The First Animal Crossing: New Horizons Review Is In, And It Might Surprise You

A review already?!

Can't wait, this game is gonna be perfect. And I'll be playing Animal Crossing on the TV again, priceless.

Just in that list of "perfects" I think it's safe to say any of the following are not "perfect."

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Bad controls. Too linear. Not in HD despite coming out in 2011.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Not Melee, not Ultimate. Actually, maybe the 2nd worst in the series.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii
I know some people dig it, but I found it bland and middle of the road for the series.

Kid Icarus: Uprising
Very cool game, but a bit repetitive and with a controversial at best control scheme.

Much expected, to be honest. My own hype level is through the roof for weeks already. Everything they've shown shows so much love and attention to details. Can't be surprised with high scores like these.

Two reviewers gave it a 9 because "Too much water."

So New Leaf scored higher.

Hmmm.

Didn't Famitsu give Final Fantasy 13 50/50?

It’s all subjective. A lot of people enjoy Smash Bros Ultimate, I personally can’t stand it. In all likelihood there is someone out there who enjoys Duke Nukem Forever too.

I generally ignore reviewers and prefer a hands on approach myself. That way if a game sucks I can always trade it in.

@kepsux Yeah I wouldn't take much noticed of Famitsu, to me this seems like the biggest and most detailed Animal Crossing ever made, so for me that is perfect

@kepsux
I forgot they gave it that score that’s absurd it’s only deserving of it in retrospect because it broke 3D Zelda and resulted in Botw.

@BenAV I enjoy both games as well, but they both have glaring issues that would certainly keep me from saying they are perfect.

38/40 is a great score for a game that isn't to everyone's tastes. 9/10 or 10/10, there really isn't much of a difference, and I normally prefer to see 9s as every game has a flaw or two, or has something that doesn't sit right with someone.

I enjoy the Animal Crossing games, but after a while, each one has frustrated me with tedium at certain stages.

@kepsux I don't know of any game that is without issues so I guess no game is perfect by that standard. To me it's a matter of if those issues outweigh the things that make it great.

I absolutely love Kid Icarus: Uprising and still think it's one of the best games on the 3DS and definitely a 10/10. I had personally no trouble with the control scheme and actually found it easy to use after getting accustomed to it quickly. It did not make the game unenjoyable for me at all.

I agree with you on Skyward Sword in that it's too repetitive and for me the control scheme killed it. Took me a couple of years to get back to it after being unable to beat the first dungeon because of the motion controls. But I wouldn't say linearity is a flaw or the fact that it wasn't HD since the console it came out on wasn't HD either.

@BenAV From what I can remember of Skyward Sword, the parts I didn't like were the stamina system running out incredibly quickly (though I don't know if this is by design as Link is young and inexperienced) and I found the first couple of dungeons plain and boring. Beautiful looking game though, and I will go back and play through it one day as it's one of the only Zelda games I haven't finished (BotW being the other).

@Torakaka
Kind of agree with you there. But If a game score 4/10 it gives a perspective of the quality.

While I have no idea why they docked points in their review, I know right off the bat I would dock one just for the very poor way they are handling amiibo in it.

EDIT : the poor handling of amiibo I am referring to is this, according to a website called Amiibo.life:
Read-only feature:
Invite the character to your campsite and, eventually, to move to your island / Invite the character for photo shoots at Photopia / Receive a special poster of the character

So this apparently implies there will be no way to obtain items from amiibo, or have campers or similar options. I am not interested in just having a photo, but having them possibly move to the island might be nice. Seems like it’s not an easy process.

KID ICARUS UPRISING!? LOL Not a game I'd call perfect but OK LOL

New Horizons looks banging, and I don't doubt those review scores, BUT, Famitsu also gave Sonic Forces 35/40, so I don't exactly trust them with reviews.

@kepsux Sure but that's the thing about reviews: opinions! 😁

I got a copy for me and a copy for my daughter on the Switch Lite I've got her for her birthday next month.

@mist this really it’s nice reaffirmation if you already love the game. But it’s probably not going to convince anyone new.

@ThiccZelda Not that i would give Sonic Forces any more then a 7/10 i am actually really enjoying the game, i'm pretty happy it was free on Plus as i never would have played it otherwise.

@WallyWest Fair enough. Happy you're having fun with it.

