The fact that I have planned to start this review each of the last two days but not been able to put the game down long enough to should give you a bit of an insight into my time with Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Full disclosure, I am completely new to the series, having only seen screenshots of previous versions and stopping long enough to say; “That’s cute”.
I have went back and done a bit of research though. Apparently New Horizons does start differently from previous iterations. Rather than rocking up to an already inhabited island, you are one of the founding members of a formally deserted one. Tom Nook and his two nephews are your go-to for everything over at Resident Services in the opening hours as you and two others pitch up tents and begin to settle in.
Picking weeds, gathering fruit and selling them to the Nook nephews is how you’ll begin earning bells, the islands currency. Thankfully the wee critters seemingly have an endless supply of cash and so there’s no limit to the amount of gear you can trade in. As the game progresses you will become less surprised at how flush the Nook family are given head honcho Tom’s ability to put you in debt faster than a pay-day loan.
Want to upgrade from a tent to a small house? That’ll be 98,000 bells. Want that house to be a bit bigger? 198,000 bells please. Want to add more rooms? That’ll start at 348,000 bells and so on. No sooner have you paid off one debt than the wee con artist has roped you in to the next upgrade. It’s charming though, never annoying. You know he’s scamming you, but call him a few names under your breath and quickly accept, excited to get the next upgrade.
The reason this works so well is that the gameplay loop is so completely and utterly addictive. In real life you literally couldn’t pay me to go out in the garden and pick up weeds; seriously, ask my better half. But in Animal Crossing? I defy you to come to my island and find one. Both fishing and catching insects is simple, yet completely engrossing. Every morning I turn the game on and scout around doing some morning tasks before returning multiple times throughout the day for more.
Everything you do on the island is working towards collecting Nook Miles as well. These can be cashed in for various upgrades. More slots in your inventory, new hairstyles, clothes and more. My favourite item to buy is the Nook Miles Ticket though, which allows you to fly off to a small randomly generated island where you can farm it for any and all materials before returning with as much as you can possibly carry.
Some fish and insects are more rare than others. Many of these are only available at certain times of the year as well. Because of this fact I spent about four hours on the night of March 31st trying to hunt down an emperor butterfly to no avail. This was heartbreaking given my euphoria at catching not only the sturgeon, but the stringfish earlier that day.
My disappointment washed away immediately on the morning of April 1st though when a bunny appeared on the island to kick off a twelve days of Easter event. It’s things like this that make Animal Crossing truly exceptional. Special clothes and items only available for a limited time and they are crafted using special festive eggs that now populate the island. It’s a fantastic idea and it already has me so excited to see what is planned for both Halloween and my favourite holiday, Christmas.
Controls are intuitive and there are so many little quality of life additions that just set the game apart from other titles. Including easily accessible favourite menus to switch between tools at a moments notice. When you have multiple options in dialogue you can even hit B which auto-switches your selection to the bottom to end the conversation. I do wish there was a way to skip some text faster than just holding B, but this is a minor niggle overall.
Graphically the game is incredible as well. I only play my Switch in handheld mode, so I can’t comment on how it looks on the big screen. But in handheld it is one of the best looking games I have ever seen. Some may see the graphics as cartoonish, but it’s just so well polished. It reminds me a lot of Two Point Hospital, which also looks beautiful. It runs perfectly as well. No frame rate dips, no glitches, no bugs… nothing. It’s so refreshing.
Naively I had previously assumed Animal Crossing was mostly aimed at children, but after spending over thirty hours with the game now it’s clear to me that it is aimed at all ages. It does an excellent job of bringing gamers together as well, allowing friends to visit each others islands. Also in the case of me and my five year old son, we both inhabit the same island and have houses next door to one another. I spend time crafting cool gear, only to have it stolen the next time I put the game on.
The customisation is another real strength of the game. I don’t think you will find any two players houses that look the same thanks to the sheer wealth of options. You are constantly finding new DIY recipes to build new cool stuff and the shop sells different custom items daily. The list is never ending. Gamers are flooding social media platforms like Twitter with screenshots of these designs and it must be a marketing dream.
Lastly I will share the biggest smile Animal Crossing: New Horizons has brought to my face. We live in difficult times at the moment. Here in the UK we are on lockdown for the time being and in just a few short days (April 9th) my boy turns six. He isn’t able to have a birthday party or even see any of his friends or family on his special day. Yesterday on the notice board, there was a note stating that his birthday is coming up. I know from a friend who had a birthday recently that in the game island inhabitants will appear in his house with a cake. It doesn’t sound like much, but that is going to absolutely make his day and I can’t wait to see his wee face.
Overall Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a masterpiece. I have no doubt that it would be a smash hit no matter when it released, but coming just as the world went into a lockdown has played to it’s advantage also. It is giving people a routine when they otherwise wouldn’t have one and honestly being ill myself over the last week, it has been a lifesaver. The greatest compliment I can give it is that earlier tonight the sequel to my favourite game of all time (Last of Us) was delayed and my first thought was; “More time for Animal Crossing”. Buy this game. If you don’t have a Switch, buy one of those… then buy this game.
-Craig ✌️
A review code for this product was kindly provided by the publisher. Reviewed on Nintendo Switch.
