ethnicbraat
Senior Member
How do you feel about new leaf ? If you could would you change something about it ? Honestly I always preferred new leaf because of how underrated and interesting it is !! What’s your opinion ???
What’s your honest opinion about new leaf ?
- Thread starter ethnicbraat
- Start date
Compared to New Horizons which is literally unplayable without WiFi, New Leaf is a nice game. Nintendo got way too money hungry that you can’t easily get other variations of items or download any updates without having online access after releasing an unfinished game. At least New Leaf was enjoyable without WiFi.
ethnicbraat
Senior Member
I totally agree
Captain Jigglypuff
Leader of the Jigglypuff Army
New Leaf was a pretty good game. It was annoying that certain buildings were locked unless a Villager told you that they wanted them. I have three copies of NL and have one game that I played for two years before moving on to NH and not once has any of my Residents said that they wanted a Police Station. Every Town I start always has this happen to them. I didn’t even know that there was a police station until I visited a 3DS Friend’s Town. I also hated when new Residents would just move in completely uninvited and ruin an area where you had plans to do something or placing an item. NH is much more engaging and I like the crafting and cooking aspect the best.
kyle on saturn
maybe ill appear occasionally
personally, NL is great. i enjoy how it still as somewhat of the simplistic, casual feel as the older games, but with more features. custom works projects can be a pain to obtain and are the only way to actually decorate the town, there could be more but i feel as if thats the only thing NH expanded on. and i kinda hate how the town is flat again with no tiers, it makes it feel rather small. still, the game is comforting to me, i still feel as if theres a lot to do, i miss a lot of the old furniture and sets that were in the game up until NH, NH is still a great game by NL gives me more of that classic AC feel with the most features available.
I like New Leaf a lot, but it does have some flaws.
I absolutely HATE the grass deterioration! It makes me feel like I'm being punished for walking around my town, which is what you're supposed to do. I never even run, only walk, and my town looked like a desert just from searching for fossils, watering flowers, talking to villagers, and hitting rocks. Once I reached a point where I no longer needed to do those things daily, I was able to create paths and stick to them most of the time, but I shouldn't have to feel like I can't explore my own town without ruining it.
In my opinion, the dialogue also took a hit in New Leaf. It may just be fond memories, but I definitely remember feeling like my villagers warmed up to me over time in Animal Crossing for the GameCube. Yes, I liked the occasional rude comments because I thought they were funny and they made sense coming from cranky villagers, especially if you were pestering them. It made me feel like I had to work to become their friend and I was more selective back then. I would love some villagers and do everything in my power to make them like me too, but there were some villagers I just didn't care about and I was happy to see them go. In New Leaf, I've loved every single villager I've met because they're all so nice. I kind of miss the love/hate thing from the earlier games.
Honestly, those are the only two major complaints I have about New Leaf, though. I found a way to work around the first one. The second one could be fixed by adding some coding so that certain dialogue is linked to different friendship levels. Basically, if you're rude to them, they'll be rude back to you, but being nice to them will make them start being nicer to you.
However, New Leaf does a lot of things right. It still has a great deal of charm to it. Little things like the Town Tree, the celebrations, the holidays, and the music create a welcoming atmosphere. New Leaf added new villagers and new personalities. The island was a great place to get away for a peaceful solo retreat or to play with friends/strangers if you were so inclined. The mini games that you could play on the console items were fun and interesting. The customization abilities in New Leaf were just about perfect for me and were well balanced with the life sim aspects so you couldn't have everything at your fingertips right away but you still had plenty of options to work towards. The only thing that I think needed significant improvement there was allowing different skin tones without going through the process of tanning. But I truly think New Leaf is one of the most well-rounded entries in the franchise. It's not my favorite, but in my opinion it offered a little something for everyone and did it all tolerably well.
I absolutely HATE the grass deterioration! It makes me feel like I'm being punished for walking around my town, which is what you're supposed to do. I never even run, only walk, and my town looked like a desert just from searching for fossils, watering flowers, talking to villagers, and hitting rocks. Once I reached a point where I no longer needed to do those things daily, I was able to create paths and stick to them most of the time, but I shouldn't have to feel like I can't explore my own town without ruining it.
In my opinion, the dialogue also took a hit in New Leaf. It may just be fond memories, but I definitely remember feeling like my villagers warmed up to me over time in Animal Crossing for the GameCube. Yes, I liked the occasional rude comments because I thought they were funny and they made sense coming from cranky villagers, especially if you were pestering them. It made me feel like I had to work to become their friend and I was more selective back then. I would love some villagers and do everything in my power to make them like me too, but there were some villagers I just didn't care about and I was happy to see them go. In New Leaf, I've loved every single villager I've met because they're all so nice. I kind of miss the love/hate thing from the earlier games.
