Did 2.0 Save Animal Crossing New Horizons? - New Horizons 2-Year Retrospective

[@kenny2232]

New Horizons kinda sounds like The Sims 4 - focused on aesthetics, the best building tools in the series, but kinda shallow gameplay and missing things from old games (like open world and wants and fears).

[@Rose_amethyst]

Everything always seems to get worse 😕

[@ameliah2006]

Exactly, this is the perfect explanation.

[@GlitchyAsh]

as someone who is in both communities, that is incredibly accurate

[@CloverLovesTT]

i get that same empty feeling from both games. i’ve gone back to sims 2/3 and city folk and have never looked back.

[@nidohime6233]

Animal Crossing was never a open world like BoTW and such. But it does have falls like shallow villagers, which it was meant to be the backbone of the series.

[@cgk1276]

No. New Horizons at its core is just super shallow, as it’s really only about decorating the island and that’s it. Aside from that, they made us wait over a year to finish the game; people were so desperate for content that they got excited over potential leaks for Brewster, who is basically nothing in terms of content.

[@hotdoggington6962]

What depth would you say is missing from previous games?

[@Nepgearaf]

@@hotdoggington6962 How about have more written dialogue like the first game??? New Horizons is the most shallow for villagers using the same 3 lines when you speak to them. AC WW had conversations with villagers that impacted how you interacted them, with them giving you a nickname, or catchphrases. Villagers could visit your house unbeknownst, or you could setup up a time to hang out. Hard to describe the earlier games as anything but alive.

[@stubbornwasabi3994]

NH is about making something beautiful. An island, yourself, a home, and in a way a community. But once things look how you want, it doesn’t hold your attention. It’s a good 5-15 minutes of escapism after a long day if I just want to fish or something but that’s about it. The updates had me add new things to my creations but once that was done there wasn’t much else to do until the next update.

[@arian_motta]

I recently restarted my island from a new save file (saving my old island DA) just so I keep playing it. As you said: when the island is "finished"... there's nothing really else to do. We really need some mini games :( Like in ACNL

[@kerb5989]

@@arian_motta 2.0 was the last free update so I don't think we'll get any, and I will not pay for a few minigames.

[@Olemier]

Maybe it’s an elaborate, modern art piece about how people like buying stuff and decorating more than they enjoy talking to their neighbors. Man they could’ve done so much with the villager dialogue and relationships, but the villagers are just decorations on the island.

[@arian_motta]

The thing I miss the most is the multiplayer mini game island... ACNH is so focused on decorating that there's almost nothing exciting to do with friends after they visit you a couple of times... For this reason, people have been creating their own mini games, but it's no way near what we had in ACNL. Taking a Kapp'n boat together with friends.. where is it?

[@VanessaDMusic]

I have SO many fun memories from the island. It feels like theres nothing to do with your friends

[@arian_motta]

@@VanessaDMusic yesss

[@Peacht4n]

Yes you are right. The game has an empty dollhouse feel. Villagers just feel like extra props to make your island "pretty". It's so soulless and empty, very sad. I wish the game was more sim-like

[@garrettterminal1400]

I definitely feel like new horizons is just a different kind of game compared to the others. less focused on the life sim aspect, more focused on the building and customization aspect. nothing wrong with that per say, but it alienates a good chunk of the player base. it's funny, because since I'm an artist and an overall creatively inclined person you'd think I'd be obsessed with this game, but I just can't get into it no matter how much I try and get excited about making my island (which I have a lot of ideas about). nintendo definitely saw how much people loved the public works projects and customization in new leaf and completely went in that direction for new horizons, ignoring the other side of animal crossing which is arguably the core of animal crossing, the social sim aspect

[@kaphizmey6229]

i think it’s because they ignored that core you’re talking about (animal crossing as a social sim) that ultimately hurt its reputation amongst animal crossing fans. i still have yet to even buy the game, because i’m worried i will regret my purchase.

[@cakiepop2038]

That's the thing, they made it more customization and building focused, but then made that aspect of the game annoying!! I flattened my island a couple months ago, and I still haven't gained the heart to reterraform it! It's so exhausting. Not to mention crafting and getting items is so difficult since you can only go one at a time

[@lexiii7827]

My biggest complaint is that in a game all about the animals they made the dialogue soo bland! If they added better dialogue and more interactions with your villagers this game would be so much more immersive. Like what happened to hide n seek and your villagers having unique interests? New leaf had such entertaining dialogue and I remember taking so many screenshots of the weird things my villagers said

[@TheTechnogicChannel]

I seem to recall people REALLY hating NL’s dialogue at the time for being bland, too? Why are we now acting as if it’s the height of good dialogue, and not a game people were going “VILLAGERS BLAND” about for a good 7 year? oh yeah, it’s because people have started treating NL like it’s completely flawless (although this was a thing during NL’s lifespan too, so…)

[@lexiii7827]

@@TheTechnogicChannel I don't remember anyone saying that, but either way this is my own opinion and I'm not basing it off of what other people think

[@ThePrismaticEnder]

It's 2022. People get offended over anything now so it aint surprising that they toned things down. Wouldnt be surprised if they do that again next game.

[@TheTechnogicChannel]

@@ThePrismaticEnder But what I'm saying is that NL's dialogue was also called bland at the time (and in some areas, I think it can be blander than NH's!), not that it's been toned down further. I know for a fact that there's been some stuff that's gotten rewritten between different updates (there's been some stuff to do with shoes that's gotten rewritten to take away the assumption that everybody's got two feet, and the phrase "I can't breathe" was replaced with... nothing after the murder of George Floyd) but that's not "anything" as you put, more to do with stuff like racism and ableism... which is stuff that a lot of people face, and shouldn't be a part of a game aimed at all ages because it's "sassy". I DO think there's a load of other stuff that's missing from the dialogue of the past couple of games, some of which voyan mentions (like villagers shit-talking the NPCs for being sus), and other things he doesn't (like random letters from characters you'll never meet, and villagers going "what were that all about?") but blaming that entirely on people getting offended by anything is a) wrong, b) ultimately trivialises the fact that a lot of the time, people are understandably getting upset by things

[@ThePrismaticEnder]

@@TheTechnogicChannel I guess next game they could add an option to either make the dialogue more like the originals or more like acnh's And despite me loving NL, I will admit that the dialogue was pretty bland for the most part.

[@nickk3077]

I loved New Leaf and played it for several years. I even saw the 5-year anniversary celebration in my town! I haven't played it for a few months now, but the game really did satisfy me for a long time! However, I dropped New Horizons in June of 2020... It really lacked a long-lasting appeal, which is a shame for an Animal Crossing game. Along with that, the game feels sorta like a confused mess. It doesn't know if it wants to give you full control and be sorta like Happy Home Designer or restrict you and feel like an actual Animal Crossing game. I don't really hate New Horizons, but if future Animal Crossing games try to follow the confused formula of New Horizons, then I might begin hating it. My biggest fear is that Animal Crossing will forever lose the charm it once had for me.

[@myon9431]

I'm afraid of that too, especially because New Horizons sold so much. At least we'll always have the superior older games

[@annaisntcool]

this!

