I want to understand why some people despise New Horizons

[NatsumiSummer]

I am someone who REALLY loves Animal Crossing: New Horizons. I have spent a little over 1,700 hours on this game (my Switch says 1,710 hours or more), I still play it every day. The longest I have gone without playing this game was for a week back in August, but after that I was right back to playing this game daily for about 2-5 hours per day. I think the soundtrack and audio is great in this game. I haven't had any real gripes with the furniture or villager dialogue, and I have been enjoying the trickle of updates we have been getting here and there.

Sure I wish there was more to do online, so I could actually have a reason to have people visit my island. But that isn't enough for me to even dislike this game. I find it to be more on the level of a minor nitpick, same with the durability of the tools. I really don't mind it.

So... I have decided to ask those that do hate/dislike this installment in the series... why do you dislike it? What exactly makes this game **** for you? Am I crazy for liking what I like?

Also keep in mind I have been playing Animal Crossing for roughly 14 years or so.. (shortly after Wild World came out on the Nintendo DS.) So I am pretty much a veteran to the series. Also I haven't been able to really play Pocket Camp AT ALL since any phone I happen to have just so happens to lack the required amount of memory to download the game. So could it be that I since I haven't been able to play Pocket Camp since they introduced the Cabin update is why I am able to REALLY enjoy New Horizons?

Again I am just super curious... What do you hate/dislike about New Horizons and WHY do you hate those things?

 

[meggiewes]

I would really like to know this too. Sure, I might complain about it sometimes. I really miss things from New Leaf. But, I really enjoy playing New Horizons.

I couldn't get into Pocket Camp and I really dislike leaf tickets. I don't understand why people want paid DLC for this game when it feels a bit unfinished compared to New Leaf and what I've heard of Wild World.

I really hope you get some insightful answers in this thread. ♡

 

[Jassiii]

Personally, I really love this game, I find a lot of enjoyment from it but my problem is burn out + lackluster villager dialogue-- which I'll explain.

Burn out for me is because I played non-stop during the summer and near August I went like a month without playing because I was just...so bored? My Islands layout was disheartening and at the time I didn't want to just reset because I'd paid a pretty amount of NMTs for my villagers but I wasn't enjoying it because I couldn't figure out what to do with my island. So, after not playing for a month, I reset my island. I'm glad I did because since then I only ever miss a day or two of playing and there's always something for me to do because I'm really focusing on decorating to my heart's content. That's enough for me, it should be enough for me. But it's really not.

The villagers feel like figurines in a diorama. Except a figurine would sit on it if I put it there-- my villagers opt to sit on the floor when there's a minimum of three chairs nearby. For the most part, I find this endearing but sometimes I'll walk my way to the airport to visit someone and leave to see how my island looks from the plan and I'll pass Hornsby sitting on the ground and next to a chair-related furniture item and I'm just ??? dude it's right there ?? But that's the smaller side of my complaints, my bigger complaint would be the dialogue. I miss how mean the snooty and cranky villagers were at first-- that was their whole charm ! Also, they just say the same things all the time-- it's just so boring. All the villagers feel even more like cookie-cutter cut-outs than ever before I feel like dialogue wise, the Normals and Lazies seem to have the worst of it-- which makes me sad because my all time favorite villager is Vesta and her dialogue is so...lackluster. sigh

I really love this game, it gives me somewhere to escape too ! But these are little things that rub me wrong personally, I still love my villagers I just wish there was more life to them.

 

[BigBadButterfree]

I don't hate it by any means, I've played every day since launch at least for a little bit, but I think I can see why someone might be unhappy with it. In some ways it evolves what made past entries in the series so great, like the customization and clothing and animal hobbies and such. However, by doing that it also changes some of what some people enjoyed. Crafting is not for everyone. I can see how that alone would make the game feel more like work/chores than it already is. And they've added pumpkins and possibly more farming for the future. It's on its way to becoming harvest moon and that's honestly not my cup of tea but I can see past that to the rest of the game, which I love. Not everyone can. I know I see plenty of complaints here about the lack of furniture items. To me, that argument is both accurate and not. Yes, there are a lot of items from past games that didn't come back, but the items we do have come in so many varieties it makes up for it, to me at least. Again, not everyone will feel that way.

