Since its release, Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been praised by fans and series newcomers alike. However, this does not mean the game is without flaws, there are many quality of life alterations and other changes that fans have been requesting in online communities.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is widely considered to be a great game, in spite of any issues it does have. Many fans, however, still argue that any of the suggested fixes would be great additions to an already good product that could be easily added in future updates. The following is a list detailing the 10 most frequently requested changes that the fans believe Animal Crossing: New Horizons needs ASAP.
10 Stacking Clams
Something that fans have voiced their dismay about since the game's launch was the player's inability to stack clams in their inventory, instead being forced to carry one per inventory slot, resulting in the player only being able to carry a few at a time. Depending on the player's pocket size, they could carry between 19 and 39 at any one time if they are only carrying a shovel, and given how useful they are for crafting fish bait, the player typically wants a lot of them.
This could easily be fixed by letting the player stack them in their inventory, even stacks as small as 10 would increase the minimum number from 19 to 190, making a colossal difference.
9 Storing Turnips and DIY Recipes
With the new game featuring built-in storage in the player's house instead of using cabinets and wardrobes, players have lost their ability to properly store turnips (instead of covering their house's interior or making outside turnip "farms"), this is further exaggerated by the addition of DIY recipes which are also unable to be stored in the house's storage.
This is another easily fixed issue, since simply allowing the player to move their turnips and DIY recipes into their house's storage (maybe even in their own special sub-inventory with its own item cap) would be enough.
8 Using External Storage
One particularly useful feature from previous installments that was lost in New Horizons is the ability to store items in boxes and cabinets for extra storage. Some fans are also asking that backpacks add to inventory space when worn by the player.
This fix is not as important as others on the list - Animal Crossing games have never had infinite storage and probably shouldn't. However, making even some or minor changes to this would most likely be enough to satisfy the majority of players.
7 Dialogue
This game structures its dialogue and dialogue options like a real-life conversation. Whilst initially charming, many fans have mentioned getting tired of the repetitive and lengthy nature of many conversations the player must sit through before being able to perform some simple tasks (such as visit another player), with Dodo Airlines being the number one offender.
Players have suggested that as time goes on, the dialogue options used for services be reduced instead of being recycled, or at least giving more dialogue to the villagers and Isabelle to keep things fresh.
6 Kicking Villagers Out
There are many players that have expressed their annoyance at the system used to "kick out" undesirable villagers from the player's island. This system currently involves being mean to the villager (something some players are very hesitant to do) until the villager decides that they want to leave the island for someplace new. It is not known to the player when this change in opinion will occur in the villager.
Though the game already has a system in place for talking to Isabelle about "undesirable" villagers, players have asked that it simply work as a fast track to get them to leave instead of having little to no impact.
5 Changeroom
Players have repeatedly complained on social media about the limitations of the changeroom at the Able Sisters' tailor shop. When purchasing in the changeroom, the player can only purchase clothes they can currently wear (essentially but not always meaning one type of clothing item per changeroom session). If the player wants to buy two shirts, for example, they must enter the changeroom, change into the shirt, purchase it and exit the changeroom twice.
Players have instead requested that the changeroom function more like a shopping cart, due to the huge amount of clothing options available in there.
4 DIY Workbench
Another big player grievance is that any DIY workbenches placed within a home are unable to access the house's built-in storage, instead forcing the player to open another menu to move everything into their inventory and then use the workbench. Not a major inconvenience, but it adds up due to how frequently the player will be using their bench in the game.
This could be in place to prevent the player from accidentally using too many of their resources in storage, leaving them high and dry. However, most players have expressed a desire for the change nonetheless.
3 Terraforming
Terraforming in Animal Crossing: New Horizons can be quite a daunting and time-consuming task. This is because the game uses a square tiling system for everything, but the player is unable to see this system and consequently never 100% sure about where they are aiming when they terraform, leading many players to make mistakes that need to be corrected before moving on.
A proposed solution to this issue is to actually let the player see the invisible grid they are working in, and the specific tile they will be interacting with when they try to terraform.
2 Multiplayer/Online
Arguably the most common complaint directed towards any Nintendo game is about its online functionality, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons is no different. Coupling the unfortunate online features with players needing to deal with Dodo Airlines each time they want to use it (and sometimes whilst they are using it) has caused many upsets in the community.
This is most likely the most difficult thing on the list to fix, simply due to online issues being such a widespread issue across most games available on Nintendo platforms.
1 Crafting Multiple
The biggest issue that players bring up is tied to one of the most integral systems of the game - crafting. Whenever a player wants to craft something, they open the workbench, select the item, watch a cutscene, and receive the item. To craft multiple of something, the player must repeat the process each time.
For items like fish bait (some fish have made players use over 100 bait to catch) this system is something out of a nightmare. The proposed change is simple, allowing a "Craft X," a "Craft Max" or even just a "Craft 10" option would be a huge improvement in the eyes of many players.