One of the many things that I absolutely love about Animal Crossing is the hourly music. In the earlier days it was brilliantly moody and set the hourly tone, but it was more on the fun and quirky side (and still always fitting).
Then, in New Leaf, the hourly music graduated to a series of even more melodic and layered sounds that paired perfectly with each hour, while still maintaining that Animal Crossing vibe. The New Leaf tracks were so fitting and unique, you’d know what hour of the day it was by ear. The nighttime (and overnight) tracks had a layered, heady and somewhat mysterious vibe to them, which was a perfect musical backdrop for late night strolls around your town.
So, imagine my surprise and disappointment when I heard the opening theme to New Horizons. The somber trumpet sound that dominates is so off-putting and a bit depressing (to my ears, at least). It reminds me of an opening theme song to an early 1980’s TV family drama series. Not very Animal Crossing-y. I cannot hit 'A' fast enough when I start up the game.
But, I wanted to hold judgment on the New Horizons music until the hourly music unlocked. I was hoping that the opening theme was just a poor choice, and the rest of the music would be great, and have that iconic Animal Crossing hourly music vibe that we all know and love.
Well, the hourly music finally unlocked in my game yesterday, and as each hour goes by, I am more and more irritated and disappointed. One of my favorite things about Animal Crossing is gone in this version. What were they thinking? Was the music an afterthought? Most tracks are so bad to my ears, it goes beyond ‘not liking the music’, it’s actually distracting and interfering with gameplay.
Save one or two, all of the tracks sound like mindless KK Slider songs - the annoying, repetitive ones that your villagers play in their homes (and you can’t wait to leave). And to make matters worse, each of these tracks sound like variations of the opening theme song. There is one instrument in particular (that I cannot identify) that is so annoying, and they use it over and over again, throughout the day. It just sticks in your ear distracting you, instead of helping to relax, chill and vibe out while you’re doing your daily tasks or just wandering around.
Aside from the music just being bad and a bit distracting, the hourly tracks don’t seem to have any rhyme of reason and they don’t fit the hour that they are representing. It’s all very random and very little mood is set by the music. It's not background music, it's annoying KK style music and you're just looking for the OFF button. They put so much time and effort into the graphics and the natural lighting shifts throughout the day, it’s a shame that the music doesn't flow with these shifting moods, it actually takes away from them.
I am beyond disappointed with the New Horizons music. It has changed the gameplay experience for me and I find myself muting my Switch during certain hours (many of them), and knowing that this isn’t going to change and this is what we are stuck with, is really upsetting to this huge Animal Crossing fan.
At this point, I’d prefer to revert back to the ‘starter’ music track that played all day. While it was pretty blah and repetitive, it was at least relaxing and sort of faded into the background, instead of getting in the way of the game, and stuck in your ear, as most of the new hourly music does.
So, (long) rant aside, I have tried to disable the music by talking to Isabelle at the Town Hall and then talking to Tom Nook in the system preferences, and there is no option to do so. I don’t want to keep playing with my Switch muted, as I want to enjoy the all of sounds of the game, so I was hoping that there was an option to just disable the music? If there is one, does anyone know how to do it?
Then, in New Leaf, the hourly music graduated to a series of even more melodic and layered sounds that paired perfectly with each hour, while still maintaining that Animal Crossing vibe. The New Leaf tracks were so fitting and unique, you’d know what hour of the day it was by ear. The nighttime (and overnight) tracks had a layered, heady and somewhat mysterious vibe to them, which was a perfect musical backdrop for late night strolls around your town.
So, imagine my surprise and disappointment when I heard the opening theme to New Horizons. The somber trumpet sound that dominates is so off-putting and a bit depressing (to my ears, at least). It reminds me of an opening theme song to an early 1980’s TV family drama series. Not very Animal Crossing-y. I cannot hit 'A' fast enough when I start up the game.
But, I wanted to hold judgment on the New Horizons music until the hourly music unlocked. I was hoping that the opening theme was just a poor choice, and the rest of the music would be great, and have that iconic Animal Crossing hourly music vibe that we all know and love.
Well, the hourly music finally unlocked in my game yesterday, and as each hour goes by, I am more and more irritated and disappointed. One of my favorite things about Animal Crossing is gone in this version. What were they thinking? Was the music an afterthought? Most tracks are so bad to my ears, it goes beyond ‘not liking the music’, it’s actually distracting and interfering with gameplay.
Save one or two, all of the tracks sound like mindless KK Slider songs - the annoying, repetitive ones that your villagers play in their homes (and you can’t wait to leave). And to make matters worse, each of these tracks sound like variations of the opening theme song. There is one instrument in particular (that I cannot identify) that is so annoying, and they use it over and over again, throughout the day. It just sticks in your ear distracting you, instead of helping to relax, chill and vibe out while you’re doing your daily tasks or just wandering around.
Aside from the music just being bad and a bit distracting, the hourly tracks don’t seem to have any rhyme of reason and they don’t fit the hour that they are representing. It’s all very random and very little mood is set by the music. It's not background music, it's annoying KK style music and you're just looking for the OFF button. They put so much time and effort into the graphics and the natural lighting shifts throughout the day, it’s a shame that the music doesn't flow with these shifting moods, it actually takes away from them.
I am beyond disappointed with the New Horizons music. It has changed the gameplay experience for me and I find myself muting my Switch during certain hours (many of them), and knowing that this isn’t going to change and this is what we are stuck with, is really upsetting to this huge Animal Crossing fan.
At this point, I’d prefer to revert back to the ‘starter’ music track that played all day. While it was pretty blah and repetitive, it was at least relaxing and sort of faded into the background, instead of getting in the way of the game, and stuck in your ear, as most of the new hourly music does.
So, (long) rant aside, I have tried to disable the music by talking to Isabelle at the Town Hall and then talking to Tom Nook in the system preferences, and there is no option to do so. I don’t want to keep playing with my Switch muted, as I want to enjoy the all of sounds of the game, so I was hoping that there was an option to just disable the music? If there is one, does anyone know how to do it?
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