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Animal Crossing: New Horizons review
Exceptional
by Ísak Agnarsson

Game of the year for me, im sure it wont be beaten by FFVII or any other game this year. Already spent 65 hours since it came out 12 days ago.

Probably the best Animal Crossing yet with the most freedom so far, you can build everything, create anything, invite amiibos like in New Leaf and so many things like create (literally) your own island.
The only downside is the advertised multiplayer is very lackluster and fundementally flawed but as an Animal Crossing game where usually you play solo and sometime visit a friend to his island to trade, this is absolutely perfect.

Edit after 160 hours: Now there are definetly downgrades like less shops, way less furniture sets and its really hard to find furniture compared to New Leaf which is still a way superior game. But if i want the freedom in building my town/island then its nice to switch over to Horizon but it gets boring after a while, unless you're consistently building, since there's not much else to do. 

Even when you have 10 villagers the interaction is lackluster compared to earlier titles and the villagers feel very underdeveloped and have very repeative dialog that either revolves around what you're wearing or a stupid one liner that everyone says. They all kinda say the same thing and i noticed it right away but didnt care until same repeativity was active 100 hours later lol. Still having fun but i can clearly notice frustrating patterns to the repeative gameplay. As a matter of fact my interest in New Leaf has resurrected, that game has everything except as much freedom in building.

Also there are bugs and crashes which is very concerning, depending where you place furniture outside and then engage in conversations, i had to move my house and a few items in order to stop crashing in the same place. 
«Blew my mind»
«Just one more turn»
«Can’t stop playing»
«Time-tested»
«Sit back and relax»

Other reviews21

Chillin. Not much more. 7/10
«Sit back and relax»
As a long time fan of the AC series, this game improved on many aspects of the past iterations - namely graphics, multiplayer, and customization. But it's definitely lacking in a few things. Villager dialogues become really dull after a few days, there's SO much text to scroll through, nobody insults you anymore, everything is grind grind grind. I miss the spontaneity of the original game, the sassiness of my villagers, the terrifying gyroids, the sense of discovery, and when the achievement of paying off Nook actually felt like a huge accomplishment. However, if you like a cute DIY experience this game is perfect for you! 
With a little too much hand-holding, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a pleasant, serene game that gives hours of fun. It’s a DIY experience, however, since there are so many ways to play. This game offers a brief relief from the stresses of modern life, and the long wait for its release was well worth it.

https://www.gamingonline.info/animal-crossing-new-horizons-review-2021/
Its so hard to divorce the experience of playing this game from the feeling of early quarantine, back in March and April 2020.  It was an escape outside, to visit friends, host parties, share and communicate and decorate and shop and travel.  Has a game ever released at just the right moment in a more universal way before? Did Nintendo start the pandemic to make it so? Yes.
very good game my boyfriend gifted it to me i love him
I love the implementation here, allowing me more flexibility in designing the island and some of the new additions. Despite me liking it a lot for a few months, I found myself wishing it was more engaging. After a certain point I found I was logging in just to say hi to villagers that would repeat the same lines. There's just not enough variability to the villagers dialogue, nor is there a way to engage with them in the game other than giving them gifts or the occasional errand. Also, did they ever fix the first villagers house issues? Your first few villagers will always have a bland house so it's not beneficial to keep them even if you love them.

It's a good game, and I can't complain about many months I got out of it, but it leaves a lot to be desired. Maybe I'll check it out soon just to see what's going on.
«OST on repeat»
I played this every single day during lockdown, enough said. It makes past versions seem a bit lacking due to the ability to decorate outside but New Horizons is also taking its sweet time with releasing all the NPCs.
«Can’t stop playing»
«Sit back and relax»
This game is a system seller, the reason i bought my Switch!
«Can’t stop playing»
«Time-tested»
Exceptional in some ways, mediocre or even frustrating in others
«Sit back and relax»
Seriously overhyped. Boring, tedious, bad building sim.
«Disappointment of the year»
«Waste of time»
As much as I enjoyed the first handful of hours, this game made me extremely frustrated throughout the island resort grind. The big draw to New Horizons is the progression. On this deserted island, it's very easy to see the progress you're making and gives a sense of pride to your new home. About half way through, the grind begins. The game is no longer about progressing your island, but about grinding for turnips, buying and selling, and going through tedious chores. What makes me the most angry is the blatant lack of quality of life. Giving fossils/bugs/fish/art to Blathers is so incredibly slow and if you already have all the fossils, you're still forced to go through lengthy dialogue to get worth out of those fossils. I also had my roommates play on my Switch and they were frustrated because they didn't have as much power on the island as I did. Going to a friend's island feels like it would be shorter to just drive to their house to see it. Again, really enjoyed the beginning, but because of the purposefully slow gameplay and poor multiplayer, this is a game that I left as soon as I reached my goal.