DLC Pack Rankings

[Aidan635]

First off I would like to say, I havent played with any of the Aquatic Pack animals yet, but have dabbled into the scenery pieces, which are very nice. With that being said, I'm pretty sure my rankings wont change once I experience the animals and what I'm hearing about the depth requirements is not appealing. So with out further adeau...

1. Australia Pack
2. Arctic Pack
3. Aquatic Pack
4. South America Pack

As for how I actually ranked them, I put them into different score systems: animals, scenery, and the accompanying update; all ranked out of 10. Here's how that breaks down...

-Australia Pack
Animals: 10/10
Scenery: 8/10
Update: 7/10
Total: 25

-Arctic Pack
Animals: 6/10
Scenery: 10/10
Update: 6/10
Total: 22

-Aquatic Pack
Animals: 7/10
Scenery: 4/10
Update: 10/10
Total: 21

-South America Pack
Animals: 7/10
Scenery: 8/10
Update: 5/10
Total: 20

As you can see, the Australia Pack had the best animals, the Arctic Pack had the best scenery, and the Aquatic Pack had the best update (even though it's not really part of the pack). Also, included in scenery is the building materials and decorative items.

I'm interested to see everyone's list of DLCs because I feel like mine is definitely an unpopular opinion!

 

[SanRazo618]

1. Aquatic (Most innovative)
2. South America (I use it the most
3. Arctic (Also use a lot)
4. Australia (Love the animals but don’t use too much)

 

[FoxyDee]

Oh, lets see:

1. Aquatic pack
Animals: 9/10 - This time, it was just amazing quality on the animals, the only thing that really hit me was the lack of sea lion...
Scenery: 9/10 - I love, love the scenery, the most versatility of all packs, the faux rocks and tress are god tier. Amazing foaliage too. Only giving 9 because there were less pieces overall.
Update: 10/10 - I mean....we have educators now, something that was missing from the start AND diving mechanisms. The best update so far in my eyes.
Total: 28

2. Australia pack
Animals: 9/10 - Really enjoyed these animals as they were quite unique to what we had in past and so beautifuly done, on the otter hand I was missing tasmanian devil.
Scenery: 8/10 - Amazing stuff in this pack, very versatile pieces, the foliage was also top notch in this one.
Update: 7/10 - The coat variation was nice, not something that I personally was missing from the game, but it was well and realisticaly done. Loved the vending machines!
Total: 24

3. South America pack
Animals: 7/10 - Beautiful animals, the anteater was on the top of my wishlist, would buy for it alone.
Scenery: 7/10 - I do not tend to use the temple set that much, but I really liked the bamboo pieces, new foliage and the root pieces.
Update: 6/10 - The update mostly contained more tabs in the menu and genealogy, something I did not care that much about, but I liked the difficulty settings.
Total: 20

4. Arctic pack
Animals: 5/10 - Heavily influenced by the issue that the polar bear is basically not usable for me due to the requirments.
Scenery: 6/10 - Love the wooden wall set, other scenery was a bit too much themed around Christmas for me.
Update: 7/10 - The biggest highlight for me was the slow animal aging.
Total: 18

But I just want to say that I dont want to dehonest any work done on the packs. Overall I love them all, mostly giving the ratings on what I use the most in game, so its really subjective for all.

 

[Aramar]

I like all the packs and often use things from all of them. I got the game in summer and got the game + the Artic and South America Dlcs at the same time, so I can't comment much on the first updates.

Animals:
1) Aquatic (9/10)
2) Australia (8/10)
3) Artic (7/10)
4) South America (6/10)

I love the animals that came with the South America pack. However, for me, these animals are more of a filler animal in a zoo. None of the 4 habitat animals would be a highlight of a zoo visit for me.

Scenery:
1) Aquatic (10/10)
2) Artic Pack (8/10)
3) Australia (7/10)
4) South America (7/10)


Overall pack:
1) Aquatic pack (10/10)
The best: it has almost everything I had asked for
The worst: nothing

2) Australia pack (8/10)
The best: the animals
The worst: although it has very nice scenery pieces, I don't usually use them outside the Australian area of my zoos

3) Artic Pack (7/10)
The best: the Artic wood set
The worst: the ice set isn't very useful + polar bear requirements

4) South America pack (7/10)
The best: the bamboo set and nice filler animals.
The worst: the temple set is too specific.