[@wilfredwayne7139]

Same as me pretty much stopped playing at the same time recently started playing again and had to start a new island cause no online saves.

[@rat-1567]

I hope my 2ds gets fixed soon 😢 I've had that thing since 2014!

[@KiraCuraMusic]

Same 😢

[@nyuwumi]

I think the biggest issue, like you said, was that it took nintendo 2 years to get the game to a "playable" standard. NL and previous titles released strong with plenty to do and even though we waited so many years for NH, it had so much catching up to do. Yes, as an island decorator I got my money's worth, however the entire experience also felt very stale and I'm now at a point where I don't even want to open the game because it just reminds me of the agony of terraforming and that feeling puts me off every time I start playing. Maybe if I restarted my island I'd get a way better experience now with all those updates out, but that would require me giving up hundreds of hours of play time though and it's a bit too much to let that go. The whole waiting around to get to this point where NH is fun to play ruined the experience, especially because it felt.. unfair? Like, I would always rant about how NL was better and it always made me sad since I really really wanted NH to be the next, better animal crossing we've all spent years waiting for.. But it just wasn't and never will be. I always wanted to play with my friends and villagers the same way I used to play NL with them but it will just never be the same again. Maybe I'm just getting too old now or maybe it really was just too little, way too late. So many questionable choices were and I always wonder every time I play: Why remove tropical and perfect fruits when the setting is about living on a deserted Island? Why not make villagers interact with furniture more when PC has all the animations and models that could be used? Why remove online multiplayer games? Why make villagers even more shallow and friendly? Why remove so many special characters, furniture, events? I don't (morally) understand how they could ever favour money over making the player base the happiest they could've been... This seems to be an ongoing trend with nintendo in general though - Just look at mario kart 8 deluxe. We are getting DLC for this game that will go on for ANOTHER 2 years, despite everyone practically begging for a new entry, since deluxe quite literally was a port. Stretching it out to make it last just long enough, as if it had to be rationed. I don't know. It feels like nintendo has lost the magic that once made it such a great company and has now turned into just another corporate business looking to make big bucks with little effort. It's just so frustrating to see the reality of it all. When I think of NH now I feel something kinda sad and I never thought that's how I'd feel about an AC game. Yes, the game is fun and all, and anyone will have a great time, I did too for a while. There is just this lingering feeling of "hey this is cool but it could've been so much cooler" when before I always thought "omg they put THAT in the game too? wow they really did that, huh? That's new, holy, I never thought they'd make that happen!"

[@kyle11704]

I think you described it best by describing it as an island decorator. Like for most of the time playing the game, it just felt like the goal was to make a visually appealing diorama of an island. In New Leaf I felt like there were a lot of goals to achieve and I was excited to log in every day to interact with my villagers and explore what the game had to offer. I hope that Nintendo sees how much people love this franchise and will put more of what made the older games special into the next game.

[@kaphizmey6229]

to your point about mario kart 8 deluxe, i feel like EVERY game studio is either doing this or rereleases. just look at tes 5 (skyrim) and gta 5; the former got dlc recently, and the latter got rereleased despite the fans of both franchises asking them to make sequels… and this is from two franchises that haven’t had a new mainline game out since 2011 and 2013, respectively. nintendo is not alone in doing what they’re doing (unfortunately), in fact they are actively participating in some of the worst trends in recent gaming history. and no, you’re not old for thinking this. i feel the exact same way, and i’m only 22!

[@nyuwumi]

​@@kaphizmey6229 Agreed! Hence I labelled it as an "ongoing trend" as this is unfortunately common practice these days, which I personally didn't know nintendo for until the switch era. When I grew up and until the late 2017s nintendo to me had always been a company that put love into the games they were making. Sure we'd have to wait longer for games to come out but at least you knew back then that you'd always get your money's worth right away. (mainline pokemon games came out every 3-4 years, spin offs were made by licensed companies which were also very cool. Mario games came out the same way and we had spin offs like Mario vs Donkey Kong, etc.) It's a shame seeing that since the shift in leadership (imo since Iwata's unfortunate death) they have turned to your average big gaming company's practices and it's just so sad to see. Nintendo had always been "behind" other companies in terms of hardware or production speed and producing games not everyone plays, not porting things to pc, etc. But they always made sure players had fun playing their games and took the extra step to make games wholesome. They still do to a degree no doubt because any game you'll play will be good fun, however there is just this lack of that extra mile, where games you play *feel* rushed, are obvious money grabs or make questionable choices like NH not shipping with its full content. Nintendo has enough money to make new games the same way they were known for, however, players to them have simply turned into pawns, knowing they'll buy anything because it's nintendo and you're going to have fun still but we're buying this because we've always bought it and oooh shiny nostalgia! I'm really not saying you can't have fun with the games, and if people do I'm so happy for them. It just feels like nintendo doesn't know what it wants to be anymore and fully takes advantage of the fact people will always buy nintendo, so less effort has to be put in, when in reality so many people tell them what they want and need, but oh the money greed..

[@nyuwumi]

@@kyle11704 I remember the days where I spent weeks trying to befriend Apollo because he just *hated* me! When he finally turned around and went "You're actually nice and I'm sorry I've been such a crook this whole time" I felt this immense joy and accomplishment. We were finally friends and that made me so happy back then because I seriously didn't know if he'll ever like me or why he moved to my town in the first place, haha. Now, in NH it didn't even take a day to be friends, we were friends right from the get go. Sure he made some cranky comments but never about me or how he hated chatting to me etc. I hated that the Apollo I knew, who I'd work so hard for just so he'll finally look at me with a friendly face, had become a husk of what he used to be. NL had already started this big trend and toned them down, but even there villagers still had some personality that distinguished them from one another. In NH you could replace any cranky villager with each other and they will be the *exact* same. I love snooty and normal villagers but when every single one says the exact same thing, it's just SO annoying sometimes :( I have 2 peppy villagers on my island and- I just can't with their "I wanna be a super star, omg lets be besties, have you heard about me wanting to be a superstar?" and they are both the exact same! They both like the exact same things and do the exact same stuff and, I love them really but it's so annoying that there is virtually no difference other than their 3D model. :'(

[@PancakemonsterFO4]

That´s the curse of the "life service", and it´s not just a nintendo thing the entire AAA landscape seems to be obsessed with the idea of shipping half-finished games to the deadline instead of just changing the date and then slowly waiting till the features you want drop (or the game dying because nobody wants to play it in the current state)

[@SleepyBears]

Very telling how they didn’t even have an official second year anniversary recognition 😭💀

[@Nooby.]

I haven’t finished watching the video yet but here’s my answer. No. It was a good update that should’ve been there at launch but felt a little too late. People were already bored of the game in 2020 and they made us wait a WHOLE YEAR for the game to be complete and then straight up abandoned us. I think Happy Home Paradise should’ve been free too.

[@babythestarsshinebright]

Definitely. nintendo really dropped the ball with new horizons, most people who weren't diehard fans of the series had left by early-mid 2021 and no longer care enough to come back for the update

[@nickk3077]

I don't like HHP. Nintendo should focus on making a life sim rather than this model your own house sim. It's just dumb and neglects the core fans.