@BenAV Very true. An example of this for me is Banjo-Kazooie. I've always heard good things, but when I finally got it last year, I found it kind of boring and not really a game for me. I completely respect people's love for the game and the game itself though.

@Skalgrim True, but just because it's rated low by one person does not mean it's definite. I mean there are going to be people that would play it despite a low score.

@CowCatcher where have you gotten that info?

@CowCatcher that’s not the same as New Leaf. I edited my original post to reflect the amiibo functionality.

Scores don't matter. I check reviews for what points the reviewer dislikes of the game, and decide for myself if those matter than what they said was good about the game. A score is an opinion, and while the points of a review are mixed with an opinion, they are overwhelmingly based on facts.

Kid Icarus deserves to be on that list! There, I said it. 😝

Yes Kid Icarus!

Fam is a joke site. Literally every game seems to get 8 or higher. I don't doubt this game will be amazing but I'd never base anything off a site so free to give out high scores.

My impression with Animal Crossing New Horizons so far is 90/100 😀
By comparison with Animal Crossing New Leaf Welcome Amiibo = 89/100

Those Famitsu reviewers really like themselves some Zelda.

So not quite the masterpiece that Nintendogs was, huh?

It's OK. A Nintendogs-tier experience only happens once a generation or so.

So why do they hate Animal Crossing so intensely?

No 40 no buy!

Jk 🤣

@kepsux The only thing wrong with Brawl was the gameplay.

I'm scared to get this game. It will probably devour the little bit of life I have left...

@pblive same. I suspect the parent / kid two systems and two game copies is going to be fairly common. Good shake down for money on Nintendo’s part!

However, I can easily see a year or more of entertainment with this (if past games are an indication) so I think that works out as great value.

We’ve already spent two weeks thinking of names for our characters and villages....

@RPGamer It's a real shame that the series hasn't come to Switch yet. :/

We need the HD remasters of the Zero Escape trilogy as well.

@Dezzy 39/40. Almost perfect. Honestly I love FF13, but it takes an inexcusable amount of time to open up and let you explore.

@kepsux Honestly Kid Icarus Uprising is one of my favorite games on 3DS. Maybe one of my favorite games ever. I found it so fun, charming, and hilarious from start to finish.

I even got really into collecting those useless AR trading cards, haha.

@Dezzy well this is a Nintendo site and the article did say 26 games have gotten perfect scores to let us know that more than listed have gotten perfect score so not really an omission.

This game is gonna take up so much of my time when it comes out.

Still playing Stardew and this game comes out . I cannot! Talk about two perfect games you would like to be stuck on on island with! XD

@kepsux I'd have to disagree with you regarding Uprising; that is still one of the best games I've ever played, in my opinion, though having relatively tiny hands may help me enjoy it more. I haven't played it in a while though, so perhaps my thoughts have changed

Speaking as a lifelong Animal Crossing fan, I love the series and it's arguably my favorite series to play, but its stubborn repetition of the same content over decades and its stubborn clinging to bad design choices out of tradition mean I'm not sure there's a game in the series I'd give a perfect score to. Even New Leaf has an unbalanced economy, obnoxious inventory management, overly harsh punishments for not playing, too much repetition of NPC dialogue, and otherwise great town customization marred by the inability to move rocks, or randomly placed buildings. I'd give New Leaf a 38 out of 40: a point off for the NPCs being somewhat bland and a point off for half the game being wrestling with the inventory. Still amazing in almost every other way. If NH is better than New Leaf, it doesn't have to be perfect to be a game I'll love for years.

@Mountain_Man Only one I question is Skyward Sword getting a perfect sword. That game had imprecise (but still playable) motion controls that hampered the experience for me.

Famitsu's reviews are ...lol....oh cmon...

Nintendogs doesn't deserve a perfect score. It's good, best pet sim until Nintendogs + Cats but the voice commands often don't work and the content is often very limited. Great game, but some clear reasons to knock points. New Leaf deserves a perfect score over Nintendogs.

Skyward Sword is beautiful and the combat is fun but how do you say it's perfect when it spends half of the game slowing you down to spend hours doing monotonous busywork like swimming through a lake finding tadpoles? That game doesn't care whether you're having fun. Ever. There is fun, but the game doesn't care either way if you're having fun. It'll be throwing great puzzles and boss fights at you and then decide you need to stop for an hour and contemplate the whims of fortune by pointing the wii remote at stuff and listening to beeps for an hour. And those pineapple boss fights are the glitchiest thing I've played in a 1st Party Nintendo game besides the swarming enemies mechanic in Pikmin 1. It is I think the least replayable Zelda game by far.

