Rating the Wetlands DLC - pre release

[The_Riot22]

I'd like to give and get some first impressions of the new Wetlands Animal Pack. This is based solely on the roster list and the initial Trailer.
I'm ranking the animals based on both my personal opinion and on how well I think it will be received by the community. 5 stars is highest ranked. My personal ranking goes dark-to-light(purple, blue, green, red, orange, yellow, grey)...and no I didn't rank the Newt.

Let's start with the 2 more controversial picks:
- Spectacled Caiman - 2 stars. North America's representative for this pack. A bit of a surprise pick. It is a fairly well-known crocodilian, but I think most players will simply view it as a slightly better version of the Cuvier's Dwarf Caiman. I think the Cuban Crocodile or Roseatte Spoonbill would have been better received by the community as a NA rep.
- Nile Lechwe - 3 stars. This one caught everyone by surprise. Yes it is yet another African antelope, but this is the first antelope added since the base game(2nd if you include the Thompson's Gazelle in the Deluxe Edition). I think once the initial "high" wears off and people start using the less popular animals in the pack, people will start to warm up to the idea of making a wetland habitat for an antelope.
- Wild Water Buffalo - 3 stars. Anyone concerned this is just a reskin of the Cape Buffalo needs to view the trailer. Frontier appears to have done an incredible job with this animal.
- Danube Crested Newt - 3 stars. I gotta be honest. I have no idea where to rank this, as just an exhibit species. It is Europe's representation. I will say this DLC would be a perfect time to add the Basilisk Lizard, but that would require an expansion of the Exhibit boxes to really get the "running on water" effect.
- Platypus - 4 stars. Probably the biggest surprise of the pack, and a lot of people are really happy today with Oceania's representation. I always viewed this animal as just "so-so", but after watching the trailer, I'm super excited to put them in my zoo. This will have less widespread appeal than the following animals, but still a top choice.
- Asian Small-Clawed Otter - 5 stars. This is the animal people had in mind when they wanted an otter in PZ. They are smaller and cuter than the Giant Otter, and will certainly replace it as the preferred otter among players.
- Red Crowned Crane - 5 stars. A bird. A wading bird. Yes. Thank you Frontier, and please more. Nothing more really needs to be said.
- Capybara - 5 stars. Easily the most requested animal by players, and from the images on the trailer, looks like Frontier did a great job.

I think Frontier did a great job with this DLC. They threw everyone a curveball, officially adding "Biome" to the DLC theme. They also did a great job at mixing in highly requested animals with less requested ones. Icing on the cake would be if they snuck a few foliage items in this DLC, but I'm not holding my breath.
Overall, I give this DLC a perfect 5 star rating. For now, it ranks just slightly below the North America Animal Pack as the best DLC.

 

[AlexSea]

Asian Small-Clawed Otter: In all honesty, we should have had these guys before the Giant Otter, but they're here now, so all is good.
Capybara: What's there to be said that hasn't been said already? Iconic animal, looks great, no complaints here.
Nile Lechwe: Weird to think that we haven't had another antelope since launch. I wouldn't have chosen them as my first pick, or even my tenth pick, and since I haven't heard of them before, I can't say I'm strongly for or against their inclusion.
Platypus: I wasn't expecting them at all, but I was pleasantly surprised. My only complaint is that they seem to have a visible neck unlike the real animal, but other than that, it looks great.
Red-Crowned Crane: Finally, another non-penguin bird! Great choice too.
Spectacled Caiman: As a reptile lover, I'm not as against this inclusion as a lot of other people are. I get it, but I don't mind too much. It's distinct enough from the Cuvier's Dwarf Caiman to differentiate them, with smaller eyes, a longer snout, and greenish in color compared to the brown of the Cuvier's.
Wild Water Buffalo: We needed some more bovids, and for a pack like this, the Water Buffalo was the perfect choice. Those horns!
Danube Crested Newt: Our third consecutive habitat amphibian. I was really hoping we'd get a reptile, and I feel like an Alligator Snapping Turtle or even a Tentacled Snake would have been a better choice. It's not a terrible choice or anything, but it's hard for me to get exited over a newt.

All in all, a pretty good pack, with the potential to rival some of my favorites like the Aquatic Pack and North America Animal Pack. Definitely a day one purchase for me.

