.

[Lotusblossom]

It definetely needs more and a lot of things frustrate me but its pretty good I'd say

 

[Opal]

I've only just started playing the game so I haven't taken any breaks yet, but unless they add more in the updates I will probably get bored pretty soon since I've never been one for decorating things and dont really care about having a 'perfect island'. I'm more interesting in collecting things and interactions with villagers but villagers ask for requests a lot less and it's really frustrating me. The fruit and requests are also very limited... I miss the hide-and-seek games, going to villager's houses, petition and fruit requests and them asking us to fetch another villager and then having them follow us around wherever we go. I also miss the dream suite, swimming/diving, Gracie Grace and the mini games but since I'm still new in NH I'm happy with it for now. As long as they keep adding updates I will continue to be happy, even if it takes a while

 

[LunaRover]

Pop on, do dailies, or re-arrange things for a bit if I have extra time. Finding new DIYs is still exciting atm but I'll have to update on that sometime next month lol.

 

[thegunpowderincident]

I play less than I did at first. Most of my play time lately is just trading, or redecorating my island. I wish there were minigames like on Tortimer's island in NL. That would breathe new life into the game for me. I had been looking forward to multiplayer, but there just isn't much to do. Even with people I know IRL it's kinda boring, so I haven't even tried multiplayer with people from this forum (apart from trading of course).

 

[LilBabyDelirium]

I have played EVERY. DAY. SINCE. LAUNCH. No time traveling either lol

Thing is, I have so much to do to my island and I haven't even seen my town in fall or winter yet, celebrated my birthday, or gotten to see Redd a SECOND TIME. If I miss a day I might miss him lol

 

[marlasinger]

I'm still playing every day. Some days I only play long enough to do my daily tasks, and then other days I will spend hours terraforming. To each their own....no game is perfect or will suit everyone, but I'm very happy with this one!

 

[Cosmic_Insanity]

I haven't stopped playing or taken a break yet. I certainly got close, but even those days I didn't feel like playing loads I logged in and did my dailies (fossils, villagers, maintenance etc). It only takes about half an hour to do all of that anyways. Other days (like today) I put a few hours into it. Be it designing my island, fishing, island hopping, shopping online, etc.

If you're feeling super burnt out, I'd either take a break or, like me, just log on daily for about half an hour to do the minimum daily tasks

 

[Red Cat]

But the game that is smashing sales records, recieving off the charts reviews from both professional writers and average players to the point that all people can come up with for a flaw is "it can use some quality of life changes", and the game that they spent TWICE as long making as any previous titles, statistically claims the best game in the series. It really is that simple.

It's true that ACNH is the highest selling game in this series. No one is disputing that. However, part of the reason for those record sales is that there are more people with more money than there were back when NL was released and the fact that we're in the middle of a global pandemic where people are looking for things to do without going outside and being near other people. Sales for a game in a series also depend somewhat on their predecessor. A lot of people were hyped for NH because of the quality of NL while a lot of people were hesitant about getting NL because of the lack of quality in CF. Since there are a lot of people who are new to the AC series, they're more likely to think ACNH is the greatest thing since sliced bread than people who have played every game in the series. Most of the critical reviews for NH come from people who have played NL because we notice the things that were removed.

Whether a game is good or bad is entirely subjective, but the best metric of the overall public opinion of a game is how long people play the game. It's similar to how movies are judged where there are some movies that make a lot of revenue due to hype and publicity, but then most people find them disappointing and never watch them a second time. We're only two months in, so we don't know how long NH will last, but it's not a good sign that so many players are complaining as loudly as they are only two months in. I know there are a lot of people who have already spent hundreds of hours on this game, but I wonder how much of that is just binge playing due to COVID versus people actually being addicted to the game.

 

[PeachTea04]

the first few days were quite boring and repetitive, wasn’t much to do, and still wouldn’t be as much if it weren’t for trading, cuz that way it’s quicker to get diys and furniture to use in your game and actual start decorating, which i was most excited for. I haven’t stopped playing, and I’ve probably played like 300+ hours, or more idk, i havent checked but it’s A LOT and my island is looking no where to near to the ones you see on youtube. I keep changing my mind and terraforming which takes ages and i keep in mind the future buildings that will come. So there is still plenty for me to do. Also I like to talk to my villagers everyday and give them their five a day :’)

 

[GEEBRASS]

I still play a lot. I love it.

