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rewind-reviews · 4 years

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So I've Been Playing... Animal Crossing New Horizons

So I've been playing Animal Crossing New Horizons and I have somethings to say. Animal Crossing is a weird concept to me, I never fully understood why people (me included) enjoy a game where you have no real objective, no one telling you what to do or how to do it, no end goal, nothing. A whole bunch of games have tried to capture the magic Animal Crossing has but personally I never really liked them. I don't enjoy your harvest moons or games like my time at Portia the only thing that came a little close was Stardew Valley but even then I could never play it alone. Animal Crossing is a different story. The Animal Crossing franchise has always been one that I can turn to in the darkest and saddest times in my life to just calm down and bring a smile to my face.

I wasn't really excited for March 20th to roll around and Animal Crossing to turn up at my door I was honestly more excited to play Doom Eternal but you will be hearing about that soon enough. I didn't care about watching the directs and everything they added didn't interest me at all. That being said I adore this game it quickly cemented itself as part of my daily routine and I have put way more hours into it than I expected to.

First off the game look and sounds amazing. Every little detail in New Horizons oozes charm, its all adorable giving everything the look and sound you expect it to make and I mean come on for the first time in the series some of the villagers are actually fluffy!! KK's music is still some of the best to ever exist in any video game and the villagers still talk in that cutesy gobbledygook way they always have. I will admit some of the poses your character makes can look a little demented but that's hardly a big deal.

The Core gameplay is where I'm going to struggle. Like I said earlier there is no real objective in Animal Crossing it's just a game about making friends with some funny little animal characters, decorating your house and doing some activities like fishing, catching bugs and finding fossils. They added a lot to shake up the gameplay a tiny bit without changing how the core game works. This time instead of starting in a preexisting town or village or are on a totally deserted island and it's your job as the island rep to make the place all nice and pretty. I love this being given a 100% fresh space to work off feels great plus you can now put furniture anywhere on the island not just your house so what if you want to make a clifftop cinema facing out to sea? you can do that, you want to make a Zen garden? you can do that! you can make your island look as nice or as bad or any way you want!

I mentioned crafting earlier and it's not something I was really excited about and I'm still not. To me, the crafting is just something that's there. You will use crafting to make all the tools you need to do anything on the island this can be catching bugs, fishing or any of the other things I spoke about. This means you will spend a lot of time collecting resources to make the things you need which is fine but it also means your tools break. I find this super annoying especially with the event that's currently running but I will talk more about that later. You will also use crafting to make basic furniture and some more exotic and out there things providing you find the recipe first. Recipes can be obtained in several ways, some you can buy, some you find washed up on the beach, some just come to you in a flash on inspiration and sometimes villagers give them to you. This is another thing I find a little annoying because there is no guarantee you will ever get the recipe you want plus most of the things you can make look kinda rubish anyway at least I think so.

Another new feature is a handy little thing called "Nook Miles". Nook miles are basically a secondary currency that can only be redeemed at the ATM type thing in the island resources building. Using these you can get a few unique items for your house or island but the best things you can buy are inventory upgrades so you can hold more stuff or Nook miles tickets. Nook miles tickets let you fly to other islands to gather resources that may not be available on your island or maybe meet a new villager you can get to live on your island. I LOVE THIS!! I have spent most nights going to one of these islands to fish or catch bugs I just find them so relaxing plus when there is a villager there they always cheer you on when you catch something which just gives me the biggest boost and on top of that they are a great way to make some extra money so you can buy more stuff!!

Now to the one big issue I have with New Horizons... the Bunny Day event. Up until April 12th you will find six different types of egg around not only your island but every island you visit. You can use these eggs to craft special bunny day items (that all look horrible) you have water eggs, leaf eggs, ground eggs, air eggs, wood eggs and stone eggs. these eggs are obtained when you do the normal things you do like chopping trees, fishing, digging up markings on the floor or shooting down flying presents. On paper, it sounds like a good idea until you remember you only have a certain amount of uses on each tool before it breaks and you have to make a new one. This wouldn't be a problem if these eggs weren't so common!! While fishing one night I went through two fishing rods and came out with over 30 water eggs and hardly any fish. I don't bother looking for fossils because its more than likely just an egg. Chopping trees is pointless because guess what?? EGGS!! all you ever seem to find are eggs plus they don't even sell for much so you are just wasting tools when all you want to do is catch some damn fish!!!! I really do hope they don't make all future events like this because it might just be enough to make me put the game down and go back to Wild World or New Leaf until the event is over.