In conclusion, I think it really comes down to the fact that this game is the latest entry in a series. It will always be compared to previous installments. And depending on what you valued in those previous installments, your perception of this game will be different because things have changed.

 

[Noel_in_Sunrise]

I don't hate this game and I have been playing since the Gamecube version (though have put the most time into handheld versions), but I do find it harder to play than the others and sometimes regret playing it, which I never did with any of the previous titles.

For me, it is all the time wasted that makes me sad about it sometimes. The long load, slow dialogue, tedious crafting and inventory management. The game expects me to spend hours to catch a single bug or fish sometimes. I could go on. The game likes to waste my time. This game can be a chore. Also, the customization can be stressful and is so slow. This game would have benefited so much from a way of terraforming and placing items outside similar to how items are placed inside. I would love to click to start a path or fence and click again where I wanted it to end. Click a button to put items placed outside back in house storage and be able to pull things directly from house storage. Drag and drop flowers. I mean, there are season decorations, are we re ally expected to redecorate seasonally with the current control scheme?
I know a lot of people feel like major QoL additions will change the sort of game this is, but as much as I love Animal Crossing, a lot of its mechanics are just horrendously outdated.
I have had fun with this game. It just wish that it respected my time more.

 

[Tiffany]

I don't hate this game and I've been playing since ac was on gamecube. I never played pocket camp either. One thing might be that this version is clearly geared toward those that like to design and decorate and not everyone does. me personally I'm no good at that stuff so my island looks awful and it has really bothered me. My NL town was a mess too. Also they definitely need to make some quality of life updates. No unbreakable tools really sucks. They need to fix the bulk buying/crafting so we decide how many. Also the tailor shop. Only being able to buy 1 of any type of item at a time is a pain. Like why do I need to keep entering/exiting the dressing room? Just let me put what I wanna buy in a cart and buy it all at once. Depending on your style of game play things like this can make and otherwise fun game seem like a chore.

 

[mayortiffany]

I think despise is a bit of a strong word to describe how I feel about the game; disappointment is probably a bit more apt. I have about 400+ hours and I got the game on release.

I've been playing Animal Crossing since Wild World. My favourite things to do in the game have always tended to be interacting with NPCs and villagers and fishing/catching bugs/diving, and my favourite title is New Leaf.

Here are some things that I dislike, and why:

• Lack of NPCs. I like being able to see my town developed, with different buildings to go into, and different NPCs in my town that are available. I liked being able to get my fortune told by Katrina and to get a badge or buy a balloon from Phineas. I miss being able to see these NPCs, and am not sure if they will ever come back in updates.
• Lack of furniture variety. I'm not big into decoration, but when I do decorate, I like having a range of objects to choose from. The selection of furniture in this game has left me a bit wanting, especially for more whimsical or luxurious pieces. I especially miss Gracie Grace and the Sweets and Princess sets. Overall, I feel like this game really appeals to people who enjoy decorating, but perhaps does not have as much for people who are not interested in those things.
• Lack of sense of progression. There are no Nook shop updates, nor the ability to bring in any new NPCs to the town... again, maybe this will come in future updates, but I liked having something actionable to try and work towards in my game to build my town up. I am not a big decoration fan, so terraforming does not really capture my interest. I have only terraformed a very limited part of my island.
• Lack of mini games. I wish something like Tortimer's Island or Desert Island Escape could come back. I liked being able to play different things in Animal Crossing to mix up my play sessions.
• Villager dialogue. I find it rather bland. I wish that my villagers would say more unique things, so that they wouldn't essentially be clones of each other but in different bodies. I find myself talking to them a lot less than I used to, which is a shame... I always loved being able to chat with my villagers daily, and now, I do not see too much of a point.
• Crafting. It is a cool new addition to the game, but a few months in, I'm a bit over it. It's so darn slow! I spent a lot of my Saturday just crafting enough fish bait to make my way through the tournament and get my last trophy. I think I spent more time looking for clams and crafting than I did actually fishing. I wish that we wouldn't have to farm this and that to be able to customize and create furniture. I would love to be able to customize pre-made furniture, as we used to be able to, and to not have furniture colours locked to a particular account.
• QoL. There's a lot in this category, from being able to buy multiple items at once in Able's or even to increase storage to very long and repetitive dialogue from some NPCs.

