predictions for a possible new animal crossing?

[StarlitGlitch]

I’m positive we’ll get an announcement within the next few years. While I think it’s possible to get an announcement towards the end of the year, I’m not getting my hopes up for it. Maybe something next year.

I’m hoping Nintendo won’t be too swayed by the people who just played during the pandemic when designing the new one. AC has started to go in the direction of a generic decorating game, (I’ve even seen people on Twitter describe it as “a decorating game” before) so I’ll hope it’ll go back a bit to its own roots, but we’ll see.

 

[kindheartedhog]

I look forward to and equally fear a new Animal Crossing game. For me New Horizons was a flop, incredible amount of wasted potential, and maybe it’s pessimistic of me but I am afraid the series will continue to go downhill. Or maybe it will be like a case of City Folk where New Leaf followed it

We have lost what Animal Crossing is supposed to be, and I do think it reflects on society as a whole. People need instant gratification, obsessed with aesthetics and FOMO. I feel all of this reflects greatly on New Horizons and the community that formed around the game at the time

I do hope it goes back to its roots and doesn’t forget what it’s supposed to be in the first place. There needs to be a much greater balance between life sim and decoration sandbox. New Horizons problem is that it focused solely on decoration sandbox aspects. I want to see improved - actual villager dialogue, more creatures added, all fruit returning, mini games returning, perfect fruit returning, being asked to do tasks for your villagers returning ( which I know is a feature in New Horizons that NEVER happens to me - where as in New Leaf you get pinged several times through the day ). I would really love to see life in the series again!

 

[Kristea]

I think we are going to (not what I want ) get a more “open world “ animal crossing game. With maybe interconnected areas and a main hub (I hope a little village ) nothing will ever hit as good as the forest in original ac / wild world or the island of new horizons though for me.

I truly hope that isn't the case.

I think I'd be okay if there was a 'world' we could visit outside, similar to City Folk in terms of going to the city, but I think what makes AC AC is the fact that it's NOT a huge world you know? :3

 

[Isadoraisacat]

I truly hope that isn't the case.

I think I'd be okay if there was a 'world' we could visit outside, similar to City Folk in terms of going to the city, but I think what makes AC AC is the fact that it's NOT a huge world you know? :3

Oh I 100 % agree I prefer the concentrated island of new horizons or the small forest of wild world and game cube (and to an extent new leaf minus being the Mayer ).

I’m ok having us visit another area but honestly I’d prefer something more like new horizons again with pocket camp features.

I’m just going off trends and it seems like the “open world “ thing is a huge trend

 

[Bo Selecta]

I predict it will be a remake of New Leaf, but with the look of New Horizons. But I’d prefer them remake Let’s Go To The City instead.

 

[kknocturne]

oh this post is perfect for me haha, i have a whole list of stuff i want in the next game on my notes app!

for the timeline, i think we'll probably get a new game (or even a remake haha i'd be happy with either!) in late 2026 or early 2027, AC is so big now nintendo would definitely announce it pretty far in advance like they did with New Horizons.

now i'm not gonna send a big wall of text of all of my ideas for the next game, but the two biggest things i want are a return of the main street or city from new leaf and city folk, and a reworking of the villagers and furniture interaction!

i really loved the city and main street in their respective games, and having main street slowly build up over time gave me a HUGE sense of accomplishment as a kid. it was nice that it wasn't related to me physically decorating my town and more based on me interacting with the villagers and community! i was thinking we could have the city come back, but have it be slowly built up overtime like it was in new leaf. nintendo could add all sorts of interesting shops and npcs, and maybe you'd even get to have your own apartment to decorate! and with that apartment you get a small set of city villagers you can also talk to and befriend, and maybe they'd come visit the main town sometimes too, and vice versa for the town villagers! there's so many villagers i want to have more than 10 or 15, but i also don't want it to be so crowded in my town, i think having some villagers to hang out with in the city would be really fun!

and i'd love if they reworked the villagers, which i feel is a pretty common criticism of new horizons. i don't want them to be MEAN like in the og game, but it would be nice to also have a sense of progression of your friendship with them. i know new horizons tried to do this with the villagers saying more interesting things after you become friends with them but unfortunately it made the beginning stages of interaction quite repetitive when talking to villagers. I'm not sure how but it would be nice for them to add a deeper sense of building up a friendship without making early dialogue stale and repetitive (maybe bring back hobby dialogue from wild world? but more complex?).

