What is your opinion of New Horizons 3 years on?

[Red Cat]

I consider ACNH the best game in the series after the 2.0 update despite its flaws. It would be nice if the developers made more of an effort to recapture some of the charm of the Gamecube game which has been missing ever since. It will be interesting to see which direction they try to take with the next mainline AC game. Most of the low-hanging fruit like terraforming and outdoor furniture was implemented in ACNH, so it's hard to see many opportunities for the series to grow in the future. Maybe they try to take AC back to its roots more, or maybe they try something wildly different.

 

[VanitasFan26]

3 years later and the game still hasn't really changed much. Even after the 2.0 update it still feels like its stuck in the past. The game is enjoyable in the beginning but after that when Resident Services is Built and KK finally shows up thats pretty much it. The game doesnt really evolve or change much. Only you can make changes to the island to keep it fresh but the villagers around you still talk about the same stuff and don't really acknowledge how long they have been living on the island with you.

Heck they don't even apperciate all the hard work you've done. Remember how in New Leaf they at least give you credit for being mayor over the years? Well in this game they don't and it just feels like it lacks that charm of why your island is so special in the first place. Thats one of the reasons why I feel like this game feels so stale and the reasons why I keep restarting just to keep it more refreshing.

Don't get me wrong it is a good game and it does have a lot of great things going for it but I just think it focused way too much on the design aspect and not the whole building a community. I really hope this gets addressed in the next AC game.

 

[lunatepic]

In terms of customization and design? By far the best ac. I feel like the devs really listened to what the playerbase wanted with new leaf (still cant believe we actually got terraforming and putting furniture outside) and implemented almost all of it.

In terms of immersion and being a social sim? It's good, but I don't think anything will ever top gamecube for me. Could be nostalgia talking, but I also think because it's such a mechanically simple game relative to the newer entries, the social aspects take center stage and really shine (the whole, 'you really feel like a kid moving out on their own for the first time' vibe they were going for). I've seen some upset at the series' shift in gameplay focus (even back in the new leaf era), to which I would respond just go back and play the old games, but for a lot of people that isn't feasible (bit of a pipe dream but if nintendo ever ported old animal crossings onto modern consoles I'd be one happy duck).

Graphically, the game is gorgeous. I adore all the light and environmental effects (wind!!) and the attention to detail in the models and physics of items is impressive (I remember seeing a clip of the clothesline actually responding to the movement of a fan and being like whoa. I'm so easily impressed lol). I don't have too many worries about it aging poorly because animal crossing's art has always had this timeless quality for me, especially with gc and ww.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

I’ve had to reset my Island three different times because of the flowers getting out of control to the point everyone in the game was complaining about them.

 

[Etown20]

As someone who hadn't played Animal Crossing since the GameCube original (and had mostly forgotten it), I didn't have any expectations going in, and I was completely delighted by it for the first year or so. It's become one of my favorite games of all-time.

I no longer play it regularly, but I look back on my time playing it a lot fondly.

 

[Violet Witch]

It was a great game when it first came out alongside the monthly updates that followed to keep fans playing for as long as possible, including the big 2.0 update which gave the game a breath of fresh air. However once it was revealed that there wouldn't be anymore updates, the game quickly became stale and repetitive and I can see why fans started to become bored, myself included. It's a shame as had new updates been more frequent, ACNH could've lasted a lot longer than it has in terms of interest and gaining new fans. I haven't picked up the game since last July, and I currently have no plans to return to it... I hope my villagers are okay though.

 

[Mars Adept]

NH made me permanently lose interest in AC. I think that tells everything you need to know.

 

[Romaki]

I just wish it had the same shop upgrades as New Leaf.

 

[-Blue-]

It's kind of crazy to think that it's been 3 years now. It feels like it's been forever ago and also not that long ago with how weird that time was. To a lot of people, this game came out during a perfect time to help them cope with the then current situation. To me, I was swamped with work and had little time to wind down and chill with the game. (Bunny week and wedding month are still the only events to last so long and they obviously did so because the pandemic had just begun.)