Honestly, those are the only two major complaints I have about New Leaf, though. I found a way to work around the first one. The second one could be fixed by adding some coding so that certain dialogue is linked to different friendship levels. Basically, if you're rude to them, they'll be rude back to you, but being nice to them will make them start being nicer to you.
However, New Leaf does a lot of things right. It still has a great deal of charm to it. Little things like the Town Tree, the celebrations, the holidays, and the music create a welcoming atmosphere. New Leaf added new villagers and new personalities. The island was a great place to get away for a peaceful solo retreat or to play with friends/strangers if you were so inclined. The mini games that you could play on the console items were fun and interesting. The customization abilities in New Leaf were just about perfect for me and were well balanced with the life sim aspects so you couldn't have everything at your fingertips right away but you still had plenty of options to work towards. The only thing that I think needed significant improvement there was allowing different skin tones without going through the process of tanning. But I truly think New Leaf is one of the most well-rounded entries in the franchise. It's not my favorite, but in my opinion it offered a little something for everyone and did it all tolerably well.
I really like the pwp but I wouldn't want them today just as the were in a new game. I like the concept of them though and would welcome a version of them in a new game.
I hate the grass deterioration. I love how past villagers you had visited mainstreet.
I hate the grass deterioration. I love how past villagers you had visited mainstreet.
i haven’t played new leaf in years, but it’s the ac game i’ve had the most fun with so far & i miss playing it. it’s an amazing game. club tortimer and tortimer’s island were fantastic, all of the tiny details (ex. campsite tent turning into an igloo during winter months) were so heartwarming and made the game feel even more special, the holidays and events were so fun to celebrate etc. the only bad things about new leaf, imo, are villagers being able to move away without permission, you aren’t able to relocate buildings and certain pwps, and you can’t have a skin colour other than white unless you tan. a combination of new leaf and new horizons would be a perfect game.
BabyPinkSnail
Junior Member
New Leaf had its downsides that New Horizons fixes in some cases, or in some makes worse... But overall it was the last AC game I felt had a lot of soul put into it. I do still feel like villagers are too watered down compared to GC(TBF I've not played much of that one) or WW, but they're still far more complex than in NH. I also just have immense nostalgia of playing New Leaf almost everyday for a few years. I've recently decided to start a new town in New Leaf, and am excited to see how it goes! My starter villager lineup may not be the prettiest, but who cares, this should be about meeting your villagers and befriending them rather than treating them as objects to collect and gawk at.
BabyPinkSnail
Junior Member
Yeah being able to place furniture outside is easily one of my favorite additions from NH. I hope someday we get a game that finds a happy medium between social interaction/villager complexity and decorating, giving the best of both worlds.
Absolutely!! I find going back to NL hard because I miss the decorating aspect but when I play NH I get an empty feeling where I'm decorating but the town itself is lifeless. I never know which to play cause of this lol
kiwikenobi
GONE FROM TBT
I love New Leaf! But I've also been spoiled by New Horizons letting you place villager houses exactly where you want them, and by villagers not moving out unless you say it's okay, and by being able to place furniture and things outside. And by the farming and cooking--I love farming and cooking in games.
But I still love New Leaf. I really like Main Street. I like the town tree. I like the RV park and being able to scan RV's for unique items. I like the crossover villagers. I like the holiday events and the hourly music more than in New Horizons. I like the Reset Center. And especially I like that using the internet to connect with other players is free, no subscription needed.
But I still love New Leaf. I really like Main Street. I like the town tree. I like the RV park and being able to scan RV's for unique items. I like the crossover villagers. I like the holiday events and the hourly music more than in New Horizons. I like the Reset Center. And especially I like that using the internet to connect with other players is free, no subscription needed.
Millysaurusrexjr
you gotta have heart
NL was such a good game; so much nostalgia for me. I wish I could re-experience it for the first time all over again.
