How do you feel about AC becoming much more general audience based?

[Brookie]

I know the title sounds odd. I tried 8 different titles, and they still all sounded odd for the question I wanted to ask.

How do you feel about this? New Leaf was considered a specific niche within Nintendo, and now AC strongly appeals to a much larger audience.

There are some positives out of this. I originally thought "oh that means modern gaming!", but no - the quality of life and menu-ing mechanics are quite bad. On the other hand, we do have skin colors (major for me being of African descent), more character customization, loads of freedom with town design, and more modern mechanics in ways other than the QOL & menus. New Horizons improved in SO many aspects, BUT I also feel like AC lost its charm that I came to love so dearly.

I'd say I'm not completely unhappy with it, but I'm not super happy with it either.

Disclaimer: I don't mind more people like it. I mind that they took out the charm that I view AC to have.

 

[your local goomy]

I just don't like it. The QOL upgrades could've been easily added without AC becoming generalized like this. To me, NH is just bland and Nintendo seems to be trying to pump out as much merchandise as they can, but maybe that's just me being bitter over the Puma collab. I just miss when AC was about interacting with and occasionally getting bullied by animals instead of the lifeless, happy-go-lucky "safe space" it's become.

 

[Moritz]

I like pretty much every change they made for the game.

I love terraforming and crafting
I really like being able to easily change my clothes and appearance.
I love being able to place items outside, make bridges and inclines, move rocks, and select where houses and shops go.

I dont really miss the removed NPCs.

Katrina was all to do with luck. And I hated the luck mechanic. It felt really bad to have bad luck days. And good luck days made normal luck days underwhelming.

Shampoodles was a way to change your appearance and we now have a vastly superior way to do this. I'm glad she's gone.

The Roost was okay. Kinda (very) boring.
Far too shallow of a gaming experience for me.

The post office I wouldnt mind returning. Just so long as the method of sending mail remains as it is now. I really disliked having to buy paper and carry it around. And the separate bag for letters you've written. It was so inconvenient but now it's nice and simple.

I never liked tortimers island. Having an island always in summer took the fun out of summer.
The ride to the island was very charming though.

For me the only things I think the game is missing is minigames to play with friends.
It would be so nice to have a reason to go visit a friends island again.

Some more items would also be cool but not overly needed.

I also wish villagers would ask for favours more often.
They always try to buy or sell items. But i want more chores from them XD


But overall I think I've gained a lot more from this game than I've lost from other installments.

As for if I think its good that the game has appealed to a wide audience this time around.
I think its great! The more fans of the series means the more seriously they will take the series.
Plus, it's fun watching people villager hunt on YouTube.

Hopefully that answers your question.
I'll admit I wasn't completely sure what it was haha

 

[Etown20]

In general, I think it's a good thing more people are playing and enjoying games, including Animal Crossing. If anything, I hope this will mean Nintendo gives more thought/attention/care to the series moving forward.

I don't necessarily think simplifying or removing aspects of the game was a cynical or corporate move to make the series more popular, I think it was more just Nintendo misunderstanding some of the things fans wanted from a NL sequel.

 

[WaileaNoRei]

I think to imply new players ‘hopping on the train’ don’t understand the series, as if there is some entry requirement to enjoy playing a video game sounds a lot like gate keeping - implying there are ‘real fans’ and fans who don’t count as much or have as much right to enjoy the game

the extremely high level of social media that exists in the world generally and the timing of the game release put a lot of attention on the game initially, it is true. And yeah, social media can be pretty terrible and social media content seems to make some people feel like there is only one way to enjoy the game or that they can’t enjoy the same things they used to in the game. However, neither of these things actually effect the game itself at all, only the reception of it.

I’m sorry if more people playing the game makes you enjoy it less or feel like you are losing something.

personally, I am thankful the game had a however brief moment in the spotlight. It allowed people like me to discover this series for the first time. I wish I had been able to discover it before, but I just didn’t know about it, not being much of a gamer in general. I am very happy to have found it and find it absolutely charming and enjoyable. I don’t really involve myself in the social media content related to the game so that does not effect how I play, not sure if that makes a difference.

But no, I do not think people like me finding and loving this game makes it worse.

 

[Ganucci]

I've thought about this and have always felt very mixed. On the one hand, it's great that AC is in the public eye because it means 1.) we don't have to worry about them ever cancelling the franchise and 2.) we have lots of people to talk to and trade with. However, back when it was "niche" (and I put that in quotes because New Leaf sold very well, AC just wasn't in the public eye enough for everyone to know what it was), it felt like we had a small, special community. I do miss those "small town" vibes where only a few of us really knew AC, but it's also really cool that my friends and family who had never touched the game now know of it and some even own it.