 

[Lanstar]

Some of the huge haters of the game are those that have loved older games so much that they expected this one to have every strength of those games within it. Then they set themselves up for disaster, seeing that it's missing many of those features - and they completely overlook every single other aspect this game has.

I.e.: They're so enthralled with the past games that they can't look at this new game and see it for what it is. They want their Rococo Furniture SO badly that they could care less about everything else new about the game - and even trash features like terraforming just because they desire such precious furniture to quealm their mind.

What adds to this issue is the nature of Animal Crossing in itself. It's considered a 'Life simulation game' - And such games are the most hyper-expandable cauldrons to add tons and tons of additional features. Thus, it's constantly in subject to tons of ways to improve itself - Making it preceived as heavily barebones. Such issue can make people focus so much on what is missing in this cauldron that they forget what really is in it - Even if there is plenty of things inside.

 

[Mr.Fox]

I think despise is a bit of a strong word to describe how I feel about the game; disappointment is probably a bit more apt. I have about 400+ hours and I got the game on release.

I've been playing Animal Crossing since Wild World. My favourite things to do in the game have always tended to be interacting with NPCs and villagers and fishing/catching bugs/diving, and my favourite title is New Leaf.

Here are some things that I dislike, and why:

• Lack of NPCs. I like being able to see my town developed, with different buildings to go into, and different NPCs in my town that are available. I liked being able to get my fortune told by Katrina and to get a badge or buy a balloon from Phineas. I miss being able to see these NPCs, and am not sure if they will ever come back in updates.
• Lack of furniture variety. I'm not big into decoration, but when I do decorate, I like having a range of objects to choose from. The selection of furniture in this game has left me a bit wanting, especially for more whimsical or luxurious pieces. I especially miss Gracie Grace and the Sweets and Princess sets. Overall, I feel like this game really appeals to people who enjoy decorating, but perhaps does not have as much for people who are not interested in those things.
• Lack of sense of progression. There are no Nook shop updates, nor the ability to bring in any new NPCs to the town... again, maybe this will come in future updates, but I liked having something actionable to try and work towards in my game to build my town up. I am not a big decoration fan, so terraforming does not really capture my interest. I have only terraformed a very limited part of my island.
• Lack of mini games. I wish something like Tortimer's Island or Desert Island Escape could come back. I liked being able to play different things in Animal Crossing to mix up my play sessions.
• Villager dialogue. I find it rather bland. I wish that my villagers would say more unique things, so that they wouldn't essentially be clones of each other but in different bodies. I find myself talking to them a lot less than I used to, which is a shame... I always loved being able to chat with my villagers daily, and now, I do not see too much of a point.
• Crafting. It is a cool new addition to the game, but a few months in, I'm a bit over it. It's so darn slow! I spent a lot of my Saturday just crafting enough fish bait to make my way through the tournament and get my last trophy. I think I spent more time looking for clams and crafting than I did actually fishing. I wish that we wouldn't have to farm this and that to be able to customize and create furniture. I would love to be able to customize pre-made furniture, as we used to be able to, and to not have furniture colours locked to a particular account.
• QoL. There's a lot in this category, from being able to buy multiple items at once in Able's or even to increase storage to very long and repetitive dialogue from some NPCs.

Lack of mini games is a huge thing for me. That's why I've got my fingers crossed for a Desert Island Escape 2.0. I do also miss hide n seek like most people...seeing a bear/hippo/elephant/rhino trying to hide behind a street lamp is pretty entertaining.

 

[Matt0106]

I can totally see why everyone would be comparing it to New Leaf. BUT, New Horizons has added quite a bit in terms of customizing your island, which is something that I think REALLY adds a whole new dimension to the game. I know it's lacking furniture and the dialogue can be weak at times.

But seriously, we are now given the option to make our islands look like whatever we want. No more resetting because Town Hall is too close to a cliff, or not liking where the Plaza is located (Yes, people reset for RS but bare with me). They're going to bring back those famous series we all know and love, the characters we miss, and I'm sure much more. It will all come in due time. Yes, it sucks we have to wait, but hey, I never cared for Halloween, but now I'm decorating my whole island with the spooky set and I LOVE IT.

