i've always preferred NL, which isn't to say NH is bad, but it's just okay, to me, for an animal crossing game. it does the job, but that's it. it felt like too much of a departure from the cozy life sim that all the other games were (i played wild world and city folk) and leaned far too heavily into just being a decorating sim for my taste. some of the QOL additions were needed, like the expanded inventory, the slight bulk-buying, villagers not moving out spontaneously, choosing where houses went etc. but others just ended up stripping away the charm or personability the other games have, such as removing the post office and the three pelicans and replacing them with a card stand and replacing phineas and his badges with a stamp in your phone on top of other omissions/changes like taking away moving out letters and decreasing villager favors (variety and frequency) etc. i religiously played NL on two cartridges all the way up until NH's release (7 years!) but dropped NH after 3 years because after a certain point, the game just felt stagnant since i don't care much for decorating, and there was a distinct lack of multiplayer for when you did "complete" everything else. i got back into NL for this event, and i'm already having a more enjoyable time with it than when i tried to pick up NH again late last year.
i also just think the NL music is much better lol. i don't mind all the customization introduced in NH (outdoor furniture, decorating villager homes, pillars etc.) staying in future installment, but i would personally prefer for the life sim aspect not to be thrown to the wayside for it and given back the focus/depth it deserves, because it felt distinctly lacking in NH for me. i think there could be a much better balance.
I prefer New Leaf. Even with QoL improvements, NH doesn’t have as much of a hook to me and it feels empty. I could go without the large inventory anyways. Also, I think I would rather have a Wild World mixed with New Leaf than NH mixed with NL, since the dialogue (and the vibe in general) in WW is so good and I really enjoy the progression in NL ;-;
They both have their good sides. I think if I have to I would pick NH. Decorating the island is the most fun for me. NL can't keep up with the PWPs at all.
I still wish for the next game that old NPCs come back, upgraded Nooks, Tortimer island etc.
I have mentioned it before in other places, but I think New Leaf is a better AC game overall due to being more fleshed out at many points (more to do in general) and having more personality to it (like the music). I also feel like have you more customization options to the town as well to really set a theme (themed town hall/train station) while New Horizons is more set in a lot of areas with the addition of furniture being useable outside offset that.
I respect everyone's opinion, but it's really, really strange for me how would anyone prefer NL over NH. Isn't it just nostalgia taking over with a full force? Of course NH is very much not ideal (why can't we use mods on Switch ), but the difference in overall quality between those two games is colossal. I think NH is just too strong and superior in most different aspects and it greatly covers up those few flaws which NL did better.
This is a tough one for me. I really enjoyed NL, and I really enjoy NH. But.. I was going through a really tough breakup shortly after NH released and didn't have any motivation whatsoever to play like I originally did. I ALSO get tired of NH very quickly. Meanwhile, I could spend and do spend a ton of time on NL.
SO, with that being said.. I'd ultimately choose New Leaf.
I think my interest in animal crossing peaked during NL. Maybe it was because of the timing of release; I was in highschool and had been craving a game like AC since I stopped playing the ones that released prior.
NH has so many improvements, but I just found myself fall out of it quickly. Was great seeing my not so gamer friends start playing with the acceleration of COVID, but I feel after a few months that I found my Switch friendslist pretty inactive.
New Leaf. 100%. Even though now revisiting it there is alot of QoL that are missing, it is just so good. Full of personality, absolutely tonnes of features to do and things to unlock. The Island mini games and being able to meet new people directly on the game!
NH is a special game too, and I do like it. But in comparison it's just lacking a lot of charm. I think NL captures the vibes of the series much more than NH, but that doesn't mean NH is bad by any means. Might also have something to do with the time in my life each game came out
Charm is one of those buzzwords/cliche, but I find it applies in this case. If I want to decorate, I'd play New Horizons. If I want more of an experience, it's New Leaf.
I played New Horizons more in a short period of time because I was hyperfocused on designing and terraforming my island. Once that aspect was "done," I had little desire or reason to play. I like and appreciate New Leaf more because it had longevity for me. I liked launching to see what changed, play minigames, chat with my villagers, visit the strip, etc. It deeply saddens me that the online aspect is going away because there is more of a use for it. While I don't have my copy anymore, my heart goes out to everyone still actively playing, and to those that stumble upon it later.
I prefer New Leaf a lot more. It’s just so nostalgic and so many of its features aren’t there in NH. I grew up with New Leaf, so it holds a special place in my heart. I’ve been too busy to play, but I think I’ll pick it up tonight after work.
I definitely prefer New Leaf, but that doesn't mean that I dislike New Horizons! I don't think any of the main games are bad, but I feel that New Horizons kinda took the decorating gimmick a little too.. strongly? Like all newer games (City Folk, New Leaf, New Horizons) have a gimmick, but New Horizons is really in your face about decorating imo lol. I like New Leaf's more calm aspect, and honestly it is much more nostalgic for me, and as someone said, the progression in New Leaf surpasses ALL the mainline games. But I agree with a lot of people in this thread in that I hope the next game can better blend the pros of both New Leaf and New Horizons! (and hopefully not use new in the title again.. lmao)
New Leaf is definitely better in my opinion. New Horizon did bring some cool things with the 2.0 update (namely the gyroid rework which was probably my favorite change, and the partition walls and counter), and it of course looked better, but it doesn't quite capture the feeling NL produces.
I might get harassed for this, but New Horizons by FAR... idk, I've nyever been able to keep my interest in New Leaf whenever I start a save of it. I feel like things all unlock way too slowly, idk.
It's hard to say since I still play New Horizons and found going back to New Leaf kinda tricky, but I loved it very much when it was still the newest game. I agree with what others have said that it has more charm. I miss the pelicans, watching main street and my town tree grow, and getting to wander around for hours just catching bugs and fishing without being interrupted every so often by my tools breaking. When it came out I had felt like New Leaf was moving the series in a direction more focused on decorating than with the villager interactions I loved from the og game, and I think New Horizons definitely continued down that path which I don't love but it does the decorating and making your town/island your own thing much better than New Leaf did imo. I like getting to decorate but I just hope the next game doesn't include it at the cost of cutting out so much other content.
I like New Leaf more. I loved the mayoral aspect of the game, I loved Main Street, I loved Tortimer's Island, I loved the train station, I loved the music, I loved the RVs, I loved it all. One thing about the game that I didn't like was not being able to explicitly place or move houses/buildings around. I liked how we could choose where to place our house and PWPs like The Roost and the Police Station, but I didn't like how it was a permanent location. If we could move buildings and villager houses like we can in New Horizons, I feel like New Leaf would be waaay better than New Horizons. To me, New Leaf offers more nostalgia with the single-player aspects of the game that New Horizons lacks (the Island, the 3DS, the Wii U, and the villager minigames).
I've played all the mainline Animal Crossing games released in English, so I don't feel too biased when I say that New Leaf is better. I can't deny New Horizons introduced a lot of quality of life changes that should be a staple moving forward, but I wish it had the overall feel that New Leaf had. It really seemed like the devs loved the game significantly more. I'm still shocked New Horizons didn't have more updates to it.
Both are great, and there are certain things I like better about NL, but overall I like NH better. There are so many more opportunities for customization in NH.
), but the difference in overall quality between those two games is colossal. I think NH is just too strong and superior in most different aspects and it greatly covers up those few flaws which NL did better.