Kid Icarus is also beautiful and funny and packed with fun content, but it isn't built for the hardware: it demands that one cramp one's left hand and demands quickly flicking the circle pad left in a way that usually breaks it. And it's difficult to replay from scratch because I get used to having good weapons instead of awful ones and the grind while I get them again is awful.

Even though it baffles me that a game with Skyward Sword's control scheme would get a perfect score, I can't really specifically have a go at Famitsu for it because so many in the Western media dropped that almighty egg too (even the supposedly respectable EDGE magazine). It's a Zelda game, etc. But how the hell did Kid Icarus Uprising get a perfect score? I mean, it's good, but it's like the dictionary definition of an imperfect game. Oh, Sakurai writes a column in Famitsu. That'll be why then...

@mauhlin12

so...do we know, how they rated "Windwaker" ?

The headline of this article reads like one of those click-bait adverts you get on sites that say things like "You'll never believe what Marsha Brady looks like now" or "The value of homes in your area might surprise you". What about Famitsu giving a major Nintendo game 38/40 is likely to surprise exactly?

If New Leaf was a 39/40 why is New Horizons not a 40/40?
New Horizons seems to be a much better game.

@Damo Well, for starters Famitsu scores are kinda all over the place. Beyond that, 'Famitsu' didn't actually score it anything out of 40. Four different reviewers gave it scores out of 10: two of them gave it 10 and two gave it 9. If Famitsu used one reviewer for their scores then it would have been possible for the new game to have got 10/10 and New Leaf 9/10, it doesnt really mean much. To say it is surprising that a game got a score other than 39/40 or 40/40 feels a stretch.

If we're going to treat a site's scores like they're all from one person and can be directly compared, then I'd say it is more surprising that NintendoLife scored many of the individual Psikyo Shooters on the eShop an 8/10 or 9/10 and then the two compilations of the exact same games 5/10...

Crazy me took my tax check and my daughters to Gamestop. Big mistake. lol... We ended up walking out with 3 fully paid for pre-orders for AC:NH. We know you can all play on the same screen together...but we each wanted our own islands for each other to visit. That was a day that hurt my wallet...but it will be pure joyful fun for all 3 of us. Can't wait for release day!

To give this game a perfect 10 the reviewer would have to put hundreds of hours into it. And a score of 8 would be a disappointing score for such as hyped game. So a 9 it is.

@SalvorHardin but breath of the wild is amazing

@kepsux I was very excited about getting Kid Icarus: Uprising back when it came out, and.... it was not good. I was so disappointed with it. If they gave that game a perfect review, then I have to question their reviews as being relevant to me.

@mist Theres people that enjoyed ET on Atari but hey Everybody is different.

@Hardy That could punch a hole in my theory, since they gave Wind Waker a 40/40. Maybe their review staff back then had different opinions of water.

@kepsux I think it's fair to say Brawl is EASILY the worst in the series and only beats out 64 by virtue of an unbiased side by side comparison. At the time 64 came out, it was revolutionary and amazing while Brawl was a disappointment.

@gcunit The only reasons New Leaf scored higher is just different reviewers. I mean, two of the four people still gave it a perfect score. Just a quick look at the game shows it's better in essentially every conceivable way, but also very similar.

For reference, Famitsu gave Sonic Forces -9/9/9/8 [35/40]. What I'm saying is maybe disregard their reviews.

@Audiogore0733 Actually, I'm fairly sure no one enjoyed ET on the Atari

How can anything be rated perfect in the first place? What if my version of the game came with $1000000 would that not be perfect then?

seriously though, NO room what so ever for improving the game. I just cant wrap my head around the concept. Stop making them then, this is the best one and its perfect. No use in making anotherone, why would you with the previous one being perfect.

Im old

@mauhlin12
That’d be a 7.8

Being quarantined with Animal Crossing ain't that bad.

I downloaded it last week but with them only giving it 38/40 I'm now considering deleting it!

@mesome713 It really does look gorgeous on a 4K, if the online videos are anything to go by. I know it’s not presented in 4K but it looks fantastic on a big screen.

