There's An Animal Crossing: New Horizons Update Coming Soon, And Brewster's Back

Still not sold on this update honestly. I'll watch the direct, since I have a small sliver of hope that they're going to actually add tons of missing content in it, but I'm not holding my breath.

All I expect is this update to have the Roost, and a few smaller things, with a roadmap being introduced again to add in more missing things months down the road. Nothing that'll bring me back.

About time, his exclusion was jarring for me. I just hope there is more to it this time than getting paid in coffee beans.

FINALLY!! I always knew Brewster would come eventually.

Unless this update is really substantial, I'm pretty much already done with this game. They just took way way way too long to bring this update.

Hoping to be pleasantly surprised though, but not holding my breath.

Guess I can dismantle my coffee shop placeholder since it's going in the museum after all haha.

Lets get some coffee over it. Brew it!

@Yosher I needed something new too...

Can anybody else get away with making such a song and dance about content that was bog-standard in previous instalments?

Enough random additions. Give me activities to do with other people.

This was smile-worthy news! I love that Roost music even though ACNH is my first AC game. I hope Brewster and the ACNH Direct bring some substantial new things to do in the game!

im just more impressed they cared enough to keep updating this game with more features (features past games have always had mind you). idk i love AC and ill look forward to the direct, but i already mourned this games slow decline and moved on. them finally announcing MORE TO COME just feels weird now

After putting in close to 400 hours in this game I finally put it down. Although I’m willing to come back to it. I hope this new update turns out well.

Can't wait for ACNH Direct on next month.

I'll watch the direct and play the update. Really feels like too little too late though.

I'm happy about this. I restarted my island and i'm enjoying the game again. Gonna have to beg for flowers and fruit down the road but that's the way it is.

Took me a long time restarting to get the airport colour and fruit I wanted, but it was worth it.

As others have said, a bit late for me. It's also my first main AC game so I don't even know who Brewster is. I played about 540 hours, I'm probably good. If I was going to go back to ACNH I'd probably go back to RingFit instead. Only played that a couple of hours before the weather got better. Will be bad Ina few months again. But I'll watch the Direct, who knows.

@k8sMum Does fruit go bad? I had a hundred of all of them in storage when I stopped playing a few months back. I was culling trees a bit, not sure what's left, as I said it's been months.

Cool, maybe they can finally add in as much content in the current $60 game as they did the last $40 one.

So excited for this as well as the Smash presentation!

Pretty surprised to see this, TBH. Brewster has been in the datamines since the beginning, but the winding down of the updates led me to think it wasn't going to happen.

What's even more fascinating is that they think this update warrants an entire Direct. I hope they realize they're going to create a LOT of hype with that, and if it's just Brewster and a small number of new objects, it's not going to live up to the hype. I assume that's what it's going to be, so I don't know if this was wise of them, but we'll see.

Hopefully there’s more than you just going in a room.

@Harmonie Good point about "warrants an entire Direct". They are setting themselves up for expectations.

Personally, I am still happy strolling around the island for 15 minutes a day, doing a handful of chores. I know its crazy, but hey, its my switch, my game and I still like it.

The location of the Museum can be good and bad. One one hand, I don't have to find real estate for the building, on the other hand, another building would be cool on the island.

We shall see soon enough, I am thinking positive!

So much negativity as usual on here, the latest game has lots of content and things to do, although I still do not remember New Leaf being all that deep, but there is content missing, Brewster was one of the memorable things that got cut, and the teaser dd mention more.

New Horizons just has a different mechanic with the island decoration and a lot of the other stuff you did is still there, it's still a game suited to 15 minute or so bursts, once you have your island and house decorated that is.

@dugan,

Same here, the existing game has given me over 1300 hours and to some a lot more than that that, so any more content is always welcome.

@shoeses,

The old $40 game did not have the island decoration, and is it fair comparing prices from years ago?, but as have said many times, the whole New horizons having no content is just not true, perhaps it may not be content some do not personally like, but it still has most of the core features.

@johnvboy
Wait, what were you doing to reach 1,300 hours ?? 😲
BTW, I need some Black White public bench (4 chairs) from Nook Miles reward.

@Anti-Matter,

That's nothing one of my best friends on the game has clocked up 1900 hours, I like decorating and changing things, and just hanging around chilling out, still need to collect all those stamps and fish and bugs etc.

I can sort the black and white public bench chairs for you.

Yeaaaahhhh no. I've moved on already, not really interested, won't help me re-arrange my town. Brewster cant even get his own building, still makes me wonder how a dinky little island with 10 residents can warrant a museum with in-house coffee house. Separate business yes, but its really just a museum expansion....

