Have you studied your
Animalese? If so, then prepare for Animal Crossing: New Horizons soon [3] [19]!
The title of the upcoming installment of the Animal Crossing franchise for the
Nintendo Switch was revealed almost a month ago [3] [11] [19] [20], so I guess
now is a good time for me to express my views on it as an animal pocket camper.
The game was supposed to be released at some point in 2019 [3] [13], but I
guess delaying the release and marketing to the 20th of March 2020 would make it
a sign of the 2020s beginning a whole new era of gaming [3] [19]. Yes, along
with the Playdate [27]. Back in May this year, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp was
sadly set to shut down in Belgium [14]. Furthermore, I would be quite
devastated if the app shut down worldwide in the near future after the release
of New Horizons. On the bright side, trying out New Horizons on the Switch
could make for that if it happens. Without the temptation to play Whac-A-Mole
with Sonny Resetti after forgetting to save my data, I shall express my views
on what has been revealed so far for New Horizons.
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| Remember watching the teaser trailer that featured Tom Nook at his desk in Fall 2018? [13] |
At first, the new chapter of Animal Crossing
appears to be on a deserted island, which seems slightly refreshing to me [3] [11]
[19] [20]. Starting out as a somewhat island survivor really brings out the
vibes of The Sims 2 Castaway and The Sims Castaway Stories [10] [27]. We also
see footage of the fully civilized town we knew from the previous main
installments of the Animal Crossing franchise in the trailer. I have a feeling
that the setting of the new chapter will evolve from a deserted island to a civilized
town as the game progresses. Or better yet, we may see a new interpretation of
the city from either Let’s Go To The City or the main street from New Leaf [6]
[18]. Could that be the case? If so, it would maintain the player’s motivation
for playing the game daily. It would be interesting to see not just a shop run
by a tanuki change over time. And speaking of tanuki, oh no! Not the whole bill
paying thing again [19]! Well, it is part of life, so we animal crossers have
gotten used to it by now [1] [18]. Bring
on the Getaway Package from Nook Inc.!
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| A new era awaits, animal crossers. [19] |
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| Leaving the family nest and living independently in a nutshell, ladies and gentlemen! [19] |
I have no doubt that
plenty of animal crossers still remember the days of Population Growing and
Wild World [1] [24]. In the gameplay footage at E3 2019 and the trailer, you
can still see some of the usual features of the Animal Crossing experience [3]
[11] [19] [20], including:
- Talking
to anthropomorphic animals
- Placing
and rearranging furniture
- Selling
furniture items to make bells
- Collecting
shells at the beach
- Picking
flowers
- Poking
rocks with a shovel
- Display
emotions
- Shake
trees and gather their fruit
- Catch
insects and fish
I still remember
selling fruit at Nookington’s and buying clothes from Able Sisters back in the
good old days when I would play Let’s Go To The City for the Nintendo Wii [18].
As well as the activities that established a relaxing and adventurous life of a
human in the Animal Crossing canon, there will need to be some new and
exclusive aspects in order to make New Horizons refreshing. During the winter,
do you want to build a snowman [3] [19]?
 |
| The next big step ought to be like the good old days, eh? [3] |
A whole new feature of the upcoming chapter is crafting tools [11] [19] [20]. The way new and unfortunately quite weak tools can be crafted on Tom Nook’s crafting table reminds me of how any Minecrafter can create tools in Minecraft [25]. You can gather wood by chopping at a tree with an axe and gather stone by thrusting at a rock with a shovel. The tools you can craft at first are:
- A
flimsy axe
- A
flimsy watering can
- A
flimsy fishing rod
- A
flimsy net
- A
flimsy shovel
- A
vaulting pole
Make sure you gather
different kinds of crafting materials for creating such tools, fellow animal
crossers [11] [20]. If newer and stronger tools eventually became available to
craft after some progression, it ought to increase motivation for playing the
game quite regularly. The way you can make tools out of enough materials
reminds me of how you can craft furniture in Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp [21].
Collecting enough materials for the desired tool is at least an understandable
goal and not to mention a legitimate reason to keep roaming around the island.