Animal Crossing New Horizons is an amazing game and everyone should be playing it to help get through the uncertain and downright scary times we are in right now, I mean come on who doesn't want to make friends with a robot duck and a kind-hearted squirrel. It's a game where you can do whatever you want and you don't have to worry for a while and I think right now that's what we all need. Now if you will excuse me I have to go and calm down after catching my 100th water egg.

#animal crosing new leaf #animal crossing #animal crossing new horizons #nintendo #switch #new horizons #tom nook #nintendo switch #gaming #review #rewind reviews #video games #bunny day

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evwuniverse · 4 years

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Animal Crossing New Horizons Beginner Review

Animal Crossing has been around since April 14, 2001, with its first release from the franchise for the Nintendo GameCube. Since then Nintendo has built a loyal fan-based community of individuals who’ve fallen in love with the game. Trying to be non-biased in this review (I’ll try my best!) I’m going to explain the positives and negatives of the recently released Animal Crossing game called Animal Crossing New Horizons which came out March 20, 2020. Every part of the review will be broken up into sections so you can read specifically the part you’re looking for. This is going to be a very long and extensive review covering hopefully everything you need to know about the game and whether or not you should obtain it if you haven’t already.

Animal Crossing Timeline (all of the games from 2001-2020):

2001 - Animal Crossing

Console = Nintendo GameCube

2005 - Animal Crossing: Wild World

Console = Nintendo DS

2008 - Animal Crossing: City Folk

Console = Nintendo Wii

2012 - Animal Crossing: New Leaf

Console = Nintendo 3DS

2020 - Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Console = Nintendo Switch

Who is Animal Crossing For?

The rating for Animal Crossing is for anyone 3+ and is family-friendly.

The point of the game is to build up an island filled with animals who are your neighbors which later on become your “best friends.” It falls under the category of social simulation. When you’re building up this utopian island you’ll notice it starting from the very beginning with lots of grassy areas, trees, weeds, and some flowers here and there. As you progress forward you get a town hall, market store, clothing store, and a museum. You’ll also, have other animals who want to move to your island so you’ll start to see more houses that you find the placing for in Animal Crossing New Horizons. This is something not yet seen in the Animal Crossing franchise. We were never able to choose where we could put an animal's house. They would just randomly build anywhere. This is a nice feature we’ve been given this time around!

Game Progression Shops and Lore of the Game:

Nook’s Cranny: The Market

During the progression of the game, the Nook’s Cranny ran by Timmy and Tommy two young raccoons that aren’t blood-related to Tom Nook. Both Timmy and Tommy are apprentices of Tom Nook’s Tom Nook considers himself more of a mentor or teacher. He is known for wanting to teach others good economic principles to help them from suffering financially in the future and making the same mistakes he had made. Their names were revealed in Animal Crossing New Leaf and this time around they’ve joined us as the shop owners of Nook’s Cranny in Animal Crossing New Horizons.

You’ll start with basically a wooden shack called Nook’s Cranny and with time you’ll slowly build up to an actual market store almost looking like a cute little town flower shop from the outside. This will continue to change during the progression of the game. However, to be honest I haven’t gotten far enough in the game yet to see the other changes that there supposedly are.

Dodo Airlines and Mystery Island Tours:

Airport Itself:

Dodo Airlines is a new part of Animal Crossing New Horizons this is a more organized way of being able to visit other friends and players islands. Before in other Animal Crossing games such as Animal Crossing New Leaf, you would go into a small building that was a train station. There would be a monkey that would grant you access to leave to other towns. Instead, they have an airport in New Horizons it’s run by two characters Dodo Orville and Dodo Wilbur. This is also where you can invite others to visit your town. From here they’ve added new things such as Mystery Tours which you’re able to take by using a Nook Miles Ticket. This will take you to a random island that contains bug, fish, items, and other resources that may not be accessible on your island. Some islands have special trees such as bamboo, foreign fruit trees, and rare flowers, The foreign fruit trees will always be the same foreign fruit.

