New Horizons feels like a discount New Leaf

[Boidoh]

I bought Animal Crossing: New Horizons on launch day. I was a New Leaf player on 3DS since a month after it's US launch, and played for several years. I was exhausted from New Leaf and was hoping that the next iteration in the series would give me even more content. In NL, the tiny things fascinated me. All the different stores (and the buildable ones like the Police Station), hidden areas (like Resetti's home), extra content (like the monthly free DLC), fortune cookies, exotic fruit, fancy items (like the 7/11 content, ABDs and such), and more. New Leaf felt fleshed out and brimming with content at every corner....

and New Horizons doesn't fill this for me....

At launch, the mere fact of waiting a week or so for the hourly music to arrive was agonizing hell. There was no diving at launch, nor bushes. I believe that art wasn't added in until later as well.

But besides just that, New Horizons skimps out on a lot of the things New Leaf had. No longer are there decoratable museum rooms and a gift shop. There is not even the Roost (though I think data mines said this would come eventually). K.K. Slider just shows up outside of the Town Hall! Shampoodle is no more - replaced by a menu! The only buildings are.... 2 expansions of Nook's Cranny (NL had several more...) and the Able Sisters.... And items are selected via a menu (while yes, some can be hand-picked). Some purchases in Nook's Cranny don't disappear after buying them - they can be bought indefinitely.

On that note, one GOOD thing they did was value the items more accurately. I like that more typically expensive items match that equivalent price.

Resetti is gone completely... Except for a "cameo" in the NookPhone. Fruits... exotic fruits are gone! Not even the banana remained. No persimmons. Yeah, there are pumpkins now - and the prospect of that DID excite me. It was one of the few things not in New Leaf (crafting is lame) that they added. I like it, but it's not all that interesting or captivating in a vacuum, especially when so much other things were cut. This is a tropical island for goodness sake! Where are the exotic fruit?

Fortune cookies... gone. Those were fun. They didn't even need to be Nintendo items. I just liked the variety. Correct me if I'm wrong (because I've been out of the loop from the online scene) but I don't think there are any cool items like the 7/11 set from New Leaf.

Oh, and the other islands in NH are lame. I'd take NL's tropical island any day.

I'm sure I'm missing some things, but, all in all, New Horizons feels like an HD trimmed down version of New Leaf. In some ways, it feels like a "Wild World" to the original GCN game. So many good things are gone....

 

[bebebese]

Yeah... I like NH but more often I find myself thinking I'd rather they released New Leaf 2 than this... unfinished thing. Crafting and terraforming are nice additions but they don't replace any of the old stuff that made the games fun.

 

[Boidoh]

Yeah... I like NH but more often I find myself thinking I'd rather they released New Leaf 2 than this... unfinished thing. Crafting and terraforming are nice additions but they don't replace any of the old stuff that made the games fun.

Crafting was fun and cute the first few weeks of the game... and then it became pretty much useless. My town became littered branches. My storage became filled with a bunch of items I'll never uses.. So much sets of stones, branches, weeds, clay, etc... I don't see a use for it at this point.

Terraforming... I've seen people do some pretty things with it - but personally, I tend to just like the default way the game gave me my island. Must be conditioning from New Leaf.

 

[b_l_x_x_k_e]

Yeah... I like NH but more often I find myself thinking I'd rather they released New Leaf 2 than this... unfinished thing. Crafting and terraforming are nice additions but they don't replace any of the old stuff that made the games fun.

this so much. ive been thinking for awhile it would've been alot better imo if they had released a higher quality version of NL with new thing from NH included like terraforming ect. kind of like what CF is to WW

 

[RollingAntony]

New Horizons is a different game than New Leaf. Both have features that the other doesn't have and both have features that they do share. Some of the previous mechanics were streamlined for this release, and that included how some menus or interactions replaced NPC.

People expecting different things from what the game turned out to be doesn't mean the game is unfinished and the same goes for not liking the new features; it's a matter of taste at the end of the day in most cases. Like making "New Leaf, but HD and with all new features" is not how games are usually made.

 

[-Blue-]

We went through a full year almost and the events are really lacking. And I'm not talking about the main ones. We have those but other then that, we didn't get as much as the previous games. So most days nothing was really happening. Oh Kicks is taking up the spot in RS again?

