There’s only one thing gamers won’t forget about 2020 – one monumental take-away from this entire year. Something that stood atop priority lists everywhere and reminded the community, this is not just a group of gamers, but a group of human beings: Animal Crossing New Horizons.
Whether it be critics praising it as a beacon of light – in a otherwise slow gaming year – or the massive community that has formed around the game since it’s release. All this said, how does New Horizons hold up to the classic Animal Crossing games?
10 Removing Resetti And Other Beloved Characters
Off the coattails of a groundbreaking game like New Leaf, New Horizons had no other choice but to shake up the bag and take the series to unexplored heights. But did that have to mean getting rid of quintessential AC characters and elements?
No Resetti, no Brewster, no post office workers or police offers, they even gave the ax to old Mayor Tortimer. Hopefully these beloved characters and more will see the light of day in DLC, but until then it’s going to feel weird running through our islands without our cherished friends.
9 Villager A.I. Still Feels Dated
The villagers in Animal Crossing have always been cute and very lovable, yet strikingly robotic. It’s like entering the Twilight Zone where the neighbors have no souls and are stuck between elementary-school gossip or assigning dizzying tasks.
It works in the older AC games because A.I. was still very dry at the time and it gives those games a unique charm. It also helps that back then we didn’t have games like Strawdew Valley or Undertale, that feature characters with heart and humanity, making the world feel more “lived-in.” A.I. in New Horizons is still stuck in the early 2000’s.
8 The Music Is Either Amazing Or Just Ok
The soundtrack in New Horizons – like many elements in the game – is a bit different from other AC games. It’s stripped the music back entirely, focusing more on simple acoustic guitar chords, piano melodies and tropical instrumentation to add a little flare.
When it works it blows the mind – 5AM, 2AM and 12AM melodies are some of the best music AC has ever jammed. But overall, the music is spotty with many tracks feeling forgettable and falling flat compared to the consistent soundtracks of the original, City Folk and New Leaf..
7 No NES Games
The original Animal Crossing game offered NES consoles that actually allowed gamers to play full-versions of Nintendo’s most classic games.
Gamers could obtain these NES games through Christmas presents or raffles at Tom Nook’s Store (also unfortunately removed) and they were a blast to play. Everything from the original Super Mario Bros. to forgotten gems like Donkey Jr. Math or Excitebike. Playing a game within a game might sound like some Inception-type nonsense, but it made the original AC infinitely times more fun.
6 Online Connectivity Issues
Companies like Valve, Microsoft and Sony place a tremendous amount of focus on ensuring the online experience is just as good, if not better than offline play. Nintendo on the other hand is stuck in the early 2000’s when it comes to the online experience.
Whether it’s the friend codes that are used for Switch owners or pausing the game to roll out a cut-scene for every player that enters your island. Multiplayer was bad in the older games, but excusable because of the times.
5 Only One Island Per Purchase
The original Animal Crossing blew the hats off of young gamers when it made it’s North American debut in 2002. Not only could a player have up to four people in their town – Mom, Pops, Sister, Brother – but if they had another memory card they could have FOUR MORE! (Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt, Uncle).
Creating another town wasn’t just for show either. Gamers could collect different types of fruit at the other village, interact with other villagers and shop at an additional Nook Store. It’s surprising that Nintendo left out an option that seems so easy to tack-on for families who want their own island.
4 User Interface Is Lackluster
Time to get a little technical and a bit snobby, but the user interface in New Horizons is a bit all over the place. Nintendo attempted to bring AC to 2020 with the implementation of a smart phone, and in many ways it’s fun to use. But compared to older games it’s cluttered and frustrating to navigate.
In a game like AC the U.I. should be simple, it shouldn’t feel like gamers need to button-mash every time they open up the menu as if they’re playing a role-playing game. It gets better as players unlock shortcuts to equip tools and other desired material, but it’s far from perfect.
3 No Places To Travel To Besides Friend’s Islands
The most fun in any Animal Crossing game – with the exclusion of New Horizons – was visiting the places outside the village. The coconut cluttered island from the first game, the bustling metropolitan in City Folk and the remote paradise in New Leaf. New Horizons on the other hand locks players into their towns.
With the exception of visiting friend’s islands, they’re stuck in one place, albeit one with plenty to keep them busy. But that was the fun of old AC, so much to do in a village and even MORE to do outside of it. More DLC bait on Nintendo’s part.
2 Mystery And Discovery Are Gone
Old AC was loaded with secrets and tiny details that players only discovered if they worked diligently enough to find them. This is now gone. In part because many of the game’s secrets have been told for years now and New Horizons doesn’t have many tricks up its sleeves.
Also in part, the internet filled with it’s toxic(ish) fans who will gladly spoil any and everything for players on public forums.
1 Outside Help
When Pokémon first introduced wonder trade – a system where one a critter and receives one back – it began to pose problems for modern Nintendo games. Now someone could just abuse the system and wait until some guy sent over a level 100 Gyarados, making the game a cake-walk.
Even if players avoided this route, any online interactivity opened up the possibility of a hacker giving them all the goodies. New Horizons suffers a great deal from this – many of its players have cheated – whether they wanted to or not.
NEXT: 10 Times Animal Crossing: New Horizons Was Surprisingly Deep
