This is such a weird case of a game. 2015-2016 was the weird Nintendo spin-off era. It was not a good time to be a Nintendo fan. Haply Home Designer pretty much established what the next Animal Crossing game would become:

A game about aesthetics and design.

It's just not what I want from an Animal Crossing game. I always loved the other characters and what they had to say, but starting with this game, they increasingly lost their charm.