‘Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ – The Top Trending Game of Quarantine
Isabelle, Tom Nook and others return in the Nintendo game, “Animal Crossing: New Horizons.” Photo By GameSpot
By Elise Coby
Staff Writer
Ever since the launch of GameCube’s “Animal Crossing” series in 2001, it has grown and expanded in many ways. Created by Katsuya Eguchi and published through Nintendo, Animal Crossing is a game in which a social simulation allows for interactions with residents, friends and power figures of a customizable town. It is said to be one of the most important games to play right now and a great escape from the anguish and frustration so many of us have been feeling as of late due to the coronavirus pandemic.
After nearly eight years, the Animal Crossing series has released its newest game, “Animal Crossing: New Horizons.” It is the same as the other games in the Crossing series, such as “Animal Crossing: New Leaf” and “Animal Crossing: Wild World,” with New Horizons still being about waking up each day, making friends with local animal characters, laying out furniture in your home and donating dinosaur fossils to the nearby museum.
While New Horizons still keeps the traditional aspects of past games, there are expansions upon those features such as interactions with the new island environment, crafting new items such as tools and decorations in a new system and even creation of personalized magazine spreads. With these new improvements, there is more player control than ever before.
“New Horizons makes enormous changes to the island construction process, putting me in complete control over every major decision. I decide the location of the housing plot for every new villager before they even move in. I decide where the museum and the shop will be built. If I don’t like where I placed my house initially, I can move it for a modest fee,” said Russ Frushtick in a recent Polygon review. “Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a much-needed escape from everything.”
While New Horizons provides advancements in the structure of the game, it also updated the actual appearance and sound of the game. This is not surprising given it is on Nintendo’s most up-to-date console, but it is thus far the most visually pleasing game. Aspects such as textures, lighting and animation appear much more sharp, smooth and colorful. There are sound advancements; for example, the atmospheric music and sound effects are equally as satisfying, creating a calm and relaxing feeling while playing the game.
A large appeal that Animal Crossing provides players with is the satisfaction of everyday tasks such as watering plants, fishing, socializing, gardening and even home improvement tasks. In lieu of the COVID-19 quarantine across the world, the game is a great way to simulate everyday life and provides players with a sort of “satisfaction” in completing those tasks. The game is a great way to keep people occupied for long periods of time while subconsciously providing a sense of accomplishment right from their living room couch.
While this new release has many exciting advancements, it has been described as “slow and steady.” One is granted a new town to personally develop, but it comes with limited action in the beginning. This is because the purpose of the game is to establish new connections that will ultimately allow the player to gain certain materials, shops and affordances as the game proceeds. This being said, the expansion and development of the game require patience, and as the game progresses, the more it will pick up.
Emma Boyle’s article “Animal Crossing: New Horizons review” from TechRadar suggests a similar response: “This does mean your first few hours spent in the game can feel somewhat underwhelming as you can’t access every area of your island straight away and it’s a little sparse, both socially and in its infrastructure. Within a mere couple of days of play, however, we were scouring every inch of land, greeting new neighbors, marveling at the newly constructed museum and wallpapering our very own brick home, so the initial gating doesn’t go on long enough to feel constrictive.”
Amidst the weight of the virus and the unpleasant feelings it is causing for everyone, the release of this distracting and stress relieving game is exactly what we all need right now.