The most punishing, unfair features of previous games, like unannounced or unwanted villager move-outs and grass wear are absent.
Customization is grander than ever before. Outdoor furniture use, official floor paths, fencing, relocation of buildings, and shaping the island and its waterways are all new and exciting. Character customization is now transparent and has wider options.
Graphically, the game is great. Furniture pieces return in nicer forms and the creatures look really nice. The museum is also fantastic, and the new gyroids are inventive enough and have enough unique personality due to the better capabilities that I'm not mad the old set is all gone.
The DLC side game is paid but a great boon to the experience that makes furniture and customization more accessible and dimensional.
Major critiques:
Several new features are fun but not super convenient. Crafting isn't an efficient process, new room sizes for your house are nice but fixed and cannot be changed to preferences, and the grid system of the game makes aligning buildings and paths and objects frustrating sometimes when landscaping. At this point, the fairly basic grid and even the rolling-log map and fixed camera feel a bit outdated for the mechanics they're pushing.
Several classic characters are Demoted to Extra, and a couple of holidays and events are absent with them. Some facilities are merged, others put off the island to free up design space, and some services feel like they're missing upgrades.
Classic furniture has some equivalents, but many sets are represented with only a few returning pieces, and the new ones are nice but should not have replaced the classic pieces. Even the old gyroids would have been welcome. Building customization also feels less wacky and fun, and town facilities cannot be customized.
The Smug and Sisterly villager types feel less appealingly-written in this game.
I think this is a fun, gorgeous, busy game, but its aesthetic trends too grounded in several areas, its features are not as user-friendly as they should be, and the previous games set precedents that make aspects of this one feel incomplete. It's a fun time, but be aware of the downsides.
A cute mixed bag, and despite Nintendo's opinion, doesn't feel complete.
Things this game does right:
Major critiques:
I think this is a fun, gorgeous, busy game, but its aesthetic trends too grounded in several areas, its features are not as user-friendly as they should be, and the previous games set precedents that make aspects of this one feel incomplete. It's a fun time, but be aware of the downsides.