Unpopular opinion: sometimes, less is more and more is less

[Fridaynightcatlady]

Just a quick disclaimer before I begin to ramble on (lol). Everyone is entitled to their opinion, so if you don't agree with what I'm saying, that's super fine! Don't think of this post as a way of antagonizing those that don't agree with my statement.

I think, over the last couple of weeks, I've seen more and more people (either here or through social media) wanting more out of the game. I understand the need for new content, because it gives us more things to do and more to look forward to. Let me be clear, I want more content as well. For sure. But I'm afraid I might not want it the way most people want it to happen in NH. I think most people want more builds, and more NPC's in the game - or to put it bluntly, to bring back things from NL that are not present in NH. I personally don't want a NL 2.0. I never connected with the game and the biggest issue I had with it was the over abundance of things but at the same time, the lack of those same things.

Sure, we had plenty of NPC's back in NL. Tons. More than we've ever had. But unlike most games in the series, they were lifeless. NPC dialogue in NL was awful, watered down to nothing and entire characters (while being present), were butchered nonetheless (take Blathers and his babbling or even Celeste being in charge of a store (???), and don't even get me started with Able's). We had more villagers, more animal species and new personalities in the game and yet, probably the worst take on villager dialogue in the entire series. Repetitive, simple and entirely based on "bring me this, trade me that, catch me this/that fish/bug, etc". And we had tooons and toons of buildings and places to visit but no depth to them. We had a post office but can't send letters? We had Katrina's building and yet the amount of options and interactions with Katrina were extremely limited compared to previous games.

I'd say, and probably unlike the majority of us here, I'm very pleased with how NPC's are addressed in NH. They have much more depth compared to NL. Ables have a backstory again (you can start conversations with Sable, like we used to in WW and CF), Blathers is babbling again, Celeste is all about constellations and stars once more, Flick and C.J are, imo, much more interesting than what Chip and Nat were, tbh, and a long etcetera.

As for builds, I'm quite afraid having this huge influx of new builds (considering all the rumors/data mine is correct, of course; again, grain of salt), that we're forced to play a theme unlike what we had envisioned for our islands on the first place. I certainly wouldn't get this, considering how Nintendo has pushed the idea of "customize your island the way you want" since its announcement. I can't play the game the way I want it if you're forcing me to build things in it and destroying the theme I'm so thoroughly trying to build (i.e. don't make me build a city if I want to build a town).

I don't know what everyone else thinks, but again, this is no way an attack to how people want or expect to play NH. I also understand that this game is probably not gonna make everyone happy here, and I'm okay with that. If they decide to overload the game with builds or empty NPC's, I'll adapt, but I certainly don't want that to happen.

 

[daisyy]

i honestly don't know if i agree or disagree with you yet, i think i'll wait to see what comes next. but i just want to say that your post was written extremely well, respectfully, and i hope that others can have a good discussion in the replies!

 

[TrippyKitten]

Sable had a conversation with you in New Leaf, the sisters still had their backstory.

Other than that, I agree, I want a lot of NPCs back, but I don't really want to have to build a lot of buildings for them...I'm going for a more foresty type of theme, except where the resident services is, that's more of a little town center with my shops, which I do wish we could select some building types like in NL, like have a few different shop, airport, RS styles to pick from so we can properly have a theme.

 

[Fridaynightcatlady]

Sable had a conversation with you in New Leaf, the sisters still had their backstory.

Maybe I don't fully remember all the details, but didn't Sable only talk about the QR machine? And as far as I remember, there wasn't much of a backstory dialogue since Label was already part of the store, so they wouldn't talk about it (unlike WW and CF). I could be wrong, though

 

[Que]

This post was so nice and respectful, thank you!

I'm personally "okay" if they decide to add more into the game according to the datamines, but I also wish they'd outright announce sooner rather than later if they will. I'm designing my island according to the builds I have, and the suspicion we'll get more and more buildings staying in the back of my head feels limiting when I'm building - I don't dare take up ALL the space because I don't want to have to choose what to entirely demolish and remake to make space for 1 or more buildings, but at the same time I have so many ideas and wish I could cram them all in there without fearing I have to take them down again.

Only thing I'm hoping is that by the time, if/when they add more buildings and NPCs, I'll be tired of some areas and happily remove it, but it's a lot of work for something I'm not sure I can keep if I have to make space for a museum shop, a coffee café, Kick's, Leif's shop etc.

I hope they'll tell us soon if a large update or DLC is coming in the future and what it holds so we can get used to the thoughts and let ideas spark while we wait!

 

[Fey]

I disagree on some minor points, but like you said, those are just opinions.

