Anybody playing the game completely offline?

[moon_child]

I have a friend who’s planning to get into the game but she doesn’t have plans of paying a Nintendo online monthly subs (she doesn’t play any other Nintendo games) since she’ll be buying a switch lite just for this. She asked my opinion if it’ll still be fun if she plays it completely offline and I have no idea because I have online subs so I thought of asking anyone here who’s playing the game completely offline...is it still fun? ‘Cause I mean I have online and sometimes still get bored so I can’t imagine how it feels to play it completely offline. That means no visitors, no dream suite, no trading, no custom paths or clothes...should I just tell her not to bother at all?

 

[Annika.]

It's fine without it, you're just missing items that you can't get like certain color variants. It's still an Animal Crossing game at its core and you can still have fun with your villagers.

But, there's a 7-day free trial that you can cancel immediately and still use the 7 days. Since the pandemic, Nintendo resetted the trial twice so people thus far had 3 weeks for free. I wouldn't be surprised if they reset it again for Christmas.

Post automatically merged: Nov 5, 2020

Also wanna add that I'm currently playing offline and I still love it. You can make it work.

 

[Clock]

If my internet wasn't so crappy, I'd play online more.

 

[Tinkeringbell]

I managed only a few days before giving in to the free trial, and then got Nintendo Online for a year.

I think there were was two major reasons for me to not being happy with being totally offline:
1.) The other people I know and talk about the game with all have Nintendo Online, and their progress talk left me feeling stuck and missing out.
2.) I have little to no options to play with people over local play, so I knew there weren't any chances of progressing that way either.

This left me constantly feeling a bit disappointed: When my friends were talking about their islands and the cool stuff they were exchanging, I felt left out. I had no way of getting all the fruits and flowers (Leif wasn't introduced yet), I didn't have friends send me cool clothing or furniture, I couldn't hop over to their places if they said their villagers were crafting cool stuff...

In the end, all will very much depend on your friend and their expectations from the game though... I think all you can do is carefully manage expectations. Yes, they will miss out on a lot, but perhaps they'll be more okay with that than I was.

 

[kiwikenobi]

I play offline almost entirely, other than a few free trials of the Nintendo online that I've used. And I think it's a lot of fun. But I also don't care that much about collecting everything, or doing stuff with other players. If you really care about collecting every item in the game, I think it's actually impossible without connecting to other people's islands. And obviously, if you want to play with other people, unless you can meet up with them in person, the online service is required for that.

For what it's worth, you can share screenshots and videos of your island without having the online service, so you can share things with other people online that way.

So, it depends on what your friend expects or wants from the game. Has she played any other Animal Crossing games before? Is she prepared to invent her own goals to pursue? Does 100% completion matter to her? Does she care about interacting with other people in the game itself, or will she be okay just talking about it with friends outside of the game?

 

[Alienfish]

Yes and no I'd say. I do pay for online cause I play other games and the occasional buying/sell/trading stuff or villager on NH but I definitely play more 'offline' on NH specifically, these days I'm basically checking on dailies and try catch whatever I miss for the season etc.

I'd say, try the trial if your friend wants to get stuff they really want in game or such, but unless you would care about hoarding things in different colours and/or getting things or villager from others then it might no be worth it.

 

[DovahTobi]

I personally don't like playing with other people. I sometimes visit a friend or they visit me but it's rare. I don't trade, I don't get custom stuff, I don't dream suite and I still have a blast playing. Depending on how your friend likes playing games, I don't see why it would detract from them having fun! But if they're really into the idea of visiting friends or trading then that's very different of course.

 

[Rosch]

Mostly yes. I only go online if I need to trade. But I always play offline and I am okay with it. I do enjoy the company of others from time to time when they visit.

The game can be enjoyed for what it is without going online. However, do consider that the game needs online access for the updates.

 

[Che5hire Cat]

Back then when my internet connection was so bad that I couldn't use it for online playing at all, I played New Leaf (and any other 3DS game) completely offline. I had no issues with it and still had lots of fun, even if it sometimes felt like as if I may missing out something (like not being able to use the Dream Suite, not getting any exclusive items etc.). Later, I actually got a better internet connection and was therefore able to go online which I did then, but I still preferred to play overall offline.

Nowadays, in the case of New Horizons, I do have Nintendo Online and use it every now and then for trades, but I still playing offline for most of the time. In my opinion, you can play Animal Crossing without any problems completely offline, and even if you want to play it online but don't wanna spend any money, then you can still use the free Nintendo Online trials.

 

[niko@kamogawa]

She can still play locally with her friends. This is especially helpful when trading resources and furniture. However, online experience is still a different beast for me. It offers a lot of benefits that I can't live without, honestly.

Maybe she can also consider starting a Nintendo family with her friends. She can cut down with subscription costs that way.

 

[Marshmallows]

I wouldn't discourage her from getting the game just because she won't have an online account. The basic game is all there and it's fun. There's really not a lot to do with friends online anyway, though not being able to trade or download custom designs would definitely be annoying and limiting. She can make her own designs, though, which can be fun. Or she could copy the pixel version some creators share. Plus, she can always get online later if she decides she really likes the game and wants more specific items.