[@thekimfiles]

I don't think HHP should have been free, it's honestly at a good price point for the amount of content. Ofc if you don't like decorating then it's not going to be for you. Nintendo is a company and they need to make money. Most people who wanted AC: NH already bought it. They can't always release extra content for free. It stinks that it locks some decorating features behind a paywall, but that's the incentive to buy the DLC I suppose.

[@jenschoice_]

@@thekimfiles i loved HHP until I discovered that you can just put the mandatory items in the room and the villager will like it regardless. I don't know what they could have done different, maybe put a maximum time required thing? I don't know.. it lost the appeal to me when I discovered that.

[@Kevbot6000]

@@jenschoice_ I much prefer they did that than make you decorate 30 houses legitimately to unlock everything. People who like decorating can do it legitimately if they want to and people who just want to grind it to unlock all the shops and items can do that as well.

[@SoraFan23]

I say this game really divided the AC community. Half think ACNH is the best game and the other half still thinks that New Leaf is the much better game. To me its a mess. Its like the game did a lot of things great, but other stuff backwards.

[@gabsprado121212]

The only people that think it's the best game are the people that never played any other AC game.

[@coolpanda558]

@@gabsprado121212 No? There are some AC KZbinrs like Koramora who have played all of the games and say ACNH is the best AC game.

[@ThePrismaticEnder]

@@coolpanda558 They obviously have a different opinion on the game.

[@coolpanda558]

@@ThePrismaticEnder Yeah that’s what I’m saying. For some it’s their favorite AC game, even when they played the other games, and people shouldn’t gatekeep that.

[@outofthefryingpanandintoth1197]

@@gabsprado121212 Yeah, I've played City Folk and New Leaf, but New Horizons has been my favorite. By far the most fun I've ever had playing a game. City Folk had the most personality, and New Leaf had great hourly tracks, but I just think that New Leaf felt super slow and grindy, since you had to spend so many bells to unlock anything. New Leafs villagers are definitely not as good as people make them out to be. Most of the dialogue was the same quality as New Horizons...

[@quarzita]

After NH I went back to ACPC, and even there villagers feel more alive, they ask me if I had breakfast or why I am staying so late at night. They ACTUALLY care for the furniture I put and use it constantly, they make me get out of my comfort zone and request furniture because they actually care of how I decorate everything. In PC you can choose if you want to be fully invested in friendship or aesthetics, because both are great, I also feel that the fact that in PC the style each character haves matters is great, because it makes them different and not just a personality type like in NH. In NH all jocks are jocks, they are all the same, in PC they have styles attached to them that make them a bit different

[@chemicalrory]

To make cooking somewhat worthwhile it woulda been fun if villagers made specific meal requests. Upon receipt, they'd wolf the meal down in front of the player, then break into the "birthday dance" whilst singing the town tune. (The concept of meals as decoration for more than a day doesn't work very well).

[@princemorgana]

this is such a good idea I was just thinking of how they could implement cooking i really love this idea.

[@nonomoustache]

I can't put into words the happiness I feel when I see your notifications

[@ziche.]

heck yeah

[@meowiies]

I still remember that announcement that went live.. "Final Update"... I was devastated that day. I still am to be honest

[@Iron_Stigmata]

New Horizons feels like Nintendo heard us say "we want more decoration and control!" in response to New Leaf, forgetting that we also loved everything else that was there, and primarily came for that. We were asking for sprinkles on a good cake, and Nintendo just gave us the sprinkles with New Horizons, then tried to rush and make a cake after the fact.

[@bluflame4847]

and the cake came out a half baked goop pile of flour eggs and a sugar before they eventually just said "fuck it just take it" and fucked off. even with the update NH is half of what NL was at LAUNCH. lowkey feels scam-y.

[@alamor15]

After watching this video plus other ones talking about the subject and reading people’s comments because I just like to analyse things and different points of views. New horizons felt like a betrayal to old fans and new fans who thought villager interaction was the core of this new entry. Meanwhile fans that are all about the design don’t have much problems with it. What I see over and over again is the fans who like design aspect upset each time someone bring these issues to the table and not understanding why people feel so angry with new horizons. This reaction mainly from the older fans is only natural because Animal crossing is at it’s core a life simulation where you live in a community, it was the goal for the game when it was created. Then comes new horizons and without warning changes the formula completely and of course it comes as a shock. Imagine you are promised something, like a core value that’s a life simulation that’s all about living in a community and instead you get a designer simulator. New horizons doesn’t feel like animal crossing it feels like a spin off or a different type of game. I’m all about trying new things but it’s also important that when you’re doing a sequel because this is sequel that you keep the core aspect that made the base great intact. I’m an older fan that fell in love with animal crossing for the villagers and yes while I still like new horizons it doesn’t feel like a sequel to the older games and yes I was already kinda upset with new leaf for the same reason but new leaf was still able to keep the core intact. In my case the next mainline animal crossing game will be the first I won’t buy on the first day of release because I don’t know what this game is about anymore and will wait for reviews. If animal crossing wants to become a designer simulator it can and will make some fans happy but I have no doubts it will lose the older fans because it’s already losing me. If it goes that route I don’t think it should called animal crossing anymore because it isn’t about the animals anymore it about the aesthetics.

[@starlosa]

With me 2.0 barely fixed any of the basic things people complained about. Crafting multiple items at once, making multiplayer more enjoyable, things like that

[@NintendoHero]

Totally fair critiques, New Horizons has some fundamental problems at its core that will probably never be fixed. But it's still such a fun game overall. Nintendo sadly likes to make incomplete games these days, like New Leaf had an insane amount of content AT LAUNCH!! The same thing is happening with Switch Sports, like 6 sports at launch will never be as good as Resorts 12, no matter how many they add later. Anyway happy birthday New Horizons your older sibling is better than you lol

[@Amsayy]

I don't understand this mindset in triple a games now. Don't they understand we'd rather wait for complete games than pay up front for basically a demo to play until the full releases it out

[@Jdudec367]

Eh...Switch Sports could eventually get better then Sports Resort...but it'll take a while.

[@sheebitz]

One thing I am thankful of is the more diversity in new horizons. For example, you can’t get darker skin in new leaf without tanning, and although I love the game that was so frustrating as a black gamer myself. Seeing the different hairstyles and skin colors and the option that your character can be whichever and not a set gender is so relieving. I agree with absolutely everything in this video, it is nice though to see that aspect in new horizons

[@GladeXD]

2.0 came in too late for me. I remember being excited for it, but by the time it released, I was burnt out and was more interested in new releases. Haven't touched the paid dlc as yet, but the lack of store upgrades meant that I mostly got repeat furniture & clothing. Also doesn't help that so many actions still feel like a chore.

