I can never understand why we can't just treat planet zoo as it's own game, helps me that I never played any previous zoo games so I'm not missing out on extremely specific animals.
I mean, I
kinda get it. It's the closest thing to a comparator that we have. But, again, that game was released 20 years ago.
A lot has changed around conservation, animal holdings, enrichment, etc. I'm showing my age a bit here but there are so many animals that are currently perceived to be "common" zoo animals in the US now that simply weren't really around much when I was a kid (e.g., tree kangaroos, meerkats, warthogs).
There's obviously some "core" zoo animals that have
not changed over time but there's certainly some that have become more popular as time's gone on, others that are less frequently held, etc. And I've found myself wondering recently if, in another 10 years, there might be a similar zoo game where people are saying elephants should be on the roster because they were in Planet Zoo despite barely being held in captivity any more.
It just feels kind of outdated to lean on the ZT roster (even though it's clear that PZ has used it as a guide at times).
Well PZ is still missing some "basic" animals. By basic i mean animals that are very recognizable for everyone: walrus, baboon, pelican, ducks, etc. And some of them we're in ZT and a lot of us used to play ZT so we have a sense of attachment to that game and want some of those animals back because we enjoyed playing with them. In my case those are some of the main reasons why i want the secretary. I used to love playing with it and watching it's animations in ZT. Same goes for other animals like the rockhopper and the sea otter, etc.
I think it all depends on how you're defining "basic" or "essential," to be honest. I think about it more broadly than my own likes/dislikes... Baboons, ducks, tree kangaroos, eagles or hawks, parrots, and new world monkeys all feel "essential" to a zoo game roster for me (because they're pretty common in captivity) even though I personally don't care if baboons make it into the game or not.
In contrast, getting the honey badger, ocelot, or secretary bird would be really awesome but I don't view either as "essential" because they aren't what come front-of-mind when I think about zoo animals from their regions or biomes.
And then there's the proboscis monkey which isn't essential, basic, or even held in captivity all that much... And it's in the game. So whatever, I guess.