Very cool, looking forward to hearing more.

YES! I'm so ready for his adorable pigeon butt! WOO!

This is cool, even though this is among many features in wild world that aren’t in new horizons at least they added it. Still doesn’t make me want to play the game more

@Anti-Matter I’m up to over 1200 hours. A big chunk of that was/is setting up my island. Even after 1200 hours, some parts are still a work in progress. I also played everyday since 3/20/20 up until maybe a couple of weeks ago. Now, I space out my playtime. I also haven’t completed the Critterpedi. Nor have I collected every art piece

As for this update, I’ll assume it’s a bit more than Brewster and The Roost, considering it’s getting it’s own Direct. Otherwise, they could have just used this Direct to just say that and just announce the update date later

@Harmonie I'm mostly expecting that they'll just announce the roost update, with a few small features, then talk about a roadmap of dripfeeding content.

@Yorumi Eh, I always knew it was going to be in the museum, given that they seem against having too many buildings in people's design space.

So bizarre to me that people expect this game to constantly update with new features in perpetuity. The game has so much content, there isn't anything "too little, too late" about them adding Brewster to a game that people have literally already spent hundreds of hours on for over a year.

This isn't an MMORPG, there's never been a roadmap for constant expansions, games run their course and then you move on with your life. It makes zero business sense for Nintendo to consistently release free giant content updates for this game.

@CovidBarbie The game actually doesn't have "So much content". I'd play New Leaf if you haven't, since it has way more to it than New Horizons does.

@Yorumi They should just add a shop island, but they're not going to do that.

Yeah lets time skip to get everything we need then blame the game for lacking content

I do think expectations for ACNH skyrocketed unfairly when its success exploded over 2020's extraordinary circumstances.

I don't think it was ever intended to be this huge blockbuster game with lots of content ala Odyssey or BOTW, or perpetually supported like Smash.

The main team has already moved on to Splatoon 3. I don't even know who exactly is making New Horizons' content right now.

Like others have said, it's okay for a game to have a certain amount of content and for players to move on once they feel like they have exhausted said content.

I'm looking forward to the AC Direct and can't wait to see the new content! Perhaps they'll add a bunch of QOL tweaks as well. I've even reset my island to start fresh, and it was just what I needed to breathe new life in my enjoyment of the game.

I know a lot of people have poured hundreds of hours into constructing their island and couldn't dream of restarting, but honestly, it does work! And it has encouraged me to completely rethink my approach to a new island design!

@Ulysses I mean, that's not how Animal Crossing games work. Most people expecting more content are long time fans of the series who've played the past games. I played New Leaf, and compared to that, New Horizons just kind of feels lackluster and empty. It feels like the game had nothing to do after the first two months, and the progression just halted.

Animal Crossing isn't generally just a "One and done" type of game. You're supposed to play for years in a row, or play throughout the year, and New Horizons lacks that longevity in comparison to previous entries.

It lacks in Smaller holidays, shops and shop upgrades, series staples, multiplayer content that isn't just visiting others towns, and other pieces of content. The game itself has less content than a 40 dollar, now 20 dollar game..

New Horizons is good for decorating, but it's missing most of the life simulation aspects that people came to enjoy. It's missing things to spend bells on, and it's missing things to spend time unlocking. Brewster is a step in the right direction, but I still get a bad feeling about it just being handed to players without having to actually spend time trying to unlock him.

The direct is interesting, since I'm curious what's so big that it warrants a direct of it's own, but I'm not holding my breath on the next update being massive, or anything to bring me back to a game so void of things to actually do. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

I remember buying Astral Chain and Mario Maker 2 same day as AC released.

I tried Animal Crossing on Switch, but it got boring quickly.

Looking at the VoidofLight comment above, it explains why it bored me so fast.

I've logged double the hours — maybe triple — in New Leaf because there was double — maybe triple — the content available from the get-go. I'll come back to the game if this is a more substantial update. But like another said, I feel like it's going to be a coffee shop and another roadmap reveal.

It would be awesome if they give us an island update we’re it lets us ride with captain to another island like in new leaf but it bigger and you can do more things on it. I also wish the multiplayer on one console would be a lot better it kinda sucks.

Oooh, great for work from home peeps.

well, brewster alone isn't gonna save this game.

@anynamereally Agreed. Brewster is a step in the right direction, but it’s not going to fix the bigger issues with the game’s serious lack of content.

The is a good start, but the game needs more.

I stopped playing New Horizons after 50 hours. The game seemed boring to me, it was completely lacking depth and soon became repetitive.
I've never played other AC games, but this felt like an overpriced mobile game to me. I don't get the hype.