I usually build zoos in colder places, so that's why the Artic pack is more useful for me than the South America pack (but I like both).

 

[paul78]

It’s tough to rate them I think there all great in their own way.
1) Aquatic 9/10
2) Arctic 8.5/10
3) South America 8/10
4) Australia 7/10
I too prefer to build temperate style maps also. The aquatic pack gets first for me because of the amazing animals it brings to the table. Also the new rocks are the best in game to date. Arctic is a close second as I often build using the pieces and decor in game. Especially this time of year with Xmas around the corner. South America has great building pieces and the jaguar and ant eater. I’m not huge on tropical style zoos compared to temperate but still a very good pack. Australia comes in last for me. I like it and the animals and pouch animations are top notch even the building sets are great and versatile. But the pack overall doesn’t really fit my style of building. I’m glad to have everyone of these packs and definitely look forward to the future updates and dlc for PZ. I am a sucker for more African animals tho so a good African pack could easily become my favorite since I’m very fond of the two African rhinos and meerkats. Not to mention the countless other animals that we could use even tho Africa is pretty well represented. There’s still just too many missing yet.

 

[NL_Mutso]

1. Aquatic
2. Arctic Pack
3. South America Pack
4. Australia PAck

-Arctic Pack
Animals: 6/10
Scenery: 8/10
Update: 8/10
Total: 22

-South America Pack
Animals: 8/10
Scenery: 6/10
Update: 7/10
Total: 21

-Australia Pack
Animals: 9/10
Scenery: 3/10
Update: 5/10
Total: 17

-Aquatic Pack
Animals: 9/10
Scenery: 7/10
Update: 7/10
Total: 23
--------------------------
Arctic Pack -
Animals not so great. The wolf poor choice. The polar bears were good - shame about the requirements. But the Reindeer/Dall Sheep were really good.
Building pieces were not my favorite to start with, used them more often and they are pretty good.
Update: The slow-aging solved a lot of issues for a lot of players. Peafowl feathers was really nice to see. The AI improvement of animals - pack/social was a good addition

South America -
Animals were good. The capybara was a missed opportunity imo but mostly expected content and good diverse selection
Building pieces - A lot of pieces worked for me.
Update: Social interactions were done nicely, difficulty settings were great - for a management player a really good addition. And the feeding change solved issues for a lot of people

Australia Pack
Animals were great. Maybe they've could done the emu instead of the cassowary. I liked the cassowary pick
Building pieces, just no. They didn't do anything for me. Some scenery items look nice but barely/never use the building pieces. A miss for me
Update; mentioned this often. This update wasn't meant for me. Didn't care about color variations and some management changes the same. Timed scenarios/vending machines brought something new to the game - but only a small part of the update

Aquatic Pack
Animals are a great selection, love all of them. Maybe a alligator instead of the caiman, but overall happy with the caiman
Building pieces, really like them. Usable in this marine/aquatic theme and already started using them with others as well
Update: Underwater mechanics brought something new to the game, the decal decorations and while the multi-select is still a bit wonky imo, it's a really nice addition for the franchise players.

 

[jcp011c]

It's weird how all over the place these rank for me. Let me say first up though that I think they're all great content for animals, building materials and additional content.

Animals:
Australia - added Kangaroos and Koalas which were high priority adds for me.
Aquatic - Penguins! That is all lol.
South America - I like all the animals, but I would have switched out anything but the jaguar for the capybara. It should have been an obvious inclusion.
Arctic (excluding the Polar Bear, which I only have used once in Franchise due to the needs and cost, the arctic pack animals were the least interesting in the pack additions to me.

Building/Scenery:
Arctic
Aquatic
Australia
South America

Misc (Scenarios, maps etc)
Australia
Arctic
South America - it's nice they gave us some variety here, but it's too challenging to me.
Aquatic - I really think the lack of a seaside/coastal map really hurts this pack in this area.