After writing that, I think I don't mind it getting so big because as I sort of expected, the popularity has waned and now we are back to a smaller group of fans still actively playing. While this game deserves many of the criticisms it gets, it's nice not seeing as many negative threads being created as I personally attributed that to people who didn't understand what AC was. For example, people who have problems with the fact that the holidays are the same every year. In every AC game ever the holidays didn't change and neither did the items. At least now with ACNH we get some new items, even if it isn't very many. This is awesome, but new players to the game I guess expected something new every single time, which would be awesome, but if you know AC, you wouldn't necessarily expect this.

 

[Moonlight.]

animal crossing is a cute series and i have no problem with more people trying it out, whether they check it out for a little bit or decide to stick around. my only real complaint are newer people who complain about series staples; yes you will get bored and put it down to play something else at times, yes the holidays stay the same every year, yes the dialogue can get frustrating, etc. that's just part of the animal crossing experience lol.

that being said, i think nintendo could do a better job mixing both QOL changes and keeping part of the series charm. e.g. it's cool to change your appearance in the mirror, but bring shampoodles back as a way to get more unique hairstyles/accessories, bring kapp'n back as a way to visit more unique islands for special events/holidays, etc. just sorta shocked at how seemingly little nintendo supported this game when it exploded in popularity like it did

 

[Moritz]

just sorta shocked at how seemingly little nintendo supported this game when it exploded in popularity like it did

To me its not that surprising as it seems fairly logical for them to not have done.

Their sales of the game have exceeded every other game in the series combined. I think its safe to say their projected sales figures were blown out of the water. Most people who had even a slight interest in the game have probably bought it. So buy adding lots more stuff to the game, they probably won't get much more money from it. So in theory, the more hours they spend working on the game now, just causes them to lose money.

And if we look at the reception of the game from the first 6 months, it was very well received. Review scores were 9 - 10/10.
From the community, there wasn't much in the way of complaints and everyone was super happy.

Its only really been since the updates stopped giving us more than a few items, that people have started to be as negative to the game as they have been.
Which of course is understandable if they thought the updates would eventually bring what they felt the game was lacking.
And it's now we have been told to expect something to come later this year.

So the way I see it, is that they made a game they doubted they could sell that many more copies of and everyone was super happy. So there was no need to put in lots more stuff.
Now people are complaining, they are concerned people might not buy their next game, and it's becoming worth their while to invest more time into it. (This is assuming of course they did mean the "fun activities" theyre adding later this year is activities, and not just another vegetable with sticks coming out of it)

 

[VanitasFan26]

The way I see it its pretty much divided. You have people (like myself) who heard about Animal Crossing from YouTubers, but never actually played the games. I watched videos on AC to get an understanding of why it was liked in the first place. I was impressed with it and thats how I got my hands on New Horizons last year. I did not know how the game was played and it took me an entire year to get used to it but now I know and understand concept of this game.

While on the other side you have people who have been playing Animal Crossing since the very beginning, saying how the newer games just feels much of a "downgrade" because it mostly has to do with the villager dialogue. Yes I know this argument is getting old, but I was one of those people who agreed with them. I did more testing and I found out that you do get more unique dialogue when playing through the day, but the problem is, is that the next day all those conversations are repeated and the game is RNG at picking what dialogue you're going to get.

So yeah both sides of the AC Community are divided. You have new people just playing it saying its "The BEST AC ever", while at the same time you have people who played the older AC games saying "Its the worst ever". For me I am somewhere in the middle. I do see both arguments and I understand why the old fans don't feel the same charm with the newer games, than with the old games. Yes some things from the old AC games could've been brought back, but in a way I can understand why Nintendo did this. To keep the newer AC games refreshing and letting you do different things. I remember City Folk getting backlash for it being too similar too the old AC and Wild World.

As for what happens in the future of AC its unknown. It will be interesting to see where Animal Crossing New Horizons will go in the future and whenever the next Nintendo console comes out you can be sure there would be a new mainline Animal Crossing game and they will learn all the mistakes from New Horizons.

TLTR: Its a game that appeal to most casual audience, but may not interest hardcore gamers.

 

[Brookie]

I think to imply new players ‘hopping on the train’ don’t understand the series, as if there is some entry requirement to enjoy playing a video game sounds a lot like gate keeping - implying there are ‘real fans’ and fans who don’t count as much or have as much right to enjoy the game

I'm sorry I made it seem that way. And I think you misunderstood the main point in my post. I don't mind more people like it. I mind that they took out the charm that I view AC to have.