Just have faith lol.

 

[maria110]

I think despise is a bit of a strong word to describe how I feel about the game; disappointment is probably a bit more apt. I have about 400+ hours and I got the game on release.

I've been playing Animal Crossing since Wild World. My favourite things to do in the game have always tended to be interacting with NPCs and villagers and fishing/catching bugs/diving, and my favourite title is New Leaf.

Here are some things that I dislike, and why:

• Lack of NPCs. I like being able to see my town developed, with different buildings to go into, and different NPCs in my town that are available. I liked being able to get my fortune told by Katrina and to get a badge or buy a balloon from Phineas. I miss being able to see these NPCs, and am not sure if they will ever come back in updates.
• Lack of furniture variety. I'm not big into decoration, but when I do decorate, I like having a range of objects to choose from. The selection of furniture in this game has left me a bit wanting, especially for more whimsical or luxurious pieces. I especially miss Gracie Grace and the Sweets and Princess sets. Overall, I feel like this game really appeals to people who enjoy decorating, but perhaps does not have as much for people who are not interested in those things.
• Lack of sense of progression. There are no Nook shop updates, nor the ability to bring in any new NPCs to the town... again, maybe this will come in future updates, but I liked having something actionable to try and work towards in my game to build my town up. I am not a big decoration fan, so terraforming does not really capture my interest. I have only terraformed a very limited part of my island.
• Lack of mini games. I wish something like Tortimer's Island or Desert Island Escape could come back. I liked being able to play different things in Animal Crossing to mix up my play sessions.
• Villager dialogue. I find it rather bland. I wish that my villagers would say more unique things, so that they wouldn't essentially be clones of each other but in different bodies. I find myself talking to them a lot less than I used to, which is a shame... I always loved being able to chat with my villagers daily, and now, I do not see too much of a point.
• Crafting. It is a cool new addition to the game, but a few months in, I'm a bit over it. It's so darn slow! I spent a lot of my Saturday just crafting enough fish bait to make my way through the tournament and get my last trophy. I think I spent more time looking for clams and crafting than I did actually fishing. I wish that we wouldn't have to farm this and that to be able to customize and create furniture. I would love to be able to customize pre-made furniture, as we used to be able to, and to not have furniture colours locked to a particular account.
• QoL. There's a lot in this category, from being able to buy multiple items at once in Able's or even to increase storage to very long and repetitive dialogue from some NPCs.

Thanks for this post. I love NH and have played a lot of hours. I have never played another AC or any video game before this (well, not since Atari 2600 / Space Invaders; I'm old). But I'm getting to the point where it's harder to stay interested. I think if the game included the features you mention, I might not feel this way. I am thinking of trying NL for this reason. AC has been a great stress reliever this year and I don't want to lose it due to boredom or game burnout. I think it's a shame that my beloved cranky villagers all say the same things. And the crafting and QoL problems are kind of ridiculous. Sometimes I feel like the game developers are deliberately trying to make in-game life annoying so it has verisimilitude. But I don't want that kind of verisimilitude.

 

[Corrie]

I think despise is a bit of a strong word to describe how I feel about the game; disappointment is probably a bit more apt. I have about 400+ hours and I got the game on release.

I've been playing Animal Crossing since Wild World. My favourite things to do in the game have always tended to be interacting with NPCs and villagers and fishing/catching bugs/diving, and my favourite title is New Leaf.

Here are some things that I dislike, and why:

