In a change from previous games, New Horizons drops players into a deserted island. Tom Nook is missing, and two animal neighbors are your only companions when you first arrive.
It’s a fun roughing-it-together vibe right from the start. From there, it’s up to you to build a community of cute animals.
Character Customization
As with previous entries in the Animal Crossing series, New Horizons allows you to customize your avatar’s hair color, eye color and facial features. The game also adds skin tone, which is the first time in the franchise that players will have the option to choose their villager’s complexion.
The character customization process in New Horizons skips the traditional appearance quiz from past games and instead lets players make their own decisions on how they want their avatar to look at any time. A reuploaded video from Nintendo’s Animal Crossing Twitter account shows off the available options for the player’s character.
The player can unlock more hair styles by redeeming Nook Miles at the Nook Stop or by visiting the Able Sisters at their shop. These additional styles aren’t gender-specific, which is great for anyone who wants their in-game villager to reflect their own personal style. Adding this level of character customization is a wonderful touch to an already-beloved series.
Island Customization
One of the best things about Animal Crossing is that it allows players to customize their towns and islands in a way that’s completely unique to them. But while past entries have primarily limited island customization to the town layout players select at the start, New Horizons takes it further through terraforming and landscaping.
To unlock the island customization tools, players must first have KK Slider visit their island and play a concert. Once that happens, Tom Nook will appear to inform them of an app they can use on their NookPhone called the Island Designer App.
The Island Designer App works similar to how path creation worked in previous Animal Crossing games, with a series of options replicating the in-game mechanics for changing the layout of rivers and cliffs, painting paths, creating bridges and incline roads and placing major buildings like houses. However, the Island Designer app is only free to use for a few days after players unlock it.
Social Interaction
Animal Crossing is a popular life simulation video game developed and published by Nintendo. The game is about new residents moving into a deserted island and building their own paradise while making friends with the pudgy anthropomorphic animals that live there. The game is popular because of its stress-relieving, relaxing gameplay. It has no time limit, so the player can work at their own pace.
Additionally, the game has a social network feature that allows players to visit the islands of other people who play it. This helps build community and camaraderie among gamers.
According to GamesIndustry, the latest entry in the Animal Crossing series, New Horizons, sold more physical copies than any other Nintendo Switch game in its first three days of release. This is likely due to the coronavirus pandemic, as many people are following social distancing guidelines and staying at home. The game is also popular because it teaches the importance of community and self-reliance, which are important during difficult times.
Local Multiplayer
One of the biggest drawbacks to Animal Crossing: New Horizons is that the game is limited to only one island per Nintendo Switch console. That means that if you want to play with a significant other, roommate, or children then they’ll need their own Switch and copy of the game to create their own island.
There are a few different ways to enjoy multiplayer in New Horizons though. Up to four players can live on the same island using Party Play. This method allows for players to fish, catch bugs, or just lounge around the beach.
The player who starts the Party Play session will become the leader and all other players will follow them wherever they go on their island. The leader can also end the Party Play session by pressing Y or by using their Nook Phone app.
The other way to enjoy multiplayer is through online play. To do this, both players must have a Nintendo Switch Online subscription and share their friend code through the Home menu or Nook Phone app.