The take i remember (just one i read on the internet) for animal crossing was that it was too close to home (ie real life) for the real poster. first thing that happens is you get saddled with a huge mortgage/ loan that you have to pay off by doing repetitive tasks, etc, thats its essentialy a participating in capitalism sim, which matches most people's real life. I think the conclusion was

'instead of playing the game and working off my in game debt, I felt like I should be finding a moderately enjoyable craft/hobby that I can monetize as a side hustle to pay off my IRL debt, like student loans. '