@VoidofLight yeah, but it's not just the lack of content that brings this entry down, it's the way they handled the item distribution.

I already wrote about it somewhere around here, but I guess it doesn't hurt to repeat it again.
The problem is that in order to expand your "items rotation bubble" you're living through every day in NH you have to go out and connect either online or in local play to share stuff with other players, and there's no other way to expand your artifically limited pool of items. It's limited by devs intentionally.

Which basically means that if you're mostly playing solo you're out of luck. You're gonna be in the same circle of items each and every day no matter what you do, it's your pool of things you're "allowed" to have access to. Be sure to have fun with that So at some moment in your playtime the game just stops on giving you back something new and interesting, something that gives an intention to return to it every day and spend more hours on it. You keep investing time into it, but it doesn't reward you anymore.

In contrast in previous AC entries you were able to presumably find anything the game has to offer just by persistently playing every day, looking for new items and discovering something you never knew had existed. It was all possible playing solo. Of course, you could have sped it all up by connecting with a friend, but it was your choice to begin with.
Unfortunately in NH devs made that decision for you.

I'm glad we're getting Brewster and hope there's significantly more content besides it in the update, but I won't get my hopes up too high. It has the HEAVY feeling of a sort of apology from Nintendo for vastly underestimating the demand for continual, original content by fans. They got caught with their pants down, pure and simple, and now, 18 months after ACNH's release and almost half of that without a single dose of original DLC, it really does feel too little, too late in some ways. And this DLC will very likely be the last for the game; even if they offered more, it would require a rewriting of entire swaths of its code, from increasing the size of the island (most of us have long since used up every scrap of available real estate) to implementing new characters, events, activities, and items. I don't see them doing that; they've moved on and made the mistake of thinking fans would be as quick to do so, but at least they're giving us Brewster as an olive branch.

If there's any positive to take from this, it's that Nintendo will (hopefully) learn from what went wrong here (while most things went right, a lot DID go wrong with their long-term road map for ACNH) and apply those lessons in their approach to the next iteration of the franchise.

@AtlanteanMan I don’t have a lot of hope for the next entry honestly. This treatment really makes me feel as if it’ll be a common thing, especially after the game sold as well as it did.

How about expanding Nook Cranny too.

@VoidofLight I believe the game was finished during its initial development cycle and they decided to release the second half intermittently over the course of 3 years, to keep people talking about the game for a longer period of time as to increase sales, hence all this "work" they keep doing is released for free and hence so many things coming out now that had actually been in leaked code since shortly after the game was released. We'll get the 4th shop update, as per every other AC, and many little things sprinkled in here and there. I expect this next update to come with the 3rd shop, signifying the game is now 3/4 released. This strategy is fine, their main blunder was thinking people would stick around so long for such measly scraps of content, and making it so obvious from the get-go that we were short changed despite paying full price upfront. It felt like a failed experiment and had I known they'd pull this BS I would have just waited until everything was finished before I let myself get into it at all. If they'd done this right it actually could have been exciting and kept me coming back longer than the previous entries did.

@johnvboy It's like in every AC article it becomes more and more painfully obvious that your opinion is of the dying minority. Once the full game is finished releasing maybe you'll look back and realize people weren't so wrong to want the second half of whey had paid for when they were 3 years younger.

Huge update. Looking forward to hearing more. My boy Brewster finally makes it back after all the rumors.

I’m sorry but I disagree with all of you who say New Leaf has more content than New Horizons and I have played both games. I have been playing NH since it released and love all the content that it has. I like being able to design my island the way I want it. I hated the ordinances from New Leaf…yeah I liked the island that you could go to with friends but they did give us mystery islands and multiplayer, although I agree that compared to New Leaf it’s a little lacklustre. I also miss being able to play hide and seek with your villagers and the mini games. I’m excited to get new content and can’t wait to see this direct even if they just add Brewster. It’s not going to take away the enjoyment and the help that this game gave me during the pandemic. It helped me with my mental health and I will be forever grateful to Nintendo for that. I’m not saying that people aren’t entitled to their opinions, I just don’t agree with you…hence why it’s my opinion and you guys are allowed to have yours. Have a good day everyone.

@rjejr
I believe the only fruit that goes bad is turnips, in that you can leave one on the ground to rot so you can get ants.

So in the land of AC you will forever be a fruit mogul!

Obviously we won't know until the ACNH Direct what's being offered. But earlier this year they promised a substantial update to ACNH. And like others have said, an entire Direct just to introduce Brewster (or even Brewster and AC Amiibo Card Series 5) seems like overkill. I think it's a reasonable assumption that there will be more added. But who knows, right? Only Nintendo, for now.

