an autism-fuelled rant by me, someone whose special interest is animal crossing. (Also since my In defense of Tom Nook post seemed to get my views across well) This is by no means comprehensive and if you reply to this I will probably hit you with a passionate wall of text about some insignificant fact relating to AC but even with that please do give me your feedback. Im not really down with NH hate but criticism is fair, and natural. Like everything, this is subjective.
I've been playing AC for the better part of 13 years. Im only 18, but it was a childhood game and I have owned every copy as it's come out since 2008. And while I do think New Horizons is lacking in A LOT of ways I also think that Nintendo did a pretty good job and so I wanted to make thisinfodump informative post about things I think that make New Horizons actually... a pretty good game. Its not a bad game by any stretch of the imagination but some people don't like a lot of it and while that's completely valid and I see the reasoning, I am not one of those people.
I also feel like now is the appropriate time to make this post as the game is (I assume) in its final form. Any changes I expect from here on out are so minor I don't think they will impact this rant of mine. Finally, this post has been influenced by articles, vlogs/lets plays, my own personal experiences, and the views expressed by users on TBT towards the game... so here it is: In defense of New Horizons.
- Villagers. They were the big complaint when the game first came out but I actually think that they've not been given a fair chance. Yes dialogue is lacking to put it politely, but there are so many features that I would argue make up for that. They'll come to your house, teach you DIYs (albeit the same ones you know), wave at each other when they see one another outside, run around playing airplanes, throw you the birthday party of an absolute lifetime and more. Yes cranky villagers are no longer the mean-spirited animals we grew up loving but they are still amazing to watch live out their lives. They will sing and try to catch bugs.. crapply... and I think that adds a lot of appeal to them actually.
- Shopping. Ok, I'll admit the catalog is not what it once was but New Horizons has (including variants) nearly twenty-four thousand items. (23,873 to be exact). That is no number to be ignored. This does also include clothing, which honestly I could give its own section to in this rant just for the sheer volume of items that we can get from the loving sisters. Granted buying the items is not the most convenient but there has literally never before been so much choice for how we want to dress in AC and what we want our surroundings to look like, and how we want them to reflect us. What NH lacks in sets from previous games I believe it makes up for in new items and the sheer variations with brings me onto another point,
- Customisation. With the newest inclusion being the return of my favourite crafty boy Cyrus I can officially say that the customisation options in NH are incredibly good, and we have so much to work with. So many designs, so many colours, almost anything and everything can be customised and I think we take for granted how much of a jump that is from prior games, where it was a battle to get your town to look the way you wanted it to because there was only so many PWPs that fit your town theme... or even only the fountain by your bus stop.
- Pacing of the game. While not specific to New Horizons, I actually think it's good that New Horizons only lets you do so much in a day. Its nice to save up materials for the museum, catch seasonal items like cherry blossoms in the few days you can a year and even save up bells to pay off your loans to our resident best boy: Tom Nook. Thats fun. I like bug catching and fishing and destroying my island for a little while at a time but eventually, the game forces you to take a break because you just run out of things to do, and I think that's a good thing and a hallmark AC feature people forget about. You can time travel if you like but if you play the game day by day the limit makes it so it is actually entertaining. (There has actually been arguments raised to the idea that some NH complaints may be fueled by burn out because AC players are prone to grinding out the game for no reason)
- Hemispheres. A simple one, but an important one for a large amount of the player base. AC is supposed to feel accurate to you and your idealized world, and when every season is wrong that can be hard. Snow in the summer isn't right and the choice being there is an oddly big gesture from Nintendo.
- Terraforming. The days of furiously resetting your town until you got a good layout are (mostly) behind us, and I think it was really smart of Nintendo to include this as an option. A lot of people wanted to craft their islands to perfection and they got given the chance with terraforming. AND if you don't like it? Okay, don't have to use it, there is literally zero obligation. The layout of your island has been left completely in your hands. Along the same lines as this: paths. Actual paths you can use so now you can run around town and hear the click-clack under your feets instead of grass because you just placed a design to make it look pretty.
- The Quality of Aesthetics. This was to be expected as the next big AC title was for the Switch, an already HD-looking console, but the clarity and beauty of New Horizons I think is genuinely unmatched. You can dislike NH all you want, but I ask you for a few minutes to just look at how light and fluffy the snow looks when it's falling to the ground, and look at how the water glistens and how sometimes the sun/moon will reflect off of items outside like vending machines and try not to tell me that the quality is stunning. It is visually striking and beautiful in my (biased) opinion.
I know people will disagree with me, and that's fine. But personally, I think that New Horizons is actually a pretty good game and it's gotten its fair share of criticism when really it was just another Animal Crossing but different. I hope though that maybe my rant about how much this game has improved over the past two years might persuade someone to look at it through a different lense.