 

[Bearcat9948]

- Spectacled Caiman - 1 star. For the "clone" spot something like the Asian water monitor would've been a much better choice, from a diversity standpoint. This is our fourth dlc croc species. Or, either the false gharial or Nile crocodile would've been more popular choices based on the meta-wishlist. Ultimately, for a "Wetlands" themed pack, this should've been another wading/semi-aquatic bird such as a spoonbill. But it is what it is, and I'm sure it'll look great, and I'll probably use it.
- Nile Lechwe - 3 stars. It's a solid thematic pick. There's not much else that can replace it, not justifiably so in my opinion. We haven't had a single dlc antelope and it's only 6th African dlc animal, so I'll happily use it.
- Wild Water Buffalo - 4 stars. Same reasoning as the lechwe but it looks so good I have to give it a 4/5. Maybe the lechwe will also be a 4/5 once we see it.
- Danube Crested Newt - 5 stars. There's not many "wrong" picks here, and I like that they went with something we didn't have any of, a newt species. It should be in the aquatic exhibit, so it'll be different from the fire salamander.
- Platypus - 5 stars. Any Oceanian animal is 5 stars for me, except maybe the emu.
- Asian Small-Clawed Otter - 5 stars. We needed this pretty badly and it's a welcome addition to the game.
- Red Crowned Crane - 5 stars. Any bird is automatically 5 stars.
- Capybara - 5 stars. Most requested animal on the wishlist, wanted it since the SA pack 2 entire years ago. Not much else to say.

 

[MarikMoon]

1. Spectacled Caiman - 1/10
2. Nile Lechwe - 5/10
3. Wild Water Buffalo - 6/10
4. Danube Crested Newt - 6/10
5. Asian Small Clawed Otter - 10/10
6. Platypus - 10/10
7. Red Crowned Crane - 9/10
8. Capybara - 10/10

 

[coatifan]

- Spectacled Caiman - 2 stars. My thoughts have been expressed by others. I find it hard to ever hate a PZ animal, though, and I guess it still adds diversity.
- Wild Water Buffalo - 3 stars. Yeah, it sucks that they're absent from zoos, but it's not hard for me to pretend it's domestic. Plus, another Indian/Southeast Asian animal is always good. Looks beautiful.
- Nile Lechwe - 3 stars. I fully expected this to be my least favorite, but it's growing on me. Really beautiful and unique -- though as far as I can tell, they only exist at 10 US zoos. Anyway, not what I expected but could be worse, and it's nice to know that not every animal coming forward will be at the top of the meta-list.
- Danube Crested Newt - 3.5 stars. Totally depends on implementation. If this is, as I hope, a fully or mostly aquatic exhibit animal, I think it could be my favorite in-game and maybe even a step towards fish tank exhibits. If not, it's just okay padding for European and Amphibian focused buildings. Ah well, at least it looks cool.
- Red Crowned Crane - 4 stars. Always nice to get a new bird, even if I've never seen it in my two most-visited zoos. A great addition to the East Asia roster.
- Capybara - 5 stars. Weirdly enough, the least hype of this pack's "big three." Maybe because it's not at my local zoos and isn't that unique (it's kinda just a big hunk of mammal). With that said, it's still adorable and a great addition to South America, so I'm excited.
- Platypus - 5 stars. Despite the presence of a neck, looks very cute. While I normally dislike "unrealistic" picks like the proboscis monkey and titan beetle, it's so iconic that I don't think we could do without it. Also a great nocturnal house pick (I believe they're often exhibited in nocturnal-style buildings) as well as the only predominantly nocturnal deep diver and possibly the smallest deep diver?
- Asian Small-Clawed Otter - 5 stars. Iconic, adorable, good Asia representation, extremely common in zoos, a better (or at least cuter/more common) otter than the Giant. What can I say? It's perfect-- as long as nothing goes wrong. I know the silhouette in the trailer was probably just to build hype but please, please, please Frontier don't let this be another binturong-type debacle. I'm excited and optimistic that it may become among my favorite animals in-game.

 

[The_Riot22]

Or, either the false gharial or Nile crocodile would've been more popular choices based on the meta-wishlist. Ultimately, for a "Wetlands" themed pack, this should've been another wading/semi-aquatic bird such as a spoonbill.