@k8sMum Thanks. Too bad I can't mail it all too you since I don't need it anymore. I only ever got online once to visit someone's island. Not sure they ever even made it to mine. It just seemed way too complicated even after I figured it out. Mail I can do. Think I mailed them the last 6 fossils they needed, I hoarded those too.😎

Animal Crossing is still the best game series to ever be created and that's no opinion, it's a fact 😊

@VoidofLight

I've played every Animal Crossing game since the franchise's inception. New Horizons easily blows them all out of the water. You may not like the content, but that doesn't mean the game isn't chock full of value.

@SpaceboyScreams,

Based on what evidence?, a few people on internet forums and YouTube, hardly representative of the 36 million plus people that have bought the game, people who spend most of their spare time playing videogames and are very hard to please.

@CovidBarbie,

What annoys me is the same old mantra the game has very little content on every single related comment section, when in essence you do the same things you have always done, and as you said their is different content, personally I feel the island decoration was the shake up the series needed, and there is no way I would have put as many hours in if the game was a carbon copy of New Leaf.

@Yorumi,

Do not want to fall out, I just do not share the view the game is void of content, and after playing 500 hours or so of New Leaf and getting bored, I can say I much prefer the new game, but it's all very subjective.

I'm baffled about people saying "too late". I mean, you can play and leave or return to whatever game whenever you want. If you don't feel interested in returning to this game, that's cool I guess, but it really isn't "late", specially when it comes to gaming as this allowed people to enjoyed other games in the meantime. if someone is burned out that's perfectly understandable but it's the person's fault.

About the game's lack of content, yeah, there's a ton missing from other games, but honestly none of that is equivalent to the amount of replay value that terraforming and decorating allow. Sure, that isn't for everyone and it's indeed disappointing to have lost that, but I don't think that avoiding the content that addresses those complaints, even if it is just a small part is the right move.

Honestly, It's as simple as if you enjoy the game and want to play this content, do it, if not, then don't. There's no point in doing so much drama, it sounds as if it was an old love interest asking for another chance. "Too little too late, New Horizons!"

I'm aware that many preferred the social aspects that previous games had and I even understand it although it didn't hold my interest as much as the freedom of this game does, but when people claim that this entry had so little content I wonder if they remember that the whole world was playing it nonstop during the pandemic. Previous AC games where played and enjoyed as meant: in short bursts as daily routines are a part of what make people pace themselves and not devour something. Not saying that the complaints aren't valid, but at this point this feels like an echo chamber and it doesn't help that YouTubers just made similar complaints as that's usually a guaranteed successful video when something is a tendency. They did the same when Warframe was praised despite of it being celebrated by it's community for years as suddenly every YouTuber almost discovered it at the same time apparently, but anyway, I digress.

I even wonder if people really want "mean" villagers back. Supposedly they find them fun, but I have seen many people pretty mad and sad just for the tame "rude" interactions that happen when you push a villager or when you talk to them repeatedly. I get feeling annoyed specially with the latter, but no, I see pretty emotional reactions from the community all the time. I loved that villagers used to be more unique and again, it's definitely a valid complaint, but considering how sensitive the world is nowadays maybe that change wasn't that bad.

Anyway, sorry for the rambling, it's just getting a bit frustrating at this point.

@SpaceboyScreams Yeah, there’s nothing wrong with this being a live service, but it feels like the updates were artificially cut, and that the updates are way too small.

@johnvboy Well how else would you suggest doing a controlled study if not by taking the percentage of disgruntled commentors on a video game site or reddit or twitter or YouTube (same results there if you check)? The best we could hope for is seeing a graph of everyone's play time followed by a poll but we don't have that, we have arguably the next best thing. What do YOU have?

@CovidBarbie Except the game isn’t chock full of value. There’s hardly any progression system, and all the stuff getting updated in is just handed to you, without having to actually work for it. There’s tons of cut things that we’re only getting back through updates, and there’s even content that we still haven’t gotten back that has been apart of the series for years.

Town customization is great for those who like customization, but there’s hardly anything to offer for people who like the life simulation aspects of the game. This game is missing things like shop upgrades, special characters, villagers coming to your home, multiplayer content, and so much more. It has less content than the last game, which is 19 dollars.

@roy130390 It’s too late for people because they no longer really want to play Animal Crossing anymore after experiencing this incomplete game. It’s like how I haven’t touched kirby star allies since I beat it, since I gave it a shot and it failed to meet my expectations. It’s a similar thing with New Horizons for me. Gave it a shot at launch, got bored from the lack of content, and moved on. This update is crucial on determining if I give the game another shot or not.

