Going back to living in a town.
Don’t get me wrong. Living on an island was a nice and unique aspect for New Horizons. However, I think this should stay exclusive to New Horizons. One of the main staples of Animal Crossing is moving to a town with few villagers and that is under-developed. This is especially true in New Leaf. Unfortunately, since we live on an island in New Horizons, this made the game less lively compared to New Leaf. Since islands are meant to be more minimalistic, there wasn’t as much room for upgrades, progression, and exterior customization compared to New Leaf.
The return of characters, shops, etc. that were not in New Horizons.
A lot of characters and things that were in the original (N64 and GameCube), Wild World (DS), City Folk (Wii), and/or New Leaf (3DS) sadly got cut from New Horizons (Switch). Most of these characters helped to make Animal Crossing–well, Animal Crossing.
Pelly and Phyllis. We should go back to mailing letters the old fashioned way. As in AC1-AC4, Pelly should run the post office during the day, while Phyllis should run it at night. It was also confirmed that sending post cards in NH did NOT increase friendships. Mailing to villagers SHOULD do so again like in older games.
Tortimer’s Island. I think Tortimer’s island should return. It should be Summer 24/7 like it was in New Leaf. Summer is the best time for catching bugs, fish, and diving creatures. Not to mention, the island had exclusive items and was a very fun area for playing with other players. They should also make the island more in-depth. The island can be bigger, have more mini games, a bigger shop, etc.
The return of island tours.
Even with the return of Tortimer’s island, I still think mystery island tours can have their own uses. Like in New Horizons, they can be used for bringing back fruits, flowers, and even villagers. However, these island tours should not be limited to just our native and sister fruit and flower. ALL types of flowers and fruit should be able to be sought after this time around. Perhaps, exclusive creatures can be caught on mystery islands? “Special” islands should also make a return–such as rare fish island, hybrid island, etc.
Town expansion.
I think it would be awesome if we got to expand our town as we progress through the game and play in said town for a certain period of time. There could be 3-5 expansions. It would cost bells and have other requirements, including (but not limited to) playing for a certain time frame. For example, the first expansion can become available after spending 50,000 bells at the Nooklings’ shops and having the town for a month. This can also increase the limit of villagers living on our island, bridges, inclines, etc.
In The GameCube, we were allowed 15 villagers. We should go back to this point, even if it does require some town expansions.
The tool ring is separated from the pockets.
The tool ring from New Horizons should make a return. However, this time, the tools should be separated from the pockets, as they took up a lot of space.
No more breakable tools (except for regular axes).
A lot of players miss not having to worry about their tools breaking. We should go back to only having the regular act break, like in the older games. it made using our tools a lot more relaxing.
Terraforming should stay, but be easier.
Maybe there can be an overhead for terraforming. We would be able to add and remove cliffs and water faster as well as smoothing out edges. This can also be used for making pavements.
Lots of progression and shop upgrades.
While there was A LOT to do at the beginning of New Horizons, after about a month, things do feel stagnant. There is only one shop upgrade. New Leaf had four. Perhaps other buildings can have multiple upgrades too? I want us to go back to unlocking and upgrading shops over a long-term period of time, like in New Leaf. Similarly, I love how we start out with pretty much nothing in New Horizons (including us not even having the town hall at first). I think this should also be the case in the next Animal Crossing–where we go from a rundown town with nothing, to a bustling metropolis with a lot of big attractions and diverse villagers!
More fruit and flowers.
I would love to have a wider variety of fruit and flowers. The NewLeaf-exclusive fruits (e.g. bananas, durian, lachees, etc.) should be brought back. New fruits like blueberries, blackberries, etc. would also make for a very nice addition. Maybe some of the new fruit can grow on bushes instead of trees. Similarly, it would be awesome to see a wider variety of flowers (including the return of violets) For example, marigolds, daffodils, hydrangeas, etc. could be introduced. We should also get new colors of already existing flowers, including (but not limited to) pink pansies, blue cosmos, and yellow windflowers.
Better exterior customization.
Sadly, this is an aspect that took a step back in New Horizons. There was some house customizing, but it was nothing compared to what we got in New Leaf.
So far, New Leaf handled exterior customization the best! This is especially true for our house. There were many different themes (e.g. fairytale, mermaid, astro, bamboo, etc.) that we could choose from. We could even mix and match! We could also change the architecture of our houses to look like a zen castle, fairytale castle, mansion (default), or a modern house. This should absolutely be brought back and expanded upon in the next mainline Animal Crossing game! This could really help each player to really express their individuality through their house and make each player’s house feel unique to each other.
