Animal Crossing 3.0 hotel decorating criticized as too limited

Polygon reports that when Nintendo added a hotel you can decorate in Animal Crossing: New Horizons 3.0, the update’s interior design tools still feel too constrained compared with newer decorating games.

The article’s author describes being recruited by Leilani to design a nautical room, then running into the update’s rigid grid system: small objects like a rattan wastebasket behaved as large items, candles filled entire table surfaces, and lamps could not be placed close enough to beds or sofas. Frustrated by the resulting gaps or empty spaces, the author said they quit rather than accept a compromised vision, and compared New Horizons unfavorably to The Sims 4 (which allows cheats for free placement, though items can sometimes be jettisoned on log-in), Whisper of the House (which yields many small, characterful items), and Unpacking (which allows stacking and multiple items on surfaces).

The piece notes Nintendo chose not to overhaul that fundamental feature in a free update for an almost-six-year-old game and argues decorating games keep improving — pointing to Paralives’ curved walls and furniture customization without cheats or mods — so Animal Crossing risks being left behind unless it changes.

Key Topics

Culture, Animal Crossing, Nintendo, Leilani, Paralives, Grid System