Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a wonderful experience for fans of the series, or newcomers alike, with many hours of creating your own fun island experience.
When the game was announced in 2018 many people did not know where the series would take itself. The game already made the players the mayor in the last game, so what more can they do?
Fast forward to June 2019 where they fully announced the game and its premise not taking place in a city, but a remote island. With dozens of activities to do in the game, many were excited to get their hands on it.
New Horizons starts off with a player’s own character or “Villager” traveling to a getaway island by Nook Inc. and its owner Tom Nook. Players get to name the island and then it is the player’s choice as to what to do next as the game progresses once a day, with many days being different for many.
Its ultimately the player’s responsibility to do whatever they want to on the island, from creating a beautiful resort to a big community with many other characters coming to the island.
With tons of islanders, each day would not be boring and will be more exciting than the last.
The start of the game gives a good amount of time to get the player adjusted to the controls and how things work, which helps the player if they have never played an Animal Crossing game before. The player can start building tents for their companions /islanders, or start creating a museum with the animals or fossils that they can acquire.
Each day, many can have a schedule: Do they want to fish and collect shells to sell them to the shop and get more bells? Do the nook mile challenges to get nook miles to travel to other deserted islands and maybe find another islander? The game gives the player freedom and that is what all games should strive for.
Playing with a friend online and local play is also there, but Nintendo limited them and restricted some stuff that players can’t do.
Players can’t break anything from friends’ islands unless they are best friends with them, or in local play the guest player has to follow the owner of the island. These are minor gripes that does not affect the games quality.
What makes this game fun for many is the creative things that people can think of doing.
People have been using it to host weddings and birthday parties since they cannot go outside due to COVID-19. It is really caring and heartwarming to see.
Since we live in a world where many cannot go outside due to the virus and being told to stay inside at all times, it is always the best thing to have a game like this to do things that give our minds the calm and peace from the outside world and think outside the box.
All-in-all “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” is an amazing game with over a ton of content in it and many things to do. Many will be spending their social distancing at home quite well if they own this game. It is definitely a reason to pick up a Switch.
Five out of five stars. A must-have for all people who own a Switch.
