i didI don’t know if anyone will actually read this since it’s so long, but might as well spill my thoughts out anyways. : p
- Oceania: I’ve already talked at length about how game changing this pack is… and I’m gonna do it some more. Non-Australia Oceania often goes ignored and while it still isn’t perfect, this pack finally made it actually useable. Whenever I talk about 2023’s packs being lackluster, just assume this one is exempt. In its goals it feels far more similar to early packs like South America and Australia, in giving a previously unusable region something to work with. Three out of the five animals here are must haves for their respective regions, and the kiwi and lil blue are my favorites in the entire game. The other two - the flying fox and quokka - aren’t ideal for me (I would have given something to the rest of Oceania, like a Nēnē for Hawai’i or a crowned pigeon for Papua), but they’re solid oddballs for fleshing out the Aussie roster and I welcome their additions. In some ways, the scenery is just as game changing as the animals (Aotearoa finally gets a native plant set!), though some of it is better than others. I still wish Frontier put a little more research into the cultural side of the scenery items, it’s always been an area they’ve lacked in but it really shows here with the reliance on controversial, appropriated tiki/vacation culture over actual Polynesian scenery (which albeit is still here now and then and I love it when it is - the Māori inspired animal statues are a key example). Regardless of my critiques with it though, I adore this pack and I’m so happy to see such an ecologically fascinating, underrated area of the world not go ignored. I literally cannot imagine building in Aotearoa without this pack. If it’s not a region you build in, I could justify bumping it down to green, but otherwise it’s one of the best packs in the game.
- Grasslands: The emu and wallaby are must haves and they both look incredible (though I still can’t get over the emu not being walkthrough, yet the anteater and okapi are…), they’ve pretty much gone in every one of my zoos since this pack’s release. The rest of the pack is all solid, there isn’t really a bad choice here even if I like some more than others. The maned wolf and armadillo add a tiny, but unique, worthwhile boost to South America, and the striped hyena is a personal favorite even if it’s nowhere near essential from a critical perspective. The caracal and the wildebeest are fine - my least favorites of the pack but I certainly can’t argue against a common small cat and an iconic, far more useable alternative to the black wildebeest. For once, the exhibit animal would probably be the star of the pack (if it weren’t for the emu and wallaby), as the butterflies are unlike anything else in game and the addition of multiple species really helps them take off.
- Australia: This is the first time I remember getting super hyped up for a pack and building an entire zoo just for it, so I may have a teensie bit of nostalgia bias for it, but it’s still an incredible pack separating it from that. Every animal here is essential (I will continue to defend the dingo as just poor timing, it’s essential for Aus and relatively common outside of it), and the cassowary might just be my most used species in the whole game. The koala is probably the weakest thanks to its stylized appearance and love of the ground, but tbh I’m just happy to have a koala at all. The scenery is among my favorites in the entire game, with versatile metal pieces and a bit more proper research than usual with the addition of art by John Smith Gumbula. Even the super themed stuff here is small enough to be incorporated subtly here and there, the painted log sets for example are some of my favorite themed pieces.
- Wetlands: There are so many essentials here and so much taxonomic diversity that should have set the standard for future animal packs (but sadly didn’t). The crane is one of the most useful animals in the entire game (though that’s more due to a lack of birds than this particular species), the otter is one of the most common zoo animals ever, the platypus, although niche, is far too unique and iconic to leave out and is arguably an essential species for Aus, and I shouldn’t even have to explain the capybara. The caiman looks great even if it was a poor choice, and the buffalo is a nice addition even if it should have been domestic. The lechwe is probably the weakest of the pack for me - I kind of forget it exists - but the rest of the pack more than makes up for the sour parts here.
- Conservation: All great animals that are, for the most part, zoo staples. The oryx is the weakest and even it is pretty solid, even the exhibit box animal feels like an inspired choice. The scenery is what really sells it for me here though, it’s pretty much the definition of quality over quantity. There’s less here than most other packs, but pretty much all of it is super useful. Backstage pieces, gardening kits, gutters, air conditioning, and oh my god the plants - they’re so damn good. I really don’t have much to say on it that hasn’t already been talked about at length, there’s a reason this one is a fan-favorite.
- North America: With the exception of lacking a bird, this is how to do a regional animal pack. Not a single species here is a bad pick, it ranges across the continent, and there isn’t an over reliance on any particular group. Even the less useful species like the beaver and moose are far too iconic to leave out. The alligator is a personal favorite of mine too, I love those goobers.
- Aquatic: Sure, the animals here have since had better alternatives. As a set though, this is one of the best packs in the game. The animals are all still pretty good alternatives, and I’d argue that at least having a seal and a cold-weather penguin is still very much essential. The scenery holds up much better than the animals though, the faux rocks and trees have found a place in nearly everything I build and the plants are cute additions for spicing up underwater areas when needed.