@SpaceboyScreams.

My point is you are still only taking a very small percentage of the overall userbase, and even with this you will still get flip sides of the coin.

I would look at the resale copies on E-bay, if there was widespread discontent about the game, then surely there would be tonnes of copies being sold for very low prices, but there is not.

But still no definitive way of telling for sure.

@Yorumi,

Disagree with the dialogue, after playing very extensively I can say with confidence the dialogue is far more varied than any other game in the series, you just have to speak to your villagers more.

@Yorumi,

My issue with this is how subjective people are when it comes to included and missing content.

Brewster was arguably a pretty light weight feature in New Leaf, nice to have, but equally would not have been that much of a loss if he was not included. Yet he is seen as a massive feature because he is missing.

The island decorating feature on the other hand is put up against all manner of dedicated building games, when in essence it was never intended or billed as a Minercraft type experience, it seems the missing content is not put under the same scrutiny as the new features.

@Yorumi,

You do not know stuff was cut because of the decorating elements, it may have been cut for other reasons, and again it's validity will very much depend on the individual.

@Yorumi,

I do not like Minrcraft, the reason the decorating feature in New Horizons is so appealing to me, is that it makes your island more personal to you, and has never been offered in the series thus far, I personally like the feeling of designing an area, and feel very proud of the end result.

@Yorumi,

I posted this on the other comment section, it basically the core actions in pretty much every Animal crossing game, and if it was not for the new design/terra forming mechanics, I doubt I would have been as interested in this new game, I mean I don't mind these things, but I would have probably had stopped playing after 500 hours or so, like I did with New Leaf.

On New Horizons you still collect things to sell or donate, you do this by fishing,bug catching or swimming, you collect pieces of Art for the museum, you dig up fossils, again to sell or donate, weed pick up tree branches and collect wood, you plant flowers and water them, create hybrids and colors by cross breeding them, plant trees, normal and fruit ones and money trees, you tend to them just like the flowers by watering them, hit rocks to get raw materials and money, shake trees for money, wood, furniture and of course bees, which will give you the honeycomb to make medicine, collect shells on the beach again either for money or to craft with, dig up clams to help your fishing exploits, shoot balloons for either clothes, furniture items or money, wish on shooting stars to get star fragments to make special zodiac items, sell or decorate with. And of course speak to your villagers, which as I said has the most varied dialogue of any game in the series, as long as you get past the initial repeat exchange, I tend to speak to them three or four times, as I said the more you put into this the more you will get out of it, your villagers will get sick and need medicine, ask you to perform certain tasks for them, usually catching a fish or bug, but will sometimes ask for an item in your inventory to swap, they will ask you to participate on a treasure hunt, ask you to resolve a falling out they have had with another villager, or ask you to deliver a parcel for them, be upset from time to time and ask to leave, which this time thankfully is under your control, sometimes the villagers will be talking and you can listen in, or get the end of it where one of them storms off, but on the whole could not be more impressed by all this, oh and they send you letters with gifts pretty much every day and give you DIY items, along with random gifts, usually after shouting to you and getting your attention, you also have to return lost items to them, collect wallpaper and flooring just as before, to decorate your house, buy these from the store or Sahara for those exotic ones, send letters to your villagers, buy and sell turnips on the dreaded stalk market, the Abel sisters shop lets you design custom clothing just as before, and the design portal and inventory slots have been increased, that have now added the feature as an app on your Nook phone, so you are now not limited to the shop opening times. You have the whole stamp collecting mechanic linked with the often overlooked Nook phone feature, this takes a long time to complete and is a nice addition to an already solid package.

So why some still state this is not the case, or you have nothing to do, or there is not content, are simply not telling the truth.

@Yorumi @VoidofLight Don't get me wrong guys, I definitely get your points as I also noticed them myself, and yeah, we shouldn't be getting what we used to have and instead we should have had that since the beginning, but I don't think that people not showing interest in the return of said loved aspects that were lost is the proper move if the fanbase really wants them to understand that it's an important part of the game for many. The game was also successful already, so from my understanding they already got the idea that they can release games with cut content. I might be wrong but I just see a negative effect by ignoring this update. It's a bit tricky as it might also send the message to keep releasing what should be basic game features little by little, but I honestly think that ship sailed when the game became a massive hit.

The way I see it, at least the content is there if you ever change your minds.

@Yorumi,

Animal crossing has always been a decent selling game, and up till now New Leaf lead the way with around 12 million sales, New Horizons has taken the franchise to new heights, with over 36 million copies sold, making it second to Nintendo's main seller Mario Kart, well deserved imho.

