Review: Animal Crossing: New Horizons

There’re very few franchises in Nintendo’s arsenal that have that cult classic feel and dedicated fanbase to empower every new iteration like Animal Crossing.

Even with only a handful of titles in the franchise, as compared to other Nintendo properties have dozens upon dozens, Animal Crossing has always found a way to stick out with its wholesome style and colorful cast of characters. Whether you find yourself constantly running back to the museum to talk to Blathers about the latest things you’re donating, to kicking back in Brewster’s Café and chilling out to some of the newest tunes from K.K. Slider, the series has been all about players creating their own memories and it’s a big part to why the series is so special.

All of this, and more, has made everyone ask one big question since the Switch was released – when’s a new Animal Crossing coming out? Thankfully, after much delay and anticipation, a new iteration has finally come in the form of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Ironically with everyone stuck at home due to the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 outbreak, Nintendo couldn’t ask for a better time for Animal Crossing to come out as the series’ latest addition attempts to take the franchise to new horizons. 

Rather than finding yourself transported to a new town or becoming the mayor of one, players instead find themselves whisked away to a deserted island to build a new community under the watchful eye of Tom Nook. In typical Animal Crossing fashion, you’ll meet new neighbors, find new species to donate to the museum, scramble to pay Tom Nook back for the outrageously priced upgrades to your home, and most importantly, build a lively and healthy community as the island’s Resident Representative. However, unlike past iterations, New Horizons takes some big new steps for the franchise by adding in some more linear storytelling to its generally non-linear format. 

What I mean is that when I said you’re going to a deserted island to start a new community – I really mean it’s deserted. Like in New Leaf, players will have to live in a tent at the start, but with New Horizons they will also have to build up the community from scratch. Things like Nook’s Cranny and Blathers’ Museum aren’t available from the start and as the Resident Representative, players will have to gather supplies and help build up the community as new services arrive on the island. It’s actually kind of refreshing to have to build the community in this as it not only makes the appearances of classic characters more impactful since you don’t know when they’ll arrive, but it also gives them a kind of origin story and fleshes out the characters fans know and love. 

Every time you log in and Tom Nook comes to make an announcement of new things, it’s hard not to find yourself crossing your fingers that a familiar face could be arriving on your island. Players will also plot out new buildings and structures that come into the town, so they have complete customizability with the layout of the community they’re building. As each day passes and new accomplishments are made in the overall progress, it’s hard not to feel this warming sense of growth and the pacing of everything coming together is really great. Frankly, at this point, I’ve only just built up Blathers’ museum, Nook’s Cranny, and Mabel just stopped by for the first time, so there’s definitely plenty of surprises still to come for me – and I’m anxious to see what the future holds. 

It’s also great how you’re not alone in coming to the island as players are joined by two starting neighbors. For instance, I arrived alongside a spunky squirrel named Hazel and a sneaky ninja rabbit named Snake. However, unlike how neighbors kind of just added bodies to the area in past games, it’s impressive to see how much these neighbors add to the overall personality of your island and experience of playing. Rather than just have plain and ordinary houses, Snake actually lives in a dojo and I generally find Hazel either sitting in the shade under a tree or trying to catch fish in the nearby river. Neighbors are much more active now and it creates a much livelier environment and I even find myself making a stronger connection with them because of how often I see them roaming around. 

Two neighbors aren’t enough to start a community though, and that’s where a brand to service the series comes into play. Run by dodo brothers Orville and Wilbur, players can now utilize an airport to visit other islands to gain precious resources, like iron nuggets or new kinds of fruit, and even find new neighbors to invite to your island. Also like in New Leaf, players can visit each other’s islands to hang out and trade supplies. What makes this a little more interesting though, is that for the first time the series’ history, each person’s island can actually have different weather/seasons that are occurring in the respective hemisphere the player is living in. Basically, this means that each player’s island will have weather that matches their current weather in the real world based on their location. This is actually a huge deal because of the role it plays in getting certain flowers to bloom, fruit trees to grow, and certain bugs and fish to spawn. 

Obviously, with players using the system’s date and time setting, they can just time travel to different seasons and special occasions whenever they want, but it’s great to see the series connect more to the real world and have players build a community on a global scale. Like I said before, the airport is also a tool for gathering supplies since players will certainly need them to craft various tools and items like in Pocket Camp. This aspect is easily one of my favorites of the entire game because of how deep, yet simple it is. Being able to craft and improve some of the tools and create new furniture for my house adds a whole new layer to experience and makes me interact with my island in a whole new way. 

Not to mention, it makes me want to manage my resources more and not break rocks or cut down trees to make space. Having tools have an unknown lifespan and a finite amount of supplies makes players a little more careful and thoughtful about how they interact with the world and it creates a new kind of experience with Animal Crossing that fans will love. I will say that the DIY aspects of New Horizons can be a little much at times with players having to furnish the furniture for new neighbors and re-craft broken tools quite a bit, but it never takes away from the addictiveness of it. 

The real best part of New Horizon though, is that the general experience of what Animal Crossing has always been still exists and is as great as ever. There’s plenty of fish in the sea (and river) to catch, plenty of balloons to shoot down with your trusty slingshot, and plenty of ways to decorate the ins and outs of the house as well as the look of your crosser. Players are also rewarded for these daily actions in a whole new way with a new currency called Nook Miles that players can trade in for different rewards. While the rewards program in place needs to be refreshed because seeing the same items is just boring and I end up not using my miles at all, this addition is great. It gives more meaning to the more menial aspects of playing Animal Crossing and gives players a new goal to achieve with everything they do – even the random tasks that come from random visitors. 

Now, while I’ve just described an experience that should be every Animal Crossing fan’s dream, this experience is unfortunately limited to the first one to the island. For those, like myself, who have a sibling that wants to be a fellow Resident Representative and shape the community together – I have some bad news. Only the first person to get to the island can progress the island and get new things to come, so essentially everyone that comes after is completely robbed of this experience.

Hell, I can’t even give tasks to my brother so that he can at least help me advance the community and it’s one of the biggest disappointments that we didn’t expect to have. This also creates a huge problem that could bar players from advancing entirely because if that first arrival doesn’t play or make accomplishments, then the island is completely halted in its progress so anyone that came after can’t progress and is stuck on an island that won’t be completed. Even for all the greatness that comes with New Horizons, this issue does take some wind out of its sails and it bugs me that Nintendo would release the game without thinking this through. 

Cooperative issues aside, there’s no doubt that New Horizons treads new ground in a way that offers fans, at least the first ones that arrive, an enriching and pleasant experience that opens up a world of possibilities for the future. In a time where people are confined and looking for some relaxing positivity in the form of creating a new community to connect with people, New Horizons comes in to save the day and become one of the Switch’s best games to date. 

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is now available for Nintendo Switch. Check the game’s official site for news, videos, and updates.