I do prefer NH though; mainly for the updated graphics and more control over the villagers/my island
I do prefer NH though; mainly for the updated graphics and more control over the villagers/my island
It was groundbreaking when it came out and the sheer amount of stuff in it is impressive. It’s very pretty (though i prefer the old art style or NH look) and honestly… I like the villagers in this game. They’re too mellow sometimes but they still do stuff, have more minigames and stuff like the time capsule and more dialogue trees and player responses. I like how it still has old AC feel but with its own twist. It’s the most balanced between old and new for sure and that mix is nice. I like how it has actual minigames which are lacking in most of the series. I like playing it and remembering what it added, seeing some improvements next to the old games, its own unique details, etc. I like the furniture sets. I like the pace you unlock stuff, the unlockables wether it’s for shops or earning bells or rare items were generally perfected with NL, that gave it such a nice pace overall.
HOWEVER I feel like people these days understate how annoying some of the missing QoL is or overstate how good the game is to a degree. While the additions were groundbreaking at the time PWPs were annoying even then with the limitations on placing and unlocking them. I can bear with the unlocking but placing them being so finicky about where and how many, as well as the archaic path system as a holdover from the old games make it really mid/kinda annoying decorating the town (the busywork is fun to an extent, but more of an annoyance in practice in NL imo, also no moving buildings whatsoever is dumb), there was also villagers moving in random spots (which you can prevent by placing patterns but that’s still annoying and slow) and as much as I like the villagers they aren’t GC or WW level of charm (definitely better than CF though, which I will die on this hill, CF has THE worst dialogue and I’m counting NH in that statement). Online still isn’t great in NL either tbh it’s just less bad than the other games (though it is sad NH regressed from that in most respects). While the amount of content/unlocking/pace part of the game probably peaked with NL the other flaws are still disappointing to me and make it more annoying to play with what you have unlocked. NL feels more based around collecting to me if that makes sense, I look at what it offers over the other games and see that as its main strength over the others. The older games are more focused on the villagers and town maintenance while NH has more sandboxy decoration that gives you a lot of freedom with your own goals and NL isn’t quite free enough with decorating to give you the same sense of spending ages decorating and solving what you want daily or at night etc. it feels more like a sidelined feature even though it was one of the big innovations of this game and in retrospect PWPs definitely come across as a stepping stone.
I’d rather play GC for an old-style entry (still has tons of details and a specific atmosphere missing from all other entries) and NH for a decorating sim. NL isn’t the peak of either. But it is satisfying in its own right with how it balances old and new, and its own strengths, it just isn’t my favorite. It’s nice to have a bit of both, but I’d rather go for the more focused games. I also do like WW a lot and it has its own niche with the writing + some weird cute stuff from that game + nostalgia but it doesn’t hold my attention as long as the others.
I don’t really know what else to say so in summary NL is a nice middle ground with some cool stuff of its own, it just isn’t peak to me anymore. It’s a really good game but tbh for the series it’s straight mid for me. When I want to scratch a certain itch NH or GC do it best and on some days WW even scratches a specific itch (I would say NL is still better than WW, so NL is literally right in the middle in my ranking). Honestly aside from CF all the games have a niche to me (even CF has a little nostalgia but I just find it really irritating/empty overall) and again NL just isn’t peak for me anymore. It probably had the best music too tho lol
HOWEVER I feel like people these days understate how annoying some of the missing QoL is or overstate how good the game is to a degree. While the additions were groundbreaking at the time PWPs were annoying even then with the limitations on placing and unlocking them. I can bear with the unlocking but placing them being so finicky about where and how many, as well as the archaic path system as a holdover from the old games make it really mid/kinda annoying decorating the town (the busywork is fun to an extent, but more of an annoyance in practice in NL imo, also no moving buildings whatsoever is dumb), there was also villagers moving in random spots (which you can prevent by placing patterns but that’s still annoying and slow) and as much as I like the villagers they aren’t GC or WW level of charm (definitely better than CF though, which I will die on this hill, CF has THE worst dialogue and I’m counting NH in that statement). Online still isn’t great in NL either tbh it’s just less bad than the other games (though it is sad NH regressed from that in most respects). While the amount of content/unlocking/pace part of the game probably peaked with NL the other flaws are still disappointing to me and make it more annoying to play with what you have unlocked. NL feels more based around collecting to me if that makes sense, I look at what it offers over the other games and see that as its main strength over the others. The older games are more focused on the villagers and town maintenance while NH has more sandboxy decoration that gives you a lot of freedom with your own goals and NL isn’t quite free enough with decorating to give you the same sense of spending ages decorating and solving what you want daily or at night etc. it feels more like a sidelined feature even though it was one of the big innovations of this game and in retrospect PWPs definitely come across as a stepping stone.