I think they were making sure each continent got represented, and most of the popular North American wetland species got used in the NA Animal Pack, but I think we all would have preferred they "skip" NA this time and just do the Nile Croc.
I'm more shocked(in a good way) that Frontier did an animal pack without any cat, canine or bear species!

 

[jcp011c]

Capybara -10/10
Asian Small Clawed Otter 10/10
Platypus - 9/10
Red Crowned Crane 8/10
Wild Water Buffalo -7/10
Danube Crested Newt - 5/10
Nile Lechwe 3/10
Spectacled Caiman - 2/10. The fact there's not a lot of reptiles overall saves it from 1/10. I'd probably only rank the Proboscis Monkey as 1/10 out of all of the DLC animals so far, most animals really do add something.

 

[biggest_dreamer]

1. Capybara - easy, obvious 10/10
2. Asian small-clawed otter - this will almost certainly end up becoming my most used animal from here on out, 10/10
3. Red crowned crane - I am so, so thankful that it's not only a bird, but a bird I particularly like to boot. 10/10
4. Platypus - 9/10, looks like they hit it out of the park with the models and animations. But it really serves as a rough reminder of how underrepresented Oceania is as a whole, and its almost total absence outside of its native range means it does little to help foreign Oceanian sections. So it loses a point for dredging up those mixed feelings. Not its fault, but them's the breaks.
5. Nile lechwe - I'll give it a strong 8/10. I might be in the minority here, but I'd love to see a lot more antelopes. There's still so many unique ones that are reasonably common in captivity. So any antelope is more than welcome, especially one so visually and environmentally distinct from our current roster.
6. Danube crested newt - standard 5/10 for an exhibit species
7. Wild water buffalo - 4/10. This being the wild species specifically is throwing me for a loop. But even ignoring that, I just... don't feel that strongly about this one? The model's beautiful, make no mistake. But part of the potential appeal of a heavily aquatic ungulate is already spoiled because for whatever reason the game seems to think okapi and springbok like to spend half their lives neck deep in water. And even then, I guess I'm just not as much of a fan of non-antelope bovids.
8. Spectacled caiman - 2/10. Definitely not enthused here. It just feels kind of bizarre, as if every argument you could make about its merit could be better answered by some other species that would've been better received. There's better wetlands reptiles they could've picked, better crocodilians, better Central/South American species, better "clones". I'm genuinely puzzled by this inclusion, and can't help but wonder what Frontier thought the reaction was going to be like. Still, I have no doubt the model will be stunning, and I'll certainly end up using it a fair amount.

 

[FoxyDee]

I really like the theme, totally unexpected and a nice change of pace, I expected SA or tropical pack, but this is just as nice. I appreciate that the animals are from all over the world, and hope this trend might continue.

For the animals themselves:
Capybara - one of the most requested animals, cute, common in zoos and adds to the SA roster. Very excited for them.
Platypus - another very exciting animal for me, very unique and cute, I like my weirdoes animals. Plus it adds to the very limited oceania roster.
Asian Small Clawed Otter - I prefer Sea Otters, but these were quite requested “cuter” otters to complement our Giant Otters. Great pick.
Red Crowned Crane - personally I find Grey Crowned Cranes more interesting, but I am excited to finally have another bird, about time!
Nile Lechwe - not very familiar with them, but they look like a unique water antelope, looking forward to learn more about them.
Water Buffalo - There is a problem that the Wild Water Buffalos are not found in any zoos as long as I know, but I can pretend its their domesticated cousin, so I am fine with them.
Spectacled Caiman - now this is not the most exciting pick for me, because I think we did not need another SA crocodillian, not so soon after the American Alligator, but I am sure they will look great. Would personally prefer Red River Hog or Roseate Spoonbill for the last pick to add some colours to the roster but…cant please everyone.

Overall a quite exciting pack, cant wait to see all the animals and enrichment items.

