Is it just me or is it way too hard to get villager requests in New Horizons?

[VanitasFan26]

I seriously don’t understand how we went from older Animal Crossing games, where villagers would constantly ask you to do things, to New Horizons, where I can talk to them five times a day and still not receive a single request. Not even a “Hey, can you catch me a bug?” or a “Can you return this item to someone for me?”

Most of the time, they either repeat dialogue I’ve heard a million times or they get annoyed that I’m even trying to talk to them more than once. I wait, I try again later, and I speak to them during different parts of the day—and nothing. And the one time I do get a request? It’s once in a blue moon and never comes back for the rest of the day.

I don’t want to decorate my island all the time. I want to bond with my villagers. I want to do favors for them, like in Wild World or New Leaf. It made me feel like I was part of a little community. Now it feels like I’m just walking past NPCs who occasionally compliment a flower I placed six months ago.

It’s wild to me that in a game all about “slowing down and connecting with your neighbors,” the neighbors barely give you anything to do unless they’re thinking about moving out. And even then, the thought bubble roulette is exhausting.

I get that NH was trying to focus more on the creative aspect, and that’s fine. But for players who enjoy the social sim side of Animal Crossing, it just feels like something important got lost. The villagers look cuter than ever, but they’ve never felt more hollow.

Anyone else feel this way? Or am I just being too nostalgic?

 

[-Blue-]

Oh dang you're right. I forgot that was a feature in this game. I just assumed they took it out lmao. They really did put the villagers and almost everything else on the backburner for a decorator sim. And that's such a shame.

I just made a post earlier about how annoying they made it to get reactions in this game. With NewLeaf Shrunk gave them if you gifted him fruit or a bamboo shoot. And they could be done daily. In NH you can go days without getting a ping for a reaction or even longer.

I used to also see the villagers have duo conversations all the time. Now I never see them. It's almost like they reduced the possibility in some patch so it has less of a chance. Then when I finally see one happening it's the short duo conversations where one villager asks to take the others catchphrase.

But you're right. I never see them ask for any tasks at all. They actually did it so much in NewLeaf that I got annoyed and wish there was an option like in PG where you could ask 'Give me work!' because it was so annoying to want to talk to them and each time they just turned you into their personal butler. Why can't there be a middle ground Nintendo lol?

 

[VanitasFan26]

Oh dang you're right. I forgot that was a feature in this game. I just assumed they took it out lmao. They really did put the villagers and almost everything else on the backburner for a decorator sim. And that's such a shame.

I just made a post earlier about how annoying they made it to get reactions in this game. With NewLeaf Shrunk gave them if you gifted him fruit or a bamboo shoot. And they could be done daily. In NH you can go days without getting a ping for a reaction or even longer.

I used to also see the villagers have duo conversations all the time. Now I never see them. It's almost like they reduced the possibility in some patch so it has less of a chance. Then when I finally see one happening it's the short duo conversations where one villager asks to take the others catchphrase.

But you're right. I never see them ask for any tasks at all. They actually did it so much in NewLeaf that I got annoyed and wish there was an option like in PG where you could ask 'Give me work!' because it was so annoying to want to talk to them and each time they just turned you into their personal butler. Why can't there be a middle ground Nintendo lol?

Yeah, that middle ground is precisely what’s missing. In New Leaf, it could get a bit much, sure, but at least the villagers felt involved in your day-to-day. Now it’s the opposite: barely any tasks, barely any reactions, and the duo convos feel super rare or watered down. It’s like they pulled too far in the other direction. There’s room for more meaningful interactions without turning it into a chore.