Animal Crossing: New Horizonsis one of the most successful games in the cozy genre, and is incredibly well known and highly regarded as one of the best. There are so many wonderful qualities about the game that it is important to note that even though there are some negatives that can be frustrating at times, it is still a fun and relaxing game that deserves much praise. That said, however, with rumors of the nextAnimal Crossinggame on the horizon, there are a few nitpicks that need to be fixed for the new title.
ACNHis over four years old, having beenreleased in March 2020. With a new Nintendo console being anticipated to come in 2025 or 2026,the incredible popularity ofAnimal Crossingmakes it probable that a new game in the series will launchfor the new system at some point. Many of the features that giveACNHits charm need to remain in the nextAnimal Crossinggame, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t things that have caused some frustration. A new entry in the franchise would be a perfect opportunity for some, or all, of these things to be corrected.
10Villagers Are Never Successful At Catching Bugs Or Fish
While villagers wander around the island, they can be seen doing activities such as eating a donut, stretching, or even working on catching bugs or fish. Clearly, they are NPCs and don’t have any need to catch their own bugs and fish, and if they want something they will ask the player for it. That said,it can be a bit sad to realize that no matter how hard they try, these poor villagers are never successfulin their attempts.
Longtime Animal Crossing Player Discovers They’ve Been Catching Bugs Wrong This Entire Time
A longtime Animal Crossing: New Horizons player discovers a necessary secret to capturing some of their island’s more elusive critters.
Watching Fauna slowly sneak up on a butterfly with her net out adds to the immersion of the game, seeing these villagers doing their own thing and having little lives of their own.That immersion can break if a player pays too much attention to watching their virtual friends, however, and realizes that either they areallincredibly bad at catching bugs and fish, or the game simply will not ever allow them to be successful.
9Gyroids Need Special Storage
Preferably A Cute Display
Collecting gyroids should be a huge boost of fun for players inAnimal Crossing: New Horizons, by giving something new to find and collect after completing the museum. These adorable little statues are also cute and silly, which would be a perfect opportunity for decorating.
Some players douse the gyroids in clever ways, choosing a few to adorn their walls, or setting them up as dancers at a music spot on their island, but the sheer number of possible gyroids to collect seems to be a missed opportunity. Collectors often appreciate having beautiful ways to display their collections, which is difficult to do with the gyroids currently.
FutureAnimal Crossinggames should, certainly, include this little musical tradition, butproviding a display cabinet or other means of collecting large numbers of the gyroids would go a long wayin making it more fun. A special display cabinet type of object could shrink down gyroids inside to house numerous but still keep them decorative, without taking up as much space as they would otherwise.
8Bridges Should Be Able To Be Changed Rather Than Demolished
Rebuilding Takes A Lot Of Extra Time
Decorating an island is a fun way of personalizing the game for players. There aren’t many bridge design choices, but that’s alright as there is a good variety of styles in general. Unfortunately, when decorating, players may find that the bridge style they originally selected doesn’t match the current look, and they will want to change it. To do this,currently, is very time-consuming and expensive.
Right now, to change a bridge, one must destroy the bridge completely and then build a new one. It takes a lot of bells to make the new bridge and real-world time in making these changes.If Tom Nook could offer a redesign service, it would be very usefulfor these circumstances. Of course, it would also be nice to paint the bridges, but one step at a time.
7Curated Paths Are Too Easy To Be Erased On Accident
One Click Of A Button In The Wrong Place And It’s Gone
Speaking of decorating an island,many players take advantage of the personalization offered by using the custom design appto make beautiful paths or decorations to place on the ground. These can be used in so many ways to make paths, soccer fields, pools, and more. Unfortunately, though they can add a lot to the island, they can also be a bit delicate, making players hesitant to even use them as they want to.
Animal Crossing: How to Use Paths in New & Unique Ways
There’s more to pathway construction on Animal Crossing: New Horizons than building roads, crafting walkways, and designing flower patches.
Once a custom design is placed on the ground, players can walk over them like normal ground, but it is currently much too easy to accidentally erase the design that was so painstakingly placed. Whether by running across it in the wrong way, trying to pick something up, or even just pressing the wrong button,a player can become frustrated watching their avatar lean down and scrub the pattern away. This should be something that is a bit more difficult to do in the nextAnimal Crossinggame, so it is only wiped clean when someone actually wants it wiped clean.
6Crafting Would Be Better If It Were Possible To Do In Bulk
Speed Up The Process, Please!