[@Alexksandrr]

As someone who is an artist and majorly enthusiastic about creating and decorating i can say that no. The update didn't save the game. I never played past ac games, they weren't really available in my country, i only really saw them played by others on KZbin and in discussions of the community and i can safely say that NH doesn't even come up to the ankles of old games. Is the game nice for decorating? Yeah....well. Kind of. A lot of people have obviously pointed out the lack of genuine heart and soul to the game, that makes it feel very boring and stale, but let me point out: the decorating aspect is poorly designed. Despite decor being the main part to the game and acnh literally only being designed as an island decorating simulator, it has so many limitations even decorating gets obnoxious real fast. Teraforming, bridges, inclines, all very limited. You can't change aspects of the beach or rock formations, you have limited game paths (and lets be honest, the custom designed ones aren't the sane even remotely), you can't even place paths on the beach for that matter. Why can't we redesign and move the plaza/RS? Why can't we change the exteriors of the shops and airport? I mean HHP has clearly shown that designing the exteriors of all buildings is possible,so why is the main game still so limited? A lot of items and fencing sit on blocks extremely awkwardly. Why not give us more tree variations, including dark hardwood and tropical trees? I mean i could go on and on about how frustrating and unappealing a lot of the designing aspects are for a design based game. Nintendo keeps adding more cutesy items into it but what we really need is more soul to the gameplay,the villagers, the npcs and more goals to obtain. Shop upgrades, things to look forward to and work for. On top of that if they really want this games main idea to be creation,let us have easier and more extensive limits and more ways to decorate and really make our islands unique. I'm trying so hard to enjoy the game after 2 years but it's just so boring. I've decorated it a million times,restarted now for the fourth time and. It's just so BORING.

[@eevee727]

The trend of releasing an unfinished game and adding the most basic of features that should have been there from the start as ‘content updates’ really failed this game. I hope Nintendo sees the damage it did to ACNH and never does it again.

[@SleepyKittyPaws]

It is depressing that even with the 2.0 update, this game feels like a downgrade compared to New Leaf. New Horizons is a great game, BUT, it is a horrible Animal Crossing game. This series was all about life-sim and less about dollhouse decoration, and New Horizons has butchered that charm heavily.

[@AS-cs9gi]

wish the game had a indie competitor like Stardew valley for harvest moon

[@premier1975]

@@AS-cs9gi there is now, its called hoko life. Most chill game you ever play. Its like animal crossing plus farming, mining, crafting and design/building. It'd me AC's closest competitor.

[@AS-cs9gi]

@@premier1975 it not really competing with ac though. barely any people playing or talking about it, unless it has gotten more popular recently and I haven't noticed . Puffpals island skies though seems like it could actually compete but it is planned to release in 2025 , there may be a new ac by that point though

[@randomperson3629]

I think the game is more of a decoration game for creative people, which is a shame, because the game is literally called Animal Crossing, but it seems like the animals have been pushed to the side

[@TheVioletBunny]

@@AS-cs9gi story of seasons is better than stardew valley

[@Martina-od1wv]

I've been playing the AC saga since 2006. Version 2.0 brought back all the frustration I repressed when I quit the game out of boredom. This game still feels empty and soulless. What is the point of being able to cook so many foods and not even be able to see the player actually eat them on a table? I love animal crossing but I hate decorating so much. I feel like this game has literally nothing to offer to me, a long time fan who was madly in love with the simulation aspect of the game. That's why I keep going back to the GameCube version. It just doesn't feel the same anymore. (Good job with the gyroids tho)

[@MrDroenix]

The Gamecube version was the best! So many good memories playing that game as a kid, especially with all of the holiday tie-ins making the game have a lot of charm

[@montnell]

Just bought New Leaf when New Horizons' trailer showed up and I felt so bad because I couldn't have it. But after playing a while New Leaf and watching what's Nintendo doing with New Horizons, I don't regret buying it

[@gabsprado121212]

I did the complete opposite. I do regret it.

[@kaphizmey6229]

i bought wild world off of ebay and i’m glad i sprung for that instead of new horizons

[@annaisntcool]

@@gabsprado121212 why?

[@darxoonwasser]

@@kaphizmey6229 Wild World is awesome, it is my favorite in the series. I still play on my old cartridge and it is so fun

[@maxventunosei5017]

@@darxoonwasser WW is the only other AC game I have but I can no longer play it because the screen is way too small for me 😭

[@heyitzquell1212]

For the villagers it would be cool if we could suggest something they could do with us! And then vice versa. Like we could go pick red roses. Or we could follow each other and sit somewhere and actually read an actual book. Or maybe go to the beach and play volleyball. Or go eat dinner together when we have a “dinner” spot set up on our island. There could so be many more chat options to choose like inviting them to play musical instruments with us, or we could gather a team of like two of them to help us move buildings. So much more we could do everyday.

[@mikhail4486]

I tried playing NH couple of times but dropped it mainly because of uninteresting character interactions. and you pointed out thing that I didn’t even think about - lack of consequences because of absence. That’s actually very important

[@PenCatStudio]

Man I am intensely nostalgic for the first summer I played new horizons (I got it late) it was my first AC game. I even chased down the UPS truck on my scooter to get it! But then I played the older games (even population growing) and then ACNH stood out like a sore thumb. I really wish Nintendo can correct their mistakes for the next AC. But until then I’ll stick with New Leaf. Also love ur vids!

[@milkglassfairy7641]

Yes!! This was my experience too. I was deprived (lol) of games as a child aha so finally as an adult, getting a console, playing this game… I was excited. And I loved it. Then I wanted to experience the older games so I played them all and I realised how much NH is missing :( I fell in love with my villagers while playing the older games. It’s so depressing playing population growing and then playing Nh aha!

[@Cinder36]

I thought it was cool at first, but having villagers visit your home sucks. They used to just ask you, and you can walk with them to either your or their house. But now they walk in unannounced, and while I want to hang with my villagers, I always go to my house for a reason. Like to re-decorate, or grab stuff from my storage for the island. And when they DO ask you, you don't go on a fun stroll, it just blackscreens and you telport there. And even when I WANT to hang out with them they always say the same shit. "Hey, thanks for letting me in, here's a cherry" "Wanna play the same exact card game again to win random stuff you don't want?" "Oh, nice retro clock you got there, blah blah blah" It's really takes you out of the experience and disrupts work flow.

[@Cinder36]

@@thekimfiles Oh, really? Wow I must've forgot. But yeah, that would certainly be a good feature to add.

[@edo9467]

Another issue i have with that feature is that while youre able to designate a time to visit. Its only ever for right now or tomorrow instead of a specific time. And if you establish a visit for tomorrow they only ever say stuff like “oooh boy cant wait to visit you later” and nothing else.

[@Squishydew]

I really dont care about any of new horizons features because all of them feel hollow and pointless when i dont want to return to what matters most, my villagers. New horizon villagers are bland, boring and repetitive. :( Villager improvements were all i wanted from 2.0 and i didn't even return after hearing they did nothing about this biggest glaring issue. I thoroughly hope the future for animal crossing is brighter and less misdirected.

[@batteredthem]

I restarted my island when 2.0 came out and instantly regretted it. It took me months to get to the point where I had all the new content, and even then I didn't have everything because I didn't buy the DLC until last month after I got laid off. Gotta tell you, a month without a job and I've only played twice. I've sunk another 60 hours into Stardew Valley, but less than 10 in ACNH.