Similarly, I would love it if we could have different ways to customize the exterior of other buildings, such as the town hall, museum and transportation headquarters. In New Leaf, for example, we could renovate the train station and town hall. This really helped us to make it where these buildings could cater to the theme of our towns. This was sadly taken out in New Horizons. Like stated with house customization, this should be brought back and expanded upon.
The return of furniture sets from previous games (including Pocket Camp).
New Horizons got rid of a lot of furniture and furniture sets that were in previous games. These include the lovely set, regal set, rococo set, princess set, and many more. These sets were all so unique in their own way. New Leaf demonstrated this the best with debut sets (like the rococo set) and giving us the ability to refurbish them to have color schemes that are more appealing to us. New Horizons took a step back when it comes to furniture. I want these pre-NH sets back, perhaps even with more refurbishing options.
Then pocket camp had a lot of furniture that was just exclusive to it. I would love for these to carry over to the next mainline game. It would be even better if we got to refurbish them too. The furniture in pocket camp was absolutely gorgeous and having them in the next mainline game would do wonders for our towns and houses.
Stronger villager personalities, deeper friendships, and more villager interactions.
- One of the most important aspects of Animal Crossing is the villagers. I think it would be awesome to see them go from being aloof, shy, antisocial (depending on their personality) to a really good friend. We don’t necessarily want villagers to be over-the-top and mean for little to no reason. However, it would be very rewarding for let’s say–cranky villagers, for example, to start off as a bit grumpy only developing a fatherly side after the player had taken the time to befriend them.
- Some dialogue can be exclusive to friendship levels. For example, little to no friendship can have dialogue that is a bit cold, and shows a longing to be closer to the player. High friendship dialogue can be a lot more heartwarming, open, and emotional. For example, cranky villagers could express that they have never connected to anyone like they do with the player (if the player befriends them enough).
- “Negative” friendship levels would also make for a nice addition. This could happen if a player treats a villager poorly (pushing, hitting with net, etc.) and not with kindness. This could give the player dialogue that says things like “Why are you so rude to me?”, “What did I ever do to you?”, and others depending on personality types.
- More interactions would also be nice. For example, we could have the classic “Talk to me” interaction for just casual conversation. The in-person gift-giving can carry over to the next mainline game. We can have new interactions like giving a villager, a hug, inviting them to the museum (or other places). New interactions can continue being unlocked as we build up a high enough friendship with them. The “Need a favor!” interaction can be brought back, which was very useful.
- Villagers with negative friendship levels would also be the ones to move out first, while best friends would be the ones to not want to move (unless all of your villager friendships were maxed out, in which case it would be random).
- Different interactions can be unlocked as we build friendship. When we first meet the villager, we would only be able to start off with the “Need a favor?”, “Let’s chat”, and “Nevermind” interactions, only unlocking further interactions if we choose to befriend them.
More ways to take care of sick villagers.
Villager sickness is such a bittersweet feature. I think it would be cute to have more ways to care for a villager. For example, after taking the medicine you give them, they could ask you to make them some soup (they will give you a soup recipe if you do not already have one). This would further build up friendship and have heartwarming dialogue. You could also craft them a blanket to help them feel more warm and comfortable.
Villager pictures.
I think it’s safe to say that we are all in favor of keeping villager pictures in the franchise. However, Wild World implemented them the best! In Wild World, they are actually treated like a special item. After you build your friendship high enough with them, they will ping you and give you their picture. They will actually acknowledge the close friendship between you two. In New Leaf and in New Horizons, they randomly give it to you for doing them a favor. You still have to build a high enough friendship with them (which is what players want), but they are treated the same way as an ordinary item, making them a bit less rewarding.
The return of N64 and GC villagers.
There are still a few villagers that have only appeared in the first generation of Animal Crossing, and have been absent in the four succeeding mainline games (Wild World, City Folk, New Leaf, and New Horizons). A few notable examples include (but are not limited to) Valise, Bow, and Meow. Luckily, the Animal Crossing franchise started to do this during the City Folk era after cutting a lot of villagers out of Wild World.
City Folk added Ankha, Astrid, Harry, etc. back.
New Leaf added Velma, Gruff, Doc, etc. back.
New Horizons added Frett (in the 2.0 update) and others back.
New villagers, species, and personalities.