Crafting inACNHis a fun way to make furniture and other items to spruce up an island, or to sell for top bells at Nooks Cranny. Whether it’s making the hot item of the day, or something that a player wants numerous things for decorating,it is sadly impossible to craft in bulk. As long as a player has all the required materials, it isn’t hard to keep selecting them and crafting, but doing one item at a time is tedious.
This would be a simple change that could go a long way to making it a fun portion of the gameplay, rather than a chore that is somehow worse than picking weeds.
The nextAnimal Crossinggame should streamline this and let players select the number of items they want to craft, presuming they have the necessary materials. There are actually quite a fewissues that players have had with craftingand DIY in the game, but this would be a simple change that could go a long way to making it a fun portion of the gameplay, rather than a chore that is somehow worse than picking weeds.
5Decorating With Diagonal Paths And Fences Would Be Better
Also, Furniture Could Be Cute If Placed On Diagonal
One of the first problems players encounter when decorating either in their homes or outdoors on their island is that everything must be straight, no diagonals. Paths, fences, furniture,everything is on a square grid where nothing can be anything but a 90-degree turn. This made sense in older games where the programming may have limited things for developers, but with modern technology at hand, it doesn’t seem too much to imagine anAnimal Crossingwhere a path can go diagonally.
Though it is a small change, allowing fences, paths, and, hopefully, furniture and items to be placed at an angle would open up so many decorating possibilities. The creativity that players have demonstrated in their designs is already astounding, and giving a new way to shape things could make imaginations run wild again in new styles and themes.
As it is, many have used the custom design tool to make curving paths to give the appearance and then connect to the in-game paths. But this presents the problem discussed above of accidentally erasing them.
4Let Players Move Things Around Inside Their House Better
Centering Furniture Can Be Impossible At Times
Whether trying to place a rug directly in the center of a room, a coffee table lined up with a sofa, or even putting some flowers in the middle of a table, most of the time players find they just cannot do what they want inAnimal Crossing. For many,having something off-centered can be a massive problem, and it is something that happens all too often in the game.
With such an emphasis on the decorating aspect, futureAnimal Crossinggames should provide better options for moving objects around in the game, even if it means going beyond the 1x1 grid to allow half square placements, or even better - allow free placement. Many items simply end up not being used by people who would like them because they cannot make the object line up properly.
3Able Sister’s Needs A Shopping Cart For Multiple Purchases
Stepping In And Out Of The Dressing Room Is Annoying
Shopping for new clothes at the Able Sisters store can be nearly as exciting as shopping for real clothes. Seeing the changing selection of outfits is fun and so many things come in multiple colors. As long as a player has the bells,they might want to snag all the colors of that oversized hoodie that they love, knowing that the selection will change the next day. Or, they may be visiting a friend’s island and need to snag that deal while they can.
Animal Crossing: 10 Disney-Inspired Outfits You Can Buy From The Able Sisters
Nintendo and Disney may have nothing to do with one another, but these adorable Animal Crossing outfits definitely feel very princess-worthy!
Sadly, although the dressing room at Able Sisters allows players to easily see what is available and try on various styles and colors, they can only purchase one of each type of item at a time - what they can wear.
Even if they don’t want to wear the outfit immediately, there is no way to select all the color options and add them to a shopping cart without stepping in and out of the dressing room multiple times. A very simple change, but one that would go a long way for fashionistas, would bethe simple addition of a shopping cart.
2The Next Animal Crossing Game Should Allow For The Camera To Rotate More
Preferably 360 Degrees
Having the fixed viewpoint of the camera is a running theme in allAnimal Crossinggames, but for a world in which players get to decorate beautiful islands, it is sad that the camera can not be turned to different angles. Some may enjoy the standard format, as it is a very iconic and traditional look for the series, but others find it frustrating.Particularly when a piece of wood or fruit drops behind a tree or bush, and it can become impossible to see,it is challenging to attempt to blindly direct a character to pick it up.
FutureAnimal Crossinggames should stick with the same general look, otherwise it would not feel likeAnimal Crossing. However, adding a way to rotate the camera around better would alleviate some of the frustration that players have, and offer new viewpoints when decorating.
1Let Players And Villagers Interact With More Objects
Who Wouldn’t Want To Slide Down The Elephant Slide?
There are so many adorable objects and furniture in the game that would be so much fun to get to interact with. Thelist of items that are interactiveis already good, but it feels like just a start when there is so much more that could be enjoyed. In particular,things like the elephant slide, pool, and much more would give players a new way to play and engage with the immersion ofACNH.
Multiplayer would also greatly benefit, as it would be more fun to invite players to an island and be able to enjoy the furniture and decor while playing. Ultimately, who wouldn’t want to go down the elephant slide inAnimal Crossing?
