... I exploited the stalk market to complete my house, then immediately lost all focus of what I even wanted to do in this game. I get that it's meant to be a socialization bonus thing, but online play has made turnips kind of a toxic gameplay element.

Might be more worth playing than New Horizons, if you don't love what the latest entry brings to the table. It was definitely the best in its time, despite some flaws.

A worthy successor to the original in its time, but not really worth going back to now in my imo - if you're going back past New Leaf, you might as well go all the way back to ACGC.