It was by far, to me, the least chill of the AC games. I just wanted to chill with all the crap I was dealing with at work/public. But so much of the game required grinding in the worst way possible. So I often found myself doing mind-numbing grinding stuff when I wanted to just wind down.

I actually didn't really get serious with terraforming/decorating until the 2.0 update. My opinion from 2020 still stands now. They sacrificed too much for decorating/designing. It's an alright entry for the series, but possibly ranked 3rd for me.

 

[Rosch]

I have invested more time in this game than I did with New Leaf. While I have some gripes, I still love this game regardless.

I was initially disappointed with the drip-fed updates. but looking at it now, it gave me something to look forward to every 2-3 months. Still sad that a lot of items were left out, and that there's no dedicated multiplayer hub.

I've said this before and I'll say it again... the next game should be the definitive version of Animal Crossing. I also hope they give us a REAL sense of progress and achievement just like the town tree and the main street, and not some concert.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

I have invested more time in this game than I did with New Leaf. While I have some gripes, I still love this game regardless.

I was initially disappointed with the drip-fed updates. but looking at it now, it gave me something to look forward to every 2-3 months. Still sad that a lot of items were left out, and that there's no dedicated multiplayer hub.

I've said this before and I'll say it again... the next game should be the definitive version of Animal Crossing. I also hope they give us a REAL sense of progress and achievement just like the town tree and the main street, and not some concert.

New Leaf I didn’t invest so much time and energy into after two years. It was mostly because I had Goose who refused to leave after moving in uninvited and ruined everything I had done in the game. Plus I could never get anyone to suggest the Police Station so my Town was incomplete even with all the upgrades for the other buildings and my house fully paid off and expanded to the point I even had the secret storage addition. I finally had enough of that jerk wad Goose when he made my all time favorite Villager move away and I didn’t have her Amiibo card and so I erased my entire Town because of one jerk. NH I have had more fun with and aside from the flower issue I kept having with my first three Islands, I still like the game a lot. I wish those ugly useless Gyroids were never included in the game though. I have banned them from my Island and none of them will ever be seen on it and the two Brewster forces onto you are immediately going straight into the trash where they belong! Also not very happy that Kapp’n is back as I just never really liked him. I just can’t connect to him at all.

 

[worldstraveller]

It has officially passed 3 years since NH came out, it's my fist in the series, it has special place, it has given me good memories, also it kinda became my oasis, I had my burn outs but sometimes I come back once in awhile to do nothing special such seeing how my villagers are doing, sometimes make some adjustments to my island, or just walk around my island because I find the artstyle and the graphics and physics so nice to look at, sometimes I go back, the little animations on small things like when you're running and make turn, or the little dust left when you run, how different paces of walking has slightly different animations.
The interactions with the villagers for me depends, when is solo to 1 villager is as many said is kinda of repetive, but when you catch two villagers talking to each other, it's when the dialogue is a bit more interesting and doesn't feel as repetive, some of them are very funny.
Customization level is very high, the clothing part there are some piece of clothing that I would like to be in the bottoms or "extra", I would like to combine leggings with socks and I can't, , also not able to put wall decor in partitions but that's a nitpick on my part.
I liked the holidays events, my fave is Toy Day.
I wish they could do better multiplayer.
One of the new improvements that I would like them to add, it's to be able to make configurations in terms of accessibility, since for a friend of mine loved the game, because it was harmful to her sight, my friend couldn't play for long, due to my friend's health issues in the eyes had to give up on the game.
But doubt they will in the future, it's not often games to have that sort of thing.

The reason I go back to, it started for the day by day as in real time, the slow build up of your own town, it took me a month to finish the "main story", the updates to look forward to after a burn out, nowadays is more because it's a little oasis once in awhile breaks from story-driven games and to look at the art as if my character is part of a cartoon show and the villagers are the character that my avatar interacts in their daily life.
I am on the side to some extent, about the free updates should have stayed from the beginning, but I understand about the holiday events on the first year though in keeping locked to not give any spoilers from time-traveling.