I’ll be honest from my experience every time I’ve used a Nook Miles ticket to do the Mystery Island tours I’ve yet to come across an island with resources I didn’t already have on my starter island. For example, the fruit I started with was apples. I’ve only had Mystery islands with Apples and Peaches so far. I currently have both fruits so I only obtain those fruits on the Mystery Island tours to sell them for a small amount of money on my island. So just know it will be possible if you’re anything like me that you’ll keep getting islands with non-special properties. Or maybe I’m just unlucky?

Harv’s Island:

Another thing that’s unlocked at the airport is at a certain point in the game you’ll have access to travel to a place called Harv’s Is; and which is new and specific to only Animal Crossing New Horizons. This is also shortly termed as phototopia and is a photo studio you can go to and take pictures with the animals in your town. Set up rooms the way YOU want them with PROPS, have as many characters as you would like in the photo, and take photos with character summoned via amiibo figurines which are store-bought action figures if collecting those are your style.

Post Office:

Dodo airlines though it is an airport it doubles as the post office. Back in past Animal Crossing games in the franchise, there was its own separate post office you could go too. Now everything is contained in one place which honestly I find nice. Only because I feel it takes up fewer buildings on the island and more room to make your island your own. Doubling as the post office you’re able to send your postcards and letters via a card stand in the airport. When the card stand is accessed via your character the player can choose between multiple designs for their letters. Some of the letters will be marked with “Limited Availability” these are cards that are only available for purchase until the dates that are listed on the card. Sending a letter costs 200 bells and they’re able to be sent to a current resident of the player’s island, your future self, or a player from another town who is on their “best friends” list via the online service on your new Nook phone (which will be discussed later in this review).

Dodo Codes:

Previously in other Animal Crossing versions, you only had the option to invite or go to an island. However, now there’s an added safety precaution if the players want to use it in New Horizons. This option is called Dodo codes. These codes are five-character passwords that allow the players to visit your island or someone else's island even without having to be friends on the Nintendo Switch. The number of characters that can be on a single island has doubled since previous games in the franchise from four to eight people on an island at any given time.

Multiplayer Access and Rules:

A few things that have changed from previous versions of Animal Crossing:

If you go to another person island and you’re not a “best friend” on their island you’ll be unable to use tools such as shovels, axes, watering cans, fishing rods, and nets.

You’re able to move objects inside of your house even if other players are inside the house with you.

Actions that can’t be performed with an open airport gate:

Buying items via Nook Shopping (via Nook stop or the App)

Changing a design pattern

Inviting an animal to your Campsite via Amiibo

Using Island Designer

Visiting another island (Including Mystery Tours and Harv’s Island)

Sending a card via the card stand at the airport

Actions that cannot be performed with visitors on the island:

Picking up, placing or moving any outdoor furniture

Placing (but not removing) fences

Picking up, placing or moving furniture inside your house (unless all visitors are outside the home)

Using the overview mode for designing your house

Donating items to the museum or having fossils assessed

Wisp will refuse to accept collected spirit pieces (something you’ll find out about later on in your gameplay)

Tom Nook and Isabelle don’t provide any services

Island residents don’t accept gifts

Hitting rocks (without eating fruit) doesn’t provide any resources

Balloons won’t appear to use a slingshot on

Misc gameplay changed with visitors on the island:

Fishbait doesn’t work but is consumed

Wasps, scorpions, and tarantulas don’t spawn

K.K. Slider concerts have the music sent by mail the next day rather than in pockets

There is no entry fee for the Fishing Tourney and other rule changes.

As you can see the airport is the main hub for everything you do multiplayer related. This is pretty much the new hub in your game, yes you can consider the Town Hall as your main hub. But only when it comes to single-player actions. Which now brings me to the Town Hall.

Town Hall (AKA Residential Services):

Town Hall is a little bit different then what it was in past versions of the game... It’s gotten a facelift to catch up with the other advancements that have been added. You’ll quickly learn that Residential Services is the most important aspect of building on your island. This is where you’ll learn all of the basics when it comes to crafting in the game and deciding where you build features such as bridges around your island. Most bridges ahead of time cost you 168,000 bells so keep saving those bells and don’t spend them all of the time. You’ll thank me later on in the progression of the game if you decide to buy it. As you develop your island, the services inside and the exterior of the building will change. You’ll start with a tent for the Residential Services which will later become a grand beautiful Town Hall in the middle of your town with cobblestone right out front of it.