For the last week or two, I don't spend as many hours per day playing as I did at first, but that's because:

- I've got villagers I like
- I like how I've terraformed/decorated my island and that isn't going to change much any time soon
- I've caught at least one of every fish & bug currently available
- I've obtained so many DIY recipes and items that new drops don't come nearly as often these days.

All of which is fine! If I get a new idea for my island or a new drop that inspires me to re-decorate, I'll pour hours into the game again. I still spend at least a few hours every day on regular tasks, checking for DIYs, shopping, visitors, trading, and appreciating the views, which seems healthy and ideal to me. I don't think a game demanding or compelling 10-12 hours of you every day for months and months is a good thing or good design. I feel like the only way you could underestimate the longevity and staying power of ACNH is by being an obsessive completionist that relies heavily on trading and/or TTing to steamroll the content as fast as possible (and clearly not how the designers intended).

 

[Gazer297]

I still play everyday for several hours. Im still fixing up my island and still trying to grow all the different flowers so that has kept me occupied. It also gives me a chance to spend time with my daughtar who lives a little ways from me as she has her own island.

 

[Holysub]

It's true that ACNH is the highest selling game in this series. No one is disputing that. However, part of the reason for those record sales is that there are more people with more money than there were back when NL was released and the fact that we're in the middle of a global pandemic where people are looking for things to do without going outside and being near other people. Sales for a game in a series also depend somewhat on their predecessor. A lot of people were hyped for NH because of the quality of NL while a lot of people were hesitant about getting NL because of the lack of quality in CF. Since there are a lot of people who are new to the AC series, they're more likely to think ACNH is the greatest thing since sliced bread than people who have played every game in the series. Most of the critical reviews for NH come from people who have played NL because we notice the things that were removed.

Whether a game is good or bad is entirely subjective, but the best metric of the overall public opinion of a game is how long people play the game. It's similar to how movies are judged where there are some movies that make a lot of revenue due to hype and publicity, but then most people find them disappointing and never watch them a second time. We're only two months in, so we don't know how long NH will last, but it's not a good sign that so many players are complaining as loudly as they are only two months in. I know there are a lot of people who have already spent hundreds of hours on this game, but I wonder how much of that is just binge playing due to COVID versus people actually being addicted to the game.

You're right the virus has caused sales to spike and are definitely skewing the numbers. But not to the amount that ACNH has seen. Shouldnt other games be seeing huge sale spikes too? I know it has just been released but to be almost the highest selling switch game (maybe highest since I last seen the info not too sure) in just 2 months is unreal and cant be narrowed down to one particular reason.

And your right the longevity of the game is yet to be seen. But with games nowadays seeing more drip feed content and free updates than ever due to companies using other means of revenue (amiibo) I'm willing to bet it will last.

I haven't seen many posts complaining about the game tbh but I will take your word for it. I also think if you compare outcry to prior titles there are just more platforms to do it on this day and age. The game isnt perfect but what game is. Most of the complaints are for the lack of returning features but I think it would be ridiculous to think they wont be added in time. Like I mentioned in a previous post the game was released for about a month or so and we already had a free update with new returning features with dataminers uncovering evidence for more.

 

[Hyoshido]

I don't find myself playing it all that much, maybe an hour at most (not all in one session) a day if I'm really feeling it? My friends don't play too much so I just find myself just checking up on my villagers honestly.

Eventually I'll probably end up giving away stuff I have in the game like bells/nmt and even my villagers before selling the game, AC games just never have stuck for too long for me but I had a lot of time given into Wild World compared to any other AC games in the series.

I think I'll see how the next content patch plays out before making that choice though.

 

[magicalcow]

I've noticed that while my play time has decreased with each big milestone that I hit (e.g. paying off loans, getting a five star island, etc), my time spent trading has gone way up. I think it's all down to having more time + resources. It's definitely a new experience; before NH I hardly ever played online. It's been super nice and I've made a ton of friends, so even though I'm not playing as much in the traditional sense, I'm still spending a lot of time on the game.

 

[Flygon]

I have been trailing off a bit at the end of each month. Still playing every day, but not for as long. But with every new month or new event, I start playing quite a bit again.

 

[tobi!]

I play everyday but only checking shops and a bit of talking to the villagers...