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| Oddly enough, the tools that have been crafted firstly come in a red toolbox… [19] |
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| The tulip crown would be my favourite thing to craft in New Horizons so far. [11] [20] |
What is a new
installment without some new abilities for the playable protagonist? Aside from
crafting tools, other new abilities in New Horizons include:
- Placing furniture
items outdoors
- Digging up fully
grown trees
- Making dirt paths
- Pole vaulting
- Picking petals
off bloomed flowers
- Accessing apps on
a smartphone called a “NookPhone”
And yes, just like in Animal Crossing:
Pocket Camp, the red-nose ranger owns a smartphone [3] [11] [19] [20]. The apps
on the phone are:
- Camera for taking
photos
- Nook Miles
- DIY Recipes for
seeing what to craft
- An app that opens
the map of the island
- Call Islanders
for calling another player
I guess “NookPhone” is a fitting name
for it when it comes to appealing to today’s society. And you can also add filters whilst taking a photograph with the
NookPhone, or in this generation’s case, a selfie if you are taking a picture
of your red-nosed ranger [11] [20]. Instagram much? I have no doubt that the new abilities are
sure to enhance the Animal Crossing experience for our fellow Switch soldiers.
 |
| I do not think I would be able to pull such a stunt like that in real life. [3] |
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| But at least the way my little starlet holds her phone in Pocket Camp is so me. [21] |
I see that some aspects of the graphics have definitely progressed yet again in the trailer and gameplay footage at E3 [3] [11] [19] [20]. They have evolved just a notch with the idea of featuring more realistic trees and taller character designs from New Leaf. I can see how there are new hair physics for some hairstyles, along with a lovely shine for every style and colour of hair [3] [11] [19] [20]. You can still choose any skin tone, hair colour or eye colour for your red-nosed ranger, just like how you can in New Leaf, Happy Home Designer and Pocket Camp [3] [17] [21]. If you look close enough into the red-nosed ranger’s eyes, you may see two small black pupils [19]. The apples on the trees appear to look more realistic if you look closely at them. Some of our fellow animal crossers may prefer the aesthetics from the New Leaf era, which is totally fine. Arguably, somewhat updated graphics would be essential for a whole new chapter of a franchise.
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| I guess a good nickname for Animal Crossing: New Horizons would be “Animal Crossing HD”. [3] |
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| Oh. And did I mention that the Animal Crossing logo’s wood has recieved a more realistic texture too? [3] |
The Nook Miles app on
the Nookphone appears to be a new reward system that could motivate an animal
crosser to keep playing New Horizons [7] [11] [20]. An example of a task that
gives an animal crosser some miles is selling an item for the first time [11] [20].
Another seems to be crafting a certain number of tools [3] [11] [20]. This is
similar to the stretch goals, daily goals and event goals in Pocket Camp that
provides rather satisfying results for doing certain tasks [21]. A set of tasks
that offer good rewards to the player for completing them can maintain their
motivation to carry on playing, including those who love achieving small goals
in Pocket Camp [21]. I can tell as some goals and rewards during events kept me
motivated to keep playing Pocket Camp on my iPad to achieve new things for my
little avatar whom I like to call a little starlet [21]. Do I get any Nook
Miles for at least writing this article?
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| Here is the set of Stretch Goals that motivate the player in Pocket Camp. [21] |
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| And here’s some examples of targets to earn Nook Miles in New Horizons. [11] [20] |
Let us be grateful for
the Call Islander app on the Nookphone [3] [7] [11] [20]. Compared to how one
player can visit another player’s town through Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection in
Let’s Go To The City back in the Nintendo Wii era [19], it appears that two
players can play locally in the same island in New Horizons [3] [11] [20]. I
think this method of local co-op play seems much more preferable since it
appears to not require another copy of the game and connection to the internet.
On the other hand, the game can be played online [3]. Either online or offline,
a maximum of seven other animal crossers and foam around the island with you,
which is really cool and can bring a small community together [3] [19]. You can
also pictures of fond memories in the game with the NookPhone [11] [20]. I just
hope the screen will be split if the other player is too far away so that the
freedom of roaming around the town will still be there. I would definitely play
New Horizons with my boyfriend if he wants to try it out.