What you can do at Residential Services:

DIY workbench to craft new items

Nook stop which is the Island ATM (this is your bank, shopping catalog like sears, and the Nook Miles shop all in one)

Recycling box (you can pick up these items and either sell them or keep them for yourself I’ve gotten materials when I was low and some nice furniture from it)

Tom Nook and the services he provides, an example is paying off your loan, expanding your home, building bridges and inclines, terraforming, moving buildings, and so much more.

The Residential Services building is open 24 hours a day seven days a week. To unlock Isabelle which yes she is in this game which was super exciting for me when I started playing it. She provides information and services to better improve your island and the characters who live on it. Some of the services she performs are as followed:

Island evaluations (as if your real-life work evaluations weren’t enough for ya!)

Changing the island tune

Changing the island flag

The ability to change certain aspects, such as the catchphrase of a villager. (which I have yet to experience but have heard about this feature)

When you upgrade your Residential Services to Town Hall after a few days of playing the game a lot of characters will come to visit your towns such as Label, Redd, Leif, and the skunk who sells the shoes from Kick’s shoe store. They have small little stands in the cobblestone square right in front of the Town Hall. But keep in mind they only come on specific days during the week.

Blather’s Museum:

Yes, I called it Blather’s Museum instead of just Museum just saying the museum is soooo boring! This is where everything you collect such as fossils, fish, bugs, and now artwork go. You’re able to make donations to the museum and visit whenever you would like. At the time of typing this post, it is National Museum week. From May 18th- May 31st there is a stamp collection event at your Museum. You have to play the game to get the Museum on your island. This is also an unlockable place but not hard to obtain just by playing the game you’re able to obtain it rather quickly.

Able Sisters Clothing Store:

This is another place you unlock after unlocking the Town Hall in the middle of your island. Who could forget the able sister's store? the main place for character customization! and let me tell you the clothes so far in New Horizons are worth the game itself. There are so many cute outfits I’ve bought so many and wasted so many bells on clothes I can’t even tell you how much was bought on impulse. This store will be a money sucker in New Horizons. This is unlocked after one of the able sisters visits your island with her tiny kiosk in front of Town Hall. It takes a few days to unlock but it’s easy to do so once you unlock the able sisters you gain more in-game features., One of these features is the return of pattern design and custom content designs. This can also be done via your Nook phone.

Some background information about the Able Sisters clothing shop. The shop is owned and ran by two sisters Sable and Mable otherwise known as the able sisters. The store was run and owned by their parents before they had inherited it after their parents had suffered a fatal sewing accident. Sable inherited the store and also takes care of her younger sister Mabel.

Designs:

Let’s talk about Designs! after unlocking the Able Sisters clothing store in New Horizons you’ll have access to the design kiosk which can be accessed via the Able Sisters store. Designs are player-created patterns that allow the player to create customizable objects that best suit their needs in the game. This can be clothing, headgear, umbrellas, paintings, wallpaper, flooring, and outside paths and landscaping.

PRO Designs:

A PRO design is considered to be a more advanced design. Unlike regular designs, the PRO designs have the pattern on the reverse and obverse on the clothing which means the player can customize the front, back, and each sleeve. PRO designs take up one pattern slot and just like normal patterns can be displayed and used through the Able Sisters store.

Sharing Designs:

When the player first uses the Custom Designs Kiosk in the back of the Able Sisters store once the store is unlocked. They’re assigned a creator code, which can be shared and used by other players to find all of the code owner’s designs. Individual designs are also assigned a unique code when posted. Using this feature requires you to have an active Nintendo Online subscription which is one of the cheapest subscriptions I’ve ever paid for a video game console subscription to use multiplayer features in games. Highly recommend buying if you haven’t already.

Currently from what I’m aware of these are all of the shops you unlock early in the game. I’m sure there are more but as I continue to play I’ll continue to update this post for everyone to keep the data relevant.