I realized now I could rank them by 1-4 points on the above list for a total possible 12 points.
Australia with 10 points (4/2/4)
Aquatic with 7 points (3/3/1)
Arctic with 7 points (1/4/3)
South America with 5 points (2/1/2)

 

[NZFanatic]

Aquatic at the top. Disagreed with some animal choices but the penguins and seals are spectacular and I'm glad to have an otter even if it wasn't the one I wanted. The new mechanics are phenomenal and the new decor easily takes the cake as the best scenery in the game.

Then South America. This one is purely because of the jaguar and capuchin. The llama was a wasted slot, and I like the anteater but don't use it very often. The foliage here was great and the building items can be useful, though the temple set is a little too "theme park" for my liking.

Then Australia. While I love the scenery and I love the kangaroo and koala, the cassowary should have been the emu and the dingo was probably the most disappointed I've ever felt about this game. Even now I only use it because there aren't enough Australian animals to flesh out an Australian section without it. It should have absolutely been the Tasmanian devil for so many reasons, but the top reason is that the devil has taken a massive conservation hit in recent years due to Facial Tumour Disease. It seems like it's recovering now but if Frontier really wants to push a conservation message then the devil should have been at the top of their Australian list.

Arctic last. It was solid for a first pack, but it kind of set a tone about the way they decide what animals to include. The Arctic wolf looks beautiful but it felt like a bit of a cop-out, especially considering how badly Frontier knew the community wanted the Arctic fox (and this was pre-launch, so it's not like ammendments couldn't have been made to the roster for the first DLC). Arctic mostly takes the bottom spot because the scenery and foliage were pretty weird. The Scandinavian wood is functional, but I've literally never used it for its intended purpose, and if we had other "rustic" wood pieces then I imagine it would fall even further to the wayside.

--

I'm still hoping for some kind of "Year One Recap DLC". Four animals, one from each pack that could cover something we as a community felt was missed. The choices seem pretty obvious;
- Arctic fox.
- Capybara.
- Tasmanian devil.
- California sea lion.

And for the exhibit animal the obvious choice seems like the Indian cobra, which a lot of people have said should have been added already in some manner.

Honestly I think such a DLC would be a big money-maker for them. Granted a lot of people would complain that it should be "free" or something due to those animals being "missing" from their respective packs but in the end I doubt they wouldn't still buy it.

 

[jcp011c]

I really like the idea of a year one recap. I'd personally replace the Tasmanian Devil with the Wombat, but that's just me. I'd completely add the other three choices though. I feel like if they do a NA pack, animals like a Moose and a Cougar are for sure bets to be in, and I'd think the Sea Lion would be as well, but just in case, having it in a separate pack ensures it gets in and frees up another spot there.

And yeah, love the penguin choice and the seal choice is great too, but the otter, while nice to have one, is definitely not the otter I would have chosen either.

 

[NZFanatic]

I really like the idea of a year one recap. I'd personally replace the Tasmanian Devil with the Wombat, but that's just me. I'd completely add the other three choices though. I feel like if they do a NA pack, animals like a Moose and a Cougar are for sure bets to be in, and I'd think the Sea Lion would be as well, but just in case, having it in a separate pack ensures it gets in and frees up another spot there.

And yeah, love the penguin choice and the seal choice is great too, but the otter, while nice to have one, is definitely not the otter I would have chosen either.

The wombat wasn't nearly as highly-requested. Based on this forum it boils down to a choice between the devil and the emu, really - I picked the devil because of the conservation message (which largely also doesn't apply to the common wombat), and because even though it's more associated with Papua New Guinea we did get the cassowary, which covers 'big bird'. The emu could also be included in a Desert Pack conceivably, or some kind of Bird Pack, whereas the devil is kind of stuck with Australia or nothing (I mean, "Islands" might work for it, but Tasmania isn't usually considered one of the "islands" compared to say, Madagascar or Indonesia).

In any case, I doubt it would happen.

 

[random goat]

Aquatic pack:
-Animals 8/10. Features 3 of the most requested animals, though the species of otter was a bit odd. I'm very happy that they included the dwarf caiman. All the animal models are awesome. Missing a sea lion and ideally another species of penguin.
-Scenery 9/10. Less pieces but much more versatile. Includes faux rocks and trees and some really nice foliage.
-Update 9/10. Educators and diving animations. We can't ask for much more. Well, actually yes. This would be a 10/10 if there were not odd water depth requirements and if diving had already been implemented in gharials and polar beas.
Total 26/30.

