More to come: Animal Crossing New Horizons

This is going to be a long one.

Am I beating a dead horse of a topic?

There is much to say because the game itself isn't exactly complete and for this article to stand the test of time, I had to go in deep. The game is now at version 1.4 and we have had some tweaks and additions to satisfy the people. As mentioned in my previous articles, this is strictly my own opinion and it's your game (you do you).

Animal Crossing is part of my daily routine. I may have strayed away from university assignments to play it... I feel less guilty now that I have completed my studies but enough with the useless details.

If you spend any more than 200 hours in a game then it's worth that price tag of $69. Yes, it's somewhat incomplete and there's no denying that with Nintendo drip-feeding us updates to continue or return to the game.

For me, it's been an enjoyable experience, now onto my final thoughts!

Community aspect 2.0:

After 3 months of playing, I am part of the AC community on twitter. I don't have hundreds of followers but I am consistent with posting daily unlike my own personal account oops. It's filled with many wonderful people but being Twitter it has its moments (Twitter in a nutshell).

I have made friends through my Twitter account and also part of a community on discord. These groups are public and are often shared for people to join in and connect with others. Also, not forgetting the many YouTubers that have their own discord communities to connect with fans.

In this community, it includes the array of talented artists using their talent by getting commissioned for creating profile pictures and Twitter banners. I have commissioned someone to do a banner and profile picture because why not (shrug emoji). These are people creating a side hustle and developing their talent which could eventually lead to a career or freelancing. I'm all for supporting people who have talents and it doesn't cost a cent to retweet someone's work or commission sheets.

My current layout that I commissioned an artist to do:

The addition of the Dream Addresses. This is by far one of my favourite features because you're able to enter someone's island with no hassle. There is no wait on the endless dialogue to enter someone's island, no adding of friend codes, and to set up a time to meet. It's a great feature for people who can share their islands with large followings. It allows for the minimal release of personal information and allows for fans to admire their island.

Resources:

The number of resources available is endless. There are many media resources that one can access. Articles, videos, tweets, and graphics getting released every time there is an update.

Polygon is are up to date with articles relating to updates and guides. NintendoLife is more blog-like but has guides, news, and updates. There's also a GitHub provided by @yuecrossing containing guides that anyone can access.

Youtube has a plethora of channels that share the updates where you can search up yourself. You can find people sharing tips on terraforming and how to obtain things through events. The island tours which give viewers inspiration to change up their island.

I also recommend this phone app where you can track things on your own. ACNH guide is a compact guide and tracker which is a great companion to play along on your switch. It's consistently updated to stay up to date, it's a one-stop app that a player would need.

The cultural representation:

It has improved over the releases. This takes on the fact, Animal Crossing players are from many parts of the world as it has grown over the years. The variety of clothing that ACNH has introduced is on another level. The inclusion of national garments and clothing shows the care and detail of the dev team. If there is a gap, there are people who are creating custom designs to fill in the gap.

There are also items that represent national holidays with the recent update. This makes the game more relatable to players who can represent their culture in-game. It's more than a game for some people and it's amazing to see such inclusions.

Animal crossing burnout:

It is a thing.

I had the urge to reset my island.

I wanted to destroy my island because I didn't know what I was doing. I would log on to the game to complete my dailies and then turn it off. You can lose motivation quite easily when you're down in the dumps.

Did I say I'm tempted to get a switch lite to get a new island? It's a bit much to get a new system to create a new island but there are people who have done that. This came about from seeing other people's islands and having many favourite villagers. Remember to not compare your island because we know comparing yourself is not right.

Updates and events:

Many can say ACNH's is an incomplete game. I will be honest it is but I'm taking it day by day. It's a daily sim and depending on your play style, it will always be a long-term game. You will only ever 'complete' the game when you complete the in-game milestones or when you stop playing.

I love talking to my animals, taking photos fo them doing things, and interacting with them. It' becomes a mood booster during these times and to take your time to do your own thing.

Did I mention that I spent 94 Nook Mile Tickets to try and find the coveted Raymond but I failed... I spent a total of 7 hours with a break between that adventure to find him. It ended at 3 am because I was out of it, I give praise to YouTubers who edit the villager hunt videos. I lost it around 3 hours in and got frustrated going through the same dialogue to go on an island then to leave it.

A thread of that 'adventure':

Do we need more quality of life updates? YES

There are many things Nintendo and the dev team can do and change in the game.

1. Buying multiple things in-game/crafting things

This is directed to the tailors (The Able sisters) where you need to go in and out of the dressing room to get what you like. Many people who like one thing may want to get the different colour variations.

It's the same with buying certain items in-game where there isn't an option to buying more then 1 if there is it's still lacking. Crafting also falls under this as you need to be spamming the A button to make the process a bit quicker. It makes no sense that you can't continuously craft an item.

2. Unique dialog from villagers.

his is often mentioned amongst other players because of overlap in personalities. There are 8 which are allocated to 391 villagers. If you have any more than 2 of the same personality, the dialogue is often the same. You end up repeating the same conversation when you talk to villagers who share the same personality.

3. Finding villagers.

New Leaf introduced us to the megaphone, which allowed us to call the name of our villager through the 3DS mic. It was helpful when we needed to return items for quests or in general. Tom Nook taunts us with having the ability to call them when we want to move their houses.

Give us a call option on our phones or at least a GPS function to find where they are. You're running around the island like a crazy person to end up finding them browsing in the museum.

There are many more things that should be added to the game but these are the top pet peeves of mine.

Should you get it?

It's not a Pokemon game that you can complete in 30 hours. It's a game made to play over a long period of time. It's a family-friendly game where you can create your own island utopia and connect with friends.

Whether you're reading this now of the future, it's a game that can be a stepping point to go into other games within the genre or to move out.