I have online and have used it mostly for trades, but I often go weeks without trading or doing anything online. It's not essential, but I wouldn't want to give it up.

 

[nightglow]

I bet it would still be fun. I have the online stuff but even if I didn't I would still play. But if she decides later she is really enjoying the game, she could still get the online for a few months to get whatever custom design stuff or visit DAs. I think it is worth it if you are really enjoying it.

 

[Monokuma73]

I have a friend who’s planning to get into the game but she doesn’t have plans of paying a Nintendo online monthly subs (she doesn’t play any other Nintendo games) since she’ll be buying a switch lite just for this. She asked my opinion if it’ll still be fun if she plays it completely offline and I have no idea because I have online subs so I thought of asking anyone here who’s playing the game completely offline...is it still fun? ‘Cause I mean I have online and sometimes still get bored so I can’t imagine how it feels to play it completely offline. That means no visitors, no dream suite, no trading, no custom paths or clothes...should I just tell her not to bother at all?

I can tell from my perspective, I'm not playing ANY games online, PC / PS / Nintendo and for ACNH I'm playing online, just because local playing is merely impossible. Despite many advises I read so far, ACNH is very... unpredictable. In same circumstances it works with no problems, sometimes only one of two players can visit another island... and because it's only game I played together with my GF I decided to buy online access for one year.
For me, if I would play just myself - I would never do this.
What she could gain having online?

• Visiting dreams library - it's nice, but many of islands may be seen on YT
• Access to designs
• Ability to send / receive gifts / letters from other players
• Invite / visit

Most interactions are between player and island residents (animals) and playing online with another person, interactions are limited.
An idea of testing trial may be a good, but I would recommend to tell you friend, when she will not opt-out from this, she will be paying monthly until she will not give up.

 

[Holla]

I used to play Wild World and City Folk completely offline as I didn’t have wifi back then. I still loved and enjoyed both games.

Playing online is really fun and nice to do but it’s still a game you can play just fine without internet imo. Also if she has friends or family who play irl she can still do local play. Not as easy with a pandemic but it’s still an option.

I only use online features in NH every once and a while. 90% of my time in the game is spent offline.

 

[Silkfawn]

I don't. I think playing it offline is alright, especially if you have friends who play the game locally.

But the online adds a whole different experience and w/o it, I would've gotten bored of the game quite quickly and wouldn't have progressed in the game much.

I don't only enjoy working on my island, but sharing it w/ others is fun.
Cataloguing and trading Nook machine items w/ others got me so far in the game that w/o it I wouldn't be where I am in the game rn.
Kind people who opened their islands for me to sell my turnips at high price made me a millionaire very quickly.
Getting custom designs and custom clothes is fun.

So yeah, there are a lot of perks w/ the online membership, even though I think it should be free.

 

[sleepydreepy]

I have a friend who’s planning to get into the game but she doesn’t have plans of paying a Nintendo online monthly subs (she doesn’t play any other Nintendo games) since she’ll be buying a switch lite just for this. She asked my opinion if it’ll still be fun if she plays it completely offline and I have no idea because I have online subs so I thought of asking anyone here who’s playing the game completely offline...is it still fun? ‘Cause I mean I have online and sometimes still get bored so I can’t imagine how it feels to play it completely offline. That means no visitors, no dream suite, no trading, no custom paths or clothes...should I just tell her not to bother at all?

My sister plays completely offline, except she does use custom designs (this is recent, she use to not use them). Other than that she does not trade or connect with anyone online other than me (locally). I have bought stuff for her online and given it to her, but she herself does not make these trades.

Even though she plays offline she still has a great time in the game. She has been playing since launch and still plays to this day. She is fine not connecting with people online to trade or play with because that is not something she is interested in, so as long as your friend isn't planning on joining online AC communities I think they would still have a great time playing ACNH offline!

 

[GnarlyGarden]

I think the main thing your friend would miss out on is finding all the fruit. She would have her native fruit and sister fruit. Then, unless she had friends for local play, I don’t know any way to get the rest of the fruit.

 

[skarmoury]

I have an online subscription but I rarely use it because my internet is really slow. The only times I do is when I do a quick trade for items or villagers. ^^
Your friend can definitely still enjoy playing offline if she doesn't mind not having a complete colored catalog. I think that's the only cons to it! I play offline most of the time as well and still enjoy it because I mainly play to decorate my island and stuff.

 

[Livia]

I played offline for the first few months and I enjoyed it, but I was sad that I couldn’t get all the fruits or download custom designs. I started using free trials and enjoyed visiting other people. I eventually got an online subscription because of the island backup because I was afraid of losing my island.

Post automatically merged: Nov 5, 2020

You can get a free online trial every month for 100 platinum points. You just have to turn off automatic renewal every time so it doesn’t charge you.

 

[6iixx]

i generally only play offline, to be honest. i purchase my sub every month so that my fiance and i can sync up in game, and i can make trades, but it's not something that i generally use for beyond those reasons.

that being said, it's definitely still fun even in an offline sense. even without the extra help or items that i've received because of the online availability. there's still plenty to do, design, and discover without an online connection being readily available. it also depends on your personal play style, though.