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

[naranjita]

it's easier for people to point out what they don't like about something than what they do like about it, which is why we see so much negativity, not just about NH but about games and media in general.

honestly, I think in a couple of years this will be the best AC game ever made, after they add the stuff that's been hinted at through datamining (like the Dream Suite which seems basically confirmed at this point). but 2 years is a long time to wait for a game that should be complete on release date. I feel like Nintendo lately has been releasing their first party titles in a really poor state, which is very odd for them. it's not just AC, but Fire Emblem: Three Houses could've used a few more months in the oven, and although I don't play Pokemon I heard Sword/Shield had some issues too.

 

[LilBabyDelirium]

Some of the complaint of boredom with the game coming out of some people speaks more on what they're able to do with the game versus what the game actually has to offer.

My main account and Switch is not a time travel account and I am still working on perfecting the build, the aesthetic, the decorations, etc. I have been playing since the hour of game release in the US and I still have plenty to do. I use my secondary account and Switch to time travel, acquire items and decorations for my main account, and to acquire items for giveaways. Then when I finally finish decorating and perfecting my main island, I'll have a second island to start on!

This game is meant to be played in real time. If players are time traveling themselves out of being able to enjoy the game, then they're not doing it correctly. Lol

That all said, there ARE some issues with the way we have to achieve things in game-- not being able to craft in bulk, not seeing the grid when placing objects, not having all the furniture options we want, etc. But the beauty of having the developers being able to update the game means they can potentially fix these issues.

In some instances it's just boiling down to a lack of patience. I LOVE this game and I can wait for things to be added or perfected. Look how long we waited for it to be released! Lol I also think about how all of these updates would be considered "downloadable content" and monetized on other systems and we're getting them for free!

I, for one, feel like I have gotten my $60 worth out of this game. In fact, I have paid for this game SIX TIMES in my household. (Two for me, two for my husband, one for each of my two kids.) This game has kept us sane and happy during the quarantine. I'm so happy to have had this "distraction". On my main account alone, I have played over 805 hours. Worth every bit of time spent so far and time I will spend in the future. <3

 

[Mikaiah]

Yep, as much as I love ACNH and as much as complaining about something is annoying or upsetting… it’s pretty outdated when it comes to design.

Any popular online game from even like 2004 knocks it out of the park when it comes to QoL, trading, and communication with other players. The loading cutscene is probably the biggest offender. The “Wuh-Oh!” is outright inexcusable for a game released in 2020. Seriously, why does it take 10 minutes to come to another island when I can play with tons of people at once in Minecraft or CoD? It might seem weird for a AC game, but a Runescape or WoW-like trading system would be a breath of fresh air.

When you play for over 100 hours, you start to notice these things. At least it’s not as bad as Pokémon…

Console games often have a similar problem due to everything being highly client-sided. AC was never intended to work like an MMO, trading was intended at most to be done in small groups of friends.

Dodo codes are a huuuge improvement over having to add hundreds of friends if you like to play online. But I kind of do wish there were some sort of trading post like they have in other games (something like the pokemon trade system where you can list what pokemon you want and anyone can come trade at any time).

 

[Orieii]

There are a lot of new players who aren’t aware of the missing content in NH. As someone who has played each and every Animal Crossing game dating back to my childhood, this game definitely feels like an unfinished product.. but I’m still thoroughly enjoying myself I’m a patient person and don’t mind the updates, but I personally think it would’ve been better if it was for events/ activities and not content that should’ve been included in the game from the beginning. That’s the only problem I have with this game honestly. I am a HUGE fan of the AC series, so I just want to see them excel, especially with the spike of popularity ❤ I’m sorry you feel disheartened by peoples criticisms. I’m sure that wasn’t their intention. As long as you’re enjoying the game, it shouldn’t matter what other people think

 

[sleepydreepy]

Personally I feel very similarly with you, and I've had a great experience with NH so far. I also agree that there are a lot of negative comments online, but I feel like that's just how the internet works now. But while there is a lot of criticizing of the game going on, there are a few positive threads and groups out there praising the game that you could find and contribute to. I think reading both positive and negative reviews of this game will make you more "well rounded," but if you find yourself being brought down by the overwhelming negative majority, try to limit yourself from those types of threads/content. It is just a game after all, which you paid your own money for, so you should be in control of how you experience it.

Also I was thinking since AC is an old franchise people who have been playing these games since wild world or city folk have certain expectations because of personal attachments to the game, and thus are more likely to have a negative attitude towards changes in new games.

 

[McRibbie]

I've been thinking about how to reply to this without seeming too wordy, but: when the game was first announced, I generally hated the idea of it because it seemed like Pocket Camp, the one Animal Crossing game where I've gone "nah, no thanks" to, which considering I've played every variation of the GameCube game and Amiibo Festival is quite something indeed.

But as time went on and we got more information I generally warmed up to the game, because y'know, it's Animal Crossing, and I'll generally sink time into it anyway... but that doesn't mean I don't find flaws in it, either, because... it's Animal Crossing.