[@jenesysrodriguez8085]

Don't get me wrong, I love the game still. But I am so torn on putting energy into this game anymore. (Also, I love your videos pls upload more) I started AC with the GameCube days, as I am sure many of you did as well, but my love really came around during Wild World (which I still play avidly by the way). I loved this series because with every new game release there was always new features to reflect the new console it was operating on. It kept up with the times, it kept things exciting and fun. It made the game maintain its desirability long after release. And when ACNH was released, I fought until I was out of breath for the Devs against people that said they were lazy with release, that the game lacked content and that we deserved more. I always figured it would be given, and that they were kind for not making us wait so long for a game that was so hyped. We had free updates, we had state of the art consoles, and we were capable of receiving content over the months to come! But then AC cornered a demographic nobody was expecting; the quarantine newbies out of work, stuck at home, and terrified of society around them therefore needing a release from reality. They rushed to push this game because Nintendo knew that if it dropped, it was going to hit. And it did, more so than anyone expected. Animal Crossing is on its way to being the most successful switch game ever sold; they were making custom switches, new merch, having deals with Target, Build-a-Bear, and other major retailers. But I feel like with every brand deal, we strayed further and further away from updating the game itself. Looking back, Since release the one year anniversary, there have been 8 in game content updates. With these, we have received TWO updates that contained content that were featured at game release with ACNL. (the dream suite addition and leaf coming to town on VISITS only). The rest have been furniture, holidays or events. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate everything we have gotten but to be a year after release and be missing so many things we had in a game ten years prior feels like such a slap in the face. It feels like 5 years ago, AC fought to be anything but lackluster. If things were slowing down in the community, they were active and putting out content SOMEWHERE. But even then, it wasn't needed because there was sooo much in game already. But now, we get the same repetitive conversations with our villagers. Hope we get one of the same 6 visitors that rotate but are only good for buying/selling. No Brewster, No Katrina or Nook upgrades. No Gracie, Dr. Shrunk, no main street to visit with previous residents.

[@cthulhuuhoop]

This video and your points are so valid. The villagers are still so lacking in NH and that, again, is what made the older games so perfect.

[@amesstarline5482]

I still recall being sad when Blaire left my town in New Leaf, but I rarely check on New Horizons.

[@boredpreston]

Late comment, but 2.0 is what the game should have been at the launch of the game. It look that long just to have Gyroids included. If you play New Horizons for the first time with 2.0 out, you'll enjoy it. But remembering New Leaf, there was so much dialogue and I remember my villagers having real personalities. NH really falls flat on that.

[@Grausel]

We need more villager interactions! Way more... and something unique for all of them.

[@CarlDillynson]

It still feels unfinished to me idk why tho. I’ve been playing AC since GameCube days. The AC games I’ve had zero problem with are GameCube and New Leaf (WW to a lesser extent). NH is gorgeous and fun, but it also feels very superficial to me, even after the updates. Everything is ~too nice~

[@voidoflight2420]

The update really does improve the game, but at the same time, I can't help but drop it and never really pick it back up. I did most of my playing at launch, and while the 2.0 update gives a full experience and finally gives people some of the stuff they were wanting, it still hasn't surpassed New Leaf for me. Here's to hoping that the next game in the series is much better, and they don't try to do the live service model, given it didn't work well for this game at all. However, knowing the sales, this is probably the future direction for the series unfortunately.

[@Wackaz]

For me, the ship had already sailed. This update simply finished the game, and that's about it - I didn't return to it, because by that point, I was absolutely fed up of the game and the peoples' antics behind it.

[@xxSonic195xx]

I hate that this is as good as the game is going to get and that we won't see a new animal crossing game until maybe the next Nintendo console, if that. It might even be almost another decade between this one and the next one. It's such a shame because I was so excited, but the more I played, the more I realized that it's not as good as the older games. The villagers were probably the biggest disappointment for me. Bland task keepers that mostly serve as decorations.

[@F0KZ]

Holy FUCK you're underrated, loved this video, the editing, your voice, etc. Guess I'ma go binge the rest of your content, cause me me big fan now!

[@SilverTheTrinity]

I always feel like New Horizons would have been a brilliant dlc for a whole other Animal Crossing game. Much like Happy Home designer is about having even more customization and control it could easily be a whole island for you to design, fill with utility buildings and pick and choose villagers you want to live there so you can visit them. As a full on mainline game it's just too much of a departure from the idea of arriving in a pre-existing town and either getting to know the locals or proving that you have what it takes to be mayor. Instead from the moment you arrive everyone is excited to meet you and thinks you're the best, and then from there on out everyone thinks you're amazing instead of you proving that they should come and live on your island.

[@sonic95xd44]

Honestly im very divided in new horizons, i think that what it does well (mainly decorating) it does really well and i can see why some people have it as their favorite animal crossing game, but man what it does wrong really tarnish it in my eyes, I've never had such a love/dissapointing feeling with a game except this one

[@thecozyintrovert]

I was hoping that they would keep updating the game like they do with pocket camp, even if it’s paid. Then I’d have a reason to log on again. Like hey- they are releasing a new furniture set, time to clear out my living room for it! But nah- just nothing. This game has so much potential, and it’s so popular, why does Nintendo hate money?

[@TraceguyRune]

You said everything perfectly. At the end of the day, I am still buying 1 color clothes at a time at Able Sisters, still crafting 1 bait at a time, still only allowed to order 5 items a day, with 1 mail delivery a day, and I am still shopping at the one and only Nooks Cranny upgrade

[@BulbaWhat98]

The content just came too late for myself and many others to even bother playing the game again. I'm hoping that they learned their lesson and make the next Animal Crossing feel more complete at launch

[@collectingonthecheap56353]

Thanks for this retrospective. I plan on getting a Switch OLED soon and this amongst some other titles. Sounds like I may actually be more fortunate to have waited for the completed game, but even then may not be as committed to it as I am with Wild World and New Leaf.

[@Chubby_Bub]

I gotta wonder what the reception for this game would be like if it didn’t release at the perfect time to blow up and be acclaimed by fans and critics because of the escape it provided. Suffice to say most of what came out in updates should have been in the base game, but was at the time treated as a big deal (as seen in this video's montage.) It's a decently good game, but is it really the 5-star, amazing game the reviews seem to say? Not at all, in my opinion. Also, completely different topic, but I never realized the map theme and Double Cherry Pass have the same motif at the beginning.

