I've been playing since the どうぶつの森・animal forest days, when my gamecube was in jpnse! *old man voice*
In the american version of animal crossing vs. animal forest, even back then they removed features before porting/translating it for the US so, I wasn't surprised when they added lots more things. Some people think the island is new, but we've had it since animal forest!
I think people who dislike newleaf are really missing out, and never understood nintendo's intentions in the first place. *shrugs*