I like NH, but I do feel like they relied too heavily on the drip-feed, new gimmick, and the patience/longevity of the fans/game. Will I still play it? Yes, but it lacks the core of the previous games. Villager interactions, fleshed out calendars of events, upgrades/shops.

 

[MayorofMapleton]

New Horizons is more so a updated Animal Crossing/Animal Forest game.

The more and more it shows, with similar gimmicks and playstyle to it.

The Switch titles have kind of been like that, even the new Mario Party had a similar story to the original party game too.

 

[Boidoh]

New Horizons is a different game than New Leaf. Both have features that the other doesn't have and both have features that they do share. Some of the previous mechanics were streamlined for this release, and that included how some menus or interactions replaced NPC.

People expecting different things from what the game turned out to be doesn't mean the game is unfinished and the same goes for not liking the new features; it's a matter of taste at the end of the day in most cases. Like making "New Leaf, but HD and with all new features" is not how games are usually made.

New Horizons is the successor to New Leaf. It's regression to disregard the progress of the series. What are the major additions to NH other than items being placed outside and a lackluster crafting mechanism? Nothing but tiny, if they can be considered that, quality-of-life improvements. Obviously the updates are drip-feeding us New Leaf content. Yes, NH is a different game to NL - but it doesn't exist in a vacuum. It's not a spin-off, and there was no paradigm-shift.

I like NH, but I do feel like they relied too heavily on the drip-feed, new gimmick, and the patience/longevity of the fans/game. Will I still play it? Yes, but it lacks the core of the previous games. Villager interactions, fleshed out calendars of events, upgrades/shops.

Same. While I will complain about what I don't like - I'll still play it.

New Horizons is more so a updated Animal Crossing/Animal Forest game.

The more and more it shows, with similar gimmicks and playstyle to it.

The Switch titles have kind of been like that, even the new Mario Party had a similar story to the original party game too.

Eh. If it was an updated New Leaf it wouldn't be so bad. But it's not even that. If you mean the original N64/GCN game, then, I don't see it.

But the entire SWITCH has been filled with lackluster titles. Breath of the Wild is a Wii U port technically. Super Mario Odyssey while being good (maybe a 7.8/10 game), felt filled with filler moons. Super Mario Party had minimalist boards. Splatoon 2 is... splatoon.. 2.. Ports galore. Nintendo has been disappointing me in general recently.

 

[LambdaDelta]

this so much. ive been thinking for awhile it would've been alot better imo if they had released a higher quality version of NL with new thing from NH included like terraforming ect. kind of like what CF is to WW

I hated city folk specifically because of basically just being an enhanced wild world, so I'm honestly glad they didn't just fall back into a "new leaf 2" situation

though new horizons was definitely unfinished upon release. feel they may of been too ambitious, but didn't want to announce yet another delay. so they just put it out to add more features with the routine updates we've been getting

Post automatically merged: Dec 24, 2020

New Horizons is more so a updated Animal Crossing/Animal Forest game.

also, this too

it isn't 1:1, but much of the simplicity can be more compared to cube crossing than anything else

 

[iamjohnporter67]

I feel like the events suffered in NH because here's the thing after playing this game for 8 months. The issue I had with Bunny Day was that they made it a 12 day thing which was a bad idea. It conflicted with other events like the Cherry Blossom Event and the Fishing Journey. Which made it frustrating for people who didn't care about Bunny Day but they ended getting Bunny Day diys and eggs instead. Looking back at Turkey Day I can appreciate it more because at least it made you busy of what you needed to make the recipies and you felt reward after you made all of them and gotten really good diys. Toy Day however is just very shallow and it doesn't really hold up as well.

I think Nintendo needs to make events last a certain time like in the old AC games like New Leaf Toy Day doesn't start until 6 PM. So what I suggest is they set a time for how long the event lasts. Halloween did this right when it was announced it last from 5 PM through 12 AM. Most events before than and then Toy Day never set a time. I think that is the main issue with past events, they didn't have proper times set.

So this what every event should be in 2021. Have a proper time set, make sure its one day event, have better rewards, and of course don't let it go to waste and let it be so short. That is what I hope they do in 2021 to make these events better because this year they were not so good. Halloween is still the best but still they need to go back to how it was done right in past AC games. surely that will make a lot of people who were disappointed like myself a lot more happy. It would be the right thing to do. I'm sure they are aware of this but its taken them this long realize it.