And you also make some good points later in your post. I agree with you on many points

 

[McRibbie]

Is it wrong if I've never really felt as if Animal Crossing was ever a niche franchise? Like, the game's generally a top 10 franchise for every Nintendo console it's ever been on (aside from the Wii and Wii U, but shhhh), that's hardly niche. Niche Nintendo franchises are stuff like Pikmin, Sutte Hakkun or F-Zero, not Animal Crossing, a life sim with cute animal characters (ie something that's inherently really easy to sell)

I DO kind of think that NH is over-QOL'd and there's arguably too much freedom to the point where it generally impacts on how Animal Crossing as a series works and its "charm", and in some ways I think the next entry needs to scale back on that whilst also making something new (which is a mammoth task, I don't envy the devs one bit), but I'm also old enough to remember the constant cries of "Nintendo, why can't I have ultimate control over my 1,000,000 bell popular villagers, but I also want them to be mean to me!" on here, so I generally can't blame that on "trying to court a mainstream audience", more "the devs being too obliging to feedback that on paper sounds good, but hasn't been thought through properly to think what the potential trade-offs are".

But despite my salty comments there, I generally do want more people around to play it, regardless of what the form of AC currently is. I'm generally opposed to gatekeeping the franchise just because there's people who've been here a long time going "I WAS HERE FIRST, THIS IS MY LITTLE ESCAPE, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND IT" because dude, you also... kind of don't? You're acting as if it's an isolated, single-player experience rather than something that's designed to be a shared experience, between friends, families and communities. That's ultimately a magical thing, and it's much better than going "wuhh, you had to be there, man" and acting as if AC was your special club.

Personally, in some ways NH is very much my jam, and in other ways I'm sorely unsatisfied. I neither think of it as the best or the worst AC, because each have their own strengths and weaknesses to me, and in general the discourse is so polarised it's probably the best choice to look at it that way. I look forward to see what else is added, even if COVID and having a smaller team than proper development's meaning that this is taking agonisingly long, and I also look forward to meeting new players and seeing where Animal Crossing goes next!

 

[Brookie]

but I'm also old enough to remember the constant cries of "Nintendo, why can't I have ultimate control over my 1,000,000 bell popular villagers, but I also want them to be mean to me!" on here, so I generally can't blame that on "trying to court a mainstream audience", more "the devs being too obliging to feedback that on paper sounds good, but hasn't been thought through properly to think what the potential trade-offs are".

You make a very good point here. We complained a lot with New Leaf, and now we want it back in some ways. I would say it's very vague and murky how much blame we can put on Nintendo. They are a business too so profits matter.

 

[JellyBeans]

i would say on the whole it definitely can't be considered a bad thing for animal crossing to be gaining as much popularity as it has done over the last year or so - sure, some people who are picking the game up for the first time might not appreciate the more casual gameplay to the same degree as the series regulars who enjoy the nostalgia and the cosy memories associated with the relaxed playstyle, but like others have said that certainly doesn't make them 'less' of an animal crossing fan just because they joined late. (not implying you said this by the way, just sort of making that point). with a wider audience available to make comments on the game, yes i am so happy that we've had more customisation options and other freedoms in comparison to previous titles but equally there is that lack of certain staples from previous games (e.g. brewster) because newer players aren't going to have that same attachment to the characters and so won't root for that change as hard.

i'm not sure if i'm making any sense here but i think my point is i'm so glad more people are playing animal crossing and getting the casual gameplay experience, even if it doesn't appeal to them as much as it perhaps does to more long term players with a strong sense of nostalgia attached to the title. but again like others have said, i am by no means trying to gatekeep and say 'oh newer players don't have memories attached to the game and don't appreciate it enough so they can't play' - we were all new once? i think i should actually stop typing now. i'm excited for the future of animal crossing though, and look forward to seeing where they'll go with it next! (first stop, fingers crossed, will be QOL in NH)

 

[peachmilke]

I don't think it's a bad thing for the game to bring a new perspective. I don't think the shortcomings of the game can be placed on it garnering more attention from a broader audience, if anything that SHOULD have encouraged Nintendo to do even more for the game. I'm a relatively new player, only having had slight experiences with WW and PC before picking up NH and I still want most of the same things older players wanted to be added. Things like more multiplayer options in a game this popular only would make sense, and I see a ton of people complaining about the repeating of villager dialogue and I doubt all those players are older players of the franchise.
I just feel at the end of the day them attempting to appeal to a broader audience off the bat isn't the bad thing, it's just how they proceeded to drop the ball afterwards.

 

[Audrey Marie]

I agree, I feel like it lost its charm as well. While I love being able to customize almsot anything, part of the fun was making do with what you get! I also really am not a fan of the music. It feels like elevator music. ACNL, for example, had music that had more emotion too it I feel like. TBH I like ACNL the best but ACNH isn't bad, just not my favorite.

