Topic: Animal Crossing: New Horizons

hi everyone,

I don't know anything about the Animal Crossing games, would someone give me a brief description? I know they are popular and have a very loyal following that I may try this one, but would like to know more.
Thanks

@Ste : It's a relaxing sort of game where you can perform little everyday tasks in a town (in real-time) populated with adorable (and witty) animals. Residents will periodically move out while another replaces them.

You can go fishing, catch insects, breed flowers, participate in local competitions, look for hidden items (that can be donated to the museum), customise clothing items etc.

There isn't an awful lot to it (it's the subtleties that give the game its trademark longevity) and is a bit of a hard game to define genre-wise. It's the sort of game you'll find yourself playing in short bursts over a long period of time. If you're curious, New Leaf Welcome Amiibo is really cheap and is the most up-to-date Animal Crossing game at the moment, but perhaps you ought to wait for the Switch version. If you are looking for a goal-oriented game, you will be disappointed, but if you are after an easygoing experience that you can play at your own pace, the Animal Crossing games are among the best of their kind.

Animal Crossing is a franchise I know nothing about that I am curious to try out so I might pick it up once I see some more gameplay footage

I have been recording a lot of animal crossing wild world gameplay... Not sure if watching me play will make you wanna play though....

I didn't realize that was added when the amiibo functionality came. I haven't really played the game since before the amiibo update. Either way, even if new villagers move in away from my set paths it's annoying to have to create a new road to their house, especially when I have the trees and flowers set up the way I like.

I also just remembered the Switch doesn't have a camera so they won't be able to do QR codes to get designs from other people. Hopefully there's a search feature to be able to grab other people's designs since I'm not artistic enough go make my own roads. I also hope we can save more designs per character since in New Leaf I needed to use 2 characters to get all the road tiles.

Maybe they'll implement an online catalogue of sorts instead of qr codes

The largest town ever. The Gamecube sized town of 5x6, but there's now three of them attached together. Island tours get reinvented to be different and playable in the town itself. And last idea for now, a campsite placable in the town that will raise profit for the town and bring new residents to interact with without them being permanent residents.

Seeing that trailer got me hyped for the time when it will finally arrive - I'm hoping sometime summer.

I'd rather keep things simple and contained.

Its great to add variety and new things to do and see, but I also want a game I can play for 20-30 minutes every day and feel satisfied with what I did.

I don't want to spend 60 minutes hitting rocks in a giant town just to find the one with money in it.

@Yorumi Throw in that island survival game from the Wii U game, that didn't look half as bad as a side thing. What about a card game or something along those lines? It's one of the things I got hooked on in The Witcher 3, collecting all the Gwent cards, and playing the game itself. Sometimes I just played an hour of Gwent in-game.

yes. to everything yes. If everything is not in it I would be confused. They added some cool stuff to new leaf last year too which I'm sure will all make a comeback too.

I'm just wondering what new interesting things they might add too.

I agree. Locking minor content behind what is essentially a paywall annoys the hell out of me.

The magical thing with animal crossing is that you don't need the amiibos to get their content.

You just need to know some who has them and is willing to give or trade for the items.

I've given away several 3DSs and WiiUs in New Leaf.

@Mountain_Man I mean, you can spoof any amiibo you want if it really bothers you. So far amiibo haven't done a whole lot to lock you out of anything meaningful afaik.

So I was thinking. This game is probably my most anticipated game coming to the Switch right now, what exactly do I want from it?

Basically, I want to core gameplay of New Leaf retained and expanded on. The core of interacting with villagers, catching bugs and fish, collecting fruit, and paying off your home while expanding your village. There are 3 things I want to see expanded:

1. Your home. I want to be able to go bigger, with more options to expand, more customization inside and outside. I'd like a defined backyard - with a garden.

2. The garden. I don't think we need to go full on farm sim - we have Stardew Valley and Harvest Moon for that, but I'd like to see some ability to do some crop raising. It could be done in real time, with a big payoff for days/weeks/even months of tending that garden, then you sell your prized crops at the end of a season. Going a little further, a public greenhouse where you work with your villagers together to tend crops and share the profits.

3. You're the Mayor again. I want to see your control of the town expanded - I want to see some kind of voting system. Let's say there is some big project you want to do. A mini-game of sorts could be talking to your villagers and convincing (or bribing with goods or favors) enough of them to support building that public greenhouse (for example). Finally I'd like to see your town start out smaller than New Leaf, but be upgradable to be significantly larger than it was in New Leaf. You do that voting mini-game, plus raise the funds to make your town larger by buying more land. This would add a lot of customization to the game and provide more long term goals that just paying off your home.

Also honorable mention: I want more Amiibo support. I liked the Welcome Amiibo update a lot. I'd really like to see all Amiibo supported with themed items from their respective series. Or if not all Amiibo, all distinct Nintendo ones. I understand they'd have to get extra permission to use the Sonic, Dark Souls, Metal Gear and Pac-Man Amiibo. (But how cool would it be if we could get stuff from all those series?!)

Anyway, so long as we get a good genuine Animal Crossing on the Switch, something comparable to New Leaf, I know I will be happy. But this is what I'd want to see.

@Heavyarms55 Mayor feels so OP, I think you can do most of that without being the mayor. I liked that feeling in the original Animal Crossing, just moving into a village, messing about with the fish and not paying off your loan.

They should definitely add in one of those roomba grass mowers, I ain't got no time for the weeds!

I don't like having one character being more special than other characters.

Isabelle can be the mayor, and still give us the choice of doing all the same things. Through her.

I'm thinking more of a joint-management position. Isabelle would handle the mayoral duties while player character one is the voice of the town - making the decisions of where things will go for the betterment of the town. As fully interactive as you want it to be, so your town could remain at its base form or show off as much creativity as you're willing to put in.

So long as we're all in agreement that we can stop villagers moving in completely randomly, I don't think it really matters if the player mayor role comes back. Though if it does allow us to pass the role to another player character.

This, and to stop villagers from moving -out-! I always hate it when some of my favorite villagers move out, it kind of feels like the relationship you've build with the villager was all for nothing, especially since you don't hear from them again.

One thing I definitely want back from New Leaf is the no watering/weeding option. I used to spend a lot of time in City Folk/Let's Go to the City watering and pulling weeds that that option was an extremely welcome addition.

I've always thought it'd be fun to see the ability to add sports fields to the game. Just small fields where you can play soccer/football, basketball, tennis, etc. Maybe the villagers would challenge you to a duel from time to time, much like they would ask you to play hide and seek.

I also welcome the idea of more customization for your home. Instead of a fixed size room, you should be able to say how large you want your room to be. Up to a limit of course, and the larger the room the more Nook wants you to pay. Nook will of course suggest getting as big a house as possible, I just know it! Anyway, layout should be customizable as well, so your home can have that unique look to it.

The ability to help decorate your villagers' homes! Maybe once you reach a certain level of friendliness with a villager they'll ask if you want to help decorate their home. Possibly even based off your Happy Home Academy score. Anyway, the villager will let you know their preferred style or color, and you do your best (or worst if you're feeling mean) to decorate their home. Maybe it can count towards additional HHA scores.

@Yosheel I could see that. You can be the town lobbyist. XD

I hope Nintendo gives this game the same sort of coverage as SSB Ultimate. Or at least close to it. We deserve at least one major Nintendo Direct for it!