It’s 2020. Lockdowns just started and I’m stuck in an apartment for the month. I download this game and instantly forget about how crazy the world is getting. With new building mechanics and island forming it brings some freshness to a series in need of change. It was so fun collecting stones and wood to craft furniture. I loved having my friends come over to my island and hanging out chatting about life and trading fruit. I loved catching all the crazy fish and having my Aussie friends come and trade me their seasonal bounty. It was such a fun game with a banger of a soundtrack. But, it was in need of updating. Some menus took too long and were tedious. Crafting took too long without being able to craft multiple things at once. It began to feel like a chore. My villagers all felt the same. Sure they were a different animal and had different personalities but it all seemed to cookie cutter compared to previous games. Eventually updates did come out and they were just holidays wih some seasonal furniture which was neat but got boring really fast. Eventually we did get Brewster and art was added in but my interest waned by the end of 2020. Acnh was fun but with games like stardew valley Animal crossing needs to step it up more to compete in the life sim genre. Note* I have not played happy home design dlc