- Africa: Arguably the most well thought out set of animals the game has ever had and a great set of plaster pieces. Some of the scenery suffers from Frontier’s strange decisions (three animals from southern Africa depicted in an overly themed northern African style), but most of it is super versatile and the heavy hitting animals + plaster combo more than make up for the duds here.
- South America - The only reason this pack is so high is because of how horribly underrepresented this region is. In a vacuum, it’s one of the weaker packs - still great with the jag, anteater, and only NW monkey - but I never really find myself using some of the overly themed scenery and the already lackluster llama feels all the more redundant now that we have the alpaca.
- Barnyard - To get the bad out of the way, the breed choices here are beyond questionable. Four out of seven are from the UK and a further five out seven are European. Instead of one of the most common zoo animals ever - the Nigerian dwarf goat, we get a rare French breed. Instead of one of the companion pig breeds once faced with extinction, but are now incredibly common in zoos, - like the Kunekune or potbelly - we get a niche British bacon breed. While more understandable here than in other packs, the over reliance on ungulates still stings after their abundance recently, and while that will get better with time I still have a hard time justifying not swapping out the alpaca, donkey, or sheep with something more unique (a cow, goat, and pig are just far too essential for the theme to get rid of). That said though, farm sections are a very real, and very important part of zoos that I love seeing represented in game at all. Plus, domestics are sometimes found as just regular exhibits in non-dedicated sections in a lot of smaller/lower budget zoos, so I love seeing their roster get fleshed out a bit more even if it’s not in an ideal way.
- Tropical - A great, but poorly timed pack that had the potential to be so much more. Getting some South American habitat rep felt like a no brainer here, and as time goes by it only becomes more noticeable. What is here though? It’s all amazing. Every animal here is a banger - albeit not essential aside from maybe the fossa - and most of the scenery is super versatile. I really appreciate the bricks and the timber especially, they might have become some of my favorite pieces in the game.
- Europe - This pack is worth it for the scenery, of which it’s among the best in the game. A nice companion to the base game classic set and the decals are absolutely game changing. Animal wise though? I can’t say a double dipped set of carnivorans and ungulates that (with the exception of the fallow deer) are near nonexistent outside of their native range, and have more common alternatives in other regions do much for me. It’s a similar situation to Oceania where its usefulness depends on if you like building in the region or not, except the animals here are arguably even more niche and far less diverse.
- Southeast Asia - I like this pack a bit more than some others. Every animal here is solid with the arguable exception of the only primate I forget exists. There is an over reliance on carnivorans, though they’re all at least unique from each other habitat wise, with some being more arboreal than others. The dhole is a versatile personal favorite, and the sun bear is the only bear common in Oceanian zoos, and is thus a must have for me.
- Twilight - Three small, niche, temperate carnivorans and some overly themed scenery. You know what else this pack has though? Some banger stone and wood, and a wombat/bat combo! The carnivorans have grown on me with time - I can understand the raccoon as a worthwhile inclusion even if it isn’t for me - although I struggle to justify the skunk and the fox over so, so many better picks.
- Eurasia - Despite how low it’s ranked, there are some great animals here - the swan is amazing (though like the crane, it’s more due to a lack of birds than the species chosen), and the wisent and boar are essentials for their respective regions even if they don’t do much for me. The rest of the pack is where it really falls apart. The Europe portion is great for those who build in the region, so the Asia part would help get everyone else on board, right? A monkey? A pheasant? Even a more universally wanted pick among the ungulates that Frontier has been loving so much recently, like an Indian antelope or muntjac? Nah. We get an antelope that does poorly in captivity and isn’t even common within its own region, and another bear. The takin is nice, but with how well ungulates are already represented I can’t say I’d miss it if it was swapped for something more unique. I don’t like to be overly negative, but this just felt like such a hard pack to screw up with the entirety of Asia and Europe to choose from.
- Arid - Think Eurasia overdid it with ungulates? Well this pack takes it up a notch further. Gone are the diverse days of Wetlands, Grasslands, or even North America, and here is a pack with hooves taking up over half of its roster. There is an argument to be made about Frontier choosing easy to make animals to make up for the porcupine, and while I can certainly buy this, we have no substantial evidence that ungulates are actually easier to make than say, another tortoise, or giving us a Guineafowl from the peafowl rig. In a vacuum, not a single one of these animals is bad. Ungulates - especially African ones - are common zoo animals, but let’s not pretend that the roster is unlimited and that there aren’t other groups that are just as, if not more common, that deserve just as much of a place in the game as a group that’s already very well represented. While I was disappointed with Twilight and Tropical on announcement, this is the only pack that never managed to grow on me.
- Arctic - I really have nothing against this pack, I just kind of forget it exists. Outside of plopping down a polar bear every once in a while I can’t say I’d really notice if this pack was suddenly removed from the game. The sheep and reindeer are solid additions, but not ones I use often, and the arctic wolf certainly exists. The wood set is nice, but has since been surpassed and the rest of the scenery is far too themed for my liking.