While players enjoy being reunited with their favorite villagers from previous installments, it is also always fun to meet new villagers. This is especially true if we also get new personalities and new species. For example, we got two new personalities in New Leaf–Uchi (or Sisterly) and Smug. We also got two new species–Deers and Hamsters.
Since New Horizons did not do this, it would be nice for it to be done in AC6.
- New Personalities can include Geek, Studious, Bad Boy, Bad Girl, Gloomy, Stoic, Homebody, etc.
- New species can include Female Lions, Snakes, Spiders, Butterflies, Bats, Sharks, etc. While some of these include creatures the player can catch, this could be said about frogs and octopi, which include both creatures and villagers.
- Similarly, we should get combinations of already existing personalities and species that we don’t have yet, such as cranky ostriches, smug kangaroos, peppy eagles, etc.
Besides, having a ton of new species and personality combinations can be exciting and make for some diverse dialogue unique to each combination!
A way to track villagers.
Finding villagers can be a pain in NL and NH. We need a precise way of knowing where villagers are at, so we do not have to lose our minds trying to look for them. For example, if they are at the bug exhibit in the museum, they can let us know on the door of their house. Another way would be to call them and they let us know where they are specifically.
More information for each villager.
It would be awesome for each villager to have some unique traits. Similar to above where villagers can acknowledge that they are of a certain species, having other pieces of information could help each villager to feel unique from each other besides their appearance, personality, and species.
- Villagers already had hobbies in Wild World and in New Horizons. It would be awesome if this was expanded upon in AC6. For example, each villager could have some dialogue unique to their personality+hobby combination. This was done really well in Wild World.
- The same could go for dream jobs/goals. They were in New Leaf as a part of the April Fool’s Day event. These should make a return and villagers should acknowledge having these goals.
There are many other pieces of info a villager could have and acknowledge, depending on their personality.
Return of the southern hemisphere.
Even if a lot of players are in the northern hemisphere, there is no reason to oppose this remaining a choice in the next installment. This gave players in the southern hemisphere a more realistic experience. The backwards seasons were a trip (SNOW IN JULY
)--And the flipped moon was also a nice realistic touch. In the northern hemisphere, the moon illuminates on the right side when it is waxing and on the left side when it is waning. In the southern hemisphere, the opposite is true.
- The way it worked in New Horizons was perfect! The game would recognize your region/continent, and upon confirming, the game would recommend to you the hemisphere that corresponds to that region/continent. However, players could still select the opposite hemisphere if they wanted to “mix things up” (for lack of a better term).
Realistic moonrise and moonset.
It is a common misconception that the moon always rises at sunset and sets at sunrise. In actuality, it depends on the phase. The “opposition to the sun” is only true for full moons (and debatably gibbous moons).
- New moons, for example, actually rise and set at about the same times the sun does.
- Waning crescents rise and set slightly before sunrise and sunset respectively.
- Waning crescents rise and set slightly after sunrise and sunset respectively.
- First quarters rise at noon and set at midnight (vice-versa for last quarters).
And so on.
It would be nice to see this reflected in the next game, rather than rising and setting at the same time every night/day, regardless of phase.
Mining and the return of gemstones.
Mining would make for a fun new future in Animal Crossing! Each town could have a cave with multiple levels that go downward. Each floor would have multiple rocks (like the rocks in the towns and on islands). These rocks would have several minerals (e.g. silver gold, etc.), gemstones (ruby, sapphire, etc.) and artifacts inside them, which increase in value and rarity the deeper the player gets into the cave. However, unlike in New Leaf, it would be awesome if these minerals and gemstones varied in not only color, but also shape, size, and texture. There should also be a bigger variety of minerals and gemstones than what we got in New Leaf.
When mining, you can find not only gemstones, but also artifacts.
More rooms in the museum.
It would be awesome if there were a couple more rooms in the museum for donating items. One of these rooms can be for gyroids, while the other can be for gemstones and artifacts (the latter of which can be found in the mines).
Since each gyroid has a few variations in color scheme, players could also donate all variations of each gyroid to make for a more rewarding and longer-lasting experience.
More fish, bugs, and deep-sea creatures.
