New Leaf is a great game and one of my all time favourites. I am curious to hear why some of you have made the decision to keep playing New Leaf alongside New Horizons or have decided to play it instead of buying New Horizons. Amongst all the hype for New Horizons I find it really interesting to hear other perspectives on the franchise. For me, I am still playing New Leaf because it offers so many great features that New Horizons just doesn't have. It's the same vice-versa of course, I feel that the animal crossing franchise, rather than a progression is more of a change of play with each new release which works well I guess imo. The music, mini-games, nostalgia, main street, PWP's, Mayor role, more random aspects and town theme are features that keep me coming back to this game.
-
Our 2026 Easter egg hunt has concluded and the egg locations have been revealed. Congratulations to Xara, Millysaurusrexjr, and xlisapisa for winning a Golden Easter Egg! Meanwhile, TBT's Fifth Egg Decorating Contest remains open for submissions through Thursday!
Why are you playing New Leaf?
- Thread starter BluebearL
- Start date
I am only playing New Leaf right now. For me, the decision to keep playing New Leaf was easy. I didn't pick the game up until late 2017 so I was late to the party. When New Horizons was announced, I had just started working on my second New Leaf town and was not in any way burnt out on the game. I like to take things slow and not time travel or push myself to do a lot of landscaping or decorating if I don't feel like it, so I'm still a ways off from finishing my second town. If I were to get New Horizons, it would only be after I finished with New Leaf as I don't have time for both.
Another reason I don't have New Horizons is because I don't own a Switch. If I got a Switch, it would only be for Animal Crossing so I wanted to wait and see how the game turned out before making such a huge investment. One of the things I realized after playing New Leaf for a while is that I really missed the old villager dialogue where they could be rude and snarky. I loved that feeling when I finally earned their friendship. In New Leaf, the villagers are a little too friendly right off the bat. So I wanted to see if New Horizons would improve upon that before buying it, because villager interaction is the main reason I play Animal Crossing.
Unfortunately, based on everything I've been reading over in the New Horizons boards, the dialogue has taken a further step backwards. On top of that, the main new features that New Horizons has to offer (crafting, terraforming, putting furniture outside) don't really appeal to me. While I do decorate and landscape some in the game, it's never my priority and it seems that New Horizons had become more about those things than the simple interactions that I care about. It is a beautiful game, but I think it may just not be right for me.
So unless something drastically changes with New Horizons in the coming months, I'll keep playing New Leaf. And after I'm done with New Leaf, I've been contemplating going back to GameCube or picking up a copy of Wild World.
Another reason I don't have New Horizons is because I don't own a Switch. If I got a Switch, it would only be for Animal Crossing so I wanted to wait and see how the game turned out before making such a huge investment. One of the things I realized after playing New Leaf for a while is that I really missed the old villager dialogue where they could be rude and snarky. I loved that feeling when I finally earned their friendship. In New Leaf, the villagers are a little too friendly right off the bat. So I wanted to see if New Horizons would improve upon that before buying it, because villager interaction is the main reason I play Animal Crossing.
Unfortunately, based on everything I've been reading over in the New Horizons boards, the dialogue has taken a further step backwards. On top of that, the main new features that New Horizons has to offer (crafting, terraforming, putting furniture outside) don't really appeal to me. While I do decorate and landscape some in the game, it's never my priority and it seems that New Horizons had become more about those things than the simple interactions that I care about. It is a beautiful game, but I think it may just not be right for me.
So unless something drastically changes with New Horizons in the coming months, I'll keep playing New Leaf. And after I'm done with New Leaf, I've been contemplating going back to GameCube or picking up a copy of Wild World.
i recently reset over my 3-ish year old village to start from scratch as a way to curb my desire to start up a second acnh island (since i can't afford another switch lol ridiculous). i can really feel the difference between new leaf and acnh, this game feels much slower-paced and focused on talking to your villagers + bonding with them rather than being all about decorating and customization. i do love acnh and am still putting more time into it than new leaf but this one's nice to come back to and just wander around to do my dailies for 30min and not have to worry about my town being pretty or flawless. probably nostalgia speaking here too lol
Namely because I can't afford a (physical) copy of New Horizons yet. But also I never got to play New Leaf when it was new. So I wanted to play something a little more recent than City Folk which still had a relatively active userbase. It's pretty good!
