Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020)

This game fell off, honestly.

Seriously though this game was really fun and addictive for like 3 months. Not exactly a hot take but this game came out basically unfinished. The game slowly got main staple features that are in past games over time, which should have been in the game in the first place. Like why did I have to wait a year to get my fucking fortune? The game came packaged with burn out from the get go and I really wish Nintendo would retire their finish the game later tactic.

Either way though the game was still a lot of fun when I did play it, and I feel it is one of the strongest games in the series, especially graphics wise, not frame rate wise.

Only 4 star because the customization interior and exterior wise was peak.

I'd never really seen the appeal of the Animal Crossing series. I played City Folk for a while back in the day and found it, well, boring. It was a whole lot of nothing with no goals or objectives. Not enough gameplay to call it a game, not enough story to be a walking simulator and not artsy enough for "an experience".

This edition seems a lot more gamified than it's predecessors, which has vastly improved the experience for me, but possibly damaged the experience for long term fans. I gather the appeal always used to reside in the very fact that there was no pressure to do anything.

In ACNH, you start off on a untamed island with only a tent to your name and 2 other villagers living alongside you. The main objectives (if you can call them that) are to shape the island to your liking, expand the number of houses available for villagers, beautify it to a point where a famous musician is willing to hold a concert there, and pay off all your loans to Tom Nook so you can own the largest possible house. And this does take some considerable time. But once that's over...

Congratulations! You've completed the game.

Except not really. Because there's still a museum to fill, more items to buy, more DIY recipes to unlock and Nook Miles Rewards to achieve such as earning 10 million Bells on the stalk market or catching 10 000 fish or whatever. And odds are that's going to take you at least 6 months to do, because the game progresses in real time and some things are seasonal.

The problem is, once you've held the concert and paid off your loans, every day becomes a bit repetitive. Dig up 4 fossils, talk to everyone, chop down your money tree, plant a new one, etc, etc. I just wish there was a bit more variety, y' know? Like hey, maybe that piano I dropped 200k could play an actual tune, instead of a random note whenever I press it, that would make the endless cycle of buying items worth it. Maybe there could be more events instead of that annoying seagull that washes up on my shore once a week.

Basically, if you're artsy, enjoy designing or drawing and are the type of person who derives genuine pleasure from an hour of calm, quiet organisation of a bookshelf, you'll love this game.

If that doesn't sound like you... actually, you may still enjoy it. Returning to your island day after day to see what's new, chatting to your neighbors and edging slowly closer to achieving all those Nook Miles Rewards. 'cause, the truth is, this game has become popular because it provides stability and innocent joy during very uncertain times. It's escapism. I have friends that play and we talk about which villagers they hate and which ones they want on their island. I've even started watching Becca Scott's Twitch streams because of it and found a lovely community full of very sweet people, and I hate streaming.

What's the takeaway? I don't know, man. It's a massive waste of time, but it's cute and harmless and how do you define something's worth anyway? Go ask a professional art critic.

Interesting article: Why some Animal Crossing players are starting over after dozens (or hundreds) of hours

I'm really loving New Horizons and I (thankfully) do not feel the same pressure as those interviewed, but as a designer I have been flip-flopping on how I feel about some of its changes. On one hand, I think the greater customization options, Nook Miles and share-ability of things address a lot of design shortcomings the series has had for almost twenty years. On the other hand, those shortcomings may have been key to past entries feeling much more chill than this one.

I've been tempted to revisit the original just to get a sense of how much the vibe has changed.

Well, I just found this site, probably should have a long time ago. Time to start cataloging haha.

I'm currently at the end of FF7:R, would have finished it sooner but I've been trying to play when my wife and I can both watch it together. That and I'm a full-time Nook Inc. employee with several other coworkers.

Other stuff I'm playing includes Dragon Quest XI (Switch), UnEpic, Spiderman and several other indies that I'm just checking out.

Made a killing on the Stalk market last week so I was able to move some houses to create more flow. Decided to make a path that went around the island with houses at certain intervals/areas. I did reinvest my profits so I'm hoping to make bank again to keep the gravy train going.

My island is starting to look quite nice. I've really only seen reddit's islands (which are gorgeous) and my friend's island which looks like a carnival theme park and mine feels as if it pales in comparison. Despite this, I'm more focussed on making it look nice (organised roads, trees with fruit, hedges, yards for houses etc) so this doesn't bother me too much.

I am definitely feeling the grind however as I feel I have to jump on once a day to find fossils, nab nook miles, grab fruit etc. I wish they had a 'fruit basket' item that you could hold when you shake a tree and collect all 3 fruit without having to pick them up individually. My god, that would make things so much easier.

Hey, this place is looking pretty neat.

Also, I finally did the May Day maze and thought it was a really great idea. I would love for this to be a regular thing, even if it required multiple NM tickets to do it (with prizes of course). I can imagine a lot of the community will start making their own and charging entry. As a regular attendee of the Turnip Exchange, I would be very interested in that if it happens.

PROS

• Adorable art style and character designs
• Top-notch script full of charm and wit
• Offers tons of opportunities for customization and self-expression
• Exciting sense of progression for the first month or so
• Nook mile system is a satisfying way of assigning player tasks
• Discovering and crafting new furniture and item recipes is consistently rewarding
• Fish, bug, and fossil collecting are all addictive as can be
• Full of small touches and considerations that give the game huge personality
• The real-time gimmick gives the game plenty of mileage
• Encourages collaboration with friends in interesting ways
• Playing the turnip market can be quite the roller coaster
• K.K. Slider has some serious jams, the regular score is great as well

CONS

• Desperately needs some mini-games, especially for multiplayer. C'mon, Nintendo!
• Could use some quality of life improvements such as crafting multiple items at once
• On-line multiplayer is a bit wonky and needs polish
• The experience becomes a bit rote after the initial set of daily surprises runs dry

Slowing down a little. I've got a lot of bells at the moment but I don't really have any need for new layouts or any changes. Some of the places where I wouldn't mind putting a bridge are unacceptable locations given that they're not completely flat. It also sucks that you can't put inclines horizontally.

I've been banking (storing) my pears to sell when I go to a friend's island so that should increase my account drastically when that happens. I could still put hours upon hours into this game, just picking around it's so much fun. It's making me want to go back to New Leaf and see how my town is going.