Crafting:

In New Horizons they’ve introduced a new game-specific modification. Crafting! this is so different, new, and yet exciting for an Animal Crossing game and this is the first time something like this has ever been seen in the franchise. Crafting in the game can be used to make tools, furniture, and other various items in the game. Crafting is done through DIY Recipes. Your island has a huge flow of natural resources to craft with that can be used to make tools consistently. Trust me you’ll be crafting tools way more than anything else. In this game, your tools get worn out a break after a while of use except for the vaulting pole that has yet to break for me since I’ve made it. This is a nice sense of false security since all of my other tools break consistently. Below are the steps for crafting as explained by the official Animal Crossing New Horizons website.

Lean DIY Recipes: Learn recipes as you go about your day and participate in island activities to obtain them. One way I’ve obtained them through my island is they wash up in little jars with a message. You can get once a day by this.

Gather Materials: The island is abundant in resources such as tree branches, stones, and even weeds.

Visit Tom Nook’s Workbench: With the right materials you need to complete a recipe you just bring them to the workbench click the item you want to make and you’re on your merry way.

And you saw it here folks! it’s as easy as 1,2,3 it’s not super complicated and gives you something to do if you start getting bored in the game. You can obtain crafting resources on Mystery Island Tours as well so clear out those islands of their resources and stock them away for a rainy day.

Overall Conclusion:

Overall, Animal Crossing New Horizons brings to the table something for everyone to enjoy. From crafting, to decorating, relaxing, and talking to your friendly neighborhood animals it’s hard to get bored on the island unless you have completed everything in the one full cycle of a day on your game. Gathering resources takes me about 3 hours to get wood and branches from all of the trees. That’s just one round of shaking trees for branches I’ve notices on my own that the branches respawn so if you wanted you could do that all day long. The crafting is a nice change and adds some challenge to the game. Also, being able to decorate and place items anywhere you please on your island is so. nice when it comes to customization it almost turns this game into an open world creative sandbox. This is something I love in my experience playing. Do I think it’s worth it in my personal opinion? yes and no I think it’s worth trying out and you get a lot of hours of gameplay per day. However, the reason I say no is because based on an opinion if your not someone into a go with the flow not following a full storyline game and want more of an up paced environment this probably won’t be the game for you. If you’re looking for something relaxing that’s a great time waster go for it!

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very-salty-popcorn · 5 years

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Animal Crossing New Horizon

After Watching the Trailer and Gameplay demo I have a few thoughts on what more could be within the game. It’s clear that people have already pointed out small things that caught their eyes, but I have some theories about some of the changes and returning features in New Horizon.

(This is a long read, You were warned)

I was overjoyed when Animal Crossing: New Horizon was showcased. I was surprised when they used a voice-acted cutscene to introduce the game. After all the franchise does not typically use voice acting, which leads me to believe that what was shown in the trailer will not be in the opening scene.

While I would love to think that the opening scene plays on an airplane, I believe that the opening scene will be more along the lines of obtaining your ticket to the island, where you answer a survey where you either (and I hope) pick the features for your character, or are randomly assign features based on your answers. This opening sequence will also be where you pick the name of the island as well as the name of your character.

It’s clear that the game will utilize obtaining resources to construct much of the furniture that you use to decorate your home or island. I enjoy this change because it’ll make the game feel like your actually building up your community instead of just paying off a community service project (though I expect them to return in some fashion, I’ll elaborate a bit later).

Obtaining DIY recipes from villagers sound like it may be a hassle, but at least you can rest assured that you’ll be able to buy them from the Nooks. Something interesting to point out is the type of things you’ll be able to make.

Shown in the gameplay, it seems that (in the order shown) players will be able to craft, tools (shovels, fishing rod, etc), furniture, drink containers (or maybe drink concoctions?), hanging furniture (to put on walls), Wallpaper and flooring, and flower crowns (maybe even hats in general?).

The last two icons have me stumped to what they could clearly be, though if I had to guess, the hammer is either a community service project (from New Leaf) or an amenity (from Pocket Camp). The star could also be used for these, though I would guess that it would represent special items. Maybe items that you interact with (Like ballons, poppers, candy, cake, ect).

something I am glad is in the game is the what seems to be the ability to see how much of a certain material you have in your wardrobe to create an item. It seems that in this version of Animal Crossing that it’ll come in handy.