[@GundamDragonLord]

ACNH delayed the 2.0 update, for the sake of the Nintendo Switch Expansion Pack. While yes 2.0 was a free update. They didn't have to release both at the same time. My theory is that they had the 2.0 update and the DLC for a long time but was waiting for Nintendo to make a move by introducing the Expansion Pack. To me if this is true that means that Nintendo intentionally made the Animal Crossing Community wait for maybe a year for new content. I believe the last content we actually had "Officially" was the Festival Event. Which was a year ago 2021. It's not really fair to with hold new content for an upcoming feature. If we like ACNH that much we would most likely buy the HHP flat out. Rather than getting the NSO Expansion Pack. Not only that but we also had to essentially wait for a E3 and for NSO Expansion pack to be somewhat ready for the public. To me this damaged the ACNH community to the point that people were already bored and done with the game because there wasn't anything new to do in the game. The 2.0 Update gave us something to do yes. But the damage felt like it was already done. Now after 2.0 and HHP it seems to me that Animal Crossing New Horizons is a Dying game at this point. Why? and where is the proof. . . . . Well if you go to Nookazon which is the go to site for online trading in ACNH you used to have 1000s of people actively use that site daily. There would be 30+ listings of an item up for trade. . . Now if you search for an item it'll have 20 or less listings. Some of the more popular items have only a handful of listings and some would counter argue and say "well that's because people are actively buying those items" Which I assure you isn't always the case. Believe me I know I have 2k hours in ACNH and I've used Nookazon since it came out. Granted I used it casually and not all the time so having fifteen hundred reviews all of which are 5 stars doesn't equate to those who no life that website with 5 to 8k five star reviews. Those people would have to practically play the game 24/7 . And at that point it's not even fun anymore in my opinion. (Side Note) these people would also have 2, 4, 6 people on their island actively flying over and leaving so I am sure buyers and sellers who travel to those islands would be rather annoyed and would likely provide a 3 or 4 star review because of heavy traffic. Usually those sellers would be a mod or that they have ties to a mod that would remove any reviews below 5 stars. Which to me isn't a fair system if you look at it. They even have a discord server which used to have posts and Looking For trades actively for minutes even seconds in the dozens. , Now if you make a post Looking for "Dot dot dot" offering NMT (Which is the most popular currency in the game) You'll be lucky to get a response back in 20 minutes to hours. Back Then you used to get 2+ instant replies. Another thing I noticed is how things are overpriced now. People are Treating 1 color variant of furniture as if it was all the colors in the game. That is because traders / sellers are aware that you need one color to then go to "Reese and Cyrus" to basically get all of the colors of that piece of furniture. So they'll charge you 10 to 15 tickets sometimes more for a piece of furniture knowing that you're only looking for just one to customize it into all of the colors. Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer, is essentially the same as Happy Home Paradise. So most of the designing came from the menu-ing, and the map of HHPP as well as some new models and buildings. Other than that it shouldn't take nearly 1 year to create something like Happy Home Paradise. And as for the 2.0 Update it's all about modeling and introducing new furniture,Gyroids, some new villagers. Food items. I believe some other features which In my opinion would of took up most of the Crunch time to create compared to the Paid DLC sadly. I wish that we can move the town hall. I also wish we can move our airport within reason. The ability to mass purchase clothes. Mass Craft items. Move the Spawn area for Redd's Boat. Terraform and or move the Rivers Mouth These things should of been in the 2.0 Update. And they could easily do in and program the game to do this within a few months, testing included.

[@jamemeus]

Cooking is best feature because now we can get revenge on sea bass for plaguing our oceans lmao

[@catgamerstogether6941]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@knight4041]

I honestly think there's still a lot of content missing, including characters, shop upgrades, mini games and furniture stuff but I honestly don't want them to add any of that at this point. Because I will not go back to playing. I played over 600 hours and I honestly got frustrated with so many things because they play terrible (looking at you crafting everything one by one) and my villagers won't sit on the darn chairs I put around town. I don't talk to the villagers anymore because they don't have anything good to say, like I am sorry for bothering you because I talked twice to you Static. I won't use the airport because that bird won't stop talking about stuff I already read a thousand times when I JUST want to go. Writing letters is MISERABLE. I think they messed up big time. At this point I just hope they are already working on the follow up and they actually deliver a FINISHED product.

[@marekdec8605]

I think I agree that the villagers and ability to control everything in the game makes the game feel like a game instead of a village of villagers I want to talk to with events that I don’t want to miss.

[@Marchingvenusaur]

I hope animal crossing can really return to its roots in the next installment. I crave the same magic and fun and joy that City Folk and Wild World brought me when I was younger.

[@Spittaz]

I feel like it’ll definitely be an evolved version of New Horizons, especially because of how popular the game is/was. I hope that they do fix the gameplay, but the style of game animal crossing has become is likely to be carried across to the next instalment

[@Marchingvenusaur]

@@Spittaz I’d love an enhanced version of new horizons, but with the villager depth of City Folk/Wild World and the rewarding progression and town development system that was in New Leaf. That’s my ideal AC game!

[@Solaceon]

I fear AC will approach the level of Pokémon. We've had New Horizons-level games since New Leaf came out and the community has been in a cycle of "new game, this is gonna suck, yep it sucks gotta force myself to like it" for almost ten years now.

[@onthefridge-w7p]

Nintendo in general doesnt really put effort into anything anymore

[@rainbowcat498]

Yes!

[@HannahCharlesworth98]

I literally rewatched your 1 year review this morning, so happy to see this!

[@gilda388]

I will never forgive Nintendo for not adding more Nook's Cranny updates. Criminal behaviour.

[@indexical1897]

This is secretly an SMT video… and I’m here for it

[@nidohime6233]

There is a spanish youtuber called EricRod (Leyendas y Videojuegos is his channel name) who had speculate New Horizons had a divided team of developers, one made by old members from the beggining of the series, and a younger one who want to improve as much as they can. He thinks they didn't always agreed on what to add and what to remove so they did like half and half, hence why the game end with great improvements but also lots of drawbacks. Of course this is just speculation, no one knows the real story behind the development of the latest Animal Crossing.

[@daffodyl_n]

2.0 should’ve been the baseline. This game should’ve launched with what 2.0 has, and then gotten 2 years of content on top of that.

[@lil-hannah]

I can understand you, I am an absolute Animal Crossing Gamer but I feel more interested in new leaf and not so much in new horizons. It's not the fault from currently missing features that aren't in the newest update. It is, the game feels unfinished. New leaf came with total 1 major Updates (Welcome Amiibo). Games should be released as an full state and not updating over time from missing Basic AC features I must say it's too late to bring new horizons on an full state. The Game is good and maked a lot things better but don't tops new leaf

[@megtato1054]

Since 2.0 I feel the game is great, probably because I love the decorating aspect of the game. I am still hoping for some new changes tomorrow for the anniversary. Dream on I guess .....

[@saraschmidt5612]

The villagers still repeat dialogue ad nauseam and have watered-down personalities. 🙃 Even if New Horizons has the best gameplay out of the entire series, it's villagers are still some of the worst. I ended up just prioritizing 'rare/popular' villagers (Julian/Flora) over ones I've truly bonded with in previous games (Chops/Tabby), because at this point villagers feel like decorations for your island and not characters you genuinely become friends with.

[@ri-rose6965]

A while back I discovered my new leaf save card corrupted and no longer works. It broke my heart, I had so much work in the town and loved playing it. Anyway I still have no drive to pick NH back up. RIP my new leaf town you were the best.

[@ThePrismaticEnder]

This game was done dirty in my opinion. It could have been a true follow-up to NL, but nope, of course modern gaming trends had to seep in and ruin it. Wondering if the next will pull a battle pass like system or mtx because I can see that happening considering how many games are doing that now.

