The president of Nintendo of America has promised that new and exciting activities will be added to Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but will these activities actually appear?
Following a successful launch year in which Animal Crossing: New Horizons became a worldwide phenomenon, the year 2021 has started off slowly and disappointingly. ACNH Nook Miles Tickets were completely absent from Nintendo's E3 presentation, which included major trailers for Breath of the Wild 2, Metroid Dread, and WarioWare, but no mention of the game. ACNH was the most played game on the Nintendo Switch just a year ago, so the lack of new content is perplexing, to say the least. Alternatively, it could indicate that Nintendo is phasing out the ACNH, which is highly unlikely, or that the company is waiting to announce something, most likely a major update or DLC pack.
Since the Festivale event in January and the emergence of Mario items in February, ANCH's updates have been mediocre at best. During a March update, the focus was on New Horizons' anniversary, and the Custom Design app received new customizable variety goods, such as a photo stand; during an April update, the focus was on last year's spring and summer holidays, and only minor tweaks were made. Essentially, players have been reliving the same annual content with little in the way of new flavor - assuming they have even visited their islands.
Swimming, the addition of the museum's art wing, and Leif's flower shop were just a few of the excellent updates that came out after the game launched, so the lack of new activities to entice players back into the game in 2021 has been a surprise. According to Doug Bowser, President of Nintendo of America, Animal Crossing: New Horizons will receive new content in the near future. Bowser promised that plans were in the works so that the 33 million people who live on islands around the world would have new and exciting activities to participate in. But what, exactly, are these new and exciting activities, and when are they scheduled to begin?
The Absence of Certain Animal Crossing Characters in New Horizon New Horizons greatly expanded upon the possibilities of previous Animal Crossing games, making the absence of certain franchise staples all the more puzzling. New Horizons is available now on the Nintendo 3DS.
Gyroids, which are pieces of furniture that are typically dug up from the ground, are the most conspicuous omission from the list. They've been around since the very beginning of the series, and their primary function is to look strangely charming while wiggle. Given that the majority of long-term players have already discovered every fossil, adding something new to hunt for would be a fantastic addition.
Brewster and The Roost from Animal Crossing: New Horizons are yet another feature that fans are looking forward to. With his mustache, Brewster is an exceptionally well-dressed pigeon who runs his own business serving excellent coffee. In previous games, the player was even able to earn money by working at the Roost. Additionally, gyroids have been stored in the café, which could be an indication that New Horizons is hoping to combine those two features in a single package. A boost would be beneficial to other New Horizons locations, and previous games allowed players to transform Nook's Cranny into a full-fledged department store with multiple levels of merchandise. The addition of expansion incentives to Nook's Cranny and other buildings, such as the Town Hall and the Able Sisters, would add a new goalpost to ACNH's gameplay, which the game desperately needs in order to re-engage its player base.
Simply enhancing existing features in the game could also prove to be a wise decision. While it would be exciting to see more Able Sisters clothing items arrive, it has become commonplace to see repeats of existing cheap ACNH items in the shop. In addition, new fossils, fish, and bugs would be welcome, as many players are likely to have already accumulated them. Many players would immediately begin searching for campsites and remote islands if the number of villagers allowed to live on the island were increased. This would be even more true if an update or DLC added entirely new villagers to the game. Additionally, new summer vacations to round out the cute but bizarre Wedding Season would be greatly appreciated.
Gameplay-wise, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a fantastic title that, for many, helped to make a difficult period of time bearable. I find it perplexing that there have been no updates in its second year. Hopefully, those new and entertaining activities will be sufficient to assist players in rediscovering the magic of their respective islands. And, hopefully, with the real-world summer vacation season in full swing, they'll be right around the corner soon enough.