Continuing the discussion about crafting items, it seems that you may not be the only one who can. At least that’s my hunch. in the information shown to us, it seems that not only can villagers have workbenches int their homes, but they can also be seen carrying items.

It would be great if not only animals gifted your furniture, but also the recipe for it. It would be even better if you could share recipes with other players!

Though an upgrade that villagers are clearly getting is one in style. It seems that new clothing items such as dresses will be able to be sported by your characters. I doubt that your villagers will change their outfits season, but it is a possibility.

A new fashion sense isn’t the only thing that villagers are getting but it seems new furniture and houses are coming to Animal Crossing.

The style of the homes seems to be going back to the house from Animal Crossing: City Folk. It also seems that door decoration will be available to not only players but also villagers. As for the exterior, I believe that it will be selected by the player themselves. Not only will the player choose what the houses look like, but I also believe we will finally be able to choose the locations of the houses.

In the gameplay, we spot two tents, which aren’t really addressed at all. We also only see two villagers. These two tents can also be seen in the map (in the right bottom corner) during the gameplay demo. At first, I thought these were to be developed shops, but looking at the little sign on the right of the blue tent, it’s clear that these belonging to the villagers. Because these two tents are strangely close together (something that would almost never naturally happen in Animal Crossing: New Leaf) it leads me to believe that players will select where Villagers will live. It also shows that the island will progressively be inhabited (though you may start with 2 villagers).

As for selecting the exterior of the homes, which lead me to believe this is the fact that we have new home exteriors. Not only do we have the wooden lodge, we also have a more beachy looking home:

The tents and home exterior also show that you’ll not only have to develop the island and build up your own home, but also the home of your villagers.

Concerning the type of villagers that will come to inhabit your island, I believe that it will be random, though you may be able to select the villagers via amiibo cards (at least I hope, that way I can have a bunch of cute villagers).

Homes don’t seem to be the only thing that will be in development on the island. I’m assuming that you’ll also be able to develop a central plaza. In the gameplay, we are shown a map, in the center, there is a squared (well rectangle) off area.

It’s in this area where we can access the community center (Where Nook is) and the message board.

I believe that this area will grow as the island does. Unlocking new shops by either collecting materials or getting bells (or a combination of both). This is will act as a town square, or at the very least, the community center will grow and we’ll see some familiar faces.

(I also want to point out that on the map, you can see the airplane, and an area in lighter green (lightly to be an area that’s alleviated and cannot be reached unless a staircase or a ladder of some sort is built)).

As for right now, it seems that besides crafting, selling, and buying things there are two other things available to you.

First, there’s what seems to be an ATM. It’s likely to operate as a place to store your bells, but it may also function as the place to trade in your Nook Miles (if not then that may be the function of Tommy or Timmy, or maybe even Tom Nook).

(I should mention that I feel like the Nook Miles will fully replace the badges, which sucks cause I like the badges on the player card....)

Then there’s the box, which I believe will act like a lost-and-found. I’m almost certain because the icon of a mitten (an item that is lost by Villager in Animal Crossing: New Horizon) is on the box.

Timmy and Tommy will sell and buy items, while I think Tom Nook will function to pay off your debt and maybe even help you in developing the homes of your villagers.

Something that I’m excited for is the return of old functions with new additions. It’s clear from the gameplay that fishing and bug catching will function the same, with the addition of bait (as discussing in the gameplay demo). While we know clams can be used as fish bait, it’s likely that honey may be used to catch bugs (obtained from flowers?).

Something that I’m not too happy about is pockets...from the demo we see a very limited pocket space, which is likely to be remedied with backpacks (or purses) but how we obtain this extra storage is unknown.

Something that is interesting to look at is the Nook Phones. Through the phone, we have access to the Camera, Nook Miles, DIY Recipes, The Map, and calling friends (for local multiplayer). While there doesn’t seem like a lot, it’s likely that as we continue to play the game, we’ll unlock more apps for the Nook Phone or we’ll have to buy them).

While the demo displayed the camera feature we saw the emotions the player can use, and it’s likely Dr. Shrunk will return to allow us to react even more.

Here are a few small things I noticed in the trailer besides all of the above, such as:

Fences! (no more planting hedges!)

You can move your mailbox? (or more maybe that’s just how it upgrades?). Also, look at that new exterior!