It's been there from the beginning:

• The GameCube game had the best atmosphere of all the games, with the big pond with the lily pads and those big bush things, and MORNING AEROBICS... but also over-mean villagers, silly hats I can't remove, a load of events that largely only give you town models and TREMENDOUSLY BAD STORAGE... and don't get me started on how basic the original Doubutsu No Mori on the N64 is! (luckily dnm+ was better)
• Wild World had probably the best villager system of all the games and being the game I've played the most out of all of them (even if that's largely due to resetting for a town a lot of the time) but having basically no holidays as a localisation shortcut other than a load of pointless and annoying ones, a load of cut villagers, weirdly bare villages, 75% of the changes made for the EU localisation, and the fact that JP and US/EU copies can't connect, all suck.
• LGTTC was an attempt at fusing the two previous games together, plus having some proto NL-features as well as some region-exclusive stuff, as well as FINALLY making shop upgrades less WHOOSH NOW YOU HAVE A DEPARTMENT STORE... that ultimately's not as good as any of them, because the villager system is inferior, the player houses are smaller, there's GRASS WEAR and there's less atmosphere because they didn't bring back the bulletin board messages or random letters... and the city's basically not actually that good, taking away most of a rotating cast of visitors and making your village seem bare, which adds to the lack of atmosphere (but a load of the city stuff is actually pretty nice?)
• NL is a more successful version of LGTTC (given most of it's furniture models/event music are THE EXACT SAME, it's probably a reworking of the same engine) that brings back a load of stuff that went missing between WW and LGTTC as well as adding a TON of new content, and it's probably the most features-rich game in the series... but the villagers are too nice and the dialogue REPEATS WAY TOO MUCH to the point that when there's something genuinely new it's kind of a surprise, some of the better ideas LGTTC did (like gyroid storage and the shopping card) are gone, the shops don't stock enough, some of the new NPCs (like Leif and the alpacas) are basically there to do jobs the Nooks did, and DON'T GET ME STARTED ON HOW VILLAGERS MOVE IN, EVEN IF THEY DO REPLACE THOSE UGLY SIGNPOSTS
• NH goes "hey, you remember that Bold New Direction we did for NL? HOW ABOUT WE GO EVEN BOLDER?!" and just has you create a village from scratch. It's a beautiful game, it seems to want you to take your time with it to even more of an extent than LGTTC/NL did (to the point where EVERYTHING'S gonna be a visiting NPC for a while and there's a chance that HOLIDAYS WILL NOT BE THE EXACT SAME EACH YEAR, YEAH BOIIIIIII), the dialogue's the best it's been in AGES, there's GENUINE EVENTS THAT AREN'T JUST IRL HOLIDAYS and while I wasn't impressed with the crafting mechanic initially, I've gotten used to it and made a beautiful house/island thanks to it. However... while the dialogue's been improved, it still needs work as there's a load of stuff that's half-there and while it's got more bite than NL, it needs WW bite (and my villagers basically ask me to do stuff TOO LITTLE), while I appreciate the need to add more content slowly because, y'know, it's a deserted island in the middle of nowhere and you're building a community there GODDAMMIT, I MISS A LOAD OF STUFF, IT COULD BE 3 YEARS BEFORE WE GET STUFF, some stuff (like the Cherry Blossoms) needs to be more of a genuine event instead of just "get seasonal crafting item, make something" and WHAT EXACTLY IS THE POINT OF A BULLETIN BOARD IF NOBODY EVER POSTS ON IT... and not forgetting, that old classic, GOD COULD THEY FIX SOME STUFF, WHY DOES EVERY TOOL BREAK, EVEN THE GOLD ONES? I KNOW THERE'S NO CHANCE THEY'LL NOT ACTUALLY DO AN ENTIRELY QOL UPDATE, BECAUSE THAT'S ULTIMATELY KINDA POINTLESS WHEN THERE'S SO MUCH CONTENT TO COME, BUT GAH... (is forcibly taken away for ranting)

Does this mean I hate any of the Animal Crossing games? No.

Does this mean I think there's such thing as a perfect Animal Crossing game? Also no.

Ultimately, it's healthy to go "wuh wuh wuh" every once in a while... but over or under-doing it isn't.

(also, while the instruments are a bit samey, it's a good ac soundtrack because it gets that "Peanuts meets YMO" vibe from the first game back)

 

[Imaginetheday]

I love this game. I’ve played every AC game and this is by far my favorite. I do think people are being more negative, but that’s their concern, not mine. I’m too busy enjoying the game to worry about what other people think.

 

[Briar]

I think people criticize the game because they love it and want it to be the best it can be, so personally I like the criticism and see it as a positive thing. If you want something to improve then that shows how much you truly care about it. It's an act of love.

 

[FireNinja1]

I mean, this game is good, but I think there are several gripes that I have about the game that have really only shown to be bigger issues over time.

- Travelling to other towns is an insanely time-consuming process. Interference, long fly-in / exit times, etc. are a huge huge huge pain.
- A majority of the furniture sets in New Leaf and City Folk are nowhere to be seen in NH. The diner set looks cool, but I don't think it's a good tradeoff for things like the alpine, modern, kiddie, etc. sets that were in New Leaf. Color variants and customization are cool, but New Leaf also had customization and having color variants for furniture is, admittedly, a lazy excuse for cutting 90% of the furniture sets that appeared in the previous two iterations.
- I'm also just not a fan of a model where you have to download updates in order to experience specific events -- and the events haven't felt that good to begin with.

With all this being said, I can see why people claim that this game feels unfinished; there's been a ton that has been cut. Part of it is exacerbated by the fact that maybe people are starting to feel burnt out after dumping hundreds of hours into the game and that the novelty of Animal Crossing is wearing off. But I do believe that some of the claims that people who criticize this game makes are legitimate.