Like with each new main installment, it would definitely be fun to get a variety of new bugs, fish, and deep-sea creatures. Having new creatures to discover for the first time definitely helps with making each new mainline Animal Crossing game feel new, fresh, and more alive. It makes the museums better and better too! Certain bugs can be found in exclusive areas such as Tortimer’s island, mystery islands, and the cave/mines. I think Winter especially could use some new bugs (especially some valuable ones), considering it feels the most dead when it comes to lack of bugs. It’s also important to note that different bugs have different sub-species. For example, there are many different butterflies in the game (Raja Brooke, Agras, Emperor, Purple Emperor, etc.) – The original Animal Crossing also has two different ladybug species. The well-known red one with several black spots, and the less-known black one with a few red spots. The latter should make a come-back after being gone in WW, CF, NL, and in NH.
More information in the creature library (after catching something for the first time)
When we catch a creature for the first time, it is added to our creature library. New Leaf made the good decision to let us know when we caught something for the first time, which fortunately carried over to New Horizons. Things got even better in New Horizons when we could see whether we donated a bug from our Crittipedia.
However, there is still room for improvement. One of the main things people would love is the ability to see what each critter sells for by accessing the critter library. Another fun detail would be the critter library keeping count of each critter you have caught!
An option to grow crops in a separate area.
Farming was a fun addition (after all, it was useful for cooking). However, there should be a separate place for growing crops. That way, the crops do not take up room in your town. Perhaps a greenhouse would be nice, even if it does take time to unlock and costs bells
Quality of life improvements to cooking and crafting.
Crafting and cooking were fun additions to New Horizons. However, there are ways for them to be better executed.
- We should be able to bulk craft/cook. This means we should craft as many at a time as long as we have other needed materials and ingredients to do so.
- The materials and ingredients we have to craft should include the stuff we have should include what we have in our storage. This makes it where we don’t have to keep everything in our pockets the whole time, and we don’t have to keep putting/taking things in and out of our storage.
- We should be able to craft prerequisite items at the same time of crafting the item we need to make with it (e.g. in New Horizons, you have to craft a flimsy tool to craft a normal tool, we should be able to do this in go in AC6)
- Better RNG. Even with all of the unobtained DIY recipes, duplicates were a problem. there should be better RNG to help us obtain all DIY recipes more easily.
- In New Horizons, you can choose to decline a DIY recipe from a villager despite not knowing it yet. However, they will force DIY recipes on you, despite already knowing the recipe. This is backwards. It should be the other way around in the next game.
- It would also be nice if the next game did not rely too heavily on crafting. For example, holidays should go back to working how they did in New Leaf and we should be able to get actual items to go with the holiday and not just DIY recipes.
- Nookling’s should sell materials and ingredients.
It would also be cute for villagers to request a certain item or a certain dish through cooking and crafting for one of the favors they could ask us. This could improve friendship with the villagers.
More+returning holidays/events and more in-depth holidays/events.
A lot of the holidays that were in New Leaf got taken out (April Fool’s Day) of or are not executed as well in New Horizons. A lot of players, for example, miss the monthly fishing tourneys/bug-offs in past games. It was fun to compete with our villagers to catch the biggest fish or the rarest/biggest/most beautiful bug.
- April Fool’s Day was a fun holiday too!
- The holidays also didn’t rely so much on crafting pre-NH and we got actual furniture sets for the holidays instead.
- It would also be cute to see some Wild World-exclusive ones like Bright Nights and Yay Day.
- The Sports fair should make a return and players should be able to participate this time around.
- New events would be even more fun! So would seeing already existing holidays be more in-depth.
The return of public works projects with more/better variants.
A lot of players miss PWPs from New Leaf. I think it would be nice to bring these back. It would be nice for them to have different variants and color schemes. Villagers should not be relied on to unlock them this time around, as many players struggled with this.
Part-time jobs.
Part time jobs would help give players something to do and a fun way to make bells.
- For example we can work for Nook by delivering items (but this should not be forced on us in the beginning of the game like in the original, Wild World, and City Folk). It should be available at any point, optional, and the money doesn’t have to go towards our debt unless we decide to put it towards it.
- Working for Brewster like we got to in New Leaf would be fun.
- Working at the post office by delivering mail would also be a fun choice!
- This could even be a good way to help build friendships with villagers.
Being able to delete your save on NookLink (if one decides they want to start fresh).
Unfortunately, there was no way to delete your progress on NookLink. If you decided to restart your island on New Horizons, you could not delete it on NookLink or sync your new onto the app. Consequently, this meant that you could no longer use NookLink if you resetted your island that was synced onto NookLink. This a massive oversight and we should be able to delete our progress on NookLink this time around, should we feel like starting fresh.
We can't even change the look of the shops.