Australia pack:
-Animals 7/10. Features 2 of the most requested animals. The case of cassowary/emu was give or take, some people would have been disapointed if they had the emu instead. The dingo looks nice but should have never been chosen before the Tasmanian devil, the wombat, numbat, etc. Again, 4 animals will never represent Australia's biodiversity.
-Scenery 8/10. I again appreciate the versatility of some of the pieces in the pack, such as the metal rod pieces, the corrugated set and the fences. Probably the best pack so far in terms of foliage.
-Update 8/10. Coat variations were quite requested and much needed in some animals. Still feels lacking for some animals like llamas, wolfs, etc. Vending machines were a good addition and so were the red rocks.
Total 23/30.

South America pack:
-Animals 7/10. Some very requested animals (jaguar and new world monkey). The animal models are great though the jaguar feels a bit cartoony to me. The llama was quite requested but still an odd choice. The fact that we only got 4 animals representing South America felt even insulting at first. We know we'll be getting more animals from this continent (we already have) but it still lacks many iconic animals.
-Scenery 7/10. The temple and bamboo pieces are great. But overall the pieces are a bit too themed though. The foliage looks good but should have been more extensive.
-Update 5/10. The weakest major update for me. Difficulty tabs and genealogy tabs...nothing major tbh. Also glass panels which would be nice if they weren't so thick and murky. The best bit were the mossy rocks, hell yeah!
Total 19/30.

Arctic pack:
-Animals: 5/10. Arctic wolf...excuse me? Polar bear is great but...oh, let's screw up the requirements! Only the reindeer and Dall sheep saved the day.
-Scenery 5/10. I quite like the nordic wood set. The rest is simply too themed around christmas and weird icy things that you'd never use in zoos.
-Update 7/10. The slow animal aging has changed the game completely for me. But the thing is that the fast pace of time should have never been a thing in the first place. Why would they choose to make a zoo game (where animals aging is crucial) run even faster than its themepark counterpart? It still puzzles me.
Total 17/30.

 

[jcp011c]

The wombat wasn't nearly as highly-requested. Based on this forum it boils down to a choice between the devil and the emu, really - I picked the devil because of the conservation message (which largely also doesn't apply to the common wombat), and because even though it's more associated with Papua New Guinea we did get the cassowary, which covers 'big bird'. The emu could also be included in a Desert Pack conceivably, or some kind of Bird Pack, whereas the devil is kind of stuck with Australia or nothing (I mean, "Islands" might work for it, but Tasmania isn't usually considered one of the "islands" compared to say, Madagascar or Indonesia).

In any case, I doubt it would happen.

Oh I know, I'm just saying the wombat as my personal choice. They're definitely not as highly requested as the TD or emu. (though I don't know why...they're so cute!! ahem. but anyways). Sadly, yes, likely we won't get anything like this but we can hope. I just hope they revisit Aus. and SA again even if it's just for 2-3 animals each.

 

[ElectricMonk]

......whereas the devil is kind of stuck with Australia or nothing (I mean, "Islands" might work for it, but Tasmania isn't usually considered one of the "islands" compared to say, Madagascar or Indonesia).

Inclusion in an Endangered species pack would work, and could include some other great animals too.

 

[NZFanatic]

Oh I know, I'm just saying the wombat as my personal choice. They're definitely not as highly requested as the TD or emu. (though I don't know why...they're so cute!! ahem. but anyways). Sadly, yes, likely we won't get anything like this but we can hope. I just hope they revisit Aus. and SA again even if it's just for 2-3 animals each.

Oh, sorry, I should have been clearer - I based my list more on what was popular than what I personally wanted (I usually do this) - if it was up to me I'd skip the capybara in favour of a spider monkey or something but I know the capybara is considered more "urgent" by most of the playerbase. I love wombats, too.

Inclusion in an Endangered species pack would work, and could include some other great animals too.

That's a good point, they would work well as part of an Endangered Species Pack.