I’d rather play GC for an old-style entry (still has tons of details and a specific atmosphere missing from all other entries) and NH for a decorating sim. NL isn’t the peak of either. But it is satisfying in its own right with how it balances old and new, and its own strengths, it just isn’t my favorite. It’s nice to have a bit of both, but I’d rather go for the more focused games. I also do like WW a lot and it has its own niche with the writing + some weird cute stuff from that game + nostalgia but it doesn’t hold my attention as long as the others.
I don’t really know what else to say so in summary NL is a nice middle ground with some cool stuff of its own, it just isn’t peak to me anymore. It’s a really good game but tbh for the series it’s straight mid for me. When I want to scratch a certain itch NH or GC do it best and on some days WW even scratches a specific itch (I would say NL is still better than WW, so NL is literally right in the middle in my ranking). Honestly aside from CF all the games have a niche to me (even CF has a little nostalgia but I just find it really irritating/empty overall) and again NL just isn’t peak for me anymore. It probably had the best music too tho lol
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I've already explained on two occasions why I hold New Leaf in high regard, but I love writing about the game, and I do enjoy people talking about it, so let's boost this thread and further the discussion.
As stated previously, I first played the game long after its heyday, but I was curious about it when it was new. New Leaf wasn't my first Animal Crossing game, but it made me aware of the franchise's existence. The rest of my backstory is detailed in the two posts I linked above; feel free to read them at your leisure.
Since I've attributed a lot of admiration and praise towards NL on this website, and since I don't want this post to be a Cliff Notes summary of "The Many Things I like, and The Few That I Dislike" about NL, I'd rather just have a go at things I'm conflicted about.
I've seen the villagers in NL being criticized quite a lot (especially here), for how "saccharine and nice" they've become. It's hard not to discuss this topic without generating a lot of heat out of it. I do think Snooties and Crankies should've been a bit closer to what they're described as (NOWHERE near the level of PG!, though). Smugs should've been more arrogant and boastful, as well, and sometimes, older siblings, like Big Sisters, do have a tendency to mess with other people, so there should've been more of that with Uchis, too. On other hand, Peppies and Jocks are FAR better than their previous incarnations, so this "kinder" direction works for both of those personalities. Normals and Lazies haven't changed too much over the years, which is fine, because they're supposed to be the friendliest characters in the first place. Villagers not blatantly lambasting you for petty and dumb reasons doesn't make them any shallower than they honestly were in the older games. Villagers were never more than one-dimensional summations of their respective archetype, and they couldn't even get that right, sometimes. People miss the point about characterization and just assume that villagers have to be "this" way, or else the game's dull and void of personality. It's an obnoxiously simplistic mindset to have because "funny and interesting" dialogue should be more than just brash insults and snark thrown at the player, but that doesn't make the other end of the extreme any better. I just wish there was more meaningful, accurate discourse about villager dialogue, rather than the constant "verbally-abusive villagers" circlejerk that we've had over the last decade or more. Some villagers should be rude, but some of them should be nice. And all of them should treat you based on how you treated them over the many weeks, months, or even years you spent living with your neighbors. I've said this before, but there has to be a balance, somewhere in these games, but there isn't. Rudeness has its place, but there's nothing inherently wrong with making characters nicer — in a series that wants to make you feel good.
Animal Tracks. Still can't believe this... ATROCITY of a mechanic was ever conceived in the first place. Though admittedly not nearly as bad as it was in CF, it still had the same issue of not explicitly informing the player of said mechanic. That's what makes Animal Tracks as wretched of a mechanic as it is, because Nintendo feels the need to let the players experience it themselves rather than just explaining how and why it happens. Why did it even return at all? People don't care about the idea of the game tracking their movement, so why they thought "nerfing" it would make people less frustrated with this garbage is one of a million questions that'd never be answered when it comes to the design of these games.
Lastly, this game holds on to some quite archaic traditions, like:
For the moment, that's pretty much everything I wanted to get off my chest. If it seems I dislike this game, it's mostly because a majority of what I loved about the game was already conveyed in my other posts, so I didn't want a repeat post. I still love the fact that the game doesn't prevent you from wearing certain clothing, even if I find them being gendered in the first place to be counteractive to that positive. I love Tortimer Island, regardless of any issues I have with it. I love the soundtrack — it's right up there with the original game in terms of having the best Hourly Themes. There's a bunch of QoL changes that I appreciate greatly because I played the first three games leading up to this title. Despite some things I find iffy about it, New Leaf is still peak Animal Crossing. Enough said.
