| Developer: Nintendo | Publisher: Nintendo |
| Platform(s): Nintendo Switch | Genre: Life Simulation |
| Release Date: March 20, 2020 | Time Played: ~ 10 hrs |
Since its first installment, Animal Crossing (2001), the Animal Crossing franchise has followed the same basic premise: You live in a village inhabited by anthropomorphic animals and carry out tasks such as fishing, catching bugs, building, cutting down trees, etc. As you build up your residence, you gain access to different types of services (i.e. the museum, clothing store, residence services, and a general store) and more people begin the move in. The games feature their own economies– you can pay off the loans you take to build/expand your house, trade radishes in the “stalk market,” and sell the “hot item of the day” at Nook’s Cranny. As you buy and sell items, terraform, build, and interact with your townspeople, your village can be fine-tuned into exactly what you make of it!
Core to the series is its non-linear nature and its dependence on a real-time clock. Animal Crossing doesn’t have a story in the same way that many video games, novels, and films do. Instead, the game allows you to craft your own story as you get to decide how to carry out each day. Maybe you’ll play for 30 minutes each day to go through your basic resource collecting routine, or maybe you’ll burn hours on end carefully decorating your house. Animal Crossing doesn’t demand you play it a certain way. In fact, it encourages you to take each day a little differently. Because the game follows the same clock we do in real life, logging on at different times of the day results in a different experience. At night, for example, a shop may be closed. Similarly, you may encounter different types of fish or bugs than you would during the day. These differences are heightened when playing the game in different seasons. The entire landscape of your residence can be altered with the presence of snow, for example. The real-time clock also encourages players to play at their own leisure and is one of the main contributors to the franchise’s slow-paced, therapeutic nature– you may finally collect all the resources you need to build the structure you’ve had your eye on, but then you have to wait a day for it to be built!
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is not my first foray into the franchise–Animal Crossing: City Folk (2008) holds that honor. It is, however, the first Animal Crossing game that has compelled me beyond my first 48 hours of ownership. In the past, my Animal Crossing experiences have quickly turned into chores with no end in sight. So what makes this one different? Most likely, it is the fact that I’ve matured as an individual and as a gamer. While once boring and tedious, crafting/building mechanics in video games have begun to sink their hooks into me. For example, both Fallout 4‘s settlement mode and Minecraft–which I was obsessed with in middle school and part of high school–had me building for hundreds of hours on end. There’s something incredibly satisfying about having a vision and slowly seeing it come to fruition. I guess that’s also one of the main reasons why I enjoy writing.
Aside from my own personal growth, a number of features present in New Horizons make it a much more satisfying experience than its predecessors. Important to be aware of is the fact that many of these features would not be possible without the technological ecosystem we live in today–one that is much more advanced than that of 2012 when Animal Crossing: New Leaf (the previous main installment) was released.
Like nearly every game released on the platform, New Horizons benefits from an increase in accessibility thanks to the Nintendo Switch. In case you’ve been out of the loop, the Switch’s main pull is its simultaneous nature as both a handheld (portable) and home console (which you play on your TV). When conveniently placed in the dock which accompanies it (and connects to your TV via HDMI), the Nintendo Switch’s image becomes projected onto your television. Unlike previous portable gaming consoles, which often suffered from small, low-definition displays, the Switch can be played in crisp 1080p on a large screen. Similarly, home console experiences are no longer tethered to the television and can be enjoyed on commutes or at a friend’s house. Even in its portable form, which happens to be the only way to play if you were to opt-in for the cheaper Switch Lite, the screen outputs a high-definition 720p image. The console also features a “sleep” function which shuts off the screen and allows you to quickly resume at any point.
AC Edition Switch Image via gonintendo.com
For a game like New Horizons, specifically, the Nintendo Switch’s platform-unique features result in a world of improvement for the player. Animal Crossing is adored by millions because of its freedom and flexibility. So, it only makes sense that the experience would be enhanced by a system that prides itself on these exact characteristics. Let’s say I want to quickly hop on New Horizons to see what’s being sold in a shop. The system’s sleep mode and portability allow me to quickly check and put the game away all in about 2 minutes. On the other hand, let’s say I become deeply invested in collecting the resources needed for a new resident to move in. I can sit down comfortably in front of my TV. When it’s time to get up, I can take the Switch with me to continue no matter where I go. In the past, long start-up times have stopped me from fully enjoying home console Animal Crossing titles such as City Folk (2008). Small, low-definition displays have stopped me from becoming fully immersed in portable Animal Crossing titles such as New Leaf (2012). Thanks to the Switch’s quality of life features, these concerns happen to be things of the past.
With New Horizons, Animal Crossing also brings a slew of online features, creating a robust community and an outlet to interact with friends and loved ones. In New Horizons, you can easily open your island (the villages in this installment are located on islands) to visitors. In order to open the gate to your island or visit someone else’s, you simply visit the airport–each island has one! Here, you can visit an island via “Dodo Code” (a five-digit code you have obtained for someone’s island) or your Switch Online friend list. Players that mark each other as “best friends” have the ability to use all of their tools on each other’s islands–allowing for collaboration. Other friends aren’t allowed to use any tools that cause destruction, but are still welcome to hang out! Players can easily chat in-game by pressing the R button or through the Nintendo Switch Online mobile app.
Along with New Horizons’s online multiplayer, its photo mode and design editor have taken the internet by storm. Both elements of the game inspire creativity and allow players to share their work with the world. Photo mode allows players to capture images of any part of their island and overlay them with a variety of filters and borders. Similarly, the game’s design editor allows players to create custom designs for clothing, wallpapers, and flooring. Those designs can then be shared via QR code with others who want to use them.
In light of our current global crisis, Animal Crossing could not have come at a better time. Not does the game provide a healthy outlet, but it has given people something to rally around. When I see my Twitter feed or Switch Online friend list populated with Animal Crossing, I feel like I am part of a larger community. Similarly, it has provided me another way of spending quality time with others. All of this, despite living in social isolation. And of course, it has also produced a bunch of viral internet content:
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a special game that came out at exactly the right time. It manages to capture so much of what I love about the video games medium–its ability to connect people around the world and provide a constant stream of inspiration. There’s so much more to talk about–like how the Nook Miles currency constantly gives the player something to do or how impressive some of the dialogue is–but I’d rather not spoil too much. If you’d like to play with me, my Nintendo Switch Online friend code is: SW-6633-8960-2603. Enjoy your island getaway!
Verdict: Strongly Recommend
— Muhammad
Note: any images without sources are screenshots I took myself (3/26/2020)
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I was on the fence about buying this game, but this review basically sealed it for me. Thank you so much for making my decision easier !
Never thought I’d play an animal crossing game, but it’s blown me away too, really couldn’t have come out at a better time
This review is very interesting. I’ve been looking for games like this through which I can stay connected with my friends. This review is really making me think about getting this game. Please do more reviews like this!