What is your opinion on ACNH?

[ScummyWorms]

I know most people really like ACNH, but I still notice some division on the game. Personally, I dislike ACNH, But I'd like to hear your thoughts about the game!

 

[QueenCobra]

Personally, I enjoy ACNH. It’s my first Animal Crossing game, so maybe that affects my opinion. It’s fun and I enjoy the simulation aspect of the game, as well as the challenge of completing the museum. It’s a fun balance of coziness and challenges.

 

[Croconaw]

I enjoyed the game when I played it. I usually love the newest game in the series, not because of the features or anything, but because it's new. I like the fact that others are playing it and the activity it brings to the forum. I like being able to post a thread (regarding a trade or villager) and have a reply within seconds. I don't get that when the game loses it's newness. I like being able to actively engage with the community and being able to make friends because of the game. That's a more possible outcome when the game first releases. I'm sure the game still gets traffic when it's a few years old, but it definitely is not the same in the first months of release.

I think that's the best way to explain my feelings regarding Animal Crossing. I felt this way about New Leaf in 2013. I felt this way about New Horizons in 2020, as stated in the above paragraph. I will feel this way about the newest mainline game, whenever it releases in the (near?) future. The only game in the series that became stale rather quickly was City Folk, and that was evident in how many times I restarted. I craved that feeling of a fresh start because it gave me something to work towards, but that fresh start happened at least 30 times. That is not an exaggeration. There was just not much to do in that game at all.

 

[Sorrelfox]

I really like ACNH, it's very cute ^-^

 

[Rubygame]

Maybe I have already answered to a similar question, I don't remember, but honestly I really don't know what to say.
My story with New Horizons is particular, I received a Switch as a birthday present in 2022 and the first game I wanted was obviously the new Animal Crossing. Then I played a little but I was full of things to do in that period and I didn't properly dedicated myself to the game, until I stopped playing altogether.
A few months later I reset and started a new island, paying attention to the non-editable elements of the map, and in fact I am still satisfied with the basic layout of this island.
With this island I played slowly and occasionally too, but I seriously concentrated on its development, I designed the ideas I wanted to complete, the villagers I wanted to get and so on. For the last two months I have been playing at least twice a week for 2-3 hours.
The game is obviously enjoyable, I have many goals to achieve that I will calmly achieve, but my problem is the new mechanics of New Horizons. I can't bring myself to like crafting, I mean... I like it, especially cooking recipes, but I wish there were fewer items to craft because it's hard to get the recipes you want without online multiplayer (which unfortunately is paid). You can't even get all the fruit in the game without the other players, for the first time the trick of sending a letter to the villagers with the name of a fruit doesn't work.
However, it's much easier to get recipes than public works in New Leaf!
The fact is that what I've always loved about Animal Crossing is the interaction with nature and the villagers, every day they ask you to do something for them and it's always pleasant to chat. In New Horizons I don't know why I never received a single request from the villagers, it's as if they were just there for beauty. Maybe some people may like this change more, but I liked doing something for them every day. It's not the same to give them gifts (and I say this as a Story of Seasons' lover)
I also don't like having to rack up Nook miles to do anything, I find it stressful to constantly have to do things I don't really want to do. Many recipes and items can be bought with Nook miles and if I want to take some trips to some other island I have to pay 2000 miles for a Nook ticket or 1000 miles from Kapp'n. They could have at least charged the bells for the trip with Kapp'n. In New Leaf I spent most of my gameplay hours interacting with the villaggers, playing on Tortimer Island and the "Puzzle League" and "Desert Island Escape" minigames.
If they made a game like New Leaf with terraforming, it would be a perfect game for me!
Maybe New Leaf is the game for who just want to chill, and New Horizons for people who want to achieve goals.
I"ll continue to play New Horizons trying to only do the activities I feel like doing, enjoying the game calmly, but in the end when I want to "feel" the atmosphere of Animal Crossing I return to New Leaf.
I really don't think my judgment is clouded by nostalgia, I also loved Wild World but as an adult I recognize all its limitations.
I just think, like this man says at the end of this video, that New Leaf is like a second home, with a lively town and many good friends (it is worth remembering that in the Shopping Street you always meet the old villagers of the town, and it is always wonderful to see them again)