@roy130390 If they consistently update the game, then I’ll probably eventually come around to it, and start over. I just hope this update can end up bringing me back to the game sooner, so that I can play Animal Crossing, as I still enjoy the series, and was originally excited for the game. I’m just expecting the worst outcome, since then I won’t be disappointed when something never happens.

@Yorumi,

When it comes down to it people do not want change, they want the game to be prettier, and often complain when things change to much.

What about the people happy with the game, all this sending the wrong message stuff sounds so subjective.

@johnvboy

Exactly. If people want New Leaf: The Rehash, go play New Leaf. For how positive and family friendly these games are, you sure find a lot of miserable toads upset because Nintendo's business strategy doesn't cater to their specific whims.

@CovidBarbie,

It's also not sitting well with some that a game they personally do not like is being so well received.

@johnvboy Its the intersection of that bitterness and people skewering themselves on their own imaginary expectations.

@CovidBarbie We don't want New Leaf. We want a game with more content than New Leaf, and New Horizons has less as it stands. I already said what it's missing, but people don't listen, and even if they do, they just tell me "YOU WANT NEW LEAF, NOW SHUT UP". It's like people can't express valid criticism without people like you or Johnvboy telling them those opinions don't matter, and that the series is fine, while no longer being for people like me.

Yeah, you may like the game, but that doesn't mean you can just devalue valid criticism from those who don't. Those who got burned because New Horizons is 60 dollars, yet actively removes features.

It's always a struggle arguing with people like you, and there's tons of them that exist in this community. Tons of people who just say the game is good, and that anyone who doesn't like it is just a "hater". I dread having these arguments every time I express disappointment for this game, knowing that these types of people never actually listen to the other's points, and just dismiss them. Wouldn't be surprised if you do the same here as well.

@codymkw actually agree it is, and I got almost around 6,000+ hours in the game @johnvboy

@Yorumi,

I think you are missing the point too, the games simplicity is part of it's charm, sure I could play the sims etc, but I just prefer this game with it's traditional Nintendo charm.

@VoidofLight,

I know I have asked this many times, but who is this "We" you keep talking about?, all the people I know, who have played previous games in the series love New Horizons.

And it's subjective criticism at best, no validation on either side, more a care of some liking certain aspects more than others, and even missing features value is again a point of view.

@NinTasha,

Wow I thought my 1400 hours was pretty impressive, but if you mention the 6000 hours thing on here, the naysayers will be asking you to justify yourself, and explain what you have been doing to rack up such a large amount of time, in suuch a bare bones game.

@NinTasha,

Told you Yorumi would get his calculator out, totally oblivious to the fact he himself owns multiple consoles, and probably plays video games more than the average person, not to mention still finding time to post on niche gaming forums.

@Yorumi,

Depends on the quality of those additional features and options, and as you point out so often the design mechanic is lacking, well compared to dedicated building sims etc, and "No mans sky".

@Yorumi I'm fairly critical of Nintendo as personally I find them as one of the most greedy companies out there and some of their decisions are absolutely baffling, but I don't see every Nintendo product as lazy or inferior as some people claim. As for innovation I personally don't need new mechanics never seen before, I simply prefer stuff that works even if it was present in other games. For example, sure, Animal Crossing isn't the first game to have terraforming and it's certainly more limited than in say, Minecraft, but I find the gameplay quite enjoyable and much more approachable than in other games. It certainly has had enough for people to keep making new island concepts after this time, so I didn't have problem getting my money's worth. Terraforming may not be new to gaming, but it is new to Animal Crossing and it certainly fits pretty well and it innovated the series in that regard from my perspective. Sure, stuff that shouldn't is missing but that has already being pointed out and it doesn't change that terraforming added something new to the game.

I don't expect people to praise this game or any other Nintendo product, but I certainly don't see much point in complaining about the game trying to get back on track on the stuff that people wanted, even if it wasn't since the start and could have been. Feedback should work in a way that at least they should let know a developer when they are doing things right in the things that they messed up, with no need of celebration but at least not ignoring the attempt to have the players that already payed for the product that from a business standpoint already delivered at least a bit more satisfied. They could have easily ignored all complaints about it and address them in a next entry as this is already successful and, while it was disappointing to see missing stuff from previous entries, it's not like I wasted my time on the game waiting for updates or had nothing else to play so I will certainly show interest in the update once it arrives. It won't be exempt of critique from my part though.

Anyway, that's just my opinion.

@Yorumi,

Not for you or anyone else to judge to be honest, true we may think it's excessive, but I bet we all play a little more than the average person, and who sets up these time limits in the first place, surely ones own individual circumstances will also be a factor.