 

[JKDOS]

Terraforming is a nice addition, but it leaves cliffs the shortest ever seen in Animal Crossing, it's not very good looking when you look back at New Leaf or City Folk

I agree, I feel like it lost its charm as well. While I love being able to customize almsot anything, part of the fun was making do with what you get! I also really am not a fan of the music. It feels like elevator music. ACNL, for example, had music that had more emotion too it I feel like. TBH I like ACNL the best but ACNH isn't bad, just not my favorite.

I think if more of the OST could match the style the prologue used, or even the style the NMT Islands and Tortimer Island in New Leaf used that would be great.

The prologue is a very peaceful, calming, and relaxing song, which is also on the quiet side, so it never drowns out the core game play, but functions as actual background music. A lot of the ACNH tracks are much louder in comparison, and don't have a relaxing feel to them. 2AM is the closest song we have to the prologue, and works well as it uses piano instead of synth or brass.

The island music from New Leaf, and the NMT islands have an island feel to it, especially with the steel drums. Not sure why ACNH decided to go so heavy with synth and brass

 

[DinosaurDumpster]

It's... strange. Everything is boring, and doesn't have that same feeling of excitement you get once you get finished with the beginning of the game, and are finally free to start getting upgrades, unlocking stores, and not gonna lie, I miss villagers randomly moving in wherever they wanted. It makes me actually want to do something so I get that sense of accomplishment, ya know?

With NH, I loved it the first year- but, the drive to get those accomplishments was lost. It was SO easy to get all of the upgrades, ways of earning money were kind of boring, and the beginning felt easier than it was in NL for me. You could place 30 sea bass' you caught in the ocean after a long day of hunting for coealacanths and i'd get 3 stars. It's pretty much what most life sims are doing nowadays. It's just focusing on aesthetics and getting the 'main game' and 'accomplishments' out of the way first so people can focus on their aesthetics and not really adding in much gameplay or interesting dialogue that makes you intrigued about these characters that are in your game. Also, tools were so annoying. Breakable gold tools, really? I hated the idea of crafting in general and wasn't for me at all. If I want to craft something in a game, i'll play Minecraft. Crafting just isn't something I think of when I hear the title "Animal Crossing". Iconic features from pretty much all of the older games evaporated out of thin air and the game started to feel like a shell of what the series was. No Rover to start us off, Porter isn't there to welcome you to town, Tom Nook isn't yelling at you to pay the bills nor is Resetti there to ruin your game if you forgot to save and quit, Isabelle and practically every other character is a robot... it's just sad to see. I also miss the little intro before you entered the game and it's basically just a built-in options menu if you want to delete the save or change the time and date, as well as important announcements. It was charming, and I really love it. That menu was my childhood. The music was also a really memorable thing for me. I remember me and my sister would play all day, then 7pm came on and we'd jam. NH's hourly OST is honestly just the same. song. over. and over. and over. and over again. It's repetitive. Especially the beginning of the game music. It's tiring to hear all the time. There was also Happy Home Showcase. It felt like i was there for hours looking at the 4 homes that were there (i didn't leave my house, and I still don't)

NH does have some positives- like being able to choose your skin tone, terraforming was... a cool idea, Customizing your character in a mirror and wands were fun for a bit, placing furniture outside, and the new reactions are really amazing. But it's the little things, and a few big things, that what make it lack. It's fun for a while, but then its bland. I'm really happy that majority of us play this game now, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to enjoy NL more than I do NH now because of how disappointed I am with it right now. I understand that the team was trying something new with the formula since it was getting a bit repetitive... but that doesn't mean to abandon staple features from the series, right?

 

[Croconaw]

I understand what you mean. I kind of felt that way with Pokémon Go. Some of the people who claimed Pokémon was a kids game were suddenly fans of Pokémon Go. It’s not to say you had to have been a fan for a certain amount of time to enjoy a game, but some people were quick to join the fandom.

I think Animal Crossing is changing. Lots of fans that grew up with Animal Crossing are now adults, and this game targets a younger audience. It’s changing because kids are different than they were fifteen or so years ago. The style of play we used to enjoy may not cater to the younger fans today. I think the lockdown had a lot to do with the new fans though. The government closing schools down gave kids more opportunity to play this game, and parents bought the game to keep their kids entertained during the lockdown.

 

[Brookie]

[shortened]

I understand that the team was trying something new with the formula since it was getting a bit repetitive... but that doesn't mean to abandon staple features from the series, right?

This. Your whole post pretty much sums up how I feel about the game overall. I hope this doesn't come off as a petty complaint thread. I just wanted to know how people thought about (what i see as) taking the niche and quirk out of animal crossing.

 

[Rosch]

I think New Horizons is experimental. From the title itself, you can tell that they're trying to do something different (and they actually are). I think lots of things were intentionally removed. Too bad a wider audience gave them a bigger backlash though.