Edit: Oh, I forgot the villagers' letters! Why in New Horizons the letters are so... boring? And why they send so few letters? I don't know, I love writing and receive letters in New leaf, and we don't even need to say how much better typing was on the Nintendo 3ds compared to the Switch

 

[ScummyWorms]

Maybe I have already answered to a similar question, I don't remember, but honestly I really don't know what to say.
My story with New Horizons is particular, I received a Switch as a birthday present in 2022 and the first game I wanted was obviously the new Animal Crossing. Then I played a little but I was full of things to do in that period and I didn't properly dedicated myself to the game, until I stopped playing altogether.
A few months later I reset and started a new island, paying attention to the non-editable elements of the map, and in fact I am still satisfied with the basic layout of this island.
With this island I played slowly and occasionally too, but I seriously concentrated on its development, I designed the ideas I wanted to complete, the villagers I wanted to get and so on. For the last two months I have been playing at least twice a week for 2-3 hours.
The game is obviously enjoyable, I have many goals to achieve that I will calmly achieve, but my problem is the new mechanics of New Horizons. I can't bring myself to like crafting, I mean... I like it, especially cooking recipes, but I wish there were fewer items to craft because it's hard to get the recipes you want without online multiplayer (which unfortunately is paid). You can't even get all the fruit in the game without the other players, for the first time the trick of sending a letter to the villagers with the name of a fruit doesn't work.
However, it's much easier to get recipes than public works in New Leaf!
The fact is that what I've always loved about Animal Crossing is the interaction with nature and the villagers, every day they ask you to do something for them and it's always pleasant to chat. In New Horizons I don't know why I never received a single request from the villagers, it's as if they were just there for beauty. Maybe some people may like this change more, but I liked doing something for them every day. It's not the same to give them gifts (and I say this as a Story of Seasons' lover)
I also don't like having to rack up Nook miles to do anything, I find it stressful to constantly have to do things I don't really want to do. Many recipes and items can be bought with Nook miles and if I want to take some trips to some other island I have to pay 2000 miles for a Nook ticket or 1000 miles from Kapp'n. They could have at least charged the bells for the trip with Kapp'n. In New Leaf I spent most of my gameplay hours interacting with the villaggers, playing on Tortimer Island and the "Puzzle League" and "Desert Island Escape" minigames.
If they made a game like New Leaf with terraforming, it would be a perfect game for me!
Maybe New Leaf is the game for who just want to chill, and New Horizons for people who want to achieve goals.
I"ll continue to play New Horizons trying to only do the activities I feel like doing, enjoying the game calmly, but in the end when I want to "feel" the atmosphere of Animal Crossing I return to New Leaf.
I really don't think my judgment is clouded by nostalgia, I also loved Wild World but as an adult I recognize all its limitations.
I just think, like this man says at the end of this video, that New Leaf is like a second home, with a lively town and many good friends (it is worth remembering that in the Shopping Street you always meet the old villagers of the town, and it is always wonderful to see them again)

Edit: Oh, I forgot the villagers' letters! Why in New Horizons the letters are so... boring? And why they send so few letters? I don't know, I love writing and receive letters in New leaf, and we don't even need to say how much better typing was on the Nintendo 3ds compared to the Switch

This was a really nice read. You put a lot of my thoughts into words, thank you.

 

[Xara]

New Horizons is special to me for a lot of reasons. It’s the reason I came back to tbt after my 2-3 year hiatus, and I’ve made so many beautiful friends and memories, and have met such incredible people because of that. New Horizons (and tbt) got me through the pandemic, losing my grandmother and 3 cats within the span of 9 months, and all of the other unpleasant stuff that has happened in my personal life during the past almost 4 years. I’m forever grateful for New Horizons because of that.

