Let's rank all DLCs so far

[Mr Weasel]

This is my ranking based on my preference for building realistic British zoos:

1. South America Pack - All essential animals, including two that were high up on my wishlist (llama and capuchin). I've used animals from this pack more frequently than those in other packs. The scenery items are a little too themed and cartoony.
2. Aquatic Pack - All essential animals that were on my wishlist, plus a great scenery pack, as well as the ever-useful faux rocks. This pack gave us a lot of "firsts" (marine mammal, penguin, deep diving and semi-aquatic exhibits). The caiman is one of my most used animals.
3. North America Animal Pack - All much-needed animals, with the exception of the bullfrog. The frog isn't a bad choice but I would've preferred something different. The alligator and puma were high on my wishlist.
4. Africa Pack - The rhino, meerkat and penguin were high on my wishlist but I would've swapped the beetle and fox for something else, although they're not terrible choices. The building set is useful, especially the plaster pieces and tiles. There's also some good foliage (drinn grass).
5. Wetlands Animal Pack - All great choices with many "must have" species. The only exceptions are the water buffalo and platypus purely because they don't fit into the zoos I build. The otter and capybara were high up on my wishlist.
6. Conservation Pack - Three animals that were on my wishlist (leopard, siamang and axolotl) but two that I'm indifferent to (horse and oryx). The building set is useful (especially the beams) and there's some great foliage (buffalo grass).
7. Twilight Pack - I love the skunk, raccoon, fox and bat but have little use for the wombat. Two animals from my wishlist made it into the game due to this pack (the bat and fox). Some of the foliage is great (namely foxgloves, ivy and dead leaves) but most of the scenery is too themed for my liking.
8. Europe Pack - I liked every choice in this pack (with the exception of the ibex) but only the lynx was high on my wishlist. The scenery items have been useful.
9. Arctic Pack - The polar bear and reindeer are essential animals that I use frequently. The wolf is an acceptable choice (though not the best) but the sheep is useless to me. The wooden/slate building set is a must have.
10. Grasslands Animal Pack - The emu and wallaby were at the very top of my wishlist and the caracal and maned wolf are nice to have. The other animals were either very mediocre choices (blue wildebeest, striped hyena) or outright disappointing (six-banded armadillo instead of a more common zoo species). This would've been my least favourite pack if not for the emu and wallaby.
11. Southeast Asia Animal Pack - The binturong and clouded leopard are the only animals I frequently use but the babirusa, sun bear, stick insect and Malayan tapir are nice to have (even if some of them are broken). I don't see much use for the dhole and I would've much preferred a more useful monkey than a proboscis.
12. Arid Animal Pack - The porcupine is the only animal I'm excited about. The rest don't fill me with much excitement personally.
13. Australia Pack - For me, this pack had no real "essentials", besides maybe the kangaroo. I've enjoyed having the cassowary but the dingo and koala probably won't see much use from me. The heavily rusted scenery pieces rarely fit into my (mostly) European zoos.
14. Tropical Pack - None of the animals are particular "must haves" for me but it's nice to have a fossa and a lar gibbon. I'm still upset we got a three-toed sloth instead of a two-toed sloth. I use the wooden building set a lot and the foliage is exceptional.

 

[abigenius]

and there's some great foliage (buffalo grass).

The buffalo grass was introduce in the grassland pack, It was part of the new update, the same with the drinn grass

 

[YesIndeed]

This is my ranking based on my preference for building realistic British zoos:

1. South America Pack - All essential animals, including two that were high up on my wishlist (llama and capuchin). I've used animals from this pack more frequently than those in other packs. The scenery items are a little too themed and cartoony.
2. Aquatic Pack - All essential animals that were on my wishlist, plus a great scenery pack, as well as the ever-useful faux rocks. This pack gave us a lot of "firsts" (marine mammal, penguin, deep diving and semi-aquatic exhibits). The caiman is one of my most used animals.
3. North America Animal Pack - All much-needed animals, with the exception of the bullfrog. The frog isn't a bad choice but I would've preferred something different. The alligator and puma were high on my wishlist.
4. Africa Pack - The rhino, meerkat and penguin were high on my wishlist but I would've swapped the beetle and fox for something else, although they're not terrible choices. The building set is useful, especially the plaster pieces and tiles. There's also some good foliage (drinn grass).
5. Wetlands Animal Pack - All great choices with many "must have" species. The only exceptions are the water buffalo and platypus purely because they don't fit into the zoos I build. The otter and capybara were high up on my wishlist.
6. Conservation Pack - Three animals that were on my wishlist (leopard, siamang and axolotl) but two that I'm indifferent to (horse and oryx). The building set is useful (especially the beams) and there's some great foliage (buffalo grass).
7. Twilight Pack - I love the skunk, raccoon, fox and bat but have little use for the wombat. Two animals from my wishlist made it into the game due to this pack (the bat and fox). Some of the foliage is great (namely foxgloves, ivy and dead leaves) but most of the scenery is too themed for my liking.
8. Europe Pack - I liked every choice in this pack (with the exception of the ibex) but only the lynx was high on my wishlist. The scenery items have been useful.
9. Arctic Pack - The polar bear and reindeer are essential animals that I use frequently. The wolf is an acceptable choice (though not the best) but the sheep is useless to me. The wooden/slate building set is a must have.
10. Grasslands Animal Pack - The emu and wallaby were at the very top of my wishlist and the caracal and maned wolf are nice to have. The other animals were either very mediocre choices (blue wildebeest, striped hyena) or outright disappointing (six-banded armadillo instead of a more common zoo species). This would've been my least favourite pack if not for the emu and wallaby.
11. Southeast Asia Animal Pack - The binturong and clouded leopard are the only animals I frequently use but the babirusa, sun bear, stick insect and Malayan tapir are nice to have (even if some of them are broken). I don't see much use for the dhole and I would've much preferred a more useful monkey than a proboscis.
12. Arid Animal Pack - The porcupine is the only animal I'm excited about. The rest don't fill me with much excitement personally.
13. Australia Pack - For me, this pack had no real "essentials", besides maybe the kangaroo. I've enjoyed having the cassowary but the dingo and koala probably won't see much use from me. The heavily rusted scenery pieces rarely fit into my (mostly) European zoos.
14. Tropical Pack - None of the animals are particular "must haves" for me but it's nice to have a fossa and a lar gibbon. I'm still upset we got a three-toed sloth instead of a two-toed sloth. I use the wooden building set a lot and the foliage is exceptional.

Lol your list is like the complete opposite of mine. The only thing it seems we agree on is that south East asia is bad and North America is good.

 

[FoxyDee]

1. North America Animal Pack - this comes as the best one for me because a) it is an animal pack and b) all the animals are great picks. It introduced my beloved C. Sea Lion which in itself just made the pack great. But it also had others heavily requested animals and all of them look amazing.

2. Aquatic pack - I was actually thinking about placing the Aquatic pack at first place, just because it was THE special dlc that brought a brand new gameplay mechanics in form of diving, however after additional dlcs I started to use sea lions instead of seals and african penguins instead of king penguins just because they are more common and thus fit in more of my zoos. I still love all the animals though, they are top tier quality and I am glad we got them - king penguins looks amazingly realistic and their behaviour just made them 100% justice, the seals are incredible just because they are so different to other animals in the way they move outside of the water, the caiman is super useful since it is so small and fits into indoor reptile houses better than other bigger crocodillians and unlike others I like the inclusion of the giant otter. This pack also had the best building theme in my opinion because it finally contained non themed pieces and amazing (!!) faux rock and trees that are basically a must in real life zoos.