I am only playing New Leaf at the moment. I got the game in 2013 and played it for awhile before I stored it up while I was going through my senior year of high school and preparing for college. I recently got it out again and restarted my town in April because my job placement was postponed and I had a lot of time on my hands. I'm currently working as a private mathematics and history tutor at the moment while I wait out the job postponement. I'm not too sure but I believe New Leaf is my first AC game and I've grown to like it very much. Having a routine in the game can be therapeutic for me 
I haven't played New Horizons because I don't have a switch and propably not going to get one. I've seen many people complain about the lack of contents with the game during its initail release and that was a put off. My brother-in-law got one because he stays in Japan and can obtain a console and the game easily. He hasn't touched the game at all other than the first couple of weeks. Maybe in another couple of years when the game is complete and no longer being updated, I might consider getting it if I have some free time to play games. For now, I'm sticking with New Leaf
I haven't played New Horizons because I don't have a switch and propably not going to get one. I've seen many people complain about the lack of contents with the game during its initail release and that was a put off. My brother-in-law got one because he stays in Japan and can obtain a console and the game easily. He hasn't touched the game at all other than the first couple of weeks. Maybe in another couple of years when the game is complete and no longer being updated, I might consider getting it if I have some free time to play games. For now, I'm sticking with New Leaf
baylegabriella
Senior Member
I just started playing New Leaf end of June because my sister got me a 3DS. I just got into AC in March, started with Wild World. I would love to play New Horizon, unfortunately not in the best financial situation to get the console nor the game.
Lotusblossom
Prankster Crossing
The geaphics are cuter and some of the houses too the water especially the rivers
i recently restarted my new leaf town mostly bc i feel very unsatisfied with the villager interactions. also bc acnh is so heavily focused on designing i get really stressed out trying to make my island perfect. so going back to new leaf has been very healing bc i can just enjoy the game and my villagers without feeling the pressure to make everything perfect. the only good thing though is acnh made me realize i deserve having some control over villager houses so i've been blocking out areas i wanna add pwps lol. but its been fun and its actually helped my acnh burnout a lot lk i actually added 2 new areas on my island and feel inspired
new leaf is basically my vacation home while acnh is the home ive been stuck in since march
new leaf is basically my vacation home while acnh is the home ive been stuck in since march
Mr_Persona
Senior Member
What do you mean why?! It's fun and l perfer it over NH. I love my towns and 3 are still not finish yet and l will always check my towns to stop villagers from leaving.
Thank you everyone for your responses! New horizons and the switch certainly aren’t cheap so it makes perfect sense not to buy it if you are still loving new leaf or simply don’t like the main selling points of the new game (Eg: terraforming) New Horizons is definitely can be very stressful, it is for me which is why I still also play New leaf as well. I also find that it is easier to play New leaf when your have less time overall to play animal crossing, while villagers can move out- you are not under constant pressure to improve the island, complete chores etc. Dialogue is 100% a big issue in both games but more so in NH, for this exact reason I still occasionally play wild world.
starlightsong
♡ static's biggest fan ♡
I haven't read the whole thread or anything so I might be repeating others, but for me, these are the biggest things I can get out of New Horizons that I can't get out of New Leaf: crafting, terraforming, putting furniture outside, and villagers doing cute little things like singing. The only one of those I really care that much about is the latter, because the villagers and the life simulation aspect are the most important thing to me rather than decorating my town. NH in its current state (and especially at launch where we didn't even have Redd) is significantly more focused on the decorating than on the life simulation so I still prefer playing NL and doing things like playing hide and seek with my villagers, letting them visit my house, going to Tortimer Island to play minigames, working at the roost, and so on. And honestly even if/when NH does get all those things I mentioned I'll probably still play NL just because I've put a lot of time into it and don't wanna let it go. So I actually do play NH, but I also play a bit of NL as often as I can!
Halloqueen
Just a dreamer who dreams of better days.
Admittedly, since the launch of New Horizons I haven't picked up New Leaf again because the newness of New Horizons has been appealing more to me. That said, I generally play/do things for a while, then stop and move onto something else, only to loop back around to the other thing at a later time.
I plan to continue playing New Leaf because I have different towns full of different villagers who still appeal to me in their own ways, and this is important because I don't like to repeat villagers. It also doesn't hurt that there are way more furniture sets available in New Leaf. Between the furniture sets, aspects currently missing from New Horizons like gyroids and Brewster's cafe, the more interesting dialogue and activities (hide & seek, Tortimer's island), there's enough to set the two games apart as different experiences, and as such I see no reason to abandon New Leaf fully.