• Lack of NPCs. I like being able to see my town developed, with different buildings to go into, and different NPCs in my town that are available. I liked being able to get my fortune told by Katrina and to get a badge or buy a balloon from Phineas. I miss being able to see these NPCs, and am not sure if they will ever come back in updates.
• Lack of furniture variety. I'm not big into decoration, but when I do decorate, I like having a range of objects to choose from. The selection of furniture in this game has left me a bit wanting, especially for more whimsical or luxurious pieces. I especially miss Gracie Grace and the Sweets and Princess sets. Overall, I feel like this game really appeals to people who enjoy decorating, but perhaps does not have as much for people who are not interested in those things.
• Lack of sense of progression. There are no Nook shop updates, nor the ability to bring in any new NPCs to the town... again, maybe this will come in future updates, but I liked having something actionable to try and work towards in my game to build my town up. I am not a big decoration fan, so terraforming does not really capture my interest. I have only terraformed a very limited part of my island.
• Lack of mini games. I wish something like Tortimer's Island or Desert Island Escape could come back. I liked being able to play different things in Animal Crossing to mix up my play sessions.
• Villager dialogue. I find it rather bland. I wish that my villagers would say more unique things, so that they wouldn't essentially be clones of each other but in different bodies. I find myself talking to them a lot less than I used to, which is a shame... I always loved being able to chat with my villagers daily, and now, I do not see too much of a point.
• Crafting. It is a cool new addition to the game, but a few months in, I'm a bit over it. It's so darn slow! I spent a lot of my Saturday just crafting enough fish bait to make my way through the tournament and get my last trophy. I think I spent more time looking for clams and crafting than I did actually fishing. I wish that we wouldn't have to farm this and that to be able to customize and create furniture. I would love to be able to customize pre-made furniture, as we used to be able to, and to not have furniture colours locked to a particular account.
• QoL. There's a lot in this category, from being able to buy multiple items at once in Able's or even to increase storage to very long and repetitive dialogue from some NPCs.

This sums up my thoughts perfectly. I don't hate the game but it has its issues that are getting harder and harder to ignore as I play more and more. That said, I'm still playing so what does that tell you?

 

[Fye]

But that's the smaller side of my complaints, my bigger complaint would be the dialogue. I miss how mean the snooty and cranky villagers were at first-- that was their whole charm ! Also, they just say the same things all the time-- it's just so boring. All the villagers feel even more like cookie-cutter cut-outs than ever before I feel like dialogue wise, the Normals and Lazies seem to have the worst of it-- which makes me sad because my all time favorite villager is Vesta and her dialogue is so...lackluster. sigh

I really love this game, it gives me somewhere to escape too ! But these are little things that rub me wrong personally, I still love my villagers I just wish there was more life to them.

This is one of my few complaints about New Horizons so far. I'm loving the terraforming, outdoor decorations, crafting, and now farming. And I can live with the limited furniture and NPCs since I'm sure they'll add more in future updates just as they have so far. But the dialogue is really a step down from previous titles. Crankies and Snooties really can't be called that anymore because there is absolutely no negativity there. I don't necessarily want them to be mean, and I know back in Wild World they would say some pretty offensive or questionable at best things sometimes but I at least want them to be a little more rude or aloof when they first move in. The way things are you can get the same dialogue the day after they move in and months later when they've given you their photo multiple times. On top of it being terribly repetitive its sad that you don't feel any progress or change in your relationship with the villagers over time.

And the QoL problems are there too, but its up to the developers if they want to change it or leave it the way it is.

 

[tajikey]

I've played every single day since launch, with no TT'ing. A lot of gripes I've seen center around there not being enough to do, which leads to boredom. When Nintendo announced the release date of the game, they never intended on it being played so heavily, as it has been thanks to the pandemic.

As far as I see it, the game as it is now is exactly as Nintendo intends for it to be. I don't think Nintendo is purposely withholding features, nor do I think this game was meant to be a conglomeration of all the good things past games had (which is 100% subjective anyhow)...terraforming and crafting set this game apart from its predecessors, and I feel the ACNH team did a great job evolving the series into what it is now.

 

[John Wick]

It's not a good AC game.

It's not fun or relaxing.

It's missing so many items and furniture sets.

It's tedious and a grind.

I can't even....

 

[TheKryptoKnight]

Glad you posted this thread, because I feel the same way

The soundtrack is my second favorite in the series.

The dialogue is improved over New Leaf. It could be better and is not the best in the series (that goes to WW and GCN), but I'm playing both games every day, and the dialogue is way way waaaaaaay worse in new leaf and it's honestly not even close. The dialogue complaint blows my mind more than any other gripe, because the dialogue in New Leaf is soooooo much worse, and I honestly think people are remembering something that was never true.

For the first time in the series, we got a total furniture refresh, instead of the same models being ported forward. I understand missing items, but people used to complain about things being too copy and paste before.

I just mostly disengage when someone is super negative about the game, because everyone is entitled to their opinion and whatever. But I feel VERY VERY strongly in the opposite direction.