[@DxityDoo]

My problem is that i really loved ACNH at first. In the lockdown, it was such escapism and being able to swim around on my island while stuck inside on the sofa for day 383 of March was amazing but it does feel empty. I’m frustrated with the game coz it brought a lot of really cool mechanics to the series, like placing furniture outside and terraforming and crafting (also farming which I’m still a fan of coz i love farm sims lol) all of which i felt worked really well with the animal crossing vibe imo. But… it’s still missing so much. I miss the nightclub where my youngest sibling and I would go and hang out and dance in on the bus journey to school, or tortimer island with the mini games where we’d go and be incredibly competitive with each other until we had to very quickly shut down the game to get off the bus before we missed our stop. Honestly, I miss all the mini games coz there is absolutely None of that in NH. I miss Main Street because it really made it feel like a Town, y’know. And two shops is so disappointing. I’m still annoyed they didn’t give blathers his own shop and I’m still annoyed you can’t work there anymore. I miss the music (esp 7pm coz that music is So Good) but ACNH music just… doesn’t hit. My ideal game would be a combination of ACNL and ACNH where you get all the customisability of ACNH but with the character and depth of ACNL.

[@rainbowcat498]

yes! i stopped playin NH in May-June 2021 and i would love to come back but with no new updates, I just dont feel any motivation

[@homesteadhero]

Totally agree with everything you said. I'm certainly not complaining about the aesthetics and additions - they're both wonderful and welcomed - but there were some pretty fundamental flaws that, for the best-selling game of all time, should have been prioritized. Surprisingly, I returned to this game recently just for Happy Home Paradise and am REALLY enjoying it again! ...but just for the DLC, not the actual game. Heck, I haven't even talked to my own villagers again. Which I feel like speaks volumes as to the base game's quality.

[@htsunmiku]

NH was my first AC game..... But I totally understand because this is what happened to the Sims franchise with the Sims 4.

[@saithvenomdrone]

I love the game, but I'd love it so much more if more of classic features were in the game. More shop upgrades, more shops, more buildings such as the Post Office and the Police Station. NPCs getting cut or drastically being cutback still boils my blood if I think too long about it. I desperately miss holidays! Where is my Explorer's Day, Mayor's Day, etc etc etc... These little days were quite exciting to look forward in between the main holidays. I also don't like the setting of NH, I prefer being walled in some mountain forest. I prefer to walk across the train tracks to go to a more developed town area. NH just lacks soul, thats how I feel about it.

[@ferretleaf]

ngl I spent more time playing POCKET CAMP than new horizons because the villagers even have more personality in a mobile game than in NH and that really shouldn’t be the case

[@maxventunosei5017]

Is it an easy game? Curious cause it looks fun

[@dawnsbuneary]

And let's not forget the glitch in the DLC that made villagers naked.

[@undererock]

No, 2.0 and every "update" that came before it should've been in the base game on 3/20/20. Or, the game should've been delayed so they could release a complete game on launch. I will no longer preorder future next animal crossing game, I will wait and see what all is missing from previous games and then decide if it's worth it. Sad considering I didn't feel this way with any other release. I hope they see what went wrong with New Horizons, just like they did with City Folk, and come back bigger and better than ever, like the renaissance New Leaf was. Until then, you can find me playing New Leaf or Population Growing.

[@james_nolan]

I loved New Horizons when it came out but as an Animal Crossing fan, I think I was just happy for something new. I agree that it doesn't really feel like an Animal Crossing game, its pretty watered down compared to New Leaf. I think the days of old school Animal Crossing might be over though, sadly, because of how well New Horizons has sold. I don't see them ever going back to the old school formula, because the new player base is going to expect something like Stardew Valley vs something like New Leaf.

[@Rynul.P]

I know its not my place to say this,but as i am a new player and had played for only two weeks, I say my experience was quite fun! The new stuff i get to go through every day makes me want to keep playing!

[@k0k0mlml]

Old video to comment on but w/e. The 2.0 update, and the note that it was the last content update, felt like a slap in the face. I have devoted thousands of hours to this game and series and had high hopes for NH. The main problem, as you mention, is that it's way too late with too much content that should have been added in the base game. The announcement of 2.0 felt like "here's Brewster and stuff you have been whining about, now shut up because we're done with this game." Nintendo collected our money and said "smell ya later." I really felt like there was no heart with NH. It is very shallow. If this is the direction that future games will go in, I will probably stop following the series. I love AC because of the villagers, NPCs, and personality. If the future games are just going to be dollhouse sims with the villagers as your dolls, then AC isn't the game I love anymore, and I hope someone will create a life sim that can capture that feeling again.

[@chibivampiregirl]

that's it- it's the villagers. what's the point of getting your dream villagers when the feel like a lobotimized version of themselves from wild world or new leaf? i ran around my town for HOURS just to talk to my villagers back when I was in elementary school with wild world and again in high school with new leaf. new horizons villagers have nothing interesting to say and have the gall to get upset with you if you talk to them more than a few times in a row. the earlier games also did that, but you really had to push the limits of their patience before they'd tell you to buzz off. it's really sad.

[@ragletagle6144]

Yes I'm grateful for the update, and yes the villagers can visit. but not only that they have personalities of carboard, but they don't clap for you when you play an instrument!!!!!

[@KiraCuraMusic]

Like on your last video. I completely agree. NH is empty and shallow in terms of loneliness. The villagers are lifeless and it hurts because I miss how they used to be in the older games

[@edo9467]

stellar af vid!! honestly the part where you talk about the punishments that animal crossing would give you if you stopped playing for a long while is what made me stay for new leaf almost everyday when I came back to it. The fact of the matter of is that it makes you care not only for your town but for your villagers as well which makes them feel so real to me and never wants to make me leave them. While new horizons flaws are what legit makes not rlly dislike the game even 2.0 didn't provide much im still happy that it was able to at least provide at the time even if it wasn't enough.

[@schwarzekatze3040]

I mean.. yeah it's hardto write that amount of dialogue for every villager but they could've at least recycled some of wild world or new leaf.. And yes, I know that villagers in wild world were meaner than others but this is what made the game real. You were motivated to talk to them and find out about their soft sides and this was so rewarding when I played it as a kid

[@dordly]

New Horizons is a great game, for people who only care about customization. I like customization but when you and your friends have already shown everything off, there's nothing else to do. I still return to the older games because I developed bonds with the animals I once deemed ugly, but despite the last big update hitting, nothing was done to bring any personality to the animals so ugly animals just get replaced with the ones that match my island's theme by using NFC cards I bought in bulk and a smartphone app to make my own Amiibos.

[@tuffdude7795]

Yeah New Horizons should have been both. Also even with it focusing on the customization they toon away custom museum exhibits. They took away being able to customize town hall. Nooklings shop only upgrades once, so much less furniture sold each day. We could have had multiple upgrades for these buildings and we get to choose what the building looks like. Or we could choose wether kicks got his own shop or could be an add on to the Able Sisters. It is a great customization game, but even that part of the game is lacking obvious features.

[@mdnghtppl0000]

i just found your channel and am goin through a bunch of videos right now. really great stuff man, keep it up!

[@morganqorishchi8181]

I want really, really badly to like NH. And I did for a bit. But once you're done decorating, there's very little to do, so now I've gone back to NL, where I feel like I have things to do daily and there's no tedious crafting, customizing, and breaking tools to contend with.