I plan to continue playing New Leaf because I have different towns full of different villagers who still appeal to me in their own ways, and this is important because I don't like to repeat villagers. It also doesn't hurt that there are way more furniture sets available in New Leaf. Between the furniture sets, aspects currently missing from New Horizons like gyroids and Brewster's cafe, the more interesting dialogue and activities (hide & seek, Tortimer's island), there's enough to set the two games apart as different experiences, and as such I see no reason to abandon New Leaf fully.
fluttershy300
૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♡
If I didn’t already sold my copy of NL I would definitely be playing it cause one, the music is beautiful and two I’m just obsessed with having more than one town.
.: Meri :.
free palestine | trans rights are human rights
I only got New Leaf fairly recently as a Christmas present from my aunt last year. I don't feel like I really have the time to start up another AC game, so I'm waiting to get New Horizons until I've (a) more-or-less completed my New Leaf town and it no longer requires much maintenance on my part, and (b) have finished a few other video games on my to-play list. (This has also given me a lot of time to brainstorm what I want to do with my future island, ahaha. And time for more NH updates to come out!)
While all the decoration options and creative freedom NH gives is really super appealing to me, New Leaf feels very relaxed and I'm enjoying just going with the flow. I've blocked off a couple areas I don't want villagers moving into, but aside from that I've mostly let them plop their little houses wherever they please. I like the idea of planning my town around my villagers and seeing where that leads me. Plus, I love NL's villager interactions and life sim elements. Nothing like chilling in the cafe with one of my favorite villagers or NPCs.
While all the decoration options and creative freedom NH gives is really super appealing to me, New Leaf feels very relaxed and I'm enjoying just going with the flow. I've blocked off a couple areas I don't want villagers moving into, but aside from that I've mostly let them plop their little houses wherever they please. I like the idea of planning my town around my villagers and seeing where that leads me. Plus, I love NL's villager interactions and life sim elements. Nothing like chilling in the cafe with one of my favorite villagers or NPCs.
Lightspring
🧡🖤
I’m about to restart my 5 1/2 year old town once I transfer all of my villagers and items to my second town. New Leaf feels so nostalgic when life was simpler. I also play New Horizons, but I get overwhelmed from the terraforming, and the lack of items just feels barren. There are better features about both games but I’m sticking to both for now because I can’t trade yet for New Horizons because it costs money lol
As others have said, NL has better dialogue... ACNH has problems where u have to wade thru a bunch of lifeless convos before getting any interesting dialogue. Whereas ACNL I’ve returned to playing it for just a few days and i’ve already seen some new dialogue that i never saw in my 800+ hours of playing the game.
Also terraforming is cool but I think building/developing a town without changing the landscape itself is a cool idea. It feels rewarding to see ur town all decked out and remember what each area used to look like, and how far you’ve come with it...
I do appreciate that ACNH has multiple cliff-levels though, I’m glad those make a return in general. But yeah i’m probably gonna be focusing on ACNL until NH adds all of the features that aren’t in the game yet.
Also terraforming is cool but I think building/developing a town without changing the landscape itself is a cool idea. It feels rewarding to see ur town all decked out and remember what each area used to look like, and how far you’ve come with it...
I do appreciate that ACNH has multiple cliff-levels though, I’m glad those make a return in general. But yeah i’m probably gonna be focusing on ACNL until NH adds all of the features that aren’t in the game yet.
nightxshift
‧˚*☾ 𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙧𝙚 ‧͙⁺･༓
Animal crossing has always had a space in my heart, it brings up so many memories from when I was younger and I used to play it with my friends at my house. We all stopped playing for years cuz it got “old” and I recently took it up during quarantine and well... I got addicted AGAIN. I’m still scared of people knowing I play animal crossing cuz they for sure would think I’m a weirdo in some way. I know that I shouldn’t care about what other people think but my social life would end. When I get older I literally won’t give a *** about what people think about me, but for now I’ll just stick to my age “phase”. Buuuuttt anyways, I don’t play New Horizons because I’m poOr and I also know that I’ll get sick of it soon (in my opinion, NH isn’t as interesting as NL) and I don’t wanna waste all that money so I’ll probably just steal my friend’s switch and play :>
I came back to this thread after reflecting once more on my own choice to keep playing NL alongside NH. I just finished a session on New Leaf and I would have to say that New Horizons just seems empty to me in comparison, it doesn't hold the same homey atmosphere with emphasis on slow progression. I have taken multiple breaks from NH, some lasting months since it's release this year whereas I couldn't put New Leaf down for years. Even with updates I don't see it having a particularly long life-span. While I love nice aesthetics and some design freedom I don't really want a game based solely on these qualities- it is honestly more stressful which is something Animal Crossing was never meant to be. I still play New Horizons when updates come out but I am getting my animal crossing fix from New Leaf and Wild World atm.