For the most part I feel quite similarly, especially about this:

Nintendo has pushed the idea of "customize your island the way you want" since its announcement. I can't play the game the way I want it if you're forcing me to build things in it and destroying the theme I'm so thoroughly trying to build (i.e. don't make me build a city if I want to build a town).

It’s already been surprising (and a bit irritating tbh) to see how much the game pushes for you to develop your Island after those initial statements from Nintendo.

1. the game/Nook/Isabelle constantly urge you to build more. In fact, getting a good rating is completely locked behind these developments
2. while it’s technically true that you can choose not to follow their requests (*cough* instructions), that doesn’t leave you with very much game to play.

Now I don’t mind too much in terms of my actual experience, since the current level of development pushed for is still in line with my plans for the Island. It does bother me on principle though, just because it doesn’t seem like the concept they presented to us before release.

While I’m excited for more buildings and would still have the space, I can definitely see issues arising if this is a continuing trend. At some point I’d like my landscaping and urbanization to be more or less settled—not have to change everything because there’s a 50-100% increase in buildings to place. If I were further along in terraforming I’d be pretty pissed, since it’s a lot of work to plan out a layout to begin with—and even more work to adjust it afterward.

 

[Fridaynightcatlady]

This post was so nice and respectful, thank you!

I'm personally "okay" if they decide to add more into the game according to the datamines, but I also wish they'd outright announce sooner rather than later if they will. I'm designing my island according to the builds I have, and the suspicion we'll get more and more buildings staying in the back of my head feels limiting when I'm building - I don't dare take up ALL the space because I don't want to have to choose what to entirely demolish and remake to make space for 1 or more buildings, but at the same time I have so many ideas and wish I could cram them all in there without fearing I have to take them down again.

Only thing I'm hoping is that by the time, if/when they add more buildings and NPCs, I'll be tired of some areas and happily remove it, but it's a lot of work for something I'm not sure I can keep if I have to make space for a museum shop, a coffee café, Kick's, Leif's shop etc.

I hope they'll tell us soon if a large update or DLC is coming in the future and what it holds so we can get used to the thoughts and let ideas spark while we wait!

Absolutely. I'm doing more or less the same. I've already designed/set up specific spots within my island that I really like (it took me a while to actually think those through) and also to make them make sense with the overall look of my island. For instance: I made a traditional cemetery, so its surrounding area is a forest not an suburban area or a hub of stores and shops.

Post automatically merged: Apr 20, 2020

I disagree on some minor points, but like you said, those are just opinions.

For the most part I feel quite similarly, especially about this:


It’s already been surprising (and a bit irritating tbh) to see how much the game pushes for you to develop your Island after those initial statements from Nintendo.

1. the game/Nook/Isabelle constantly urge you to build more. In fact, getting a good rating is completely locked behind these developments
2. while it’s technically true that you can choose not to follow their requests (*cough* instructions), that doesn’t leave you with very much game to play.

Now I don’t mind too much in terms of my actual experience, since the current level of development pushed for is still in line with my plans for the Island. It does bother me on principle though, just because it doesn’t seem like the concept they presented to us before release.

While I’m excited for more buildings and would still have the space, I can definitely see issues arising if this is a continuing trend. At some point I’d like my landscaping and urbanization to be more or less settled—not have to change everything because there’s a 50-100% increase in buildings to place. If I were further along in terraforming I’d be pretty pissed, since it’s a lot of work to plan out a layout to begin with—and even more work to adjust it afterward.

Yeah. I do feel like that's what they're trying to sell with the game, but the outcome is the complete opposite. There's clearly a game progression, so you have to follow that route to follow up with the game. Part of that feels fine to me and I can deal with that. But when I'm forced to change the absolute entirety of my layout because of updates, then I'm upset. So I'm hoping future builds will be optional and won't affect the quality of the game so much. Like, I wouldn't mine not placing an alleged "Museum shop" stand alone build and instead get those items from a friend's island.

 

[Mick]

That's a lot of text for somebody claiming that less is more

Kidding, of course. I agree that it wouldn't be too nice to have your entire island filled by Nintendo, but I also doubt that everything mentioned in the datamines will eventually find its way into the game. Pretty much every game out there contains leftovers of previous title assets, scrapped ideas or beta content.

(The most irritating thing for me is people going "but the old game wasn't like this! The old game had it so this one must have it too!" because yes, this is a new game, they're not going to make it the same... that would kind of defeat the point, no? This is not an expansion pack for Wild World or New Leaf. You're not going to get only extra stuff and you're not entitled to seeing the old stuff come back. But hey, personal opinion, feel free to disagree!)