[@nouvelleriin]

I felt that “I’m still here” line

[@monsterfckr]

I rarely comment, but I've recently found your channel & have been binging your videos. Thank you for your interesting takes on one of my all time favourite gaming series 💖

[@ameliah2006]

I thought I became burnt out of New Horizons because I started playing when it was first released. That was during quarantine. So I didn’t have anything to do besides play this game. I stopped playing, and after a bit when I got back to school and going out I picked it up again. But I was still burnt out. Mind you this was a year after I stopped playing originally. Last month I started playing New Leaf just for fun, not expecting to keep up with it. From 2017 - 2020 (before NHs release) I logged on hundreds of hours into this game. And needless to say I’m still playing New Leaf! Im still in the early stages of my town, but it’s still fun. It has the charm New Horizons lacks.

[@L0tss]

2 years later from this 2 year retrospective, and it really shows you how far the game fell in relevancy when I am only JUST discovering what features the DLC actually gives people. Looking back, I was excited to play this game because I didn't grow up on Animal Crossing, and so my expectations were pretty low compared to what others had. I loved the game for a while. Then, I didn't... and I have only played the game on and off for a few years now, specifically on holidays. Thanks to your channel and your videos, I have seen the light, and hope to some day try New Leaf for myself, because I want to appreciate games that I was too young to appreciate at the time of their popularity. Oh, and yes, I did time travel to move villager houses. cry about it twitter users! you'll catch me dead before I ever give up weeks of my life to moving animal crossing buildings in New Horizons.

[@FriskyD.]

I'll be pretty bummed when they completely stop updating, since I won't be able to do holidays anymore I feel like ordinances don't go far enough either. I was waking up around 9pm when I actively played, so you can imagine my frustration with everything being closed at 2am, and "night owl" only staying an hour later. Give me a nocturnal option as an upgrade, pay some more bells for more effective ordinances

[@lemonlime79]

why does nintendo think that a game like AC needs consistent updates to keep it alive? they only had 1 update for nl

[@lemonlime79]

lol i just thought also that the beautiful ordinance is the best to get more flowers and to get no weeds

[@annoyinprophet2229]

Yo wtf that music at 5.27 is from this old Yugioh game on the Gameboy Advance. Sir, you have very good taste and thanks for the quality content:))

[@getsouped]

the updates have always been kinda lacklustre imo, the only update besides 2.0 i rlly enjoyed was the anniversary update that included the sanrios... but, i think im biased, because the sanrios are my favourite villager bunch. i do enjoy the grinding to a degree, it takes my mind off of anything i might need, the slow paced-ness is almost fun to me. however, i do think the game still leaves something to be desired, for me mainly with furniture sets and items. some are cool, but some still suck, and i miss a lot of my favourite furniture sets from new leaf (especially the rococo, creepy, and lovely sets). cool that they resurrected the beloved froggy chair and gave it some sick variants, thought. the villager dialogue has gotten progressively dryer from game to game, and new horizons is the worst for that i think. the hourly tracks are barely memorable, they dont stick with me or make me feel emotions like nl. but mostly, this game needs a lot of quality of life updates, and i have to agree with u. i still feel like another update will come eventually tho, maybe im just hopeful and havent unlocked all the nook miles things, but it does still look less than full on the nook miles app ... maybe theyll add a few new things to do as one last big hurrah later on in the games life (akin to the welcome amiibo update)

[@getsouped]

the happy home dlc did kinda kill my boredom with the game, i will admit, but also i already treated acnh as a glorified decorating/dress up game, so... that mightve just been something that appealed to me specifically.

[@justxander1656]

Honestly if they added more stuff to do with friends and made villagers have an actual personality to talk instead of them all feelings like talking to a bot the game would be a much much better game

[@JJ-mh5wc]

I like that villagers can come to your house but it’s really annoying they ask all the time and when I’m in my house tryna build they just pop in

[@dummpymuppet7428]

idk anything specific cause its definitely a combination of things, the atmosphere of older animal crossing games is lost on this game. the island feels weird and less cozy almost more daunting. the terraforming is nice but the island now more then ever feels blocky even if the older games had a similar system for setting up the towns. i wish they wouldve given us camera control and zoomed the camera closer to the character to help with its immersion and an actual evolution of new leaf. NH doesnt have bad music perse but god damn if new leaf wasn't just great. the art direction is good it looks great beyond the blocky nature of terraforming. crafting and item durability ends up literally just being a deterent for playing and i miss the infinite tools from before excluding the axe. animal crossing has always had too much of a reliance on money as the primary way to interact with the game but NH took no steps to improve it. instead it just added an over abundance of money based interactions with turnips being the only real viable way to play. all in all i miss new leaf and will probably only play that game with the occasional dip into NH

[@FishyLookinLemon]

So Nintendo needs to stop cutting beloved features and adding said cut features back in updates?

[@Amsayy]

7:10 it's definitely a benefit, I don't care what anyone says. I have way to busy of a life now that I'm an adult and playing this game, it would be super irritating if every time I took a week off because I have work and kids to be forced to suffer through the consequences. i kinda like having a "life sim" type game that isn't going to destroy all my hybrids because I had to work overtime night shifts 😂

[@moth2120]

I see where you're coming from. I don't necessarily agree, but what's crazy about it is it's something that could easily be given its own Ordinance or something 😭

[@cabs251]

I put 100 hours into the game at launch, and it was my first animal crossing. After that i was bored and moved on, but didn't play any other games. 2 years later i come back and see the new update and dlc... i've put another 200 hours into the game which tells me they did some things right with the update. It's not perfect tho. And now I see on the internet about how the villager's personalities in this game aren't great and i'm introduced to the older games, and now actively trying to get a copy of wild world lol

[@idontcheckmynotifications]

The thing with 2.0 is that it feels like the game is finally what it should have been, but not what it should be now. My own comment aged a bit poorly, I played the game for about 200 more hours after 2.0. I can say I’m satisfied with the update, and finally happy with the game, but still disappointed with the experience overall. With how they handled updates the overall experience of NH was kinda bad. Remember that we didn’t even get an anniversary update celebrating the game overall, I’m still sad about that. It ended up being a really good game, even great but it was so frustrating up until 2.0 and yes, it still has so many problems. I remember a lot of the frustration which sours my memories of the game, just man. Plus still really missing old touches like Gracie being gone, Resetti, no minigames, lack of building upgrades, a lot of furniture being missing (with 2.0 it doesn’t feel EMPTY anymore but still miss a bunch of old stuff), the music, villager dialogue being short and life sim aspects so lacking, etc. My point is, it always make me think of what the game would be like if 2.0 was the launch product with updates on top of that. And some beter villagers. I’m happy but that’s what I WISH we had, and I won’t forget this debacle. Even if I enjoy the game now, it makes me sooo apprehensive about future entries. By the way, nice music selection as always, heh.

[@grog_speed]

The slowness of it all in animal crossing is part of the experience

[@0truer]

I wish I started this game post 2.0. It would have kept me playing longer because it would be a full game.

[@Jakiegrox]

New Horizons felt like a spin-off game.