FINALLY ACTUAL DIRT PATHS (No more depending on QR codes!)

Vaulting?? (I know this isn’t a small thing, but I’m super excited! though I’m certain we’ll eventually be able to unlock bridges!)

Mushrooms! They seem to spawn naturally in the fall! (no more ugly stumps)

Finally, I fully expect certain features (such as furniture or amenities) from Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp to show up in the game, or at least we’ll see some familiar faces from the mobile game.

Everything that I’ve written is mainly a hypothesis, so I may end up being wrong about a few things. Feel free to message me and tell me what you think or tag what you think! (It’s also likely that I missed a few things, feel free to make your own post! After all, this one seems to be long enough! haha!)

#animal crossing #animal crossing: new horizon #acnh #textpost #rambling #listen animal crossing wild world was the first game I ever played I will ride and die for this game #this is super informal sorry

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entergamingxp · 4 years

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New Horizons Review — On An Island In the Sun

April 3, 2020 4:00 PM EST

By bringing players into their own island, Animal Crossing: New Horizons works the series’ charming, wholesome magic like never before.

Whether Nintendo intended for it to happen or not, Animal Crossing: New Horizons arrived at precisely the best or worst possible time, depending on how you look at things. There’s simply no way to account for the fact that New Horizons would arrive in the midst of a global pandemic that has fundamentally changed the way we live our lives (even if temporarily). But despite the fear, anxiety, and turmoil that this situation has brought, in another sense, New Horizons is exactly the game we need at this moment; a source of comfort, warmth, and a light through an uncertain world.

Even outside of those unusual circumstances, Animal Crossing: New Horizons–which comes eight years after the last mainline installment, Animal Crossing: New Leaf on 3DS–is a huge leap forward for the series and perhaps its best entry yet. The familiar and cozy loop of building your home, interacting with your other animal Villagers, and collecting items and resources is still as strong as it ever has been in Animal Crossing, making it easy to sink dozens (if not hundreds) of hours towards perfecting your island getaway into a home to call your own. But what really adds to the experience, aside from getting to settle in on a cozy island in the middle of the ocean, are a number of quality-of-life improvements and new features that make this Animal Crossing feel more personalized and tailored to the player than ever before.

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The beginning of Animal Crossing: New Horizons has players venturing off on a flight to a deserted island, courtesy of the Nook Inc. Getaway Package. Upon your arrival, players are then introduced to Tom Nook and his assistants, Timmy and Tommy, who get you set up with your initial amenities; a lay of the land, a tent to call your own, a NookPhone, and two other Villagers to settle the island with. After Tom gets you set up with these items (and a massive debt of Bells to pay) and an introduction to some of the game’s core mechanics, from there players are set off to do pretty much anything they please. Whether you want to start working towards paying off your first loan, upgrading your tent to a house, collecting bugs, fish, and fossils, or develop your pyramid scheme for mass Bell production (tarantula farm or otherwise), the decisions are left for you to make at that point.

From the start of Animal Crossing: New Horizons things are pretty sparse, as you start out with just these items and have to make your own path to move forward. Given the series’ relaxed pacing, there’s no real rush to get where you want to be in terms of developing your island, but the beginning sections of New Horizons might be a change of pace for longtime series’ fans that are used to getting their town bustling quickly. Going from a bustling town full of Villagers to meet and places to explore contrasts sharply with the relatively barren nature of how New Horizons begins. The result is that the first few days (or week or two) of playing New Horizons may feel a little slow, as you won’t be able to get to some of the more interesting locations and mechanics until much later. If you want to be able to shop at the Able Sisters’ store, turn in items to Blathers at the museum, or begin to terraform your island, you’re going to need to put in some work to begin to open up those elements of the game.

“A number of quality-of-life improvements and new features make this Animal Crossing feel more personalized and tailored to the player than ever before.”

While Animal Crossing: New Horizons takes a bit of time to get going, the onboarding of new players and bringing them into the game’s gentle rhythm is perhaps one of the best parts of New Horizons as a whole. In a way, starting out with so little adds a lot to giving players in New Horizons a better sense of ownership in making their island their own. This is especially when it comes to some of the most significant new additions to the game through crafting and a ton of customization options. However, the new Nook Miles system really helps to guide players towards learning the ropes of Animal Crossing, and is by far one of my favorite new additions to the series.