 

[Antimony96]

Capybara -- Well obviously. Nothing but upsides--a lovable and highly-requested animal that's incredibly common in zoos and adds to the South American roster.
Platypus -- Not one I particularly wanted because I'm prickly about preferring animals that are more common in zoos (especially smaller zoos), but there is an Australian playerbase and of course a lot of people aren't too concerned with realism, hence its high position on the wishlist. I'm down.
Asian small-clawed otter -- great inclusion for a second otter that's a little more on the conventionally cute side, plus a conservation-oriented species that's common in zoos. Good pick.
Red-crowned crane -- A bit odd to have just one cold-weather animal in this pack (the grey-crowned crane would have fit better in this regard) but it's still one that I wanted and will use for Asian areas.
Nile lechwe -- One of the three real curveballs, and IMO the most justifiable of the three as an endangered species and a very nice-looking antelope in general.
Water buffalo -- Weird to get the wild water buffalo which is near-unknown in captivity but whatever. Even if it were the domestic water buffalo it would feel a bit random; maybe a second wading bird would have been preferable.
Spectacled caiman -- The worst inclusion and I say this as a huge reptile enthusiast. I'm not opposed to another crocodilian entirely, but it was a clear missed opportunity to pick one with more conservation value (Orinoco/Cuban crocodile, Chinese alligator) or a more popular and iconic species in the Nile crocodile. I'd say it beefs up South American representation but a second caiman doesn't really check any of the boxes. The silver lining is that it'll be easier to make habitats for than the Cuvier's dwarf caiman, which is one of the animals small enough to make the 4m building grid a pain to deal with.
Danube crested newt -- Another odd pick but I actually like it. Second salamander + a bit of European rep. Still not a fan of the exhibit system with its huge cubes, but that's another issue.

 

[NZFanatic]

Okay, ratings.

• Asian small-clawed otter gets 10/10: I'm so relieved we got this and not the North American river otter or Eurasian otter.
• Capybara gets 10/10: Everyone seems to love these guys, and they've topped the wishlist forever, so it was a great choice.
• Red crowned crane gets 10/10: Perfect choice. Love it. Can't wait to use it.
• Nile lechwe gets 9/10: Despite everyone's protestations, even with this inclusion we actually don't have enough African antelope. This group of animals is overrepresented in real zoos, so it should also be overrepresented in the game.
• Water buffalo gets 6/10: Domestic species would have been a lot better in terms of realism, but they look similar enough that we can pretend.
• Platypus gets 5/10: I love this animal, I'm glad it's in the game, but knowing that the diving requirements are probably going to be 2m means I can't rank it higher.
• Crested newt gets 3/10: Odd choice. I'd have preferred the Japanese fire-bellied newt if we were getting a newt, or the axolotl.
• Spectacled caiman gets 1/10: We all know why, no point in echoing everyone else.

 

[peafowl]

only gonna talk about the ones weve seen clearly so far

• capybara looks alright, eyes kinda flat but it could be bad angles
• buffalo looks amazing, im very excited for them. their colors are beautiful
• platypus i was excited for but as others have noted, the neck is wrong :/ its kinda glaring imo

i like most picks but i dont think capybaras and otter is gonna show much in my zoos

 

[Aramar]

Capybara -10/10
Asian Small Clawed Otter 9.5/10
Platypus - 7/10
Red Crowned Crane 8.5/10
Wild Water Buffalo - 6/10
Danube Crested Newt - 7/10
Nile Lechwe 6/10
Spectacled Caiman - 1/10

 

[MRawley]

Capybara 10/10 it is iconic.
Platypus 10/10 common in major Australian zoos and I am Australian. Looks like a Tasmanian platypus which is larger than their mainland cousin.
ASCO 10/10 and I can't wait to see more of them in the trailer.
Red Crowned Crane 9/10 we need more birds but reluctant to give full marks until we see more.
Wild Water Buffalo 8/10 looks like Frontier has done a great job making it look realistic. Like others, will just tell myself it is domestic. Have seen them in Australian zoos but unsure if they were wild or domestic.
Nile Lechwe 9/10 I had never heard of this species until the DLC announcement and I think it is great Frontier is lifting their profile.
Spectacled Caiman 6/10. Frontier usually do a great job with their reptiles. Adds a bit of mix to the reptile roster but cannot say I'm hyped for them.