3. South East Asia Animal pack - what can I say, I just like animal packs and I really like lesser-known and obscure species. Sun bear in particular won my heart since it is so different from other bears, I think the team did amazing job in capturing the spirit of the real life animal. What I did miss from the pack was a Gibbon, that is one animal I really miss. Another problem I have with this pack is the forever bugged Clouded Leopard which always jumps in slow motion and it is quite immersion breaking. Shame, it is beautifuly made animal. I also love the babirusa and was glad for a malayan tapir. Binturong was improved so no complain here and I love its unique hanging on its tail animation.

4. Australia Pack - for the next one I chose Australia pack, just becuase it had this great feeling of novelty around it ? It is hard to explain but seeing Kangaroos hop around on a brand new biome map covered in red sand had this amazing athmosphere around the whole pack. Building pieces were great, I really liked that Frontier worked together with an aboriginal artist to make some of the pieces which was a nice touch. I also really wanted Koalas and I didnt know Cassowaries very well prior to the pack, and now they are one of my favourite animals. I did not mind the Dingo inclusion, however I would prefer a Tasmanian Devil.

5. South America Pack - I love South American animals so I was really, really excited for this pack. Jaguars and Giant anteaters in particular were my must haves, together with Capybara, which unfortunatelly did not make it in. The Llama was ok-ish as it added a bit of light-hearted humour to the pack and I use the Capuchin monkey quite often (might be because there are not that many monkey species though - please we need more!). Building pieces were a bit over the top for me in some cases, but the bamboo pieces were amazing.

6. Africa Pack - Yay, foxes! I really liked all the animals from this pack, I also appreciated that we finally got some smaller animals in case of the Fennec Fox and Meerkat, perfect for any indoor enclosures. The White Rhinoceros is just so cute but majestic at the same time, and was a nice contrast to the other smaller animals in the pack. African penguins are just so funny and I use them alot just because they can be placed in warmer climates. So animals wise the pack is perfect, although I still miss Honey Badgers and Secretary Birds so an animal pack would be more welcomed from me. Building pieces are mostly over the top for my kind of zoo building, but the free update came with the forever amazing Mesh pieces, I know they are not part of the DLC, but it came from the same "batch" if you will. Very useful.

7. Europe Pack - I admit, I was not that excited about an European pack, just because I am from Europe so I probably do not find our animals that exciting. But the DLC is very well done, animals are super well done. My favourite was the European Badger, so thsi is where I got a bit, well not dissapointed because visually the badgers are amazing looking, but being a social animals, they do not do much in game...I havent seen any interactions between them except the mating animation and also, while the burrowing mechanics are great, the badgers themselves do not have that many enrichment options, further reducing the available animations for them. All the other animals are great though, the building pieces are maybe a bit too much city-like for me, but alot of them are quite versatile to use. I love the new rock-wall set, that one is great.

8. Arctic Pack - this pack just had the unfortunate situation of being the first dlc, so no new rigs and any major game changes, but it is still very decent. Reindeer was a great animal to have for the time around Christmas, Polar bear were...difficult to keep, which was made easier recently and I also appreciate that they added deep diving to the bear, which made it finally justice. Dall sheep was ok, but nothing that excited me that much since its relatively rare in zoos and I would prefer a Musk Ox. Arctic Wolf was critized alot for being a clone, but I did not mind it that much. It had some new animations different from Timber wolf and the model was improvement from the Timber wolf. Overall the animals were nice to have, nothing new or spectacular, but that was given being released shortly after the main game release. The building pieces are themed around Christmas, so not that useful for your regular zoos, but some of them like the wooden walls are quite useful even outside of the Christmas.

9. Deluxe edition - last one, not surprising is the Deluxe edition. I love the Pygmy Hippo and Komodo Dragon, the gazelle was too similar to Springbok in my opinion, but I am glad for any extra animals. Of course, before the release, the Deluxe edition also contained the Beta access, so it was a better value then. It has a soundtrack and some wallpapers also in, but I guess most people nowdays would get it for the additional animals, which are not bad at all, just a bit pricey compared to all the packs.

Oh wow, we have came a long way since this. Let me update it, with comments only to the new packs:

1. Grasslands animal pack - Ok, this one dethroned the NA pack for me. All except one of the animals were on my wishlist. And 2 SA + 2 OCE animals (not to mention the most important OCE animals imo). And lastly the quality of the animals in this pack is top tier.
2. North America animal pack
3. Aquatic pack
4. Southeast Asia animal pack
5. Wetlands animal pack - CAPY-BARA, capybara, capybara, capybara....capybara! Platypus was also a big surprise. As our first biome pack, it had a nice and diversive animal roster.
6. Tropical Pack - Wish it was an animal pack, but it still had amazing roster of animals. I mean, RRH was my most wanted animal at that time and I still wanted the Lar Gibbon. Another amazing quality pack regarding animal models.
7. Arid animal pack - Do I wish it had a bit more diverse roster? Yes, but it is still an animal pack, so it will place higher in my list. Also, it has Porcupine. And the Dromedary looks photorealistic.
8. Africa pack
9. South America pack
10. Australia pack - switched it with Africa, just because we got the Emu and Wallaby, which made this pack a bit less useful to me, but this pack still had an amazing athmosprehe around it.
11. Twillight - Initially I was just surprised by this pack, the scenery is really themed, but in the end, I liked the animals more than I though I would. BATS <3
12. Conservation pack - The biggest draw to this for me was the Siamang, but after getting Lar Gibbon, I have to place this pack a bit lower. Still amazing, love all the animals and the building set. The Grasses introduced in this pack are game changing.
13. Europe pack
14. Arctic pack
15. Deluxe

 

[Marlin🏳️🌈]