Game-wise, there’s a lot about New Horizons that I enjoy. I think the quality and graphics are absolutely stunning, and I appreciate the amount of time that Nintendo obviously put into them. The museum exhibits are especially beautiful. I love that we have the ability to choose where buildings go, and that we can relocate most of them later if we change our minds. I really love that villagers can no longer move out without permission. All of the new (and returning) villagers and npcs in New Horizons are very cute as well. I love getting to hunt for new villagers by island hopping; it’s one of my favourite things to do in-game, and I hope a similar mechanic is in future games as well. I also love that each villager and npc has a poster that you can unlock! I have a lot of fun collecting them along with the framed photos.

That being said, New Horizons is my least favourite Animal Crossing game that I’ve played. I’ve actually been talking about this recently with my best friend, but New Horizons has such different vibes from the rest of the games imo that it almost doesn’t feel like a mainline game. It kinda feels more like a spinoff, like Happy Home Designer. I feel Nintendo spent so much time on the graphics and increasing the amount of creative freedom that we have that they sacrificed almost everything else.

I miss the community-oriented feel that the previous games had, especially New Leaf. New Horizons feels like the main thing there is to do is craft and decorate. I miss the post office and Pelly, Phyllis, and Pete. The atmosphere of the post office and the dynamics of Pelly, Phyllis and Pete were charming, and more preferable than Orville, Wilbur and the airport post office. Paying 200 bells just to send one letter now, when before a 4-pack of stationary costed only 80 bells, and the actual mailing was free kinda sucks, too. I miss main street and getting to see villagers that used to live in my town there. I miss Dr. Shrunk and learning reactions from him. I miss the tropical and perfect fruits; I still don’t understand why the tropical fruits weren’t included in New Horizons, considering we live on an island, lol. I miss all of the small details that New Leaf had, like the campsite tent turning into an igloo during the winter months, your character sweating when you boot up the game during the summer months, and shivering when you get out of the water if you go diving during the winter months, etc. I miss Tortimer’s island and farming for rare beetles and fish. I miss the part-time job mini-game at The Roost, and the mini-games in general. I miss playing hide-and-seek with my villagers. I miss having to take Katie to other towns. There’s a lot that I miss, lol.

New Horizons is a good game, but it wasn’t able to keep me interested in it as long as New Leaf did. I played New Leaf for 3-4 years, whereas I was tired of New Horizons after about a year and a half. It’s also not the greatest game to play with friends, since without mini-games, you kind of have to get creative to come up with fun things to do together. That’s not the worst thing though, since my best friend and I ended up playing museum hide-and-seek last time we played together, and that was a lot of fun, haha. Idk. I think a game that combined New Leaf and New Horizons’ features would be the perfect Animal Crossing game for me.

 

[nocctea]

New Horizons is special to me for a lot of reasons. It’s the reason I came back to tbt after my 2-3 year hiatus, and I’ve made so many beautiful friends and memories, and have met such incredible people because of that. New Horizons (and tbt) got me through the pandemic, losing my grandmother and 3 cats within the span of 9 months, and all of the other unpleasant stuff that has happened in my personal life during the past almost 4 years. I’m forever grateful for New Horizons because of that.

Game-wise, there’s a lot about New Horizons that I enjoy. I think the quality and graphics are absolutely stunning, and I appreciate the amount of time that Nintendo obviously put into them. The museum exhibits are especially beautiful. I love that we have the ability to choose where buildings go, and that we can relocate most of them later if we change our minds. I really love that villagers can no longer move out without permission. All of the new (and returning) villagers and npcs in New Horizons are very cute as well. I love getting to hunt for new villagers by island hopping; it’s one of my favourite things to do in-game, and I hope a similar mechanic is in future games as well. I also love that each villager and npc has a poster that you can unlock! I have a lot of fun collecting them along with the framed photos.

That being said, New Horizons is my least favourite Animal Crossing game that I’ve played. I’ve actually been talking about this recently with my best friend, but New Horizons has such different vibes from the rest of the games imo that it almost doesn’t feel like a mainline game. It kinda feels more like a spinoff, like Happy Home Designer. I feel Nintendo spent so much time on the graphics and increasing the amount of creative freedom that we have that they sacrificed almost everything else.

