It's kind of disheartening hearing so much criticism of this game lately...

[Your Local Wild Child]

I DO want to add that toxic positivity does exist, and even I have criticisms about the game (mostly about the butchered personalities and houses due to lack of key furniture themes). I’m also saying that people can have an opinion and I won’t hit peeps over the head to change it. At the same time, I’d rather if the opposite would be true, as well.

 

[TheKryptoKnight]

I mean, every critique video I've seen so far was well researched and full of reasonable complaints. I wouldn't consider that overly negative or ruining the community in some way.

I don't think people are ruining the community at all. And I don't think the critiques are unreasonable at all. I'm not trying to say I disagree with what's being said... But when I think about this game, "complain about what isn't there" is pretty low on my list of things I want to talk about. It's there. It's on the list. But it's low. Whereas it seems to be the top thing most are interested in focusing on...

 

[John Wick]

The game has some great graphics and some other good points, but it's more of a bland, content-light experience.

I can't stand crafting, but that aside, after three months the DIY's are repeating and that won't hold peoples interest for long.

They should take a look a what made NL so popular, like Tortimer island for example, or the ability to change your house style.

There are so many things they could/should have done, but they've made it a large PC copy without the decent items.

The crafting, back to back tourney's, the drip fed content, the gathering materials like heart crystals, that is what PC had us doing.

I'm really disappointed in the even further dumbed down than NL - villager dialogue.

It's like I'm at pre school.

The game has so much potential.

 

[Le Ham]

My solution's been to mostly get my head out of the AC community world for a while. Can't change people's need to talk and be heard, but I can change my exposure to it. Honestly if people started deliberately posting the exact same threads here every week on repeat I wouldn't even notice at this point.

Bit of culture clash too, I'd say. Depends on how you grew up learning to value gratefulness, criticism, outlook on things, how you view optimism or if you even care about it. Complaining often involves accusations of self-entitlement, but toxic positivity is similarly silencing. Again, can't change that, but can unplug, drink some coffee, look out my window, realize it really isn't that important in the grand scheme of things. I enjoy playing my game. Great. Not worth the effort to argue the point if I expect to accomplish something.

Personally, I find I enjoy the game more when I'm not constantly thinking about how it doesn't live up to whatever expectations I was supposed to hold over it. Yes I have genuine concerns, mostly QoL and small details, but I also respect what they did a good job on. I don't have a problem with the fact people don't view it the same way, even as it annoys me greatly to see the complaints and whining so often - what I do have a problem with is when people say it's a bad thing for newcomers to AC to be enjoying the game and recently added features. It's like a "if I can't enjoy it neither should you" outlook. If people are really enjoying going diving for the first time, because it's new to them, what's that to you? Let em enjoy it!

 

[mayortiffany]

I think that it's fair that people criticize the game, especially since we have spent so much time with it now. As many of us have played the game for months now, we now have a much better idea about the pros and cons of the game. This game isn't cheap, and neither is the Switch. So long as people are being respectful about their feedback, of course. Hopefully, Nintendo will be able to take into consideration for future updates or for the next game!

After all, if we don't voice our critiques about the game, how can Nintendo have a chance of taking them into account?

And before anyone asks: no, I haven't time-travelled in the game. No, I haven't spent 24/7 on the game, being a full-time student for much of the game's release. Full disclosure, I've played around ~245 hours.

Even if someone does time travel or spend lots of time on the game, their opinion is absolutely valid as well.

 

[Tobyjgv]

I think that it's fair that people criticize the game, especially since we have spent so much time with it now. As many of us have played the game for months now, we now have a much better idea about the pros and cons of the game. This game isn't cheap, and neither is the Switch. So long as people are being respectful about their feedback, of course. Hopefully, Nintendo will be able to take into consideration for future updates or for the next game!

After all, if we don't voice our critiques about the game, how can Nintendo have a chance of taking them into account?

And before anyone asks: no, I haven't time-travelled in the game. No, I haven't spent 24/7 on the game, being a full-time student for much of the game's release. Full disclosure, I've played around ~245 hours.

Even if someone does time travel or spend lots of time on the game, their opinion is absolutely valid as well.

Preach!! It bothers me that some people talk bad about time travellers, or invalidate them, when they are just doing it because it's how they want to play the game, like using it to accomodate for school (only being able to play in the night, but setting it back for day), or not being able to play during holidays/events/for any other reason. They love the game just as much, they just play it in a slightly different way, which is totally cool! Their opinions matter just as much

 

[Mick]

A lot of the criticism is fair, but I think you'll find that a whole lot of it is just the same handful of users dumping the same negativity everywhere they go. The vast majority of the people that have played this game are having a great time, we're just seeing a very vocal minority.