As stated previously, I first played the game long after its heyday, but I was curious about it when it was new. New Leaf wasn't my first Animal Crossing game, but it made me aware of the franchise's existence. The rest of my backstory is detailed in the two posts I linked above; feel free to read them at your leisure.
Since I've attributed a lot of admiration and praise towards NL on this website, and since I don't want this post to be a Cliff Notes summary of "The Many Things I like, and The Few That I Dislike" about NL, I'd rather just have a go at things I'm conflicted about.
I've seen the villagers in NL being criticized quite a lot (especially here), for how "saccharine and nice" they've become. It's hard not to discuss this topic without generating a lot of heat out of it. I do think Snooties and Crankies should've been a bit closer to what they're described as (NOWHERE near the level of PG!, though). Smugs should've been more arrogant and boastful, as well, and sometimes, older siblings, like Big Sisters, do have a tendency to mess with other people, so there should've been more of that with Uchis, too. On other hand, Peppies and Jocks are FAR better than their previous incarnations, so this "kinder" direction works for both of those personalities. Normals and Lazies haven't changed too much over the years, which is fine, because they're supposed to be the friendliest characters in the first place. Villagers not blatantly lambasting you for petty and dumb reasons doesn't make them any shallower than they honestly were in the older games. Villagers were never more than one-dimensional summations of their respective archetype, and they couldn't even get that right, sometimes. People miss the point about characterization and just assume that villagers have to be "this" way, or else the game's dull and void of personality. It's an obnoxiously simplistic mindset to have because "funny and interesting" dialogue should be more than just brash insults and snark thrown at the player, but that doesn't make the other end of the extreme any better. I just wish there was more meaningful, accurate discourse about villager dialogue, rather than the constant "verbally-abusive villagers" circlejerk that we've had over the last decade or more. Some villagers should be rude, but some of them should be nice. And all of them should treat you based on how you treated them over the many weeks, months, or even years you spent living with your neighbors. I've said this before, but there has to be a balance, somewhere in these games, but there isn't. Rudeness has its place, but there's nothing inherently wrong with making characters nicer — in a series that wants to make you feel good.
- I agree 100% with @Drawdler in terms of City Folk's dialogue. It's the worst for the sole fact that game outright stripped any dialogue options the player could have, and the game only gave you those options under specific conditions, instead of it being standard, as it is across all the other games. CF's dialogue system is pretty crappy, and I've made a case for why it is before. Point is, NL fixed nearly everything wrong with the game, including the dialogue and the villagers (because villagers now had birthday parties and pictures, again), so people should cut the game some slack because it brought back some villager interactions missing in the previous installment.
- Speaking of which, PWPs were a fine addition to have, but I don't really much care for some of them being permanent, and not being able to move them. It wasn't really a "challenge", either; just a tedious restriction that limited your role as Mayor — there was just no good reason to not move them, other than maybe complications with the game's memory or something. I really can't get behind how certain PWPs can only be requested by villagers of certain personality types. That's just nonsense, and they did this again with reactions in NH...
Animal Tracks. Still can't believe this... ATROCITY of a mechanic was ever conceived in the first place. Though admittedly not nearly as bad as it was in CF, it still had the same issue of not explicitly informing the player of said mechanic. That's what makes Animal Tracks as wretched of a mechanic as it is, because Nintendo feels the need to let the players experience it themselves rather than just explaining how and why it happens. Why did it even return at all? People don't care about the idea of the game tracking their movement, so why they thought "nerfing" it would make people less frustrated with this garbage is one of a million questions that'd never be answered when it comes to the design of these games.
Lastly, this game holds on to some quite archaic traditions, like:
- Being asked questions that determines what your character's sex and facial features — which you can't change. Can't believe they were still doing this crap in the early 2010s.
- Cryptic questions at Shampoodle's which will determine what hair style+color and eye color you'll receive, instead of... just giving the player a menu. Also, hairstyles are still gender-locked. Have fun spending 45000's worth of bells just for the other 16 hairstyles to be available.
- Clothes ALSO being gendered. A strange case, really, because Mabel in the older games didn't go, "oh, that shirt pattern's for boyzzz lolz". Sure, the game doesn't prevent you from wearing anything, but why bother gendering them in the first place? That's moronic, because it sorta goes against the message that all clothing is for everyone, not just specific categories of people, which is what the game portrayed by having villagers compliment what you were wearing, regardless of sex.
- Not being able to change skin tone, and getting a tan in order to change it. DEFINITELY archaic. Couldn't there at least be a tanning machine we could use, instead?