 

[peafowl]

First i need to say that my opinion is based almost strictly on animals and foliage. Im not a builder. I play for the animals and to make environments for them that look as natural as possible. I really love animals that are different looking than other species in their families, but unfortunately that rarely correlates with whats popular.
I think Frontier has done an amazing job with all models and especially the Australia pack exceeded my expectations regarding added behaviors. For people who plays differently and prefers cute i would think they are very ideal! This is just my opinion.

Aquatic is my favorite by far and it’s SO good. They added new detail to the animals overall (diving) and it had a bird AND a reptile for habitat which we really need more of. Another big thing is that they chose an otter species that is very distinct and not so known. This was a BIG plus for me!

SA is second best, mostly like it for the foliage. Otherwise i only really use the jaguar from here. They chose the domesticated lama over one of so many interesting species from the area, that was a big let down for me.

Australia had the cassowary (amazing choice!) and some beautiful foliage.

Arctic pack... i love the dall sheep. I have yet to play anything else from there.

 

[LN]

They all get a 9 from me.

 

[Casperite]

First off I would like to say, I havent played with any of the Aquatic Pack animals yet, but have dabbled into the scenery pieces, which are very nice. With that being said, I'm pretty sure my rankings wont change once I experience the animals and what I'm hearing about the depth requirements is not appealing. So with out further adeau...

1. Australia Pack
2. Arctic Pack
3. Aquatic Pack
4. South America Pack

As for how I actually ranked them, I put them into different score systems: animals, scenery, and the accompanying update; all ranked out of 10. Here's how that breaks down...

-Australia Pack
Animals: 10/10
Scenery: 8/10
Update: 7/10
Total: 25

-Arctic Pack
Animals: 6/10
Scenery: 10/10
Update: 6/10
Total: 22

-Aquatic Pack
Animals: 7/10
Scenery: 4/10
Update: 10/10
Total: 21

-South America Pack
Animals: 7/10
Scenery: 8/10
Update: 5/10
Total: 20

As you can see, the Australia Pack had the best animals, the Arctic Pack had the best scenery, and the Aquatic Pack had the best update (even though it's not really part of the pack). Also, included in scenery is the building materials and decorative items.

I'm interested to see everyone's list of DLCs because I feel like mine is definitely an unpopular opinion!

Arctic #1 for the scenarios.

South Americ #2 cause the building pieces were the best so far to me.

The other two tied #3. (4 animals plus scenery, nothing that really jumped out at me as something I was wanting real bad or excited to get). Timed scenarios are terrible. Can't really say diving and such makes aquatic any better cause that was a free update, get it with or without the dlc.

Maybe also the interest in the game is just less and less without much meaningful communication or any roadmaps in between dlc's. Not being negative, it is what is. I just lose interest in a game when they are silent for 3 to 4 months at a time and I have no idea what is coming until a week prior (at which point I've almost lost interest completely so it at least gets me back to the game for a bit). I also do not want to remain interested and hopeful for something that may never come when they inevitably stop supporting new content without even saying they are doing so (see JWE and PC on pc).

 

[ElectricMonk]

OK, not going to rank the free updates as part of this, since I don't think they should be part of the rankings (although I don't think that it'd change the rankings much if I did - except that animal aging was a game-changer).... I also don't play scenarios so I'm just going to ignore them. If you like them, fair enough, but I don't bother.

In reverse (which turns out to be chronological) order:

Arctic:
Animals: Good animals but arctic wolf was too similar to 'timber' wolf. Polar bear looks great and needed to be included but the space requirements, even after being reduced 50% are FAR to high for realistic habitats so I've never used it. Unfortunately this lowers the animals score to 4/10 (could be raised to 6.5/10 just by modifying the polar bear requirements!).
Build pieces: Good build pieces although i don't really use them much - not a fan of holiday-specific decorations since i don't redecorate my zoos every few months. Plants were... meh. 6/10
Overall score: 10/20 (12.5/20 if polar bear space reduced sufficiently)

South America:
Animals: Great animal choices except for the Llama - I'd have MUCH preferred they stuck with wild species rather than domesticates 6.5/10.
Build pieces: Good build pieces that are very flexible, especially the bamboo but also the temple pieces are great for retaining walls and foundations. Great plants too! 8/10
Overall score: 14.5/20