Oh boy, this seems fun:
15. Deluxe I don‘t think there‘s anyone that would place this any higher, it was pretty nice along with Beta access and the wallpapers, but now, paying around 10€ for 3 animals really isn‘t worth it.
14. Arctic For me no expansion is truly not worth any cent, but Arctic comes pretty close. My favourite animal in here is the Dall Sheep, and it‘s still in my top 15 today - they have pretty great traversal options and also just stand out visually amongst other species. While I‘ve grown to appreciate the Reindeer and Arctic Wolf, they still rarely find a place in my zoos. The Polar Bear I just straight up never use, not because of its space requirements, but because… Well, I don‘t actually know, but they just never come to my mind. The building set introduces some nice wood types (although they‘re not flexi-colour, something that newer packs do way better), but most of the other pieces are just generally underwhelming (especially when there‘s another scenery pack that handles christmas themes way better than this one). Really a 4.5/10 for me.
13. South America From here on, all packs have a quality that ensures that, if you really want one or more of the included animals, scenery themes, you‘ll likely not be disappointed. Still, the earlier packs just don‘t really hold up well for me. It‘s weird with South America because on paper, it sounds truly great; Jaguar, Giant Anteater, Capuchin Monkey are all desperately needed for elaborate SA sections, and the Llama and Frog provide a nice factor of diversity. But with their models ingame, I feel that their models, while not being true disasters like the Malayan Tapir or Lion, just don‘t reach their full potential. The Giant Anteater and Llama are the only species I use regularly, the others just don‘t resonate with me as much. The building pieces also give me a weird feeling… I just don‘t like the look of the bamboo and thatch, and therefore never use them. This is still better than Arctic tho. 5.5/10.
12. South East Asia Animal Pack This placement has got little to nothing to do with the actual animal choices; In fact, Sun Bears, Clouded Leopards, Babirusa, Proboscis Monkeys and Binturogs all very much excite me, and while I personally don‘t NEED the Dhole, Tapir and Stick Insect, it‘s really not that dramatic. Sadly, this pack lacks a bit of refinement, and it‘s obvious that this was Frontier‘s first animal pack. While the issues with the Binturong and Dhole have been fixed by now, there is still that one big stinker, and it‘s obviously the "Malayan Tapir", which actually just looks like the Baird‘s with very weird and unnatural piebaldism. The other problem lies in the Clouded Leopard, that, while looking stellar, moves (and especially climbs) very roughly and executes way too many slow-mo jumps… Still, except these two, all other species look great and add a nice diversity to the game. 6.5/10.
11. Australia Pack I loved this pack when it came out, mainly because it introduced so many severely needed animals to PZ. The Kangaroo, Koala and Cassowary had no equivalent in the base game and still stand out to this day. Sadly, the Dhole just was and is still a missed opportunity for me. Im sure it has its lovers, but now that we have the subjectively better Dhole, it feels like a wasted slot. Luckily, the above-average Kangaroo, the incredibly realistic Cassowary and the not very accurate, but nonetheless cute Koala more than make up for this shortcoming. My last critique will be on the scenery pieces; while they appear very well researched and sensitively constructed (I think I even remember Aboriginal artists creating art for the Dev Team), these pieces I just rarely use. They have a really obvious theme, which never seems to fit into my zoos. 7/10.
10. Aquatic Pack The last of the what I consider to be the early packs this game has received. If you had asked me 2 years ago what my favourite pack was, this would‘ve been my answer. Seeing it fall so far down does surprisingly hurt, but I think it‘s more than overstayed its welcome as a community favourite. It was revolutionary for its time, it really was, but I think it‘s overshadowed by almost every subsequent dlc. This is mainly due to its animal choices (warning: incredible subjective opinions incoming!); The King Penguin is worse than the African Penguin, the Giant Otter is worse than the Asian Small Clawed Otter, the Cuvier‘s Dwarf Caiman and Spectacled Caiman are basically on the same level for me and, all in all, not THAT exciting, and the Gray Seal is the only species I prefer over its "counterpart" the West Californian Sea Lion, and that only by a margin. The main draw of this pack are the scenery pieces: PZ without faux rocks is the same as JWE without logs or PC without picnic benches, it‘s just a match made in Heaven. The other items are also really useful and diverse, too, which mostly can‘t be said about the lower ranking packs. 7.5/10.
9. Conservation Pack Difficult to say what sets this pack apart from the ones ranked higher than it… This pack is full of really good choices being delivered with only very few things to criticize: The animals are really well chosen and and fit the theme wonderfully. Their designs are, as is normal with such recent packs, absolutely breathtaking an… Oh, wait what? … Well there appears to be some rather more than less severe problems with the Amur Leopard‘s face. While this has actually been (sneakily) adressed by Frontier, not all of the qualms people have been having with this big cat‘s face have been solved. Which is sad, because this animal could‘ve been in my top 10 favourites, but now it sadly misses. (It‘s important to note though that the Amur Leopard‘s problems aren‘t as bad as the ones with the Malayan Tapir or such, but I still felt forced to mention it) Still, the Scimitar Horned Oryx, Przewalski‘s Horse and Siamang are all so unique and wonderful that I don‘t really want to complain too much. On the scenery side, it‘s a slightly double edged sword (Do you say it like this?) for me - I do struggle to incorporate the wall set and similar pieces, but the utility items do come in handy. Plus, what I actually appreciate about this dlc the most is its foliage: This absolutely the best array of plants this game has seen and no one can convince me otherwise. Really solid, 8/10.
8. North America Animal Pack Is this take a bit spicy? I don‘t know, to be honest. NA really is the middle point for all animal packs for me - There are no apparent complaints I have with this one, and the only reason it‘s 8th is that I… just enjoy some other packs more. The Beaver, Moose, Cougar and Sea Lion are all pretty much essential to me, the Arctic Fox, Alligator and Prairie Dog are not must-haves in my book, but still provide us with cool, diverse picks. I… really can‘t say anything more about this, this pack has a very good objective quality, just didn‘t wow me as much as other packs did. Also 8/10.
7. Arid Animal Pack This pack is not actually out yet, so its ranking will probably change when I get my hands on it. From the animal picks, it‘s in a similar spot as NA, in that it seems to feature some nice picks like the Addax, the Dama Gazelle and the Black Rhino, but also picks I deem absolutely essential, namely the Dromedary, the Somali Wild Ass, the Sand Cat and of course the African Crested Porcupine (before some of you come at me, I wanna clarify: essential to ME, not NECESSARILY to the game‘s overall roster). By the way, what makes me place this above NA is solely the Porcupine. Do you know the feeling of looking at something and having this natural feeling of ”Yeah, this is supposed to be. This is perfect, and I would never dare come up with anything against it.“? This was me when I saw the Porcupines quills peeking over the blades of grass in the announcement trailer. This is the first animal of my top 3 that ever got in (Only the Wild Boar and Mute Swan left to clear!) and I‘m just in an absolute state of bliss and awe. This pack will most probably rise in the ranks of this list once I get to play with and warm up to all the animals featured, as is usual for me. 8.5/10.
6. Tropical Pack The animals we received with this pack actually weren‘t that huge of a thing for me. Sure, I liked the Lar Gibbon, Sloth and Fossa, was very appreciative of the Red River Hog and not nearly as disappointed with the Asian Water Monitor as others were, but if it was just animals alone, this pack would rank the same as Conservation. No, what makes this pack special for me is its repertoire of pieces. First, the foliage: While it doesn‘t beat Conservation‘s beautiful flower meadows, the newly added vines, flowers and other plants make it easier than ever to create nice and lush jungle habitats. So, a 2nd place in the foliage regard. Then, we have the beautifully crafted construction items. Being able to create Bali inspired houses/temples with such a degree of individuality is impressive and this pack alone is proof to me that scenery packs still have a right to exist and to be produced by Frontier. There is just one pack that does scenery items better than this, and it will come much further down the list. So, also a 2nd place in the construction item regard. Overall, a 8.5/10.
5. Twilight Pack This is all that the Arctic Pack could‘ve been but in better: Nicely themed pieces that fit a seasonal event (Halloween in this case) but still offer versatile use for other concepts and interesting, well executed animals. While I get that these sort of cutesy animals aren‘t for everyone, I for one am a passionate cute-animal-enjoyer. Especially the Skunk and the Wombat have really impressed me with their adorableness! (I will not take Skunk slander btw) Building European castles and villages has never been easier with these nice animals and really nice pieces, but for the dark blue mark, there’s still a tiny little something missing, 8.75/10.
4. Wetlands Animal Pack A wonderful celebration of our planet‘s diversity with animals from all around the world and of course, probably the most requested specific animal in PZ ever, the Nile Lechwe! Now, there are also highlights besides this terribly handsome antelope, such as the Red Crowned Crane, the Asian Small Clawed Otter or the Platypus. The Asian Wild Water Buffalo, Spectacled Caiman and Capybara offer further diversity (although I‘m pretty sure no soul asked for that last one). Every single animal in this pack will find good use in your zoos, and while I don‘t necessarily find that being less diverse actually grants a pack minus points in my ranking, being more diverse than others definitely does offer plus points. 9/10.
3. Africa Pack Truly a masterpiece of a pack! The Meerkat, Fennec Fox, White Rhinoceros and African Penguin are all such massive Wins for this game that I can‘t really put into words how important they are! I feel like this was a pack where many found that the majority of its inclusions should have been in the base game, but I am actually really happy Frontier took their time and gave these animals the polish and care they needed. Especially the meerkats would have been so much worse off as base game inclusions! The only thing that slightly bugs me with this pack is its scenery pieces; they are far from being as bad as those from Australia or Arctic, but besides the plaster wall pieces and some other exceptions (This community was addicted to Drinn Grass as if it was Heroine), these items rarely find themselves in my zoo. Very close to perfection, 9.5/10.
2. Grasslands Animal Pack There is nothing wrong with this pack. Animals like the Emu, Wallaby, Maned Wolf, Armadillo and Caracal were species I and many people (at least I think so) were missing, and the Wildebeest and Striped Hyena also both got their own fan clubs. These animals are of perfect quality and are, for me, the golden standard of Planet Zoo animals. Still, for a 10/10, this dlc would need to give me a certain amazement that only one dlc has managed to give until today, so it stays at a 9.75/10.
1. Europe Pack So amazing. The animals of this pack fit my taste perfectly and are all so masterfully crafted that I can‘t help but pause to watch them everytime I visit their enclosures. The Ibex is particularly beautiful! (Although there is, weirdly enough, one person in this community that, despite having never seen them, still somehow thinks they‘re inaccurate. You know who you are! (This is all fun and jokes btw, pls don‘t hit me)) The scenery pieces are the best we have ever gotten, especially the christmas market set being so beautiful that, everytime I use it, I feel transported to cozy memories of visiting such events with my family. 10/10!