 

[Jinglefruit]

I wouldn't say I hate NH, but I am disappointed. Largely I think the blame here falls on the planned update cycle though. The game released (and imo still is) far too stripped back for a 5th installation.

I firmly believe they have all the updates and content developed already as they have stated multiple times that the game started developmment in 2012 (https://www.washingtonpost.com/vide...-changes-like-gender-expression-terraforming/), and keep saying questionable things in interviews - like going into detail on new villager designs, but there are only 8? Plus things found in the games code - like villager dialog about features we don't have, and that message pop up if you put items by the dock that you're blocking access.

I think really it all boils down to this being a great game for newbies, but if you've played recent installments it's a bad sequal. Too many big features cut out, and when this is updating alongside a spin-off mobile game, which is getting huge new furniture ad event updates more frequently, and with much better items it leaves a sour taste behind. Adding that the last game, and the spin-off HHD both also had better furniture choices - and decorating features that still aren't in NH! - it just paints a bad image. It really feels like they said, "well the last game came out in 2012, and our target audience is around teenage years, so they won't remember ACNL, they were too young back then!" And just threw all the good bits of the game out to add back later.

Another sticking point for me is the generational gaps we've had. ACGC - ACWW stripped things back, but was also going from home console to handheld so it was forgivable. WW - CF, and CF - NL both improved in every area, adding villagers, songs, furniture, buildings and features. Then comes NH, a jump from handheld to an equivalent home console, and we have removed more villagers than added, only a few new KK songs, and vastly less furniture, buildings and features.

I can see that things are on the release path for future updates. But this just isn't the sort of game to be pulling this kind of thing imo. Animal Crossing does not have any problems retaining players normally, but this game has seen more of my friends quit playing within 6 months, than any previous game has. And I think burnout is the wrong word to use here, it's boredom. Bored of seeing the same few items in Nooklings, bored of the lack of events while Pocket Camp is having it's weekly swarm of neon bugs, bored of visiting a friend to just chat because there's nothing else to do after you've toured their town once. And probably lastly, I imagine a lot of people are getting bored of hearing these negative opinions, but this is the first AC game to have opinions slowly souring in this way, and I think that speaks louder than any individual post here.


I feel like the more I've thought on this, the longer this went on for, painting probably the wrong image of my opinion considering my 800+ hours playtime, but you did ask to hear why people aren't happy?

 

[Uffe]

Lack of dialog, no mini games like there used to be on Tortimer Island. I feel like the people who would prevent others from leaving the island are to blame for this missing. Missing furniture and missing house decor. Up until this point, the modern series was my favorite. It has been in Animal Crossing since day one and they removed it. They removed the rococo, astro, gorgeous, sleek, and so much other cool furniture items that were in the last game. Maybe we'll see more stuff in the future. That being said, I think we should all play Animal Crossing on the GameCube. That game had it all, and there are a lot of things in that game that have just gone missing as the series went on.

 

[niko@kamogawa]

Honestly, I don't like the word "despise" or "hate." Otherwise, people here won't even bother playing and clocking those huge amount of hours.

For my case, I do see this latest instalment as a success. I noticed my playing time drastically increased since New Leaf. In fact, I already clocked more hours in New Horizons. Despite lacking a lot of features from previous games, we can't really discount the visual improvements and enhancements Nintendo added. Not only that, they also provide us free updates from time to time making the game fresh each month.

I would rather raise a question to see why people are focusing into the negative side of things. Is it because of social media nowadays that people can now easily vent their grievances?

 

[bebebese]

@Jinglefruit this game is missing far too much to have been in development since 2012 Do you have a source for any of these interviews? The one from around the time of the game's launch gave me the impression that only the bunny day update was ready to go.

That's what my biggest gripe with NH is, that it's missing so much for an animal crossing title on switch. The fact that there's only been one Nook's Cranny upgrade is bizarre to me (although as others have pointed out in previous threads, what's the point of a bigger shop if there's no increased furniture selection to go with it).

The game just feels like it's stalled, for me. I think the update system sort of put an artificial time lock on things. I still play every day, but some days it's just to water flowers or check the post. With older entries, that stage of play took years to reach, not months.