Australia:
Animals: Great animals but so, so, so many better choices than the dingo were available - on the other hand, it's a great model. I just would've preferred a marsupial (or monotreme) rather than another subspecies of wolf. 8/10
Build pieces: Great build pieces. Especially the metal rods and the rusted metal texture - also great plants, although more would've been nice (especially a more generic smooth barked eucalypt) more like this please! 9/10
Overall score: 17/20

Aquatic:
Animals: Perfect animals - unlike some, I'm as happy with a seal as a sea lion. Might have slightly preferred the short clawed otter for another popular small species but i love the caimen - great, unexpected, choice - much better than the more requested alligator or Nile crocodile, which would have been too similar to the saltwater croc and the ghariel. This would've got 9.5/10 but the 4m depth requirement for commencing deep dives is excessive for otters and caimans.... this lowers the score to 8.5/10, but could be altered!
Build pieces: Great build pieces - heaps of flexicolour and really flexible - also nice to see more statues of the new animals in the traditional style - i'd love to see statues in the same style for the other DLC species eventually! Great plant additions too. 9.5/10
Overall score: 18/20 (19 if 4m depth requirement reduced for caimens and otters)

 

[DrAkula87]

I'll do a bit of a different rating system, weighted more heavily towards the animals. Up to 5 points per habitat animal, up to 2 for exhibits, up to 10 for new decoration.

Arctic Pack
Polar Bear: Must have animal (despite having 3 other bears already), was surprised this wasn't in the main game. 5 Points
Reindeer: Valuable addition as it is a deer and quite iconic. Also, at least somewhat of an EU representative. 5 Points
Mountain Goat: Gives us a new animal type, interesting because of their "vertical" habitat opportunities. 4 Points
Arctic Wolf: I like that they're there, but they do not excite me, are too similar to grey wolves. Would have chosen several other species over them. 2 Points
No Exhibit: 0 Points
Decoration: I love the Nordic theme and found myself using a lot of the pieces in other biomes, too. Christmas stuff is fun, but more narrow. Not too much cool new vegetation (iirc), snow rocks are awesome, though. 7 Points
Total: 23 Points

South America Pack
Jaguar: One of my most wanted animals at the time. 5 Points
Llama: New animal type, I am OK with it being domesticated, because they're cute af. 4 Points
Giant Anteater: Love it! Unique looking and overall amazing addition. 5 Points
Capuchin Monkey: Nice to have a small monkey, and one not from Africa at that. 4 Points
Red-Eyed Tree Frog: Not as excited as could be because it is the third SA frog after all, but it is really well made. 1 Point
Decoration: The plants excited me most here, mossy rocks are quite cool, and I also enjoy the temple and bamboo stuff. 9 Points
Total: 28 Points

Australia Pack
Red Kangaroo: Must-include, another one of my top "not in the main game" surprises. 5 Points
Koala: Iconic and cute, great include. 5 Points
Southern Cassowary: One of my personal top wants. 5 Points
Dingo: As another "dog" not as exciting, but still quite iconic for 'straya. 3 Points
Blue-Tongued Skink: I like it, having a lizard is cool for exhibit variety. 2 Points
Decoration: I have not even build a single Australian habitat yet, but already used a lot of pieces elsewhere. Vegetation seems dece, too. LOVE the (ab)original art! 9 Points
Total: 29 Points

Aquatic Pack
King Penguin: "Another one." 5 Points
Grey Seal: European and a seal. Yes. 5 Points
Giant Otter: Not necessarily my otter of choice, but an otter nonetheless. 4 Points
Dwarf Caiman: Another crocodilian is not super exciting, but it is a nice addition to South America. 3 Points
Diamondback Terrapin: I am giving an extra point here, because we are not only getting a new exhibit animal type, but also a completely new type of exhibit! 3 Points
Decoration: Fantastic! Colorable rocks, underwater plants and more, plus so many new statues, building stuff and that seagull. Nothing to complain here. 10 Points
Total: 30 Points

TL;DR
1. Aquatic 30
2. Australia 29
3. South America 28
4. Arctic 23