 

[LambdaDelta]

Villager interactions

mean you're not wrong, but these weren't all that great in new leaf either

wild world was the last I can recall having good villager dialogues

 

[blank586]

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[duckykate]

girl i miss new leaf soo much u dont even get it

 

[RollingAntony]

New Horizons is the successor to New Leaf. It's regression to disregard the progress of the series. What are the major additions to NH other than items being placed outside and a lackluster crafting mechanism? Nothing but tiny, if they can be considered that, quality-of-life improvements. Obviously the updates are drip-feeding us New Leaf content. Yes, NH is a different game to NL - but it doesn't exist in a vacuum. It's not a spin-off, and there was no paradigm-shift.

A new entry of the franchise isn't obliged to have all the content from previous games, most of the time the games have different spins to them in order to make them unique; it's not a black and white "disregard of the progress". You can look around the industry as a whole and see how it works.

The fact you diminish NH additions just because you don't like them doesn't mean they are not major. Items being placed outside is a major addition, it gives a level of customisation that the franchise never had and means that anyone playing the game can showcase their creativity to its fullest without being confined to a house or the placement of 30 PWP.

The "lackluster" crafting mechanic is big, it completely changes many things about the way the game is played- as it now involves DIY collecting, material collecting, the crafting itself and the customisation of most of them. It's ok if you don't like it, that doesn't make it less relevant, big or anything.

And terraforming is as big as the previous two if not much more than that.

The "nothing but tiny" QoL improvements is quite strange, as there are tons of them, beginning with how villagers move in/move out, how events are available for longer times instead of tiny windows of time, and the aforementioned menus replacing NPC that limited some actions- like how you needed to be on the game at certain times just to cut your hair. Let's not forget the improved storage/pocket options or how you don't need to worry about running too much around or else you'll lose your grass and flowers. I guess we should also go back to having to tan in order to be able to be yourself.

Like it has been said, it's ok to not like NH, but disregarding all the positives things about it isn't right. NH is far from perfect, that's true, and can be improved; and even if the developing team is supposed to get feedback from players in order to do that, most of this "feedback" is not constructive and is often misguided.


Oh and apologies if I misunderstood, but did you call Splatoon 2 a port? Because yeah no. It's not.

 

[Bilaz]

Seeing several of my friends who never got into animal crossing games before despite trying them getting 100s of hours into New Horizons really opened my eyes to what’s actually the direction the series has taken.

New Leaf was like a love letter to the fans of the series, brimming with content and full of new things and old, it was also a difficult game to get into if you’re not... The kind of person who just loves open ended games and immediately starts relaxing and doing random stuff. It was very complex, and a lot of my friends didn’t know what to do or got bored.

New Horizons streamlined a lot and taught new players exactly what to do and how. Catching creatures, building stuff, all part of the extended tutorial. Menus were streamlined, functions were condensed and the game slowly opened up to reveal the most customisation the series ever had. The life sim aspect feels simplified, and I find that a shame too, but I think it’s a design choice

The missing content is probably because they bit off more than they could chew on time, and they have added back a lot already. The furniture redesign probably had to do with everything having to be HD and be able to be placed outside. This game clearly had a lot of work put into it, it’s just not for everyone

 

[John Wick]

New Horizons is the successor to New Leaf. It's regression to disregard the progress of the series. What are the major additions to NH other than items being placed outside and a lackluster crafting mechanism? Nothing but tiny, if they can be considered that, quality-of-life improvements. Obviously the updates are drip-feeding us New Leaf content. Yes, NH is a different game to NL - but it doesn't exist in a vacuum. It's not a spin-off, and there was no paradigm-shift.



Same. While I will complain about what I don't like - I'll still play it.



Eh. If it was an updated New Leaf it wouldn't be so bad. But it's not even that. If you mean the original N64/GCN game, then, I don't see it.

But the entire SWITCH has been filled with lackluster titles. Breath of the Wild is a Wii U port technically. Super Mario Odyssey while being good (maybe a 7.8/10 game), felt filled with filler moons. Super Mario Party had minimalist boards. Splatoon 2 is... splatoon.. 2.. Ports galore. Nintendo has been disappointing me in general recently.