For the moment, that's pretty much everything I wanted to get off my chest. If it seems I dislike this game, it's mostly because a majority of what I loved about the game was already conveyed in my other posts, so I didn't want a repeat post. I still love the fact that the game doesn't prevent you from wearing certain clothing, even if I find them being gendered in the first place to be counteractive to that positive. I love Tortimer Island, regardless of any issues I have with it. I love the soundtrack — it's right up there with the original game in terms of having the best Hourly Themes. There's a bunch of QoL changes that I appreciate greatly because I played the first three games leading up to this title. Despite some things I find iffy about it, New Leaf is still peak Animal Crossing. Enough said.
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Rubygame
Senior Member
Ok guys, Animal Crossing New Leaf is my heart game and I could risk being honeyed by expressing an opinion on this title, but I'll try to be as objective as possible.
I started playing in seventh grade, you will understand that at that time I played very occasionally and I was not very good at understanding certain game mechanics. A few years have passed since I started playing, and in those years I learned a lot about the world of New Leaf thanks to the Internet. Then I realized that certain things I could no longer change and I had to live with. But at 15 I decided it was time to start over, doing it right!
I wanted to decide a map that I liked, the position of the bench in shop street (I love the bench on the right), and I wanted to soft-reset to have specific things like the position of the inhabitants' houses where I preferred, the objects of the shops I wanted, the fossils I wanted and so on.
Although I tried very hard, sometimes it was really nerve-racking to soft-reset so much to keep the bloody newcomer from ending up in terrible areas, and although at the time I chose a map that I really liked… today I would totally choose another one! And I would also place the houses differently HAHAHA
Fortunately, public works (some) can be removed, indeed I did a good cleaning of the city because I haven't played for a long time and I want to renew everything as much as possible.
Would I start over again? Probably not! Some things are really frustrating! Not being able to remove certain buildings and above all not being able to move them.
Another thing I really don't like is the deterioration of the grass... I totally agree that flowers wither or vanish if we run over them, it happens in reality too, and it's a good lesson in respect for nature especially for children.
But the grass... is it really necessary to force ourselves to walk in order not to deteriorate the grass without being able to fully enjoy the gaming experience?
The grass deteriorates even if you use patterns if I'm not mistaken, you can't stop this problem in any way!
Earlier I was talking about the possibility of "starting over" and the fact that I wouldn't do it because it's a lot of work!
Actually yes, it would be a grind, but the real reason why I wouldn't start my New Leaf adventure again is that... I feel at home in my town. I've been playing New Leaf for 10 years and I've never felt more at home than in this town I created about 6 years ago. I have spent countless days playing in the company of so many inhabitants, I have seen friends leave and other friends come, all with a different personality even if they belonged to the same type (lazy, peppy, normal, etc.)
I've played a lot on the island, I've spent countless bells, bought lots of furniture and clothes, I've done lots of things and every time I come back I feel at home. It's amazing that a game has this power, isn't it?
Currently I still have to finish many things, I have no intention of abandoning New leaf for New Horizons, especially I miss some inhabitants of my wishlist and I don't want to imagine the struggles to get them to put in a decent place HAHAHA
For now my town is a disaster (there have been more times when it was a disaster than a beautiful town in recent years LOL), I trust to fully dedicate myself to it when I'm less busy.
Concluding New Leaf has several flaws, to do something "right" you often have to resort to "tricks", but in the end, when you've done it, you're the happiest person alive! And above all, in every house, in every inhabitant, in every corner of that town there will be a memory of you from the past
I started playing in seventh grade, you will understand that at that time I played very occasionally and I was not very good at understanding certain game mechanics. A few years have passed since I started playing, and in those years I learned a lot about the world of New Leaf thanks to the Internet. Then I realized that certain things I could no longer change and I had to live with. But at 15 I decided it was time to start over, doing it right!
I wanted to decide a map that I liked, the position of the bench in shop street (I love the bench on the right), and I wanted to soft-reset to have specific things like the position of the inhabitants' houses where I preferred, the objects of the shops I wanted, the fossils I wanted and so on.
Although I tried very hard, sometimes it was really nerve-racking to soft-reset so much to keep the bloody newcomer from ending up in terrible areas, and although at the time I chose a map that I really liked… today I would totally choose another one! And I would also place the houses differently HAHAHA
Fortunately, public works (some) can be removed, indeed I did a good cleaning of the city because I haven't played for a long time and I want to renew everything as much as possible.
Would I start over again? Probably not! Some things are really frustrating! Not being able to remove certain buildings and above all not being able to move them.