I miss the community-oriented feel that the previous games had, especially New Leaf. New Horizons feels like the main thing there is to do is craft and decorate. I miss the post office and Pelly, Phyllis, and Pete. The atmosphere of the post office and the dynamics of Pelly, Phyllis and Pete were charming, and more preferable than Orville, Wilbur and the airport post office. Paying 200 bells just to send one letter now, when before a 4-pack of stationary costed only 80 bells, and the actual mailing was free kinda sucks, too. I miss main street and getting to see villagers that used to live in my town there. I miss Dr. Shrunk and learning reactions from him. I miss the tropical and perfect fruits; I still don’t understand why the tropical fruits weren’t included in New Horizons, considering we live on an island, lol. I miss all of the small details that New Leaf had, like the campsite tent turning into an igloo during the winter months, your character sweating when you boot up the game during the summer months, and shivering when you get out of the water if you go diving during the winter months, etc. I miss Tortimer’s island and farming for rare beetles and fish. I miss the part-time job mini-game at The Roost, and the mini-games in general. I miss playing hide-and-seek with my villagers. I miss having to take Katie to other towns. There’s a lot that I miss, lol.

New Horizons is a good game, but it wasn’t able to keep me interested in it as long as New Leaf did. I played New Leaf for 3-4 years, whereas I was tired of New Horizons after about a year and a half. It’s also not the greatest game to play with friends, since without mini-games, you kind of have to get creative to come up with fun things to do together. That’s not the worst thing though, since my best friend and I ended up playing museum hide-and-seek last time we played together, and that was a lot of fun, haha. Idk. I think a game that combined New Leaf and New Horizons’ features would be the perfect Animal Crossing game for me.

I completely agree! I like New Horizons and the things it's added (especially character customization wise!), but it feels like it's trying to be both a mainline game and a spinoff game, which kinda hinders the enjoyment. I never really was good at decorating my towns in previous games, most I did was decorate my house and place lots of flowers, so the large focus on creative control and such kinda stresses me out sometimes haha! I always loved playing New Leaf after school just chilling with my villagers around my town, chatting and doing stuff for them, it was a nice and simple way to relax! I still like playing New Horizons, but mostly to decorate, and love many things it's added, but I definitely miss that community feel too, I hope the next game is able to balance the creative and community aspects a bit better.

 

[Bulbadragon]

I think, that just like all the games in the series, it has its strengths and weaknesses. I don't think the dialogue is weak anymore, my biggest complaint in the beginning. I'm still playing my initial island, and I have over 700 hours on it. I think what ruined the experience for a lot of people was the way the game was updated. I wish that the game was shipped complete, instead of having updates to complete the game. However, I think that's a symptom of how the game industry is working these days rather than Animal Crossing specifically.

I'm still a huge Animal Crossing fan, and I love NH like all the others. I'm not sure which game is even my favorite; they all have things I love specifically about each one. I'm excited to see where the series will go from here as well.

 

[nageki]

i still really like ACNH and have spent a lot of hours on it!! but i'm a building sim kinda guy so i spend all that time building and rearranging my island. i get that that's not for everyone though and i understand why after the early-game stage (where you're still setting up and there's a lot of DIYs to learn and a museum to complete and empty plots to fill) people got burnt out on this game so fast. i do think the start is the most fun and rewarding part of the game but idk realistically how they could have kept most people engaged beyond that - though starting the DLC gave me a similar feeling, it was cute.

frankly i think they could have just updated the graphics to their current gorgeous standard and added in a few of the QOL features that they did (movable villager houses, griefing-proof flowers) and just released New Leaf 2 and it would've had a much better long-term reception than ACNH but that's a very subjective opinion lol.

 

[eeveelovee]

I love New Horizons as there are so many new things you can do that are limited to or impossible in New Leaf. All the new features, such as putting furniture outside or just making the controls easier to use, was an awesome upgrade from New Leaf.