 

[Mr_Keroppi]

Yesterday when I wrote the date down in art class I realized what day it was for Animal Crossing! I still enjoy playing New Horizons from time to time. I am mostly invested in playing the older games daily - weekly but New Horizons is great! I feel like after all this time I enjoy the good parts of the game rather than focusing on the bad because I can always play the others! All the games are special and have their strengths and I love playing New Horizons. Sure, it wasnt what I expected, sure its a softreboot but I still like what it did do for the series. Im overall enjoying the game much more than last year and the year before last EVEN IF I HAVE ONLY PLAYED IT TWICE THIS YEAR LOL

 

[QueenCobra]

Still love it. I don’t play it as often as I used to back in 2020, but I enjoy interacting with the villagers and designing vacation homes. It’s a fun, cozy game and I like having that in my rotation.

 

[Goldi Locks]

I still like it, especially since the update. But I hope the next game is more New Leaf.

 

[Flicky]

I enjoyed it for a long time. Update 2.0 helped, even if it meant a lot of re-organizing my island. However, I do still feel like too much of the AC charm was sacrificed in favour of terraforming, and that it felt closer to "Minecraft-with-limitations" than it did Animal Crossing. It seems the overall intention was to get people to engage with others on social media, as opposed to simply playing and having fun with friends (and maybe a few strangers), like New Leaf.

Overall, I do like it, but my opinion remains the same as before - It's great, but I would prefer the next game to return to its roots, and focus more on the interactions around you and the overall immersion in general than the decorating aspects. Especially since decorating your island the way you want to can still be very limited (imho) unless you stick to certain themes.

 

[BalloonFight]

After 3 years and a ton of hours into it, I would say it's definitely my favorite of the series. New Leaf had quite a few things that I wish were added into NH, but with that being said, I think the customization aspect outweighs the missing parts. I haven't played in months now, mainly due to burnout, but someday I'll come back and do a full overhaul of my island for sure. That being said, I hope that the next AC is a bit more like NL in ways, with a bit of NH thrown in for good measure.

 

[drowningfairies]

NH was a major deal at the beginning, and it was a wonderful distraction for what was going on in the world.
I enjoy NH, but it does go stale in ways past AC games did not for me.

There are so many positives with NH, but at the same time, a lot of set backs.
I enjoy the decorating and all, but I do miss a lot of the holidays and events from past games. The villagers also seem so bland compared to past titles.

I do go back and forth with NH, so it still has my interest even after three years. Though I feel it would have held attention longer with changes.
The 2.0 update was absolutely necessary and I’m glad it was added. I enjoy Happy Home Paradise a lot, as HHD was one of my favorites as well.

Overall, I am 50/50 with NH.

 

[IndiaHawker]

Still by far my favourite of the AC series (at least out of those I’ve played - WW, CF, and NL). Yes there are a few things I miss - I loved the town tree in NL, and the patterned tree stumps from previous games. Some of the furniture that hasn’t returned was nice - it would have been great if we’d had the Nookington’s upgrade with Gracie’s for example.

But actually, there’s a lot that I much prefer about this game. Furniture being able to be placed outside is obviously a big one - and not having to hear a million times that a PWP won’t fit somewhere it quite clearly should be able to when trying to place it. The ability to move villagers houses and not have your layout destroyed by a move in - even worse if it happened to be a dreamie and you’d have to move them out then wait the 14 (16?) villager cycle to get them back. The ability to terraform, and the different island levels. There’s so much I love about this game. Maybe it’s because for me the main focus is decorating - I do get that some things are lacking a bit - but it’s by far my favourite AC game even now. Nowhere near bored yet, as I made a second island and took some unintentional breaks, so I’m still trying to finish my critterpedia, get those last few hybrids by myself, and collect my dreamies, plus finish decorating everything - I only got perfect island in this game last night despite starting it ages back, I’m in no rush to complete it and don’t think it’ll ever be fully completed as I’ll likely want to change things as I go

 

[_confused_piplup_]

It's a very great game and it added a lot to the series especially Island-customization wise. On the other hand, I think they should have maintained the game better, adding more items, more events and more updates. Even after 2.0 and the DLC, after a while it felt like they just forgot about ACNH, which is kinda sad and makes it hard to stick to the game for a longer time.