AND i would love if we and the villagers could interact with furniture items more! one of my friends who's not very into gaming got into animal crossing earlier this year and constantly she would ask me if we could interact with various items. i felt so bad constantly telling them "sorry, it's just decorative, we can't interact with much"! i'd love it they made furniture as interactable as it is in pocket camp, that apps bringing all the games to shame on that front haha!

oke sorry this was a giant wall of text lmaoo i just love this series so much and i want it to be so amazing too. either way it goes i'll still be pretty hyped for the next game! i'd even be happy with a remake haha!

 

[Mimikyu's Shadow]

As someone who never got the chance to play the older games, I would be thrilled if they remade the original AC or simply found a way to port it over old graphics and all. Not only is the fan base and popularity for the games large enough to warrant AC's first remake (NL amibo doesnt count) but it has been around for almost 25 yrs now (please correct me if I am wrong). It would allow older AC players to recapture what they loved about the series, draw in younger players who never had the opportunity to play the older games and if they did it right bring AC back to its roots with everything that made it special even if people get yelled at by resetti again which I have heard was a major complaint. I WANT to experience villagers being pills to me and having to earn their friendship instead of just being seemingly best buds right out of the gate like NH does. It could include some quality of life updates like adding in the smug and uchi villagers. Overall while I would be very happy with a new AC game, I think the series would benefit more in the long run if it went back to its roots by going back to the original game.

 

[Bo Selecta]

oh this post is perfect for me haha, i have a whole list of stuff i want in the next game on my notes app!

for the timeline, i think we'll probably get a new game (or even a remake haha i'd be happy with either!) in late 2026 or early 2027, AC is so big now nintendo would definitely announce it pretty far in advance like they did with New Horizons.

now i'm not gonna send a big wall of text of all of my ideas for the next game, but the two biggest things i want are a return of the main street or city from new leaf and city folk, and a reworking of the villagers and furniture interaction!

i really loved the city and main street in their respective games, and having main street slowly build up over time gave me a HUGE sense of accomplishment as a kid. it was nice that it wasn't related to me physically decorating my town and more based on me interacting with the villagers and community! i was thinking we could have the city come back, but have it be slowly built up overtime like it was in new leaf. nintendo could add all sorts of interesting shops and npcs, and maybe you'd even get to have your own apartment to decorate! and with that apartment you get a small set of city villagers you can also talk to and befriend, and maybe they'd come visit the main town sometimes too, and vice versa for the town villagers! there's so many villagers i want to have more than 10 or 15, but i also don't want it to be so crowded in my town, i think having some villagers to hang out with in the city would be really fun!

and i'd love if they reworked the villagers, which i feel is a pretty common criticism of new horizons. i don't want them to be MEAN like in the og game, but it would be nice to also have a sense of progression of your friendship with them. i know new horizons tried to do this with the villagers saying more interesting things after you become friends with them but unfortunately it made the beginning stages of interaction quite repetitive when talking to villagers. I'm not sure how but it would be nice for them to add a deeper sense of building up a friendship without making early dialogue stale and repetitive (maybe bring back hobby dialogue from wild world? but more complex?).

AND i would love if we and the villagers could interact with furniture items more! one of my friends who's not very into gaming got into animal crossing earlier this year and constantly she would ask me if we could interact with various items. i felt so bad constantly telling them "sorry, it's just decorative, we can't interact with much"! i'd love it they made furniture as interactable as it is in pocket camp, that apps bringing all the games to shame on that front haha!

oke sorry this was a giant wall of text lmaoo i just love this series so much and i want it to be so amazing too. either way it goes i'll still be pretty hyped for the next game! i'd even be happy with a remake haha!

I like your thinking!
@Nintendo are you listening?

(ETA lol sorry, did not expect someone to end up tagged. Hi @Nintendo, whoever you are lol)