 

[synthetase]

14. Aquatic The update was needed, but none of the animals are my top faves. Favorite: Harbor seal
13. South America Just barely scratched the surface of a great continent... Favorite: Llama
12. Tropical The sloth was groundbreaking and quality was good just not any I wanted badly Favorite: Fossa
11. Australia This is getting into awesome territory already! All animals are welcome and cassowary is an unique addition Favorite: Red Kangaroo
10. Arctic Pretty good selection of polar animals. Three of them were needed to me and the surprise addition is my favorite: Dall Sheep
9. Africa All good animals just not top tier. Favorite: Fennec fox
8. Wetlands Nice niche species I just don't remember wanting any but they are all good additions. Favorite: Red-crowned Crane
7. Conservation Probably a good pack based on what animals occur in zoos/added diversity. Amur leopard was awesome to add but my favorite: Przewalski's Wild Horse
6. Twilight Now we're into favorite territory. The colormorphs in this pack are awesome! Favorite: Red Fox
5. Europe Good niche species for Europe. Could of used wild boar maybe but my favorite: European Badger
4. Arid Love the quality can't wait to play it. Favorite: Sand Cat!!!!!
3. Southeast Asia Same reasons as Europe but its an animal pack so much higher. Favorite: Dhole
2. North America One of the top love every animal. Favorite: Arctic Fox <3
1. Grasslands Best lineup of all time (even down to the butterflies) for my selfish wants haha. Favorite: Maned Wolf (or Striped Hyena)

 

[Marvinb]

Im more of a Builder, so the animal packs will generally rank lower unless they have an amazing roster.

15.Deluxe Edition: Does this even count?
14.Arctic: Not really keen abou the animals and the scenery got pretty much redundant over the years. I dont care abou the holiday stuff at all.
13.Arid: Im sorry, the animals look amazing but i dont really care about anything but the porc and maybe the cat. Where is my baboon?
12.Australia: Was really cool at the time since Australia was so lacking but especially since Grasslands the pack lost relevance for me
11.SEA: Neat animals to get a nice boost to the region, but i could live without
10.Aquatic: This one is weird. It used to be my favorite but has sinced fallen from grace. Every animal now has a "replacement" that i like more (Sealion,African penguin, Spec, ASCO). The faux rocks are still top notch tho!
9.SA: Bamboo is still cool. Some cool animals.
8.Wetlands: Some really neat animals.
7.NA: Also some really nice animals, nice diversity
6.Africa: prob my favorite roster from all packs, everything was needed. The scenery isnt that great tho
5.Twilight: Nice animals, the bats especially brought something brand new. Cool building pieces and scenery, just get that halloween stuff away from me.
4.Grassland: My favorite Animal pack, brought some really needed additions.
3.Tropical: Really great scenery thats surprisingly universal. Still salty that we got no monkey here
2.Conservation: Amazing backstage scenery and cool building stuff, the animals are nice but i didnt really care to much about them
1.Europe: Really nice building pieces, the amazingly usefull decals and a couple really nice animals for europe

 

[Eletan888]

This might be controversial... I will admit the models in the SEA Animal Pack are not all the way there. It's the species themselves to me. Everyone except the proboscis monkey is essential to me. So that's why it's my number one, but honestly numbers 1-8 are very close I my ranking.

The only two DLCs I dont really care about are the Twilight Pack and Europe Pack. The Twilight Pack gets an edge cause it has the wombat (would have preferred southern hairy-nosed) and Egyptian fruit bat. The only thing I care about in the Europe Pack is the fallow deer.

15. Europe Pack
14. Twilight Pack
13. Arctic Pack
12. Deluxe Upgrade Pack
11. Australia Pack
10. South America Pack
9. Aquatic Pack
8. Conservation Pack
7. Arid Animal Pack
6. Grasslands Animal Pack
5. Wetlands Animal Pack an
4. North American Animal Pack
3. Africa Pack
2. Tropical Pack
1. Southeast Asia Animal Pack

*It's important to notes I play the game for the animals not the build pieces

 

[arafan]

After a year of (5) new DLCs, I believe that is time to update my list. I'm gonna left the Deluxe update out of this, as I don't think that it can be compared to the other DLCs.


13. Twilight pack: I still don't see the necessity of the theme, even though there are some nice pieces. The pieces have nothing to do with the animals. The animals were all nicely done, but 3 carnivores in a pack with 5 animals? The fact of having a bat that clips thought the pieces also doesn't help, I mean, we would be talking different if it would be trough pieces the player placed there... Not something I would have ever wished for...
12. Arctic pack: the animals didn't age well, specially the polar bear. The discussion involving the habitat sizes were also kind if pointless and the scenery isn't really versatile.
11. Conservation pack: the horse is nice, the pieces are good, the siamang was good to have for the first moment, but very redundant after the Lar gibbon. I probably would have ranked it higher some months ago because of that.
10. Europe pack: it had some nice pieces, the animals look good, but it still doesn't convince me.
9. Southeast Asia animal pack: that's a hard one, I like all the species of the pack, but the more I think about it, the more I think about it, the more I realize it isn't a good pack. I'm not even talking about the animal choices, it added some essential species for me, but on the other hand, there were again a lot of carnivores, of which we have a flying cat, a monkey that could have been a better species and a really lazy reskin.
8. South America pack: the theme isn't really good, the jaguar, anteater and capuchin also didn't really aged well and we still need a ton of South American species.
7. Grasslands animal pack: thought a lot about this one, but even though it added some nice species and most of the models are really well done, there were a lot of missed opportunities.
6. Australia pack: the aboriginal contribution to this is an absolute highlight, which should have be done to other packs too. The koala model is (IMO) still one of the worst in the whole game, together with its unrealistic behavior, this makes it one of the worst animals to use. Everything else is ok, even when I don't see any need in the dingo.
5. Tropical pack: surprisingly this ranks a lot higher than I expected, which is mainly for the quality of the animals, although there's nothing really new. The building pieces are also a lot better than I would have imagined. I probably still would have preferred an animal pack, but it can't be changed
4. Africa pack: that is another one where I would have preferred an animal pack. The theme is good, but it still doesn't really fit the animals.
3. Aquatic pack: very useful pieces, great animals and a lot of nostaly. This is still by far the best scenery pack for me.
2. Wetlands animal pack: it is very close to the NAAP, but this, on the other hand, is mainly for the various rarer species that nobody expected. I would have made some changes in the roster, but I am still really happy with this pack.
1. North America animal pack: even with it being really mammal focused, I think this still deserves the first spot. It really added something to an area which was underrepresented and most if the choices made a lot of sense.