I got exhausted terraforming and waiting for Flick or CJ to show up.

 

[Applebunny]

I’m definitely feeling burnt out.

I still have a ton of terraforming/designing to do since I suffer from severe design paralysis, but I don’t feel as excited to play as I used to.

I think part of it is all the online trading. I’m aware of every item in the game now so there’s nothing new to discover. It’s just a matter of spending the time to get the things I want, which isn’t as exciting.

The time it takes to progress things is also getting to me. I don’t TT heavily, so to build my village area it’s taking days to move each house into place before I can flesh things out. I might take a break after this village is complete only logging in to complete dailies, etc.

 

[monsieurberry]

They're the ones who wrote the reviews, and now after some time of playing they see the downsides of the game. They also played previous games in the series so they're not just playing cuz it's popular.

Regardless, what you're doing is called argumentum ad populum, a logical fallacy where because something is popular it means it is good. Just because something is the most popular doesn't mean it's the objective best or true. I'm sure you can think of a political leader that was very popular but isn't the best, meanwhile, Van Gogh barely sold his paintings in his lifetime - his art was spat upon by the public.

I'm going to have to question this because I'm subscribed to over a dozen AC podcasts and not one has displayed dissatisfaction with the game. In fact, outside of a few loud vocal minorities, I continue to hear praise of this game. I hear criticisms, of course. I have some as well because I'm a critical consumer. But I have played New Leaf I really don't think people are looking critically at what New Leaf offered (and what that was actually worth) in comparison to NH. Perhaps we are both engaging in echo chambers except...well I'm here engaging with opposing arguments.

There are a bunch of contingencies that could make it look like a loud minority of complaining is the majority. Not only does this game have a wider audience but social media is much more populous.

Frankly if you have over 200 hours in the game and are complaining about being bored I l can’t take that opinion seriously. Play a different game for a bit. Why would any expect any game to consistently entertain them for that long? If it happens great! If it doesn’t, that’s fine, play something else. It’s hardly reflective of the content of the game IMO once you’ve reached that threshold.

 

[Sach]

I work full time, plus alot of overtime (at work right now infact) so I don't get a lot of time to just sit and play the game for hours and hours on end. Been playing since launch. I play everyday even if it's only for 15 minutes or so, and I'm still enjoying the game a whole lot (not bored with it at all). It's slow going, but when I finally finish a project I've been working on for days it's such a wonderful feeling of accomplishment. A slow pace might be better with this game, i dont know, but everyone should play it (or not play it) however they want. If you need to take a break, go ahead, play something else in the mean time, hopefully there will be some good updates that spice things up for people and make the game better for everyone.

 

[starlightsong]

Thank you! I agree it’s wrong to say that “NH is the best game in the series” as a fact because that is completely down to opinion and nothing else. Just because a game has sold more copies does not mean everyone is going to think it’s the best game!

I know this is a completely different game, but I just wanna mention something that I feel applies to what you’re saying here: Final Fantasy 7. Now, I love this game, it’s one of my all time favorites, it’s generally called the greatest game of all time or at least one of them and some releases of it have even had the quote “quite possibly the greatest game ever made” from a certain review on the back of the case. The graphics were often called the best the playstation had ever seen (which seems strange nowadays but it was the original playstation in 1997, lol) and the plot has been praised to no end.
Personally I agree with all of this wholeheartedly. The game even sold so well that it was one of the all time fastest-selling games of its time, was the highest-grossing FF game in North America for almost two full decades, still is the best-selling square enix title overall (edited because I misspoke and said something contradictory here at first lol), was responsible for majorly boosting the sales of the playstation itself (similar to how NH has boosted switch sales), and caused thousands of retailers to break street dates just to meet demand for the game.

...And yet I’ve seen plenty of people over the years give various reasons why they think the game sucks and even professional reviews had some negative things to say about it at the time of release. Huh, imagine that! So do I brush off the criticisms of it by saying that all the things I listed above mean that FF7 is objectively one of the greatest games ever and that it’s wrong to feel otherwise? Nope, I just ignore it and accept that some people have different opinions whether I like them or not, and even if I happen to think they’re ridiculous opinions. It doesn’t affect my own enjoyment of the game and it doesn’t make me think anyone who disagrees is wrong or lying or looking for a fight.