Back on track: Maybe there won't be 6 more buildings like people are suggesting, the 'museum shop' or 'garden store' could easily be a town square thing. Maybe they are buildings after all, but ones that they'll let you customise eventually. Maybe not. Who knows? We'll see.

The buildings we have are pretty neutral at least. You can work them into your own theme pretty well, but only to a certain limit... I can see how that can get frustrating.

 

[Miss Misty]

I really agree with your sentiment regarding Nintendo telling us to "design the island we want"... but then not telling us what all we may or may not need room for. The more buildings they force on us, the same-ier all the islands will eventually end up feeling. There's only so much you can do when half your island is dedicated to the same structures that everyone else has.

My own possibly unpopular opinion is that the cafe is really the only thing that warrants its own building. Leif can go in the Nooklings' store, Kicks and Label - if they get their own shops - can be inside the Able Sisters' store.

 

[Que]

Absolutely. I'm doing more or less the same. I've already designed/set up specific spots within my island that I really like (it took me a while to actually think those through) and also to make them make sense with the overall look of my island. For instance: I made a traditional cemetery, so its surrounding area is a forest not an suburban area or a hub of stores and shops.

Post automatically merged: Apr 20, 2020

I'm working on a large mushroom forest, a natural forest-y residential area and decorating it. Trying to make it calming, or ethereal maybe, small "hidden" spots kind of inspired by Great Fairy Fountain from Legend of Zelda (kinda, same vibes). If I have to remove those, or cram my resident's houses together just to make some more space, maybe tear down some of the forest or remove a river, that'd be such an eyesore compared to my initial idea. I'm trying to save some space, sorta, and keep ideas for how to put potential new buildings, but it sucks because of the uncertainty.
In the datamining it did say that it'd potentially be NM recipes or projects sort of like in NL which would make it that much easier, instead of having a kit shoved upon me and stuck in my inventory until I move everything out of the way.

 

[Fridaynightcatlady]

That's a lot of text for somebody claiming that less is more

Kidding, of course. I agree that it wouldn't be too nice to have your entire island filled by Nintendo, but I also doubt that everything mentioned in the datamines will eventually find its way into the game. Pretty much every game out there contains leftovers of previous title assets, scrapped ideas or beta content.

(The most irritating thing for me is people going "but the old game wasn't like this! The old game had it so this one must have it too!" because yes, this is a new game, they're not going to make it the same... that would kind of defeat the point, no? This is not an expansion pack for Wild World or New Leaf. You're not going to get only extra stuff and you're not entitled to seeing the old stuff come back. But hey, personal opinion, feel free to disagree!)

Back on track: Maybe there won't be 6 more buildings like people are suggesting, the 'museum shop' or 'garden store' could easily be a town square thing. Maybe they are buildings after all, but ones that they'll let you customise eventually. Maybe not. Who knows? We'll see.

The buildings we have are pretty neutral at least. You can work them into your own theme pretty well, but only to a certain limit... I can see how that can get frustrating.

Haha, I might have a small Blathers complex and ramble more than I'm supposed to. Btw, I completely agree with what you said on NH being a new game and the need of treating it at such, not as an expansion or DLC.

 

[Fuzzysaurus Rex]

This game terribly neglects indoor decor. It desperately needs NL's furniture sets back if nothing else. The outside decor means nothing if my house is bare- which it is, there's nothing cohesive. You do you but I completely disagree with most of this. That said, unless they force you to build new buildings (which I doubt since the museum and shop are the only ones they make you build), updates aren't going force you to change your theme. Funny you'd mention themes considering the absolute lack of furniture themes. I need my Gothic and Gorgeous sets, man.

 

[Fey]

The buildings we have are pretty neutral at least. You can work them into your own theme pretty well, but only to a certain limit... I can see how that can get frustrating.

I wouldn’t call them neutral, but agree that they can be worked with/around for most themes.

Personally, I’m pretty conflicted about the Nook store upgrading. On one hand I’d like to unlock more and am excited about changes, but on the other I’ve designed the area around the shop based on its appearance. If it turns into a department store or undergoes a color swap it’ll really mess up my entire aesthetic. I even relocated villagers houses there to match, and had been deciding between favorite villagers based on whose house fit better.

 

[McRibbie]

Yeah, I do agree to an extent that one of NL's flaws is it basically added in a load of NPCs to do roles it already had figures for (although they're good NPCs, don't get me wrong!)

I'm kind of lucky in that there's a bit of cliff near my house that I don't know what to do with at all, so I can theoretically build new shops there, and aside from the loose theme of "Japanese-ish forest village", I don't really have a theme for my island... although it MAJORLY needs some work.