Updating this with the Arid Animal Pack
14. Arid animal pack: I'm feel so sorry, but this is actually the first time I would have preferred a scenery pack rather than an animal pack. The quality of the animals is mostly very good and specially the porcupine is among my favorites, but other than that... I can't see anything that justifies it being an animal pack. The roster should have been much more diverse, the fact that the snake didn't get any scenery, the rhino and the wild ass which don't move as they should (and I can't really see them changing that)... I really don't know what to say, maybe I was expecting too much?
13. Twilight
12. Arctic
11. Conservation
10. Europe
9. SEA
8. SA
7. Grassland animal pack
6. Australia
5. Tropical
4. Africa
3. Aquatic
2. Wetlands animal pack
1. NA animal pack

 

[Joshinator710]

I love most of these packs so it is hard to rank but here is my list
15. Deluxe Edition
14. Arctic Pack
13. Conservation Pack
12. Arid Anima Pack
11. South America Pack
10. Twilight Pack
9. Europe Pack
8. Tropical Pack
7. Southeast Asia Animal Pack
6. Grasslands Animal Pack
5. Wetlands Animal Pack
4. Australia Pack
3. Africa Pack
2. North America Animal Pack
1. Aquatic Pack

 

[Marvinb]

Just wanted to bump this up to see where yall would rank the Oceania DLC.
After playing with it for a couple days im not yet ready to place it in a concrete spot, its probaly gonna settle somewhere in the middle to upper third, like on place 9 to 7. I defenetly like it, but it also has a few shortcomings for me, like i dont have much use for the penguin (i prefer both the other two and didnt really need a third), im kinda missing the tree kangaroo, and the flying fox is just a really pointless inclusion to me (you cant tell them apart for the "normal point of view" unless you pause the game and zoom in really far). The other 3 animals are excelent tho and the scenery pieces are nice, some are pretty heavily themed which im not to fond of, but you can still find uses for them in different ways.
Curios where you gonna put it

Im more of a Builder, so the animal packs will generally rank lower unless they have an amazing roster.

15.Deluxe Edition: Does this even count?
14.Arctic: Not really keen abou the animals and the scenery got pretty much redundant over the years. I dont care abou the holiday stuff at all.
13.Arid: Im sorry, the animals look amazing but i dont really care about anything but the porc and maybe the cat. Where is my baboon?
12.Australia: Was really cool at the time since Australia was so lacking but especially since Grasslands the pack lost relevance for me
11.SEA: Neat animals to get a nice boost to the region, but i could live without
10.Aquatic: This one is weird. It used to be my favorite but has sinced fallen from grace. Every animal now has a "replacement" that i like more (Sealion,African penguin, Spec, ASCO). The faux rocks are still top notch tho!
9.SA: Bamboo is still cool. Some cool animals.
8.Wetlands: Some really neat animals.
7.NA: Also some really nice animals, nice diversity
6.Africa: prob my favorite roster from all packs, everything was needed. The scenery isnt that great tho
5.Twilight: Nice animals, the bats especially brought something brand new. Cool building pieces and scenery, just get that halloween stuff away from me.
4.Grassland: My favorite Animal pack, brought some really needed additions.
3.Tropical: Really great scenery thats surprisingly universal. Still salty that we got no monkey here
2.Conservation: Amazing backstage scenery and cool building stuff, the animals are nice but i didnt really care to much about them
1.Europe: Really nice building pieces, the amazingly usefull decals and a couple really nice animals for europe

 

[DarthQuell]

Just wanted to bump this up to see where yall would rank the Oceania DLC.
After playing with it for a couple days im not yet ready to place it in a concrete spot, its probaly gonna settle somewhere in the middle to upper third, like on place 9 to 7.
Curios where you gonna put it

Haven't played with it enough. I'll rate after this weekend

 

[Captain Callum]

Alright new ranking, I'll copy paste my last ranking post and add the new ones:

1. North America - Still hands down the best animal pack for me. While newer packs are giving north America a very close race, the north America pack represents the continent so well enough, I only feel the American black bear and wolverine are the only animals that is left to include.

2. Wetlands - move aside capybara , the squeaky Asian small clawed otters are so adorable. Boosting the appeal of south America and Asia considerably with long awaited wetland animals along with a new habitat bird, the wetlands covers all bases that an animal pack should. Even odd animals like the Nile lechwe and platypus are really nice to have even though

3. Oceania - Now I'm not the person most excited by Oceania animals. The region is very niche to me who builds zoos largely in North America and is satisfied with kangaroos and emus to represent such zoo areas. But the animal quality, scenery choice and the amazing choice of foliage makes the Oceania pack very appealing. Top marks for including 2 birds in a single pack, it's a first for birds as they are actively avoided in most packs.

4. Tropical - The tropical pack is good despite the let down a animal pack was not designed for the tropical biome. The animals are amazing with great quality, it's just a shame south America and tropical Africa didn't get any primate representation that they lack so critically. The scenery pack also beats Europe in overall design standards with southeast Asia finally getting its long awaited scenery pieces which arguably was the last major theme missing from the game. Whether it's the Asian water monitor, sloth or red river hog these are all animals well deserved

5. Grasslands - Considered the star of animal packs by many but it just doesn't have that bite the above animal packs offer. The emu and wallaby are very important to the overall Oceania roster along with the maned wolf for south America but grasslands isn't really my favourite biome to build for. But the animals themselves are of excellent quality and a great roster for those who love the grasslands. It really fulfilled what the Australia pack missed.

6. Aquatic - used to be the shining star of dlc packs but the animals have been replaced. Faux rocks and the stained wood building set are the sole reasons the aquatic pack should still be recommended as these are arguably the best building sets in the entire game. Yeah the animals are still nice and especially the grey seal being my favourite from this pack but more recent dlc packs have better quality and more realistic animal choices to consider when constructing a realistic zoo.

7. Europe - The scenery set in the Europe pack is outstanding, it's one of my most used in the game with endless pieces for constructing realistic buildings along with the vehicle assets , animal enrichment choices and the nice roster of animals. The animals are perfect for bolstering woodland habitat areas especially the lynx - it's my most used feline in the entire game.

8. Conservation - Conservation is hard to place so low but comparing all aspects of the pack places it at 7th place. The scenery wall set is really difficult to use seriously and the large focus of backstage/gardening scenery pieces is a downside to me personally when thinking about the bigger picture of zoo construction. The animal roster is really strong with the przewalski horse, amur leopard and Siamang holding strong align with the fantastic natural roof panels, and the great choice of ground foliage

9. Southeast Asia - A really nice diverse animal pack ruined by bugs. The clouded leopard still can't jump normally and the Malayan tapir is still a blatant reskin of the Bairds tapir. This effectively means one animal is hardly usable and another is just a paid reskin which an amateur to the game could even attempt to do. Apart from those major issues, the sun bear, Binturong and proboscis monkey are all really well done to bring diversity to southeast Asia. Now with the tropical pack adding in an excellent scenery set, many of these tropical animals won't feel too out of place.

10. Australia - The saltwater croc finally have some best buds to share an entire continent with. The fact we didn't even get a kangaroo to represent Oceania in the base game was laughable, all the animals are well deserved even the controversial dingo and the buggy koala. I would love to see the Australia pack revised to bring some love to the iconic animals of Australia. The scenery is alright but I'm not too big a fan of the metal wall set or the overly themed aboriginal scenery pieces.

11. Arid - The weakest performing animal pack representing a diverse biome that just covered north africa. Ungulates were highly requested and the detail is great, the animals like the Dromedary are some of the best detailed in the game. The problem is representation for arid regions, this did nothing to address the issues of arid animals in areas like North America and Oceania.

12. South America - A pretty good pack but why wasn't it an animal pack? The animals themselves are really nice along with the choice of scenery but there is one major problem with this pack. There is no clear direction on what it wanted to be, south America is absolutely massive to represent in any reasonable matter along with mix n' match scenery which is half bamboo themed and half random jungle temple themed. The fact only a single small monkey was chosen to represent the arboreal animals of the rainforest canopy is hard to swallow but it is what it is.

13. Africa - This is where it gets hard because late in this list shows a mediocre pack but the Africa pack is middle ground. On one hand we have a lovely set of plaster walls and scenery pieces, animals that were desperately missing from the base game like the white rhino and meerkat but on the other hand Africa is still missing so many unique animals and the scenery does not correlate with the animals in any manner. The scenery selection pack here feels more at home with an Iberian animal roster rather than meerkats, penguins and rhino. I will say the African penguin is my favourite here as they are used in every single zoo I build.

