This game desperately needs QoL things like placing furniture outside with the customizable options you have in the house. Like the drag, click, and rotate thing. Maybe you can only have a certain amount of space you can work with and the rest is grayed out. If you want to go further you'll have to exit out and then reenter (whatever it was called)

Terraforming needs some different QoL features like some kind of indicator where your aiming/about to make water, land, qr paths, or about destroy them. I don't know how to go about multiple building (because some are super opposed to it just being drag and click, but there's got to be a middle ground from that to one piece at a time.

You can disable auto-save during terraforming. That way if you're not happy with what you did, you don't have to waste precious time undoing everything.

The Able's changing room allows multiple buying, you can keep your clothes on you and also keep the clothes you bought in your pockets (if you have the space) You're not forced to either keep what you previously had on or wear what you just bought. Sometimes I go in to buy a shirt for a villager. And so I got to go back to my house storage to retrieve it or wear it out and then go naked to give it to my villager.

Heck even changing it where you buy a set and don't get pushed out of the changing room would be such a QoL. It wouldn't be the same as buying everything you want at one go, but it would shave so much unnecessary time down. It's such an oversight and or a way for them to add more padding for time spent (even though it's not really time spent well/fun)

Being able to pool from resources in your pockets and also your storage. The crafting menu shows when you have DIY pieces (not the cards) in your pockets/storage so it is possible if the menu/game is able to recognize and register your crafts from those storage places. They just never utilized it correctly.

Having manilla clams stack. It makes sense why other critters don't stack. But these are intended for bulk crafting. So while some are iffy on bulk crafting, I feel like if you have the right amount of materials for X amount of DIY crafts, then so be it. You should be able to craft 1-99 if you have the materials necessary. Few find crafting one by one fun or engaging in any way. It drones on and is time better spent elsewhere.

Also being able to hop between crafting and customizing without having to exit out of one or the other. And if you craft something, it could give you the option of customizing it on the spot.

Seasonal DIY being in balloon form only was and still is such a poor execution. It'd be different if these were a one time thing or not really that necessary, but crafting is like one of the main features of this game. So putting them in a spot where it's all luck/rng and it can take you hours/days is not very fun. I gave up around the acorn season and just started trading for them. I think most were okay with this at first because the pandemic left them with a lot of time. Others like me still had to work everyday, so when I had off after horrendous double shifts/hours, grinding for diy was the last thing I wanted to do. So maybe they could do what they did with the turkey day event and sell them at Nooks when the season is over. Or have villagers and bottles be a possibility of getting them to. Or all the seasonal diy could've had a event day where it varies how you get them. Maybe acorn season had you collect acorns for Cornimer or whatever. Or even have Isabelle give you an extra one per day during the announcements.

Leif should be able to have a fruit of the day in his cart for you to buy. It's random and it could even be your native fruit if you're unlucky enough. That way everyone can experience getting all the fruit without going online and trading.

Being able to pick up the flowers without a shovel would be nice also. You could press a button to remove the petals and double tap the same button to pull the whole flower (not kill it) and a shovel would just be used to guarantee that you plant it exactly where you want it.

It's also been a full year now, so unbreakable tools really should had been a thing at this point.

I mean there is a lot more, but these QoL improvements would be great and are really what the game needs. Not all of them, or at once, but some of these should had happened a long time ago.

 

[-Lumi-]

I personally feel like it needs a further sense of progression. I know that Animal Crossing as a whole has always been a pretty open ended experience and there isn't a way to win or technically a true finishing point but New Horizons feels like it's missing something. It doesn't feel like my island is "complete" yet and I feel like that comes down to a lack of more shops and as a result, more NPCs.

When we were striving towards 3 stars we had that goal in mind to bring K.K Slider to our island because he would put us on the map (or having him be there would mean we were on the map? Something like that). That made it feel like we were working towards making our island more lively! But here I am sitting at 5 stars (or teetering there, lol. My status shifts depending on the amount of decorations I put out) and my island feels more or less the same as 3 stars. It still feels pretty bland and empty.

I would love to see Nooks Cranny's upgrade and for some of the wandering NPC's to decide they want to move in. I want them to tell me they think my island is wonderful and it's seeing all the effort I'm putting into it that's making them want to set up shop. They would help make my island grow and feel more alive. It just feels like right now my game is at a stand still, but it's not a satisfying ending point.

As a result of having NPC's move in and Nooks upgrade we would also see more furniture which I think the game also needs. My house is a chaotic mess, lol. I can't figure out what to do with half the rooms partially due to size but also because there's just not a lot of interior furniture that suits my style and looks nice inside. I'd love to see some new outdoor furniture, too. I really want to see things like swings to compliment my jungle gym, hammocks, gazebos, items to compliment that spinning teacup ride, etc.

 

[bcmii]

What this game needs is a change of focus.It should be more about the player character's relationships with the villagers and other players and less about terraforming,crafting and decorating.I enjoy this game but I don't have as much of an emotional connection with it as I've had with other past games of the same genre.

Yes! The Animal Crossing series is categorized as a "social simulator"---yet in this one, it's more of a generic design/world builder game than anything.

 

[Nefarious]

More food items, a variety of food items at that. We currently have 4 different styles of cake.

More foliage to plant and potted plants to display.

More furniture to hit other kinds of aesthetic (like Vris said, would really love some more punk/goth items).

 

[pochy]

i wish there was more interaction with the environment and surroundings. furniture only functions as decoration but, idk, it would be fun if the furniture itself had little mini game options. there’s potential in items like the basketballs, pianos, and kitchen furniture !

i somehow thought there would be an update with this game that would let you ‘craft’ different food items with things you could collect/ harvest! you could put it in an oven (giving it a purpose) and take it out at the right time, and i’m probably just being unrealistic, it’s not cooking mama after all,, lol