I've been playing AC for the better part of 13 years. Im only 18, but it was a childhood game and I have owned every copy as it's come out since 2008. And while I do think New Horizons is lacking in A LOT of ways I also think that Nintendo did a pretty good job and so I wanted to make this
I also feel like now is the appropriate time to make this post as the game is (I assume) in its final form. Any changes I expect from here on out are so minor I don't think they will impact this rant of mine. Finally, this post has been influenced by articles, vlogs/lets plays, my own personal experiences, and the views expressed by users on TBT towards the game... so here it is: In defense of New Horizons.
- Villagers. They were the big complaint when the game first came out but I actually think that they've not been given a fair chance. Yes dialogue is lacking to put it politely, but there are so many features that I would argue make up for that. They'll come to your house, teach you DIYs (albeit the same ones you know), wave at each other when they see one another outside, run around playing airplanes, throw you the birthday party of an absolute lifetime and more. Yes cranky villagers are no longer the mean-spirited animals we grew up loving but they are still amazing to watch live out their lives. They will sing and try to catch bugs.. crapply... and I think that adds a lot of appeal to them actually.
- Shopping. Ok, I'll admit the catalog is not what it once was but New Horizons has (including variants) nearly twenty-four thousand items. (23,873 to be exact). That is no number to be ignored. This does also include clothing, which honestly I could give its own section to in this rant just for the sheer volume of items that we can get from the loving sisters. Granted buying the items is not the most convenient but there has literally never before been so much choice for how we want to dress in AC and what we want our surroundings to look like, and how we want them to reflect us. What NH lacks in sets from previous games I believe it makes up for in new items and the sheer variations with brings me onto another point,
- Customisation. With the newest inclusion being the return of my favourite crafty boy Cyrus I can officially say that the customisation options in NH are incredibly good, and we have so much to work with. So many designs, so many colours, almost anything and everything can be customised and I think we take for granted how much of a jump that is from prior games, where it was a battle to get your town to look the way you wanted it to because there was only so many PWPs that fit your town theme... or even only the fountain by your bus stop.
- Pacing of the game. While not specific to New Horizons, I actually think it's good that New Horizons only lets you do so much in a day. Its nice to save up materials for the museum, catch seasonal items like cherry blossoms in the few days you can a year and even save up bells to pay off your loans to our resident best boy: Tom Nook. Thats fun. I like bug catching and fishing and destroying my island for a little while at a time but eventually, the game forces you to take a break because you just run out of things to do, and I think that's a good thing and a hallmark AC feature people forget about. You can time travel if you like but if you play the game day by day the limit makes it so it is actually entertaining. (There has actually been arguments raised to the idea that some NH complaints may be fueled by burn out because AC players are prone to grinding out the game for no reason)
- Hemispheres. A simple one, but an important one for a large amount of the player base. AC is supposed to feel accurate to you and your idealized world, and when every season is wrong that can be hard. Snow in the summer isn't right and the choice being there is an oddly big gesture from Nintendo.
- Terraforming. The days of furiously resetting your town until you got a good layout are (mostly) behind us, and I think it was really smart of Nintendo to include this as an option. A lot of people wanted to craft their islands to perfection and they got given the chance with terraforming. AND if you don't like it? Okay, don't have to use it, there is literally zero obligation. The layout of your island has been left completely in your hands. Along the same lines as this: paths. Actual paths you can use so now you can run around town and hear the click-clack under your feets instead of grass because you just placed a design to make it look pretty.
- The Quality of Aesthetics. This was to be expected as the next big AC title was for the Switch, an already HD-looking console, but the clarity and beauty of New Horizons I think is genuinely unmatched. You can dislike NH all you want, but I ask you for a few minutes to just look at how light and fluffy the snow looks when it's falling to the ground, and look at how the water glistens and how sometimes the sun/moon will reflect off of items outside like vending machines and try not to tell me that the quality is stunning. It is visually striking and beautiful in my (biased) opinion.
The music isn't like other games, sure, but it's not that bad. Its comforting and Im pretty sure I recall similar complaints being made about ACNL music when the game was new. People have opinions and taste of course, but I don't think the NH music hate is fair.
You control the whole damn island... don't like a rock? Get it GONE, you have full power. Finally no more mid-path rocks.
DODO codes made online trading like 100000x better. If you're having lots of people round it can be an issue but for 1 to 1 communication and playing they are AMAZING. much better then the friend code system of former games
The new museum. Thats all I need to say.
Isabelles announcements. Everyones kinda mean to her but I DO care that she found a lost sock today, it's important to me.
You control the whole damn island... don't like a rock? Get it GONE, you have full power. Finally no more mid-path rocks.
DODO codes made online trading like 100000x better. If you're having lots of people round it can be an issue but for 1 to 1 communication and playing they are AMAZING. much better then the friend code system of former games
The new museum. Thats all I need to say.
Isabelles announcements. Everyones kinda mean to her but I DO care that she found a lost sock today, it's important to me.
I know people will disagree with me, and that's fine. But personally, I think that New Horizons is actually a pretty good game and it's gotten its fair share of criticism when really it was just another Animal Crossing but different. I hope though that maybe my rant about how much this game has improved over the past two years might persuade someone to look at it through a different lense.
