Animal Crossing: New Horizons is Nintendo's latest big hit on the Nintendo Switch and is getting critically acclaimed worldwide. It's hard not to fall in love with the adorable little life-sim game that is allowing us to forget our worldly worries as we escape to our island getaways. That being said, there's no such thing as a perfect game and here we list the ten biggest pet peeves that fans have about the game.
With any luck, Nintendo will listen to fan feedback and patch some of these or add new features to enhance the gameplay when it comes to some of these points. With the announcement of new features soon to be added, it's not hard to imagine that some of our listed items could be implemented at a later date.
10 Letter Limits
Fans have waited many years to be able to share the joy of letter writing with their friends in Animal Crossing. Before New Horizons, you could only send letters to your animal residents and your future self, despite being able to play with other real people and visit their towns.
While it's understandable that Nintendo would want to prevent players from spamming others, two letters a day seems like a very small number. Additionally, the letter limit could be removed for anyone on your best friends list, much like some of the other limitations that being a best friend removes.
9 Limited Bridge Building
Players wish there were more building options when it comes to their islands. Reddit user KingstonWhite has pitched the idea of more bridge-building options, specifically in regards to being able to build bridges across cliffs rather than just above the water. This would allow players to have even greater customization options on their island and be able to personalize their game more.
Admittedly, if you were annoyed by the gap between cliffs you could use terraforming to solve this but it wouldn't have the same visual aesthetic as having bridges that you could walk under as well as over.
8 Amiibo Incompatibility
Fans are disappointed that not all amiibo figures and cards work for New Horizons, despite them working in New Leaf. Noticeable characters that are out of action are the Sanrio range of cards and certain Nintendo characters, such as various The Legend of Zelda amiibo that gave Wolf Link or Epona as residents.
Admittedly, these amiibo figures only released or became compatible with New Leaf with the launch of the Welcome Amiibo update, which came sometime after the initial launch. Therefore, the same features may be added to New Horizons at a later date too. Evidence that supports this idea is that when you currently try to invite a Sanrio character, the Nook Stop says that you can't invite them "right now".
7 Breakable Tools
Long-time Animal Crossing players are no strangers to breakable tools, but in previous games, you at least had some indicator of when they were about to break by showing cracks or other signs of wear. However, New Horizons doesn't give players this luxury, and to add injury to insult, even golden tools are breakable when it comes to island life.
Reddit user Evagast has come up with the idea of a bar that indicates the durability levels of your tools. This feature would be invaluable to players and is something that would be well received.
6 Getting Stuck with Residents You Don't Like
Unless you have any Animal Crossing amiibo cards to forcibly evict any residents you don't like, you're stuck with them until they decide to up and leave of their own accord. You can lower friendships with your least favorite animals, just as you can increase them with those you love, but regrettably making them dislike you doesn't seem to impact on their desire to leave.
As amiibo cards are currently sky-rocking in price due to demand, it looks like you may have to suffer through your annoying neighbors for the foreseeable.
5 Crafting Limits
One of the main things that fans are crying out for is better crafting options to make it a less painful process. In particular, being able to craft multiple items at once, being able to craft using materials in storage if you are crafting in your house, and finally, the option to craft customized furniture in one action.
Twitter user eggloaf presented a mock-up of how these ideas could potentially work, so with any luck, Nintendo will take notice and implement at least some of the fan ideas being pitched.
4 Dodo Airlines
Dodo Airlines can cause a bit of a headache for fans as you have to navigate multiple options to finally get to what you want to do. Fortunately, a Twitter user has come up with a brilliant idea to solve this by having all options selectable from the get-go.
Additionally, players would love to be able to purchase Nook Miles tickets in bulk, as well as the option to buy direct from the airport in addition to the Nook Stop machine. All of this would make island life a little easier for players.
3 Non-stackable Items
Another bugbear that fans have about the game is that certain items don't stack, in particular, the Manila clams don't stack and that can make crafting fish bait a very tedious process. Whilst it's a given that some items should not be stackable and will never stack, fans are begging for others to be changed to free up inventory space and make the crafting process a lot more efficient.
Other items that players wish would stack include plant pots so that they can tend to their gardens and rearrange their islands more easily.
2 Fitting Room Purchases
A feature that seems like it should have been included from the start is a shopping basket system for the fitting room, which already allows you to buy multiple items at once, but is limited to one outfit. That means you can't buy more than one of the same item type at a time and can be particularly frustrating when there are many clothes you want to buy, not to mention their multiple color schemes.
Fortunately, Twitter user eggloaf has also mocked up what a shopping cart feature could look like for the fitting room that would solve all our clothes shopping concerns.
1 Nook's Cranny Limitations
While the Able Sisters are more than ready to let you buy their wares in different colors, the Nooklings are not. While some furniture is customizable, there are many items available in different colors that cannot be customized. That means you're left hoping you'll happen upon the color scheme you want in the shop, or hunting it down on your friend's islands.
It would be helpful to players if the Nook twins also gave you the option of buying their items in another color, even if it meant "ordering in" and you had to wait until the next game day.