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| The whole gang is here! [19] |
I bet plenty of us
are curious about what else will be revealed in New Horizons soon, including
downloadable content. Perhaps in the future after the game’s release, we could
unexpectedly witness an underwater village where a red-nosed ranger can travel
to and meet meranimals available as something special. Alternatively, there
could be a heavenly sky village where animals as angels live in peace and the
red-nosed protagonist can also fly gracefully. A downloadable feature for April
Fools’ Day ought to be letting villagers fall asleep as a reference to
Population Growing [1]. Nowadays, we would look forward to downloadable content
about a year after a game’s release. Heck, some of us animal crossers enjoyed
playing as Isabelle and the two human villagers in Mario Kart 8 when the Animal
Crossing x Mario Kart 8 pack came out [5] [26]. I would be cuffed if some of
the DLC turns out to be the items from some of the special fortune cookies that
are for sale for a limited time in Pocket Camp [21]. Or better yet, a pack of downloadable content could
also be something new and exclusive.
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| Maybe some DLC for New Horizons could be a new app for the NookPhone. Let me take a selfie before the next paragraph. [11] [20] |
Aside from Tom Nook
wearing a new shirt for his new company [11] [19] [20], how can some of the
other special characters receive new development? I would definitely be up for
that. Remember when how Katie became capable of roaming around independently as
she got a bit older in New Leaf and Pocket Camp [21]? Could Isabelle, the
Mayor’s assistant who debuted in New Leaf also receive some new character
development [5]? I would be interested to be her new outfit if she returns as
an employee at Nook Inc. at some point during the game [5]. As for Mr. Resetti,
I guess I will not need to borrow King Dedede’s mallet after all since he will
have to look for a new career, which could help him evolve into a calmer and friendlier
mole [8]. And let us not forget about good old Rover. Could he be the first
special character to greet the character again or will he serve a different
purpose [9]? There may not be any new personalities for any new villagers, but
at least there is a possibility of special characters receiving further
development [3]. Please do not get me started with the occasional rudeness from
the villagers in Population Growing [15] [16].
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| I say Isabelle deserves something new after proving that she can kick tail in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. [5] [13] |
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| HEEEEEERE’S SONNY!!! [8] |
As someone who became an animal crosser as a preteen, I am indeed looking forward to the Horizons era of Animal Crossing, so I guess I could have a Nintendo Switch for this Christmas in December. Each new chapter after Population Growing makes up for the cancellation of Animal Crossing 2 [2]. It is shame that Animal Crossing: New Leaf might as well soon be referred to as “Animal Crossing: Old Leaf”, but at least the upcoming chapter shall maintain what made the previous one new and refreshing back in the days of 2013 [24]. Can your avatar evolve from a survivor to a mayor? In addition to looking at how far the franchise has come since Animal Forest for the Nintendo 64 only in Japan [4] [24], I also would like to congratulate Rare’s duo, Banjo and Kazooie on their upcoming participation in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as downloadable fighters for the Switch era after years of absence [12]. I also wish Luigi the best of luck in busting ghosts for the third time at a hotel [22]. If you want a new horizon, be sure to start saving your bells. Oops! I meant real life currency. See you in early 2020, fellow animal crossers!
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| Could a new chapter await the author’s sweet little pocket camper? Or could it await yours? Or maybe both? [21] |
References:
10. Electronic Arts. (2008). The Sims Castaway Stories. Microsoft
Windows. California. United States.
17. Nintendo.
(2015). Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer. Nintendo 3DS. Tokyo. Japan.
18. Nintendo.
(2008). Animal Crossing: Let’s Go To The City. Nintendo Wii. Tokyo. Japan.
21. Nintendo.
(2017). Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. iOS. Tokyo. Japan.
23. Nintendo.
(2014). Mario Kart 8. Wii U. Tokyo. Japan.
25. Sub.
(2018). ADVANCED WEAPONS You DIDN'T KNOW How to Craft in Minecraft. Available:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77dZqDREJGc. Last accessed 2nd Jul 2019.