Another thing I really don't like is the deterioration of the grass... I totally agree that flowers wither or vanish if we run over them, it happens in reality too, and it's a good lesson in respect for nature especially for children.
But the grass... is it really necessary to force ourselves to walk in order not to deteriorate the grass without being able to fully enjoy the gaming experience?
The grass deteriorates even if you use patterns if I'm not mistaken, you can't stop this problem in any way!
Earlier I was talking about the possibility of "starting over" and the fact that I wouldn't do it because it's a lot of work!
Actually yes, it would be a grind, but the real reason why I wouldn't start my New Leaf adventure again is that... I feel at home in my town. I've been playing New Leaf for 10 years and I've never felt more at home than in this town I created about 6 years ago. I have spent countless days playing in the company of so many inhabitants, I have seen friends leave and other friends come, all with a different personality even if they belonged to the same type (lazy, peppy, normal, etc.)
I've played a lot on the island, I've spent countless bells, bought lots of furniture and clothes, I've done lots of things and every time I come back I feel at home. It's amazing that a game has this power, isn't it?
Currently I still have to finish many things, I have no intention of abandoning New leaf for New Horizons, especially I miss some inhabitants of my wishlist and I don't want to imagine the struggles to get them to put in a decent place HAHAHA
For now my town is a disaster (there have been more times when it was a disaster than a beautiful town in recent years LOL), I trust to fully dedicate myself to it when I'm less busy.
Concluding New Leaf has several flaws, to do something "right" you often have to resort to "tricks", but in the end, when you've done it, you're the happiest person alive! And above all, in every house, in every inhabitant, in every corner of that town there will be a memory of you from the past
New Leaf is a great game. Graphically, the game was wonderful for when it came out, especially coming from Wild World.
While I think New Horizons is the better game overall (especially with the quality of life updates the game got and the shear customizability of the island), I think the argument can be made that New Leaf is the better ANIMAL CROSSING game. It has that charm that New Horizons seems to be missing for me.
This might be an unpopular answer, but I think the fact that in New Leaf, you can't just completely remake the town via terraforming and the fact that you basically enter an already-started town (with some shops, a Town Hall, and more villagers) gives it that classic Animal Crossing sense that you are a part of a town, not that you ARE the town. For all the customizable improvements of New Horizons, it seems that Animal Crossing as a whole has jumped the shark from prioritizing the life simulator elements to being a design-first game. I know a lot of people prefer this, but I can't exactly say that I do. It's sad to think about how many NPCs were nixed from NL to NH and the loss of so many furniture sets (at least at release) in favor of crafting and custom design options, and that's not even mentioning the absurdity of the shear POWER you have over all of your villagers with picking when and where to move their houses with no requirement for building up a friendship whatsoever to do.
With all that being said, there's a lot that New Horizons does better than New Leaf. The variety of villager dialogue (even if the dialogue is still far from perfect and very shallow at times) and quality of life features (tool wheel, bigger inventory, more storage) were needed. I really enjoy the Nook Miles+ quests because they give me something to log on and do. I also, personally, enjoyed the quicker move out times for villagers and not having to wait a week to see if this villager is actually going to move out or if they are going to change their mind. I think the 2.0 update did a bit to try and restore some of this Animal Crossing charm with bringing back Brewster and NPCs as well as the daily stretching, but it feels too little too late. The missing features should have been in the game much, much closer to release. However, the game now feels complete, especially with the DLC.
It's easy to look at New Leaf through the lens of nostalgia. At the same time, it was transformative for the series. There was so much new content and characters that have become staples in the series. It finally allowed us creative freedom in how to decorate the exterior of our towns. Above all...the customization made SENSE. You were the MAYOR. Of course you had the power of creative direction in your town! The "Resident Representative" title does not hold nearly the same weight in New Horizons. I understand they had to go a different direction, but still.
Overall, I can't really see myself going back to New Leaf over New Horizons, at least not any time soon. However, I can 100% see why New Leaf remains some people's favorite game in the series. There was something about the balance between that classic Animal Crossing feel and the customization increases that felt true to the series original purpose yet brought in a whole new way to play. We probably won't have another Animal Crossing that hits this balance quite as perfect.
While I think New Horizons is the better game overall (especially with the quality of life updates the game got and the shear customizability of the island), I think the argument can be made that New Leaf is the better ANIMAL CROSSING game. It has that charm that New Horizons seems to be missing for me.