However, I am not really a fan of the whole island theme, and the fact that you have to build your way up and create a town on an island. I liked New Leaf's premise of living in a town already, with buildings and furniture already created and there's no need for you to craft anything.

If you were to ask me in 2020, which is the better game, New Horizons or New Leaf, I would have for sure said New Leaf, as that game introduced me to the Animal Crossing fandom, and is arguably one of the best games of all time. However, after a few years of playing New Horizons, I appreciate the advancement in technology that New Horizons offers, in comparison to New Leaf, which has limited functions when wanting to perform certain things within the game.

I can't wait to see what the next Animal Crossing game will be!

 

[Hsn97]

I’ve gone through periods of loving the game, hating the game, thinking it’s alright. I think two very important things to remember when reviewing the game is the hype that lead up to it’s release and what was going on in the world when it released.

The game was so highly anticipated that I think people would have been disappointed regardless of the state ACNH finally released in. People had raised the game to unreachable heights after the time gap between New Leaf. I remember people scrutinising over the players now having knee caps, of all things.

Secondly, the game released just before lockdown for most people, meaning that players had an opportunity to play the game for extended periods of time, and progress through the games content quicker than they would be able to normally. When I first got NL, by comparison, I was in college. I could play the game for maybe 1-2hrs most a day. With NH, I played the game for 6-8 hours a day.

I think these two facts combined with the game releasing whilst it still missed a lot of content, is the main reason many people, myself include, had such a downer on the game. I think a new player buying the game today would have a significantly different experience to those of us who brought the game at launch.

If I review the game purely as the game, rather than the drama of its release, I’d say it’s a good game and that I’ve enjoyed it. I wouldn’t pay the £60 buying price for it, but then again I don’t like paying that much for any game. I think they introduced some amazing new features like being able to decorate outside, design your character, control where your villager houses are. I also hate some of the features they introduced, like the crafting and tool breaking. I definitely feel like the game still lacks content in the traditional Animal Crossing sense. I wish there were more building upgrades and I wish my villagers asked me to do more tasks for them (although ironically the frequency became annoying in NL).

I don’t think the game is awful. I definitely think it lacks the charm of the previous titles where the villagers are concerned. This is more of a decorating sim, and I can see why some of the fans of the older AC games didn’t gel with it. But I do think it was a positive step forward for the series and introduced some important improvements that I hope get carried forward to future titles. Plus, it also skyrocketed Animal Crossings popularity to the heights of Mario and Zelda, which is incredible and can only mean good things for the series, with Nintendo hopefully, finally giving the series more time and funding.

 

[Shyone2313!]

I know most people really like ACNH, but I still notice some division on the game. Personally, I dislike ACNH, But I'd like to hear your thoughts about the game!

I like it . But I wish they would of added a 2nd floor to nooks and had more stuff to choose from and kept Celeste and the Observatory and I swear you were able to use the slide In ACWW but can’t now .

 

[Hypno KK]

I like it just fine, but it's kind of one note. It's great as an island decorating simulator. Unfortunately, I'd want more out of that in a main AC game. I've enjoyed NH but don't find myself going back to it as often as, say, NL. It feels like there's less to do.

 

[BobRocks20]

I like it! It's fun! Decorating is fun! And there's a lot of conveniences and everything! But this is coming from someone who started with NL, so your milage may vary.

 

[Millysaurusrexjr]

I love ACNH! I love it more than I love ACNL.

Yeah New Horizons could use.... so much more, and was released pretty much unfinished. The drip fed updates were brutal. But to me NH is ultimately a more enjoyable AC game compared to New Leaf. The graphics are so beautiful, the QoL changes are amazing, gyroids look way cuter now, there's way more customization.. I could go on and on and on.

It really is crazy that Nintendo decided to abandon it, though. I will never understand it

 

[Khaoticnoize187]

Simply put its one of my personal favorite games for the switch hands down period.

 

[KittenNoir]

I like ACNH I enjoyed the game a lot and liked the new features.

I do wish there was more content and updates added like Animal Crossing Pocket Camp gets.