Animal Crossing: New Horizons might just be the perfect supplemental game. What I mean by this is, if it was the only game you had then after the first week or so you probably wouldn’t be playing video games for longer than an hour or 90 minutes a day. Combining it with whatever other games you have in your library however and it really shines as you can hop on for a little bit each day, go about your daily routine, and move on to something else.
All of this isn’t to say that New Horizons isn’t a fantastic game in its own right; quite the opposite in fact. Presentation wise, the game is extremely polished in every way. It really looks great, from the character models to the way the trees move in the wind and all of this undoubtedly helps the immersion. The hourly music is suitably relaxing and K.K. Slider’s songs are as catchy as ever.
New Horizons is definitely the game in the series that gives you the most freedom. You arrive on a deserted island and, with the help of the tanuki, the myth, the legend Tom Nook, are tasked with building the island up into a place where villagers will want to stay. And you really given the freedom to design the island in whatever way you want. Not only can you decide where to put your own house, but you decide where your villagers’ houses will go and the museum and the shops. After playing for a while you’ll be able to start transforming the layout of the island itself, placing paths and adding waterfalls and cliffs. Some of the new additions feel so natural that it’s baffling that they weren’t in any previous entries, such as being able to place items outside on the island!
Perhaps the greatest addition to the series are the Nook Mile Challenges. These challenges range from just playing the game for a certain number of days to catching fish and bugs to planting trees and beyond. Completing these will gain you Nook Miles which can be exchanged for certain items or a Nook Miles Ticket, which will allow you to visit another island which you can then pillage for all of its resources.
You are allowed up to 10 villagers on your island and personally the villagers I have make up almost a perfect lineup. Sydney and Tammy are great, but Apple is definitely the pick of the bunch for me (all I need is Ankha smh). Well they mostly fall under the classic Animal Crossing personality types, they are still cute enough to overcome some repetition in their dialogue. Fan favourite characters also return (and by fan favourite I mean Isabelle).
The other big addition to this game is the ability to craft and customise items. By gathering wood, stones, clay etc. and learning recipes you can make things to put in your house or around the island. This is a very welcome addition and something that should become a series staple from now on.
The biggest improvements there are to be made is mostly quality of life stuff. For example, we should be able to craft items in bulk instead of the current process which can become quite tedious. As well as this there are some facilities that should really return as well, Brewster and The Roost in particular. However Nintendo have been rolling out updates since launch and have put Redd and his artworks back in for example, so I live in hope for now.
While admittedly I’ve fallen into the daily routine of hitting rocks, digging up fossils etc. I still play it daily and am coming up to 100 hours played. At the end of the day it’s Animal Crossing and the strongest in the series. If you think that it’s something you’d enjoy, then you probably would.
Occasional Video Game Reviews 