 

[Antmar97]

Capybara 10/10 (Must have)
ASCO 10/10 (Your friendly neighborhood otter)
Platypus 8/10 (7 if there's no Perry in their avaiable names)
Red Crowned Crane 8/10 (Good for modding)
Wild Water Buffalo 3/10 (Kinda meh but more realistic looking than the African Buffalo)
Nile Lechwe 1/10 (Who?)
Spectacled Caiman 0/10 (No comment, worst Frontier choice by far)
Danube Crested Newt 4/10 (Nice animal but will take dust in the exhibit market until a complete revamp)

 

[Fini]

Capybara 10/10 (love them)
Red Crowned Crane 10/10 (I'm more happy over the crane than the capybara )
Nile Lechwe 8,5/10 (a really pretty animal, I once saw a report about lechwes and was fascinated)
Platypus 8/10 (I'm not sure about that, somehow I don't really know what to do with it yet. But I think it's a good addition)
Asian Small Clawed Otter 8/10 (super cute, I hope they are not to loud in game)
Wild Water Buffalo 7/10 (I like the Buffalo!)
Spectacled Caiman 1/10 (I would like to swap for a duck, goose or pelican)
Danube Crested Newt -/10 (I don't care about exhibit animals)

all in all: Wetlands Animal Pack solid 7/10

 

[lunavinceres]

Capybara - 14/10 - I will flood my zoo with them
Asian Small Clawed Otter 9/10 - Adorable
Platypus - 9/10 - Nice addition, unique animal
Red Crowned Crane 8.5/10 -Very nice to have a new type of bird
Wild Water Buffalo - 7/10 - I'm not sure why but I really like these
Nile Lechwe 6/10 - Bonus point that I had to look this animal up, but otherwise not that interesting
Spectacled Caiman - 1/10 - We have loads of crocodilians
Danube Crested Newt - 1/10 - I don't care about exhibit animals

Overall 8/10. Capybara alone means I am buying right away

 

[Markiz]

I won't be rating the whole pack, but just wanted to say that Caiman rates higher for me than Platypus.

Don't get me wrong, it's and amazing animal, and game did it justice, but I just won't use it. I mean, I don't think I'll ever.

Of course it doesn't devalue pack in any way. I am well aware packs aren't made only for me so it's far from it that it needs to contain just the animals I like. I recognize the love it gets and the representation of Aussie zoos it gives, so I'm quite happy for others.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile whenever I used to build zoos in ZT2, back during the golden age of modders, my go to species for a crocodilian representative in zoo was always without mistake caiman. Saltwater is too big and unsocial, Alligator didn't fit the NA sections I built ( Those would be boreal forest ), Nile is rarely kept in captivity and the dwarf ones were too small to have habitat all for themselves.

That's were Caiman always arrived, as it was of moderate size, and it always fit nicely in tropical SA areas which always lacked bigger animals.

Therefore I am happy we finally got regular Caiman in PZ so I can bring back my tradition to the new game

 

[SotF]

Most of the animals interest me there.

The Lechwe is one I'm unsure of, but it looks like it might be fun.

The caiman is one that I really wish we'd get something else...I'd have gone with the Alligator Snapping Turtle or Florida Manatee because it would work to represent one of the most well known if not THE most well known wetland in the world with the Everglades because it has zero representation in a wetlands pack

 

[Spiderhawk]

The newt: I was surprised not the Axolotl, I never knew of this species but I think it will do fine.
Spectacled caiman: 1 star. I like reptiles, I was disappointed with dwarf caimans space and number requirements, I wish this replaced dwarf caimans. I do not think we needed another caiman. I don’t consider them to be a great North American animal representation. I’m sure they will do alright but I think others could have gotten priority.
Nile Lechwe: 2 star. I know a lot of people have requested hoofstock and certain African animals, but I don’t think this one was on the meta list. Of African animals and wetland animals, the Shoebill and red River hog would have made great additions. Maybe they will do fine in game and I will change my opinion but I’m just still bummed on how things turned out.
Asian water buffalo: 7 star. I had hoped for Gaur but I can settle for this just fine. Getting a new bovine has been much overdue. I predict they will be able to coexist with other SEAs just fine
ASCO: 7 star. I personally never requested them but I will happily settle for them.
Platypus: 8 star. All in all I’m glad we finally are giving Australia some overdue love. My Australian zoo has been begging for an addition for too dang long.
Red Crowned Crane: 10 star. A high request for me. Been an advocate for cranes in particular. Nice to give Japan another animal.
capybara: 10. Self explanatory. Now future lists won’t include them.