The criticism is also to be expected for this game, it happens to every sequel that tries to take a slightly different approach; you'll have the players from the earlier title(s) complaining that it isn't what they were expecting because they are used to a different style of playing and whatever the new approach is might not be what they like. I don't think you can blame them for that.

That said, even as someone who does like the game a lot, you simply cannot deny that the game lacks quality of life features, ones that pretty much everyone will notice while playing.

 

[Ciary]

ok, few things:
First of all, the problem people seem to have right now is that they can no longer spend a whole day playing and will get bored quickly. but animal crossing was never meant to be played for hours upon hours day after day anyway. it's not that kind of experience. But because of that, they become more aware the problems. and they talk about it.
Then there is the part where the game is unfinished and that stuff is missing. Probably? but I think a monthly update that adds new stuff is a good way to pace progress. it makes all the features less overwhelming because you have time to familiarize yourself with them before they add the next one. also it's good for a player base ^_^
Lastly, yes there are some criticisms I have about the game. but I have those about every game. things that I feel don't work well and could be improved. or things that I would have wanted differently. some of these are things I know won't be fixed in updates. but that's fine.

 

[wanderlust//]

I mean, without criticism, nothing could really get better, right?
Take singing, for example. (ofc CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM, PEOPLE. NOT BLATANT INSULTS)
Imagine if you sang reallllly off-key. Or you couldn’t ever hit any note the right way. And you thought you could. So you go to a vocal coach. Without criticism, your vocal coach would tell you that she likes your tone (maybe the one “good” thing about your voice. adding quotes to good because I’m not trying to say that singing a little off-key makes you a bad singer. you just need some lessons.) and that you’re good. So, you’d continue to sing off-key forever (because a vocal coach said you’re good, yeah?) and think you’re stellar. Now, imagine this but your vocal coach telling you that you’re a bit off-key, telling you what steps you need to get to the right key, and giving you tips. You’d learn, progress, and eventually have that stellar voice you were aiming for.
Obviously singing and AC are completely different things, but the idea is the same. Nothing can get better without criticism because otherwise it would continue on a loooong path of mediocrity, thinking that it’s all that.

 

[patchworkbunny]

I think I joined this forum at the point a lot of people got bored with the game, so I do sometimes look at comments and wonder why people are still playing if they are hating it so much? I think the solution is just to try and avoid the more negative sounding threads and videos. Constant negativity over something you like can be disheartening and I don't think the people saying "games need criticism" are getting the point that people playing the game don't need to see that criticism. Everything is so public these days though, everyone wants to know that their opinion is going far and wide. This is why I take social media breaks, it can be a bit much even when I agree with everything.

 

[Aronthaer]

I can't even imagine putting 500 hours into a video game and then complaining about a lack of content lmao

 

[Chris]

People have exhausted all there is to offer by burning through hundreds of hours on it very quickly, and instead of accepting that their play style is the problem they are blaming the developer. Content is finite. It's the same for any game. Most games these days won't give you even a hundred hours of fun.

I'm sure anyone here who has sunk hundreds (if not thousands) of hours into games such as The Sims or MMORPGs over the years understands that in the beginning, it feels like the game is infinite, but once you've played everything in the latest update it begins to feel empty - not because the game offers nothing to do but because after hundreds of hours you have simply done everything. It's fine. Games are meant to be completable.

People with casual playstyles are going to be happiest in the long-run.

 

[ThomasNLD]

It feels like it has been that way from the start, the negativity. Its normal, but its also a bit annoying. I understand people tend to criticize what they care about, but I always try to the see the balance in it. I love the game myself so I can quite easily put it aside but at the same time it feels a bit weird to hear everyone know better than the people actually skilled enough to make a game like this a reality. Its just life I suppose.

 

[niko@kamogawa]

Honestly, you should spend more time in this forum.

The people here are so nice and kind that it will blow out all of that negativity away!

Surely, we still discuss some issues within the game. But we tend to still have a positive outlook about them. We would just laugh it all off and make fun of it.

Just make sure to ignore the rant thread though.

 

[HungryForCereal]

My only complaint is the lack of furniture. Thats it.