14. Twilight Pack - Used to be mid tier for me but the twilight pack still doesn't hold enough weight under the nocturnal theme to be of much value to my realistic recreation efforts. The animal and scenery quality is really good but it's the fact it wasn't an animal pack severely let's down the twilight pack, I joke this is an urban pack with a wombat and some bats. The scenery works but really goes into planet coaster territory too much with spider benches, glowing Halloween lights, mushrooms...... It doesn't work in a zoo game AT ALL. The bats are nice for nocturnal houses but are losing their unique value with the addition of butterflies and sloths into the walkthrough exhibit.

15. Arctic pack - I like the arctic pack , I really do with the polar bear and dall sheep frequently being used in my zoos but.... you can tell it's the very first dlc without a clear vision what it wanted to be. It only comes with 4 animals, a theme which is not from the arctic itself (Norwegian stave churches which the blueprints are based off is more southern Norway) and a Christmas theme sprinkled in because why not it's a winter themed pack. The weathered wood is useful but with the aquatic packs stained wood and the tropical packs weather wood, it doesn't carry the same weight as it used to.

16. Deluxe Upgrade - yeah of course it's the deluxe upgrade last since it is the highest cost per animal out of every dlc with little return if one does not buy on sale. I got it dirt cheap on sale but that's not the important, the animals are nice with the Komodo dragon being the sole reason many people buy the deluxe upgrade/edition. But these are just animals that should have came with the base game, another hippo and gazelle is hardly enough to warrant the name of a deluxe upgrade.

 

[SuzieSky]

A few notes about my highly subjective ranking:
I am not much of a builder and thus generally prefer animal packs. I also don't really enjoy building semiaquatic habitats, but many people do. I am from NA. I grew up with both of the old Zoo Tycoon Games. These factors influence my rankings. All of the packs are honestly cool and worth buying. They also come on sale if money is tight.

If I were to recommend five packs to new players (especially animal lovers; I can't really speak for builders), I would go with the Australia, Grasslands, South America, Aquatic, and North America packs. They add a lot of variety, especially to underrepresented regions. The Africa pack and Conservation packs are also pretty strong. Mostly, I would recommend looking at the roster to see which animals you like, and definitely get the pack from your local region, if there is one. Don't worry too much about what the community says. The packs appeal to different people. I like the aquatic pack the least, but it is a favorite of many. I also love the south America pack, which isn't typically a favorite.

Anyway on to my order personal preferences with a somewhat more objective scoring:

1. North America Animal Pack:
   
   • Animals: 10/10, great selection, great variety, great quality. All of them were highly requested. I myself was really wanting a moose, cougar, and prairie dog. The surprise pick, the arctic fox, came with a color variant and a diving animation. It was highly requested after the arctic pack. The animals really show off the diversity of NA biomes. Each habitat looks distinct. I still miss my black bear, but the lineup is great. NA animals were severely lacking in the base game, but this pack helps bring it up to speed.
2. Grasslands Animal Pack:
   
   • Animals: 10/10, great selection from underrepresented regions, great variety, great quality. I love the Maned Wolf! It and the armadillo added much needed SA. The caracal and striped hyena were also fantastic and covered the Middle East. Emus and wallabies are essential for international Oceania rep. I kind of wish the blue wildebeest was base game, and we got a more unique antelope
3. South America Pack:
   
   • Animals: 9/10, good selection, great variety, age is showing a little but still good quality. With how few SA animals are in the game, this pack is basically essential. The jaguar has a decently common black variant, and the llamas are colorful and funny. Capuchins are cute and add the only new world primate. Giant anteaters are awesome. The pack kind of illustrated how absent SA was in the base game roster, so the selection seemed lackluster in some ways. For that reason, I put off buying this pack. After I bought it, I found myself using the animals all of the time. It is probably the pack I use most often.
   • Scenery: 7/10, the bamboo pieces are useful, but I wish they had a bit more texture. I like putting the ruin pieces in jungle habitats. Some other pieces are fun and colorful. Some of the blueprints are a bit much, but I like the scenery overall.
   • Plants: Jungle plants are cool.
4. Arid Sahara Animal Pack:
   
   • Animals: 8/10, good selection, ok variety (a little ungulate-heavy, but they are sort of different from each other), fabulous quality (so far). The Dromedary and Porcupine were high on my overall list for a while. The Somali Wild, Sand Cat, and Addax were also high on my wishes for desert animals. I love building arid habitats. I love this pack.
   • Pack Name: 2/10. Calling it the Sahara pack would make many people like it more. I call it that in my head.
5. Conservation Pack:
   
   • Animals: 8/10: great selection, good variety (other regions besides Asia have key conservation species), great quality (the Gibbon's issues have been addressed somewhat). This added some of the most requested animals at the time: a gibbon, a leopard, and the wild horse. The surprise oryx pick is a major conservation icon and very welcome. I'm kind of glad they went with the siamang here. The siamang walked so the Lar Gibbon could run.
   • Scenery: 10/10 Even though I don't build often, I love having the backstage props when I do
   • Plants: I love the veggies and the sunflowers
6. Australia Pack:
   
   • Animals: 8/10 great selection, great variety, good quality (though the Koala is a little disappointing). These are some of the most iconic animals from Australia. The cassowary is fantastic. The kangaroo and the dingo are both excellent models as well, even if the latter isn't as popular. I know some people wanted the Tasmanian Devil instead, but once we get it, I don't think the dingo will stand out as a bad choice. They're an animal I learned about as a child.
   • Scenery: 7/10 I love the rusted pieces, and I think they were going with a lot of up-cycled material designs, which is very in line with Australia's admirable focus on conservation and environmentalism. I like the Maori influences, too. I just wish more of the pieces were flexicolor.
7. Africa Pack:
   
   • Animals: 9/10 great selection, good variety, great quality. An African rhino is kind of essential for a zoo game. The other animals are pretty popular and great, too. I would have liked to see a monkey, a serval, and a bird, like the grey crowned crane, but I would not want to get rid of the animals in the pack. They are awesome.
   • Scenery: 7/10 The blueprints and pieces are useful. I like the wood pieces, but I think they might have been a base game update?
8. Twilight Pack:
   
   1. Animals: 7/10 ok selection (mostly not requested animals from NA), ok variety (mostly small carnivores), great quality. I really like this pack. The wombats are adorable. The skunk was an oddball I was hoping for. The foxes have so many pretty color variants, which is fun.
   2. Scenery: 6/10 I don't typically use European styles too much, but I like the flexicolor stones. Halloween is a fun holiday, so I kind of like having decorations, but they seem a bit odd to me.
9. Wetlands Animal Pack:
   
   • Animals: 8/10 ok selection, great variety, excellent quality. I don't like building semi-aquatic habitats, so this pack wasn't for me. I love the otters and can appreciate the effort that went into making the platypus. This pack has a bird and capybaras, which are also pretty great.
10. Tropical Pack:
    
    • Animals 8/10: fabulous quality, ok selection, great variety: The animals are fantastic quality. The packs seemed to really take it up a notch around the Grasslands pack. However, I was only actively hoping to the Red River Hog and sloth at that point. The animals look great, though. I was pretty sad there were no new world monkeys. The great models help me get over it, but I think I could grow to love this pack better after more SA animals are added. I try to like the packs for what's in them instead of what's not, but I could not quite do it this time.
    • Scenery 9/10: It's kind of niche, but common decor for international Asian zoo sections. I like it.
11. Europe Pack:
    