100% agree with you.

 

[blank586]

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[Boidoh]

A new entry of the franchise isn't obliged to have all the content from previous games, most of the time the games have different spins to them in order to make them unique; it's not a black and white "disregard of the progress". You can look around the industry as a whole and see how it works.

No, but this isn't a series like The Legend of Zelda. It's Animal Crossing. It's a relatively simple game, and other than with Wild World, every game to this point had improved on each previous entry.

The fact you diminish NH additions just because you don't like them doesn't mean they are not major. Items being placed outside is a major addition, it gives a level of customisation that the franchise never had and means that anyone playing the game can showcase their creativity to its fullest without being confined to a house or the placement of 30 PWP.

Yeah, items being placed outside is probably the biggest addition to this game. It's a nice improvement over PWPs in NL. Hence why I said that OTHER THAN items being placed outside and the lackluster crafting mechanic, it's just QoL improvements.

The "lackluster" crafting mechanic is big, it completely changes many things about the way the game is played- as it now involves DIY collecting, material collecting, the crafting itself and the customisation of most of them. It's ok if you don't like it, that doesn't make it less relevant, big or anything.

And terraforming is as big as the previous two if not much more than that.

It's big for the first month of the game, and maybe for events. Other than that, I rarely, if ever, find the need to craft. For fences and stuff... maybe? For the breakable items - sure, but I can always just buy them too. Terraforming is probably bigger than crafting. Crafting was underdeveloped.

The "nothing but tiny" QoL improvements is quite strange, as there are tons of them, beginning with how villagers move in/move out, how events are available for longer times instead of tiny windows of time, and the aforementioned menus replacing NPC that limited some actions- like how you needed to be on the game at certain times just to cut your hair. Let's not forget the improved storage/pocket options or how you don't need to worry about running too much around or else you'll lose your grass and flowers. I guess we should also go back to having to tan in order to be able to be yourself.

You're proving my point. They are tiny QoL improvements. Actually, some of these "improvements" arguably make the game worse. Part of the charm and appeal for Animal Crossing, for me, was the world itself. The fact that you could only cut your hair at certain times was part of the charm. Being stuck with a face the game gave you - part of the charm too.

Improved storage... Well, that was long overdue. QoL improvements. Does waiting 7 years warrant that? I also kinda miss the natural paths, the new ones feel too angular. Tanning was cool. I don't like that I can change the colour of my skin, my hair, my gender, and my facial features at the press of a button. That's not how things work in real life. At the very least create new characters/buildings for me to do these.

Like it has been said, it's ok to not like NH, but disregarding all the positives things about it isn't right. NH is far from perfect, that's true, and can be improved; and even if the developing team is supposed to get feedback from players in order to do that, most of this "feedback" is not constructive and is often misguided.

I "like" NH. I play it regularly and I do have fun with it. I just feel as if there was a big missed opportunity for further improvement here. I think my feedback is constructive and logical.

Oh and apologies if I misunderstood, but did you call Splatoon 2 a port? Because yeah no. It's not.

You misunderstood. I said Splatoon 2 was "Splatoon.... 2". That's what it felt like. (Like the original Splatoon, but more refined) Yes, I know there are a lot of small improvements, similar to NH, but a sequel (especially one that isn't a frequent release) shouldn't have to need hardcore fans to outline the tiniest of improvements or changes as warranting its existence.

 

[John Wick]

I feel NH was designed to condition old school fans into the crafting PC style of play.

I feel that was a bad decision.

PC has the crafting, and IMO, it should have remained with the mobile game.

I didn't expect it to take the direction it did, and I'd much prefer NL 2.0 with all the items and endearing features, than have terraforming.

I don't really care for it.

Items outside is fantastic, but as nintendo has done before, they give with one hand, and take with the other.

Here's a whole island where you can cram stuff outside.. but.. we've removed anything that was worth putting outside and left you with a crapload of wooden stools.

Uh.. thanks. >..<

 

[-Blue-]

mean you're not wrong, but these weren't all that great in new leaf either

wild world was the last I can recall having good villager dialogues

They weren't great, but I feel like they went another step backwards in this regard with NH. I can talk to the villagers in NL more then once and they won't give me passive aggressive interactions. 'You're talking to me again?' Bro I only talked to you twice. Once in the morning and now at night.