Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo EAD
Genre: Life simulation and Education simulation
Series: Animal Crossing
Released: March 20 2020
Certificate: 3+
Console: Switch
Animal Crossing New Horizons was and still is a game highly sought after. After its previous favourites, New Leaf and Wild World; it’s safe to say Nintendo had their work cut out for this game to be a success.
If you like a life simulation game that features the fun of designing your own island and choosing cute characters. Animal Crossing New Horizons is certainly the one for you.
Description
As seen in the previous Animal Crossing games, New Horizons is a glorified version of its prior series. Yet, it’s somehow better. A life simulation played in real-time, the game allows you to customize your own character. Later your adventure into your new island begins. At first, you will be joined by yourself and two fellow villagers. These villagers will be the first two to occupy your land. They will witness all your improvements, from the bad to the good.
After progressing through the game’s narrative by completing the museum and the shop, you will begin to edit your island. Tom Nook and his two “sons” Timmy and Tommy will act as your guide to improve your island. Each time you complete a task, Tom Nook offers you a reward that advances you further into the game. Allowing you to unlock extra features such as the Nook Miles Program. Through this program, you are able to earn points that are known as “Nook Miles.”And these give you the ability to travel to different islands. But also unlock upgrades for your island. You will also eventually allow you to add your own waterfalls and terraform the unwanted cliffs on your island.
Slowly but surely as you play through the narrative, you’ll find yourself finding new villagers to occupy a land plot. Eventually, they will become a resident to your island. With multiple personalities ranging from Snooty to Cranky, there is certainly a lot of fun to be had.
After completing the overall framing narrative supplied by Tom Nook you are left to your own devices. You can improve your island, get to know your villagers and also plant new flowers and plants.
You can also play with friends if you happen to own a Nintendo Switch online membership.
Analysis
New Horizons was a major success, breaking the record for the most digital units sold in a single month. The game managed to sell 5 million copies and has currently sold more than 25 million. Claiming the title for the second best selling game on the Switch (after Mario Kart 8 deluxe, to read our review on Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, click here.) A game that is incredibly popular for people of all ages, it’s safe to say that ACNH has become a firm favorite for the Nintendo Switch.
Personally, I purchased a switch in the middle of the COVID 19 lockdown to keep me entertained. When I purchased my switch, Animal Crossing was the game I was most interested in.
I did not have the opportunity to play the games available on the Nintendo DS, so, therefore, Animal Crossing was a brand new experience for me. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. However, I think this made it more fun for me. I found the first narrative of the game interesting but tedious at times as a lot of the tasks required a day’s wait in order to complete. Which, when you have nothing else to do, seems quite a long time. Nevertheless, I persevered through. However, I was incredibly disappointed with the length of the game’s narrative. After building the museum and the shop, the narrative cuts there. Later, the game becomes your story. You unlock the ability to do everything else without guidance. However, I, think the game could be improved with a longer interactive story.
The villager’s designs are intricate, funky, and cute. It’s clear to see that the developers have placed a lot of time in the detail of the villager’s appearance, homes, and personalities. I would recommend that when you play the game and go hunting for villagers, you should look up the names of the villagers on any web search to find out the personalities of each villager. If you have 10 snooty villagers, the dialogue will be the same, and therefore the interactions become slightly tedious and boring. This was something I was not aware of, so make sure to do some research, as this did annoy me at first until I figured it out.
Nintendo provides updates quite regularly for this game, which is refreshing and fun when the new content comes out. The best of the four updates they’ve done, they added the ability to swim in the island’s ocean. Adding a new character, Pascal, added a new edge to the game which made it fun. Pascal offers a brand new recipe card for furniture, he has a daily quote which is often quite amusing.
Despite the faults mentioned, Animal Crossing New Horizons is a game that is definitely worth your money, time, and energy. A game that I find to be relaxing. My favorite activity is to plant flowers and plants to watch them grow as I always manage to kill my plants in real life which causes major stress! Arguably for me, the best game of 2020.
Summary
To sum up, all in all, Animal Crossing New Horizons for the Nintendo Switch is a great game. Although it is a carbon copy of the previous additions released, it is very much worth your time. The screen on the switch is significantly larger than a DS, giving you much more space to work with. The overall graphics have had a significant amount of improvement, updated to reach the 2020 standard, but not only that the new additions make the game playable. I would highly recommend this game to anyone willing to put in time and effort.
Notes
Target Audience: Children Aged 3+
Content: No Content Likely to Offend
Recommendation?: Yes
Overall Rating: 9.5/10 – Outstanding
For more information on Animal Crossing New Horizons for the Nintendo Switch, click here.