    • Animals 10/10: great selection, great variety, great quality. Lynxes, Ibexes, and Fallow Deer are pretty iconic. The badger is also a good choice. I just don't see many European animals in NA zoos. I think I've seen fallow deer once, but that's about it. Maybe an Iberian Lynx, but my memory is a little fuzzy about it? They are great temperate animals and match some of the holes from NA. I mainly use the lynx and the fallow deer for its color variants
    • Scenery 9/10: I'm giving it a high score because others raved about it, but I honestly don't use it that much. The blueprints are cute though.
12. Deluxe DLC:
    
    • Animals: Komodo dragons are awesome staples of SEA, Pygmy Hippos are adorable, and I actually bought this pack for the Thomson's Gazelle (which most think is the weakest). There are only 3 animals, but I use them a lot. The pack was initially more expensive, but it is usually on a bigger sale. I would pick it up on sale.
13. Arctic Animal Pack:
    
    • Animals 7/10: good selection, great variety, some quality issues. I love the arctic wolves. They are one of my favorite animals. Caribou and Polar Bears were missing staples from other games. I like the Dall Sheep, but it is a more obscure cousin of the Bighorn. The similarly-ranging Rocky Mountain Goat might have been cooler, but the Musk Ox would have fit the theme the best. This pack never got an exhibit animal, but I don't think that matters too much. They've somewhat fixed the Polar Bear space requirements.
    • Scenery 6/10 Christmas decorations are fun and good to have. The architecture is interesting, but I don't use it too much.
14. Southeast Asia Animal Pack:
    
    • Animals 4/10 great selection, great variety, quality issues present. The main thing I used from this pack is the leaf insect. I was initially excited for the Malayan tapir until I, unaware of the online controversy, placed it next to the Baird's to compare them because I wanted to know the differences between the New and Old World animals. The dhole had some problems, but all of the other animals are actually pretty great. I'm starting to use the binturong, and I use the proboscis monkey sometimes (the main reason I don't is that it and the apes are expensive). It has a great variety of SEA animals, especially now that we got two gibbons.
15. Aquatic Pack:
    
    • Animals 8/10 good selection, great variety, good quality. I just don't use these animals that much. I like their alternatives more. I also don't like building semi-aquatic habitats, but I really appreciate the effort that went in to implement diving. The update was very cool. I would recommend it for the prevalence of the new semi-aquatic animals.
    • Scenery 10/10: great versatility. Many people use the pieces of this pack for their builds, but I rarely do. The main thing I use is the faux rocks.

Even my least favorite packs are still great. All of them are at least worth the full price. Ranking them was hard, and it changes sometimes. I'm so happy the game has received support for so long. Thank you so much for all of your hard work, Planet Zoo Team!

Maybe the ranking will shift as I play with it more, but when I account for the shiny, "newness"-factor, I think I'd put the Oceania Pack at about 10th. It's a good pack, but it didn't have much that I needed. I really like the Quokkas and Kiwis, though. Little Blue Penguins are a nice addition. Two birds in one pack is pretty good, especially with another flying thing. I wish the Tasmanian Devils were easier to breed for management purposes. I don't know how often I would need Polynesian architecture in a zoo, but it looks so nice that I might try to work it into some tropical areas.

It's about tied with Wetlands and Twilight. The ASCO, capybara, and impressive platypus probably edge wetlands out. I don't expect everyone to like the Twilight pack as much as I do, but I love the flexicolor stone, red fox color morphs, wombats, first bats, and my all-time favorite pick for an oddball, the striped skunk.

 

[yoav_r]

Why did we stop with the color ranking? It was so easy to read

 

[abigenius]

I didn't participate putting my ranking in the thread before but I guess it's time and first of all, I don't hate any animal in the game and I don't consider any a bad addition also I start to play after the Europe pack so I have a distinct perspective of the past dlcs over the "new" so let's start!!!

15.- South America pack, sorry guys, I'm a builder person and I love the scenary packs over the animals one, but this pieces I never use and the animals models are a disappointed to me, the jaguar is my FAVORITE animal IRL and I can't see them in the game, the only animal I really like in the pack is the Giant Aanteater and the frog

14.- Australia, same as the SA, the models are not so good anymore (except the CassowaryGOD) I mean try to put a Roo next to the wallaby and tell me the hug difference, the only thing I really like about is the plants and some particular pieces, I prefer the new Australian animals over all of this pack.

13.- South East Asia animal pack, in this case I love half of the animals in this dlc, and now with the Indonesian set are so useful but I prefer other dlc, anything bad really

12.- Aquatic pack, I don't really like the animal selection and now we have best options, the king penguin slowly grow up to me and even more now with the new morph update to them, the only reason why I like this pack over the previous ones is the plants and the amazing faux rocks, but the rest is pretty "meh" to me

11.- Arctic pack, I like the animal selection, I mean, is pretty unique, we don't have another animals like the sheep, the reindeer and a little bit the polar bear, is pretty different to the rest of bear also it dive diving!! And is so fun to watch it, the pack has some not themed pieces like the wooden pieces that are useful if you now how to use for build realistic, even the Arctic wolf are more useful for me than the timber wolf, I play quite often in sandbox mode so I never had a problem with the space requirements of the polar bear, in fact it was my first dlc because I'm a hug fan of the cold biomes animals

Alright, honestly post African pack all the dlcs are so good in quality!! And for me all are so good and I just prefer ones over other ones but not necessarily mean are bad in lower position

10.- North America animal pack, this was so difficult to me I prefer the NA/Mexico fauna and this pack helps a lot, but the models of the next pack are better and the Arctic fox is a little down for me in this pack, is a good selection but I think not in this pack maybe a ABB inside :/

9.- Grasslands good roster like the NA pack and it has butterflies!! That's is the reason why is higher than NA, I like all the animal selection in special the Armadillo!!!!

8.- Oceania pack, good animals, good pieces that I actually like and fit well in any realistic zoo if you now how to used, also the plants are AMAZING and I'll use more in the future, the animal selection is good, I wanted the tasmanian devil since so long so it's unbelievable watch it in my zoo since so long time , the flying fox is a must have over the bat for the better and fixed animation

7.- Wetlands animal pack, I love when a pack has animals from different parts of the world like this one, literally I love all of them, even the Nile lechwe is a nice addition that I love it!! Half of the pack dive dive so that's is the reason why I prefer over the rest

6.- Twilight pack, most of the pieces are so useful, the walls are pretty good for old or not so modern style zoos, the animal selection are good imo, the wombat, the bat, the raccoon and the colorful red fox, are so versatile to use and IMO the game needs more small animals for use in small parts of our zoos, I really like this pack and I enjoyed it too much!!

Now my top 5 some could be interchangeable depending of the occasion

5.- Arid animal pack, a so hot and polemic pack, but I'm a big fan of the hoofstock animal and literally almost all are in my top 10 of favorite animals, the dromedary is a must have for me, and the wild ass, the dama gazelle and the rhino were animals that I I wanted them to be in the game but I wasn't too sure about their inclusion, and seeing them in the game now makes me very very happy, I love to build habitat for all of them!!

4.- Tropical pack, man!! I enjoy so much use the pieces in my zoos many of all are not so thematic and the wall pieces are so useful in a lot of areas of zoos, the animals are high quality, my least favorite was the RRH in the begin buy not I love su much, the gibbon is a must have and is my first primate that I really like to build for ( well now for the brachiation orangutan too)

3.- Africa pack, for me, the star of the good scenary packs, the plaster pieces are so useful for create realistic zoos, I'm in love still with the plants, I'm a huge fan of the deserts themes (another reason why the Arid pack is so high) I love almost all of this pack, the White rhino was for a long time in my top 1 of favorite animals (until the black rhino) but still one of my favorites, also the African penguin is so beautiful and more common option to me than the king penguin, the Meerkat and the fence fox are big good addition 10/10 this pack

2.- Europe pack, one of the reasons why star to play the game, BEAUTIFUL scenary and so useful, I prefer the twilight rock wall set but this is pretty different and I like it, the plants as well, all the pieces are a must have for me, I love the salamander, also the stream revel was so pretty , the highlights for me in this pack are the fallow deer with it's amazing color morphs, the ibex and even the lynx, I would prefer the red lynx but honestly this is a good addition with a wide range, the deer for me is must have in my zoos and is my top 4 favorite animal, also the path and the unique boat and bus entrances are among the reason why I love this pack.

