My biggest gripe with NH is that we have so much control over our island that it takes away from the "life simulation" aspect of the game and is actually a big reason I've put so few hours into this game compared to its predecessors. I think I'm at ~165 hours, 95% of that happening within the first few months of NH's release. For context, I've easily dumped 10k hours into Wild World since 2005, and have hundreds/thousands of hours in the older titles.
I would prefer if the next AC game had less customization in favor of a more immersive life sim experience. I don't like that I get to cherry pick who moves onto my island, and once I pick them they do not move unless I give them explicit permission. It makes my relationship with my villagers feel fake and I feel less incentivized to talk with them or send them letters to get their pictures. Why should I care when they don't feel real? They feel like accessories on my island, not equal residents. While there are genuine complaints (such as feeling forced to play the game just to make sure your favorites don't leave), I believe there could have been a more elegant solution to solve this issue.
I think NH was a good step forward, but it did a lot of things just straight up worse than even New Leaf for no discernible reason. Animal Crossing was a life simulation game first and foremost, and while I think NH adds a lot of amazing features, the balance is skewed towards hyper customization and being more of a "doll house simulator" than a life sim, which has never been what Animal Crossing has been about. ACNH feels like it goes against the core principles of why the AC series exists in the first place. Top that off with how barren and downright incomplete the game was at launch, and it's no wonder I put no time into this game at all.
The only other real "hot take" I think I have is that Orville and Wilbur shouldn't exist the way they do. They are cute, don't get me wrong, I like their characters. My issue is that they combine the functions of Pelly/Phyllis/Pete and Copper/Booker (from WW/CF at least), rendering all of them useless and therefore those iconic characters aren't even present in the game. On top of that, the new mail/stationery system is absolutely abysmal and it just feels like a downgrade. Even if the postcard novelty is cute at first, it wears off really fast when you send many letters daily.
I would prefer if the next AC game had less customization in favor of a more immersive life sim experience. I don't like that I get to cherry pick who moves onto my island, and once I pick them they do not move unless I give them explicit permission. It makes my relationship with my villagers feel fake and I feel less incentivized to talk with them or send them letters to get their pictures. Why should I care when they don't feel real? They feel like accessories on my island, not equal residents. While there are genuine complaints (such as feeling forced to play the game just to make sure your favorites don't leave), I believe there could have been a more elegant solution to solve this issue.
I think NH was a good step forward, but it did a lot of things just straight up worse than even New Leaf for no discernible reason. Animal Crossing was a life simulation game first and foremost, and while I think NH adds a lot of amazing features, the balance is skewed towards hyper customization and being more of a "doll house simulator" than a life sim, which has never been what Animal Crossing has been about. ACNH feels like it goes against the core principles of why the AC series exists in the first place. Top that off with how barren and downright incomplete the game was at launch, and it's no wonder I put no time into this game at all.
The only other real "hot take" I think I have is that Orville and Wilbur shouldn't exist the way they do. They are cute, don't get me wrong, I like their characters. My issue is that they combine the functions of Pelly/Phyllis/Pete and Copper/Booker (from WW/CF at least), rendering all of them useless and therefore those iconic characters aren't even present in the game. On top of that, the new mail/stationery system is absolutely abysmal and it just feels like a downgrade. Even if the postcard novelty is cute at first, it wears off really fast when you send many letters daily.
