How has your opinion on the game changed over time?

[-Apples-]

To those who have been playing ACNL for at least one year (especially since 2013), what was your opinion like when you first started playing, and what do you think of it now? Or if you want to be detailed, what was your experience over the years?

My take:

Back in 2013, I felt that Animal Crossing: New Leaf was the Animal Crossing game we all hoped for. I enjoyed the new features we had (such as PWPs, ordinances, and new clothes. I also loved some of the newer characters (especially Isabelle and Leif). There were only a few flaws, but that was okay.

In 2014, I changed my 10/10 rating for ACNL to a 9/10. Although there were a few flaws, they are very serious, as it made the game more frustrating. I didn?t care at the beginning, but when I started to become a town designer in ACNL when I made the town of StarFall, I began to witness how troubling the game is. The crazy animals moving anywhere freely was the worst part. I still loved the game a lot, but it was stressful.

It started to get stale in 2015, but in 2016, it improved due to the Welcome amiibo update. Like in 2013, the game felt fresh because of the new features added. I decided that I won?t make a new town in ACNL after StarFall, but after the update, I changed my mind.

But after I made the town of MoonGlow in 2017, the game started to get stale again. While I still thought the game is better, the aura of excitement died down two months after the update. At least I experienced the game both before and after the update.

To summarize this, I was very excited when the game came out and loved it, but now I?m like ?this game is good, but not exciting?. I still thought ACNL was the best Animal Crossing game, and the amiibo update made it better, but my interest died down.

 

[Sweetley]

It's for me like with all games: At first, everything is new, part for part you learn how the game
works and try to do your best. In case of New Leaf, I just strated to work at one point and then
slowly built up my town and everything. And of course, the more often and longer you play the
game, the more you get to know it and the things that were once new for you are not longer a
big deal. It's like, whenever I started a new town, I already knew what to do and things doesn't
take that long anymore. Sure, the Welcome Amiibo update was a nice addition and such, but only
for a while.

To make a long story short: The game is still entertaining for me and I also still enjoy playing it,
however, it's just not that special anymore for me as it used to be back then when I started to
play it.

 

[Tri]

I played basically the full year 2013-14, then forgot about it and have only played it in spurts. I remember thinking the game was too easy, especially with the island, but also that one year would be considered a great longetivity for anything else so it felt well designed to be able to have the largest house and a complete museum by then. I don't really think my opinion has changed from that, other than corroborating it's hard to return to with the blander villagers.

 

[Stackhouse]

I love landscaping the town, and the activites, the museum, it's all great.

As time goes by the place feels cramped.

I feel claustrophobic.
Villagers always in the way.

I'd love to fill the space the villagers take up with more PWP's.

 

[BamTheBoom]

Like I've been saying in other comments (oof I feel like a parrot), I used to feel like I had to rush to get everything done. I'd constantly make a new town, then remake it because the map or the name wasn't what I wanted. When I actually settled on a town, I did feel like the game was kind of too easy (and repetitive at times). I've yet to actually "complete" a town, but so far the game right now is what I'm looking for in a casual game. It's not perfect, but I'm still happy to play it for an hour or two a day and then log off until the next day. It doesn't have too many things going on at once, so I don't feel any pressure to complete anything. I'd like to be able to have more control over my town and the layout of it, but it's not a dealbreaker for me right now. I'd give the game an 8/10.

 

[BlueberryDream]

I only got new leaf in 2016, and I was SUPER EXCITED. I played wild world as a kid and hadn't played AC in years. New leaf was so amazing in comparison. I get bored sometimes, but I still love the game.

 

[Shellzilla_515]

I liked having the game at first. Don't get me wrong, it's one of my favourite games but once you start to see the flaws more, it kinda brings your interests down a bit. I'm pretty sure all games experience this because we may not see the flaws at first but identify them later on in our playthroughs.

 

[Becca617]

When I first got the game I was super super excited to play because I watched a playthrough of it on youtube and wanted to try it out for myself finally. I played wild world and city folk and hadn't played animal crossing for years so I was like really excited. I loved it and played for like a year straight and finally started to take big hiatuses from the game. The welcome amiibo update definitely gave me reason to come back to play but I find myself playing in big spurts and then another long hiatus. I thought it was the best animal crossing game by far at first but then I started to see opinion changing flaws like the watered down villager personalities (biggest flaw imo) and I grew a little farther from it.

 

[moonchu]

new leaf is the first animal crossing game that i, myself, have personally played (though i have seen gameplay of others via friends, videos, etc). the first year i was playing it, i was super amped. watched videos of playthrus in my spare time, was on the island at night until i passed out irl, played any chance that i could.

perhaps a lot of the reason of my enjoying it so much is that i don't compare it to the previous games, i just take it for what it is. i don't pine for aspects that other games had and this does not, stuff like that i guess? i put it down for a long time because i misplotted fang and didn't want to 16 villager cycle (which i eventually did half a year later, before the amiibo update :rolls_eyes.

i had put it down again and picked it up after the amiibo update to see what was up, bought a new game and started fresh. i'm still playing it but it does get super stale. as with all games, the game developers stop uploading new content (like the mail dlcs and stuff) and the dialogue gets really repetitive. so much so that i kind of find it a chore at times to talk to my villagers. the holidays i find boring to play through more than once, no incentives really.

overall, i still love the game. i can always find something to do, it's just now i really have to push myself to do so whereas before, new things sprang up. i wish that they could update the dialogue and stuff more, but that's just par for an old game's course. i think it is nice that i can just log in, run around, do my chores and quit when i have a lot of work to do. so it's okay.

 

[-Blue-]

To expect the same game to maintain your interest for 5+ years is a lofty expectation. NewLeaf, while with its flaws, opened a whole new experience to new fans and old. From someone who played the gc and ds version and bought the Wii game, but returned it before even opening/playing it (because I was so burnt out by the repetitiveness of the three similar games, New Leaf drew this gamer back into the world.

I won't say I play it as much as I did back when I first got it, but I still occasionally turn it on to mess around and have fun. I wouldn't drop my rating simply because I've been drawn to other games/interests. And when and if AC is announced for the Switch, I will buy that to.