1.- Conservation pack, my favorite pack ever, the animal selection is the best imo, all from different regions and biomes, a most have backstage pieces, also the plants are so good, the wall pieces are a must have for me in my main zoo, almost all in this pack is perfect, the axolotl!! One of the nacional animal of my country so I love it and the only one of the exhibit animals that has a lot of color morphs and it's not bored to use, the Amur leopard, the SHO and the P. Horse were in my top 5 of wishlist animals so makes me happy seen all of them in one single pack, are perfect for me, the P. horse and the SHO are in my top 2 and 3 respectively of my favorites animals in the game, are so awesome and how I said before I'm a huge hoofstock fan, the siamang was the first primate that start to love and was fun to use for it's brachiation ( but the lar gibbon is better ) just an amazing pack and a good job frontier, I love so much 20/10

And finally my ranking of all this dlcs, this last two years were amazing for PZ and I want to see what frontier has prepared for us

 

[DarthQuell]

Ok, so I haven't updated since the Tropical pack. Vamos, amigos:

North America animal pack
So far, the best animal pack in the game. With this pack alone I was satisfied for NA rep, especially in the South. I can't play without using at least 1 of these animals, most notably the alligator

Wetlands animal pack
A solid pack that brings us some nice South America rep. Capybara and spectacled caiman are both must haves for my zoos and those 2 alone make the pack for me

Grasslands animal pack
My 3rd favorite DLC. Has the important maned wolf and nine-banded armadillo, which are both great for some love for Argentina. But what really made the pack for me were the butterflies. Best exhibit in the game so far

Oceania pack
Now that I've played it a bit more, I think that this is a great DLC to fill up Australia. 3 highly requested animals and 2 oddballs that really add to the once "forgotten" Australia and New Zealand. Scenery is great, as well, and pretty versatile

Tropical pack
The animals are alright for me. I could live without them, to be honest. What makes this higher is the scenery. The set really goes well with the SEA animal pack and both should be bought together for the best combination

South America pack
You can't have enough South American animals. All 5 are very important and common in zoos, and if you miss out on this pack, you can't make a proper South American section in your zoo

Africa pack
The Africa pack is up here for the animals alone. All of them are common zoo animals and really add something, especially if you frequently build an African area. The theme is only useful if you get the Arid animal pack

Twilight pack
The Twilight pack is divisive. The theme is terrible, in my opinion, except for generic pieces, like the stone walls. The animals, on the other hand, are great, but only really if you like to build NA or European zoos

Australia pack
Australia pack is not a bad pack, but on its own, it's semi-lackluster. It requires you to get various other packs to compliment it. The theme isn't bad, though, and good if you wanna recreate smaller, low budget zoos

Aquatic pack
The Aquatic pack is really only useful for the build set. The faux pieces are perfect for almost every setting. The animals were ok, but we have better alternatives now. They're still good oddballs, though

Europe pack
Europe pack. In my mind, I honestly could live without the animals. But the scenery is very much needed for me. I use the rustic set often

Arid animal pack
The Arid animal pack is kinda controversial. Most of the species are loved, but at the same time, when altogether in 1 pack, they seem kinda boring. The crested porcupine, sand cat, and dromedary camel really bring it up higher than it would've been. The Africa pack is very much recommended as the scenery from that pack will go perfectly with this animal pack

Conservation pack
The Conservation pack is ok. The backstage pieces are nice, but I don't use them nearly as often as others. The animals are ok, but I don't use them often

Southeast Asia animal pack
Not the best, on its own at least. While all the animals are generally loved, the pack is filled with errors. The Malayan tapir needs a remodel, the clouded leopard seems to have a slow motion jump, and the proboscis monkey is too uncommon to be realistically used. However, combined with the Tropical pack, this really compliments the DLC

Arctic pack
One of my least favorites. The animals are rarely used by me, and half the scenery is way too themed. What makes it for me is the generic wood pieces

Deluxe pack
It's alright. Comes with music and some wallpapers as well as 3 common zoo animals. But, get it on sale

 

[Captain Callum]

Why did we stop with the color ranking? It was so easy to read

Never knew there was a color ranking, i must of posted my orginal after it changed.

 

[biggest_dreamer]

Subjectively. as someone who prioritizes animal selection and how they befit my preferred building style above all else,

1. Grasslands - pretty much a perfect take on a worldwide representation pack. I’d have preferred a different armadillo, and the hyena is somewhat of an iffy pick, but overall I think this is the best we’ve gotten.
2. North America - a close second. I still contend that the moose could’ve been any number of better things, and think the beaver and arctic fox could’ve gone either way, but overall a great pack that finally added some local wildlife to the game.
3. Southeast Asia - pretty much a perfect animal lineup, it’s only held back by the regrettable Malayan tapir model, clouded leopard graphics, and the bizarre inclusion of the proboscis monkey
4. Africa - perfect animal lineup, full stop. It’s only as low as it is due to being a scenery pack.
5. Conservation - another lineup with 0 weak links. Every animal choice was perfect and essential, just maybe slightly less so than Africa.
6. Arid - it’s difficult to find fault here when judging it for what the pack is and not what it’s missing. I’m not even sure what I’d consider its weak link - the rhino, maybe? Still, it’s equally difficult to not see a baboon-shaped hole every time I think about this lineup.
7. Wetlands - easily the weakest animal pack lineup thanks to a combination of un-requested and niche picks for my purposes. The capybara and otter are wonderful additions, and while I’d have preferred almost any other species, I’m still very happy that we got a crane. The ungulates and caiman aren’t bad picks, really, just strange ones, especially all at once. Especially when the domestic water buffalo would’ve gone over that much better.
8. South America - a solid introduction to the region that somehow still hasn’t been satisfactorily followed up on. I’d have prioritized a lot of things over the llama if I knew how long it would take to get South America really off the ground.
9. Tropical - the water monitor wasn’t a great choice imo, I’d have much preferred another turtle over another monitor. The other three habitat picks are all great, but maybe not as impactful as some of the other, heavier-hitting scenery packs. I’m still disappointed with the choice of sloth.
10. Australia - aside from the kangaroo, the actual most essential Australian animals wound up in the Grasslands Animal Pack. The cassowary is fine, but the koala and dingo have always felt like rather niche picks for the type of zoos I want to build.
11. Aquatic - oh, how the mighty have fallen. We’ve gotten a better penguin, a better pinniped, a better otter, an alternative caiman. There’s nothing wrong with any of the species included here, mind you (although I’d have preferred the harbor seal), they’re just mostly a bit more niche than their cousins.
12. Twilight - this pack finished what North America started with regard to local species, taking me from two (just the alligator and beaver) to a surprising five. The bats are the most exciting exhibit species in the game, but somehow even despite all this the pack on the whole comes out feeling a bit mundane. Perhaps it’s too close to home? Or perhaps the spooky aesthetic makes me care for it less.
13. Europe - I like the lynx a lot and the deer alright, the other are two fine as additions but I don’t have much use for them
14. Arctic - I still get some mileage out of the reindeer as it’s the more broadly usable North American deer, but even then I’ve mostly shifted to using the fallow for my deer needs. The polar bear was an obviously essential inclusion even though it’s no fun to build for regardless of your mode, the Dall sheep is an okay wildcard, and the arctic wolf is probably to this day the worst choice for a DLC animal we’ve gotten
15. Oceania - absolutely nothing for me in this one, glad for those that like it but shrug

 

[YesIndeed]

I'm not concrete yet but for now I'd put Oceania in 4th for me under grasslands, wetlands and Europe.