Animal Crossing: New Horizons is getting an update. All speculation about whether this will be the last one and what will happen to the series can be found here.
It's been four years since we received an update adding content to the latest installment of the Animal Crossing series. The next update will only bring the game up to the standard of the Switch 2. Can we expect a new game, or will it be Nintendo's GTA 5? About broken promises, life simulation that became a building game, and a critique of overly open gameplay.
The Story Of A Somewhat Different Life Simulation
In 1986, Katsuya Eguchi moved to Kyoto to work for Nintendo. He still remembers it today:
“When I moved there I left my family and friends behind. In doing so, I realised that being close to them – being able to spend time with them, talk to them, play with them – was such a great, important thing. I wondered for a long time if there would be a way to recreate that feeling, and that was the impetus behind the original Animal Crossing“.
He wanted to capture the feeling of moving to a city where everything was unfamiliar to him. He didn't know anyone yet, and everything was foreign to him. It took him a while to settle in, and in the process he realized the three most important things: family, friends, and community.
Population: Growing!
And so Dōbutsu no Mori was created, which became known in English as Animal Forest. When we move to a new city on our own, we have to find new friends and get to know the people (or animals) who live there better. And that's how it was portrayed: other residents live here, spending their days fishing, catching insects, or going shopping. And since we are the newcomers, it's not surprising that our neighbors are initially critical of us. The older parts are filled with drama, choleric moles, and sly tanukis. We don't progress through levels, XP, or gold, but through bonding with our neighbors, who become friends.
A Little Bit Of Comfort
But let's travel forward in time again: After New Leaf was a huge success on the Nintendo 3DS, the latest installment was announced in September 2018 and released in 2020 after an extended production phase. Due to the events at that time, which often made it difficult for us to go outside, many people found some comfort in a game with a feel-good factor. The graphics have been revamped, characters can be customized more individually, and your island is your playground, where you can change and build whatever your imagination allows.
The game is by far the best-selling in the series and was generally very well received. However, not everyone sees this installment as the great masterpiece that it superficially presents itself to be.
Where Is Kofi?
There is also a flip side to this. Nintendo promised us that it would add new features to the game via updates. In the eyes of many fans, this should be the least it can do, because in many ways the game not only feels like a step backwards, but in some respects also strays from what many have come to love about it.
For many long-time residents, it was somewhat incomprehensible that so many features from previous installments were missing, making the game seem unfinished in some respects: no café at the beginning, no shop upgrades, no mini-games that provided endless fun with friends. Animal Crossing: New Horizons was released at a time when many people were spending most of their time on the internet. This led to a real competition to see who had the most beautiful island.
Is This Still Animal Crossing?
But that's not the only thing that made some people feel that the game was moving away from what made it special back then. Conversations with villagers quickly became monotonous, because everyone treats you like you're best friends at first sight right from the start. Terraforming feels like you own the island, and somehow you're the only one decorating it. The game spoils you at every turn—but that's exactly what takes the life out of it. There was no trace of the experience of being new to a town and slowly settling in New Horizons.
Broken Promises
However, Nintendo promised us updates with new features throughout the game's lifetime. Holidays and wedding planning were exciting at first, but after the 1000th time, the joy wears off considerably. An update brought back the beloved café, artwork, diving, and old furniture (we love you, Froggy Chair!), but other than that? Nothing really new. After that, there was radio silence. For fans, but especially for those who have been around for decades, it almost feels like a betrayal. The latest update was supposed to bring the game to the Switch 2 and improve multiplayer stability. But what happens after that?
Nintendo, Your Turn
Even if Nintendo treated Animal Crossing: New Horizons like Rockstar treated GTA 5, too many updates would be needed that we've missed in recent years for the game to feel like a truly new experience. It almost feels like a waste, considering that the game sold 47.82 million copies and was then simply abandoned. How about a new installment?
Long-time players fear that the next installment will be even more “perfect”—a quality that the older installments simply did not have. And for many, that was a good thing.
Which part did you start your journey through the animal forest with? Which villager are you constantly arguing with, and what was your starting fruit?