@Yorumi,

Gaming addiction is an issue for some agreed, but we do not always get the full picture, and of course things are not always that cut and dried either.

These are not normal times, many people over the last year and a half or so, may have been confined to their homes far more than usual, and thus had more time to fill, and pretty sure the game helped many cope with things too, it's all too easy to judge people.

@johnvboy So what? Why do people complaining about what they see as a downgrade affect you so much, you say you have 1800 hours in the game well good for you, others have a different opinion, it’s strange that you can’t seem to fathom that people on here have an opinion different to your own. Get over it.

@Megz3,

Always strange to find people suggesting some do not want to consider counter opinions, while at the same time ignoring a different opinion, or stating they should just let it go, but of course never calling out the negative posters.

And I do understand the counter arguments, but at no point are suggesting they should stop, it's all healthy debate at the end of the day, and not surprising either side does not want to leave it, and it does not affect my enjoyment of the game in the slightest, not sure how that relates to all this though.

@Yorumi,

We are assuming an individuals own personal circumstances, but of course if someone is addicted, then stopping would be tough.

@johnvboy there's a lot to do in the game you just have to know what you are doing, which you don't it seems 🤷🏽‍♀

@NinTasha,

Not sure where the attack has come from, I was agreeing with you, my 1400 or so playtime is enough in my opinion, and I have got my island to a pretty good level I am happy with.

The main reason I got as much done as I have was the first two months of lockdown.

@johnvboy I think some people's real lives might be missing content right now. Too little, too late, but not late enough to stop their furious whining on the internet about change apparently.

As much as I want to have more things to collect and have new gameplay mechanics, like maybe farming, I don’t want this game to consume too much of my time. Too many awesome games to play! I’m happy playing an hour or two here and there, just hanging with my buds and building them a Halloween park.

Regardless, I’m excited to watch the direct and hopefully be pleasantly surprised.

@Ralizah I totally agree with you. New Leaf had so much more to do with friends.

Also I get tired when animals ask you to go on patrol with me but you can't do it.

Bring back Tortimer!

why do the put everything inside one building new leaf was way more creative

@Yorumi
"Therefore if terraforming is so important why not play games that did it much better and offer way more freedom for creativity and customization?"

Because every games are different, not a cookie cutter.
ACNH have Terraforming in different way of Minecraft or Dragon Quest Builders since Nintendo always thinking the features from other games but still maintaining with core game.
And we have Terraforming by Nintendo style, not by Minecraft style nor Dragon Quest Builder style.
Why peoples still do care with terraforming in ACNH when Minecraft / DQB has better terraforming aspect ?
Because those peoples love to play BOTH ACNH and other Minecraft style games just the way they are, regardless of different level of terraforming.
Who the heck cares if Terraforming in ACNH is not same as Minecraft / DQB level ?
The Terraforming in ACNH is still great to try despite not as complex as Minecraft / DQB.
And I like ACNH more than ACNL since the villagers in ACNH will never moving out by themself, something that i really wished had comes true.

@NinTasha
"there's a lot to do in the game you just have to know what you are doing, which you don't it seems."

Time Travel is my main activity to get all Redd galery and exploit items with different colors.

I'm really happy Brewster is coming back, but I'll be even happier if other characters return, like my fave silly salamander, Dr. Shrunk.
I'd love to see the Tortimers make a return.
It's been a while since i've played New Leaf, I'm trying to remember what else from New Leaf i wanted for New Horizons.
Fingers Crossed

@Yorumi
"a game has cut content, and other problems"

Even on ACNL there was No Constellation hunting and yet peoples didn't complain that missing feature from City Folk.
ACNH is the Perfect model of Animal Crossing game for me and other peoples who want to keep villagers forever.
ACNH will be ACNH, without the things you keep complaining about so move on and stop being salty for peoples who enjoy ACNH with different features.

@Yorumi ACNH’s terraforming is radically different from Minecraft and MC doesn’t offer the charm and life sim features unique to AC. Terraforming in AC is more aesthetically pleasing and doesn’t take much engineering to build projects.

I’m convinced that you are in the camp of “more and complex is always better”, but in the case of myself, it’s simplicity and minimalist design is what draws me in.

God you lot are never happy. you asked for brewster, he's coming what more do you want? so what if you can't get back into the game you got what you asked for why whinge about it? don't play if you just wanna moan about it 😏 I for one have never stopped playing animal crossing some fans if you stop playing just cos nintendo didn't do as you wish.

@Yorumi “Therefore if terraforming is so important why not play games that did it much better and offer way more freedom for creativity and customization?"