@PharoneTheGnome It had control issues, sure, but it also had one of the most addictive risky-loot vs reward system I’ve ever seen. The set-your-own-difficulty feature meant your actual skill was rewarded. Also it had hundreds of weapons that almost all felt different. Amazing voice acting and visual presentation on top, in my opinion, it was an absolute hidden gem for the 3DS. That said, the game would play way, way better with dual analog.

@Highlar Whoa, there. Having three different cartridges of the game will still only give you ONE ISLAND to share. You have to have three switches for three islands. Only one island per switch. It’s in the fine print. I advise you to return the other copies before it’s too late to cancel them.

@imgrowinglegs Palutena is such a delightful troll in that game

@mauhlin12 B-but you can fix that now

@Crimson_Ridley That’s why you should also pick up Doom Eternal .

When either game inevitably gets stale, I’ll just play the other one.

@sandman89 how can you review a game not released yet that is based on real time, seasons etc... Seems fishy. Surely they can't have put enough time into it

@BenAV literally never had any issues in any of my 3 full playthroughs of Skyward Sword XD such a great game.

@KIRO
Given that Switches are $400 around here (around $300 for lites), games $80 each, and that I have a wife and two kids who would all want to get their own island... Well... it's a big sad NOPE for me here, as I'm looking at shelling out anything between $1400 and $1700 when factoring in sales taxes, if everyone has it their way. For a SINGLE game.

I truly miss the GC days when all you needed was your own memory card to store your own village. With the one island per console limit, Nintendo made it hard for families of gamers to buy into this without buying a system for everyone. Unless said families are ready to have "rules" regarding in-game stuff, and I don't think a lot of people want to start policing others in a freaking videogame, however cool said game is. Recipe for family conflicts in many cases.

I really want to play this game, but buying it only for myself will draw the fires from others in the family... lol!

@Sladey69 exactly 🤷🏻‍♂️

0/10 ign its not got a zebra crossing in it ha ha.

Isn't it common knowledge this AC is going to be the best yet? So Hype! 9 days! My daughter is going to be born within 9 days too...AC and a newborn (and an 11 month old boy on top of that..) is going to be a tough juggling act, but, challenge accepted.

@USWITCH64 It doesn't matter what they gave it because sometimes you will give it a different score after playing it because some of them gave a 10/10

@Antraxx777
We DO have 3 Switches. lol Tax dollars go a long way each year...and last year I got my girls each their own Switch so we could all game together.

Famitsu is a joke though. They’ve spoken openly about being swayed by what we’d call bribes and favours to dev friends.

Honestly I don’t know why NL are bringing them up here as their legacy is now a joke.

I think the biggest shock for me is New Super Mario Bros. Wii. It definitely does not deserve a perfect score.

Famitsu has only given 1 negative review in their 30+ years of publishing, and they give nearly every title in major franchises a near-perfect score.

Why is this surprising?

@MrGlubGlub They even gave Sonic 2006 a good score, averaging at about 7.25-7.5 out of 10.

And that's one of their lower ratings.

@tstindt90 My only nitpicks with Skyward Sword were late game difficulty spikes and rolling bombs only worked half the time. Otherwise it’s great. It was near how the whole overworld was like a dungeon again.

@kepsux

Thank you! As much as I love Skyward Sword, you are correct. Way too linear!

In my opinion, the score it got is perfect anyway like... There are millions of games that have less then 35/40 for e.g soo I think this is basically perfect anyways (also, im soooooooo excited for the game to be released, just 9 more days!!!!!) also I don't like super smash brawl.

@elpardo1984 I look in and see the animal crossings over the years and as a huge fan of Nintendo I still say nope. Not gonna play it.

@Dezzy I can laugh most things off, but I think you're right! Disgusting!!

@Highlar Ok. Phew! Just making sure you weren’t very disappointed in the end

Famitsu only gave it a NEAR perfect score?! Mind blown.

No game is perfect x x x x x x x wrong super Mario world exists x

@mist
Hi. I'm that person you mentioned who liked Duke Nukem Forever. Granted, I only paid 2 bucks for it and I enjoyed it because it was a quick linear FPS that had some fun little minigames.
I also just adore the ridiculous and unnecessary games sometimes, the way some enjoy B-Movies.

@kepsux shut up, skyward sword and kid icarus were perfect

@Strictlystyles lol show me a review of either that is without criticism. Good games, sure, but perfect? No.

I think you’re taking the term perfect too literal and both those games are without question deserving of the scores they got. Not going to debate this further, the scores are in the books