Nook Miles are essentially reward points that the player can earn and spend on unique items or upgrades by completing different tasks around their island, and are separate from the Bells that you’ll collect by selling items you gather. The majority of the tasks that you can complete for Nook Miles are relatively straightforward. In your first couple days or weeks with the game, you’ll likely earn a bunch of them without even knowing it, whether it’s simply collecting items, catching fish, or other tasks you would naturally do while playing. However, the Nook Miles system adds both an additional layer of reward for players that incentivizes coming back to the game each day, giving structure and objectives for those that may not necessarily be accustomed to how Animal Crossing plays. In this way, the Nook Miles in New Horizons are a great way of giving players itemized tasks and rewards to give some direction if you’re lost, but without getting in the way of the sense of discovery and exploration that the series encourages.

“The new Nook Miles system really helps to guide players towards learning the ropes of Animal Crossing.”

Alongside the Nook Miles system, crafting especially brings some of the most important changes to how Animal Crossing traditionally plays, and for the most part it’s all for the better. While I’m someone that can get a bit overwhelmed by crafting systems in a lot of other games, the way that crafting is implemented in New Horizons makes perfect sense considering that so much time for players is spent on collecting items and resources. Thankfully, crafting in New Horizons doesn’t get too complex or convoluted, and once you get the basics of what you can make and how it can help you, crafting opens up a world of possibilities for players and their island community.

With your NookPhone, all you have to do is access the dedicated crafting app to open up the recipes that are initially available to you. The tools and resources that you can craft grow over time once you craft basic items like axes, fishing rods, or bug-catching nets, which then gradually lets you craft more refined and durable versions of those items. Once you learn the ropes of crafting and how to use items effectively (as they can break over time), crafting opens up much more of what you can build and do inside the world of Animal Crossing, such as making furniture and new items. Granted, in the early stages of the game you’ll have to get used to constantly crafting items that you’ll use a lot like nets and fishing rods when they break, but overall, crafting is a welcome addition that feels natural in the scope of New Horizons.

“Once you get the basics of what you can make and how it can help you, crafting opens up a world of possibilities for players and their island community.”

In addition to crafting, what New Horizons really puts at the forefront compared to previous Animal Crossing games are a wealth of customization and styling options. Aspiring fashion designers, artists, and home decorators will have a blast playing with the amount of tools in New Horizons that you can use to fully customize everything from clothing, to furniture, even down to the case of your NookPhone. Home decorating especially has had a number of quality-of-life improvements to make the process easier than before by taking some cues from Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer. You can now simply rearrange furniture and items through an app on the NookPhone even down to changing the camera angle of your room, giving a greater amount of flexibility and control to really make your home shine, especially when you want to show off what you’ve spent so much time creating to your friends.

In a way, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the type of game that’s difficult to review from only playing for a few weeks since its release. While so far I’ve experienced a good amount of what New Horizons has to offer from finally setting up shops and getting new Villagers, to finally getting a chance to start using the terraforming features of the Island Designer, there’s still plenty more to experience throughout the coming weeks (and likely, months) in the game, including its upcoming seasonal events. Animal Crossing has always been the type of game that is best enjoyed over a longer stretch of time, whether it’s checking in constantly and seeing what your Villagers are up to, collecting new bugs, fruit, and items, and trying to game the system when it comes to turnip prices. While there is still plenty more for me to do in the weeks ahead–and since you can only do so much in a given day in an Animal Crossing game–New Horizons makes it easy, appealing, and effortless to hop back in each day and find something new to do and to expand your island even more.

“New Horizons makes it easy, appealing, and effortless to hop back in each day and find something new to do and to expand your island even more.”

With its numerous quality-of-life improvements and additions, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a big step forward for the series and found its perfect destination on the Switch. Especially given the current circumstances that we’re all facing right now in the world, it may have been unintentional that such a peaceful, idyllic game would arrive in the midst of so much fear, uncertainty, and stress. But thankfully, it’s nice to have a small, peaceful little place to escape to right now, and I can’t wait to keep coming back to it when I need it most.

April 3, 2020 4:00 PM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/04/new-horizons-review-on-an-island-in-the-sun/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-horizons-review-on-an-island-in-the-sun

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