This might be an unpopular answer, but I think the fact that in New Leaf, you can't just completely remake the town via terraforming and the fact that you basically enter an already-started town (with some shops, a Town Hall, and more villagers) gives it that classic Animal Crossing sense that you are a part of a town, not that you ARE the town. For all the customizable improvements of New Horizons, it seems that Animal Crossing as a whole has jumped the shark from prioritizing the life simulator elements to being a design-first game. I know a lot of people prefer this, but I can't exactly say that I do. It's sad to think about how many NPCs were nixed from NL to NH and the loss of so many furniture sets (at least at release) in favor of crafting and custom design options, and that's not even mentioning the absurdity of the shear POWER you have over all of your villagers with picking when and where to move their houses with no requirement for building up a friendship whatsoever to do.
With all that being said, there's a lot that New Horizons does better than New Leaf. The variety of villager dialogue (even if the dialogue is still far from perfect and very shallow at times) and quality of life features (tool wheel, bigger inventory, more storage) were needed. I really enjoy the Nook Miles+ quests because they give me something to log on and do. I also, personally, enjoyed the quicker move out times for villagers and not having to wait a week to see if this villager is actually going to move out or if they are going to change their mind. I think the 2.0 update did a bit to try and restore some of this Animal Crossing charm with bringing back Brewster and NPCs as well as the daily stretching, but it feels too little too late. The missing features should have been in the game much, much closer to release. However, the game now feels complete, especially with the DLC.
It's easy to look at New Leaf through the lens of nostalgia. At the same time, it was transformative for the series. There was so much new content and characters that have become staples in the series. It finally allowed us creative freedom in how to decorate the exterior of our towns. Above all...the customization made SENSE. You were the MAYOR. Of course you had the power of creative direction in your town! The "Resident Representative" title does not hold nearly the same weight in New Horizons. I understand they had to go a different direction, but still.
Overall, I can't really see myself going back to New Leaf over New Horizons, at least not any time soon. However, I can 100% see why New Leaf remains some people's favorite game in the series. There was something about the balance between that classic Animal Crossing feel and the customization increases that felt true to the series original purpose yet brought in a whole new way to play. We probably won't have another Animal Crossing that hits this balance quite as perfect.
Mr_Keroppi
綠蛙朋友 ੈ✩‧₊˚
A PLACE TO TALK ABOUT NEW LEAF THAT I HAVE NOT COMMENTED ON YET? Well I cannot wait to make this super long! There are many reasons why I love New Leaf!
New Leaf was my first Animal Crossing game, I got it in January/March(?) of 2014. Ever since then it has become my favorite game of all time. I was very young and did not understand video games really so other than some Wii U games I did not have many one 3DS. I only had Yoshi's New Island and Mario & Luigi Dream Team so since I was so limited I quickly found favorites and sunk a lot of time into the game. I remember always playing on my swing set with a string bag on to grind play coins for the fortune cookies! I loved this game so much, I remember collecting my first furniture series, the Kiddie series (which I have now dedicated my basement to as a homage!)
I played this game EVERY SINGLE DAY after I got it. I LOVED IT. I remember getting so excited whenever I found a new fruit and planted them, it was such a fun game! Every day I loved to check on the shops and my villagers, I eventually got Happy Home Designer and some amiibo cards when that game released and liked it a lot, still New Leaf was my fave! There are just so many cool things about New Leaf I cannot express it all I JUST LOVE NEW LEAF. Everything from the characters, to the shops and their upgrades, to the visuals.... I LOVE IT!
New Leaf was my first Animal Crossing game, I got it in January/March(?) of 2014. Ever since then it has become my favorite game of all time. I was very young and did not understand video games really so other than some Wii U games I did not have many one 3DS. I only had Yoshi's New Island and Mario & Luigi Dream Team so since I was so limited I quickly found favorites and sunk a lot of time into the game. I remember always playing on my swing set with a string bag on to grind play coins for the fortune cookies! I loved this game so much, I remember collecting my first furniture series, the Kiddie series (which I have now dedicated my basement to as a homage!)
I played this game EVERY SINGLE DAY after I got it. I LOVED IT. I remember getting so excited whenever I found a new fruit and planted them, it was such a fun game! Every day I loved to check on the shops and my villagers, I eventually got Happy Home Designer and some amiibo cards when that game released and liked it a lot, still New Leaf was my fave! There are just so many cool things about New Leaf I cannot express it all I JUST LOVE NEW LEAF. Everything from the characters, to the shops and their upgrades, to the visuals.... I LOVE IT!
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