Animal Crossing: New Horizons #1

Finally, after hearing nothing about the new Animal Crossing game for the Switch since SEPTEMBER, Nintendo gave us some gameplay at their E3 direct yesterday and I have feelings about it so that’s what this post is. I only have comparisons to New Leaf as that’s the only previous game I have played so, here’s the improvements I’ve noticed from what we have seen so far.

• Crafting Items
  This is probably the biggest change we have seen so far, being able to gather resources to craft your own items via work benches! It also seems that you can unlock new craft recipes via villagers and discovering new items.
  
• Placing Objects Outside
  Another huge upgrade, in New Leaf you could only place furniture items in your house, now you can place them anywhere!
  
• Making Paths
  It looks like you are now able to create your own pathways rather than scanning in QR codes back in New Leaf to create them, I expect we will be able to craft different path styles too.
  
• Gardens/Yards
  In the trailer it looked like houses now have garden/yard spaces, or this could simply just be created to look like gardens from being able to place objects outside.
  
• Jumping Rivers
  You can now craft a pole that allows you to jump over rivers rather than relying solely on bridges, fun!
  

• Skin Colours
  Finally we are able to create our characters in a variety of different skin colours, I’d honestly be worried if they hadn’t made this change.
  
• Different Hemispheres
  The game runs in real time according to the game clock/date and previously has only been set in the northern hemisphere, now you have to option to play in northern or southern hemisphere!
• Local Co-op
  It seems we will be able to play up to 4 players together via local co-op! As long as each character has a tent on the island you’re able to play together and also be able to switch between who is the lead player.
  
• Moving Objects
  In New Leaf we could only move/slide objects around 1 block at a time, in Happy Home Designer we could move objects half blocks and it looks like that has been brought over to New Horizons which will be really handy when decorating!
  
• Achievements
  The achievement system that was brought in to New Leaf via the Welcome Amiibo update seems to have improved a lot and can be used to obtain a variety of great rewards.
  
• 8 Players
  They have upped the multiplayer max from 4 to 8! This can be a combination of online, wireless and local!
  
• Camera
  They have added an in-game camera feature for taking those cute shots with added filter options.
  

Speculations

• Multiple Maps
  From the trailer we see that we arrive to the island via plane and if you look at the mini map there is a plane icon at the bottom! This definitely leads me to believe that the deserted island is in fact not the main map but an optional alternative place to play.
  
• Museum
  I really hope we can still collect things for the museum and even better if they have added more things we can collect, that was one of my favourite things to do in New Leaf (plus Blathers is my favourite character).
  
• Shops
  We need to have a bunch of shops right? What new shops will we get? Where will the shops be located?
  
• Amiibo
  Lastly, will the Animal Crossing amiibo be functional in New Horizons and in what way? I really hope so cos I have like 50 of them 😀
  

So these are the things I have noticed so far! Yes I was initially very upset that the game was labeled as a 2019 release and has been pushed back to 2020, BUT, I think it will be worth the wait for sure. Did I miss anything? What are you most looking forward to seeing about the game? I’m sure Nintendo will give us more news in future directs which I will also cover on my blog. Check out the trailer and gameplay videos if you haven’t already! (also, you can craft a TINY LIBRARY!)

TRAILER – GAMEPLAY