Read that quote from @Anti-Matter post. Didn’t read the full context of the conservation before then, so yeah, sorry for making assumptions.

Regardless, those are my thoughts about why I prefer AC over other games with more creative tools like Minecraft. Moving along.

@anynamereally agreed and it's pretty sad really. I remember playing Animal Crossing on the GameCube back in the days, and you can literally bug the crap out of your villagers doing favors and stuff to get the most of items the game has to offer from them until they get annoyed. It was like a D&D trip where the loot is always there but randomized making all playthrough and/or items you get from them different.

ACNH however, took away everything that made Animal Crossing, Animal Crossing other than what we know and love. Okay, not everything, but most of the soul of AC that is. xD

One of my gripe with ACNH was how backwards it was to go to an island just so they (whoever were the dev team) allow us to "build our own island" to work. Story wise, it was and is still is awesome how Tom Nook, a small village shop grew from Wild World, to City Folk and to New Leaf and how the player's role changed from the beginning to NL is such a wonderful thing to do, but ACNH was just a last resort AC fan idea built to give to fans for money.

Like many others, I don't expect much from this direct (and I already don't ever expect much from Nintendo and their actual Directs xD) and Brewster is just a "give to the fans" because who cares. I know 2020 was a difficult year and it still is in 2021, but man, if I didn't know any better, it felt like Nintendo would use the excuse of Covid19 to just not produce anything and milk Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Mario Odyssey, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, Switch sales for the above mentioned games, not to say it was a bad decision to not care for their employees, but still, other game companies were still producing games from at home, just seem like Nintendo just can't or don't know how to even be connected to the world, always a relic of the past... /sigh

After 1000hrs playing this game I don’t what can they do to make me go back to my island again.

@Yorumi “I actually do agree overall that there's nothing like Animal Crossing. I'm actually rather surprised no one else has tried to do it.”

It really is a unique game in the life sim genre and would love to see someone create a game with a different take on the AC formula. With the recent shot in popularity (and criticism) with ACNH, I wouldn’t be surprised if an indie studio is developing an AC inspired game.

“Believe it or not I'm actually not a fan of complexity for complexity sake and I really believe complexity hinders gameplay most often.”

Agreed. I mostly see these in modern action western games. Skill trees and unnecessary RPG elements in action games tend to turn me off and why I prefer to play games like Zelda or Mario instead.

“Strictly in terms of terraforming in AC I think it's mostly fine and what I'd fix...”

I’d also like to add the ability to create stuff like caves, tunnels, or an overhead bridge.

“What ultimately bugs me about AC is that I've played the same game for 20 years and they haven't really added to it more than baby steps. Terraforming is a step in the right direction but all the cut content is a step in the wrong direction.”

Most of my experience with AC is with the original (played a little of and couldn’t get into NL and WW). NH is a fresh experience for me and I love it, but I understand how NH can frustrate long term fans by not building upon previous features.

I also like the gathering and crafting system featured in NH. I’m a sucker for those.

“What I'd really like to see is not complexity but the experience enriched…”

Those are really good ideas! If there’s one area that NH could significantly improve on, it’s the life sim aspect.

Villagers can feel so lifeless at times. What would be cool is if the villagers could learn about you on a more personal level. Imagine logging in after work and your villagers inviting you to hang out at the beach to relax after a hard day of work. Or if they knew you were a student, they would scold you about playing too much and encourage you to turn off the game and start studying.

Jobs with incomes was something I thought would be fun to have, but I don’t know if it would fit the island get away theme they got going on. Seems too close to real life. However, having tasks to help residents, like decorating or crafting or saving them from drowning, would seem like a better fit.

@Yorumi I was thinking about this the other day and I think it would be cool if jobs were rotated like visitors, like events that rewards a lot of bells (besides turnips). One day could be helping out Brewster (could be a 24 hour thing too), the other could be helping a visitor, or a visitor could come over and fly you to an island to mine materials (because hitting rocks for gold is silly).

Chances are we probably won’t see these kind of updates. I don’t see Nintendo making any substantial changes to gameplay for this AC iteration anyways, but staying optimistic. Honestly, I’ve been thinking about playing New Leaf. Maybe once I finally get over NH.

@Yorumi When I play older games, I try to experience them for what they were when they were released and try to keep an open mind. I try not to compare it to future (and sometimes past) installments in terms of what those games did better, but rather what the game innovated on during that time. (Don’t know if that made any sense…) Basically, I’m super interested in the history of game designs in a particular series and want to understand what made them so fun to play when they were released.

Not too sure if I’m making any sense, but hopefully you kinda get what I’m trying to say.