 

[dedenne]

i find it funny how a lot of people who are complaining that theres nothing to do also have hundreds of hours spent on this game. clearly theres something to do, otherwise u wouldnt have spent that much time playing it.
with that being said, there are fair criticisms and a game should be critiqued if we want better games in the future.

 

[Mairmalade]

It’s fair that players compare New Horizons to previous titles, but they’re still different games. If New Horizons doesn’t have features or items we enjoyed in New Leaf, that doesn’t automatically make it an incomplete game.

Sure, there’s functionality that could be improved and makes me think, “why wasn’t this considered?” e.g.: crafting, storage, inconvenient shopping at Able’s, but it’s still a decently solid game. I’m thankful we’re getting what seems to be monthly DLC. It will only improve upon itself and keep things fresh by bringing back activities that were well-received and adding new experiences/items to explore.

I’m guilty of playing the game for 6-8 hours a day for weeks after it first released which led me to seeing, doing, and completing everything the game had to offer at that time. My hours would pick up again at the start of the month for new creatures and then fall back down again. I still enjoy leisurely roaming and playing on my island in small bursts as it has a certain charm that never completely goes away. It just doesn’t hold my attention as long as it once did.

You can only catch so many fish and redesign locations on your island so many times until you get bored and want something else - something more - to do. That’s a natural cycle.

 

[JSS]

The only big complaint I agree with is that we need more furniture...

That's the only thing that doesn't bother me yet but I don't decorate my character's house beyond the first room, just because I don't see the point when I never go into those rooms.

I also think that time traveling has a part to play with how negative people are to this game. They "completed" this game way too early, so they really didn't enjoy this game the way it was meant to be enjoyed.

Some may dislike me for this or say I'm entitled or whatever the current buzzwords are, but I'm someone who voices my criticism, and I played the game with zero time travel and only a few hours a day at most during the first two months and I still saw some obvious issues with it, mostly QOL. Basic things too which made me question if they had even tested it. Then there were also game breaking glitches with simple things like inviting a villager to move in via campsite while another was in boxes already. If you picked a different villager to move out the other one would stay in boxes every new day. You'd presume they would have thought of that during development. I also don't agree with the "how it's meant to be enjoyed" argument. For example, they obviously made this game with extensive trading in mind. Well what about people without online? Not everyone lives in a busy Japanese city where most people own a Switch to trade locally with. I'm in Europe and when I went to order my game at a store they didn't even know what "an Animal Crossing" was, so if I hadn't gotten the subscription I'd be out of certain things now. No one should feel like they have to play with strangers to fully enjoy the game and Nintendo shouldn't have to tell you how to enjoy a game in the first place. And don't even get me started on basic things that you could do in New Leaf but can't in this one for no apparent reason.

I understand people feeling attached to NH and AC overall, I myself think this is already the best AC game so far, but only because I see its potential and I know it's going to get free updates with missing beloved features and characters. I can tell you I wouldn't say this if Nintendo was like "well, that's it, guys, enjoy". No. Sorry for the huge rant.

 

[Trent the Paladin]

I mean the reason I complain/criticize the New Horizons is because I find it lacking in so many personal departments. The game is still fun in bursts and for just casually wasting time with dear friends, but solo play just isn’t that exciting for me right now. My goals in every AC title have pretty much loosely been the following:

1) Pay off house
2) Collect the furniture I like to decorate said house
3) Finish the museum exhibits

To me, my game is complete when those goals are accomplished and game time after that is just me relaxing/having fun with friends. But right now in NH, only one goal has been accomplished and that’s house payments. The furniture series I loved in past games either vanished or presumably got changed into DIYs that need to be customized. Museum will probably take the rest of the year if I don’t cave and simply start buying art off sellers here, mostly because I don’t think NH will hold my attention long enough for me to care. Nintendo will keep tweaking and I’ll keep coming back probably, but I’m just disappointed that we got a game that feels less complete and far far slower than previous entries.

 

[-Blue-]

Many of us (I see some of you joined in March 2020 or after) were playing Animal Crossing before NH. So we're a bit upset about what we once had and what we have now. You can't blame people for that. They don't want to go a few steps forward and back at the same time. Terra-forming is awesome and so is being able to throw furniture out like it's pwps. But it's not enough to carry the game.

Every other game was complete by the time you made your purchase. You weren't waiting on basic stuff (that existed in previous games) to be implemented 5 months down the line. So when people got the burn out, they got it when they had access to everything. All they had to do was work hard to get to that point if it was locked behind progress. Now it's locked behind a date.