WhenAnimal Crossing: New Horizonshit the market in March 2020, it introduced players to anAnimal Crossingexperience unlike anything they had seen before. TheAnimal Crossingformula was quite simple before 2020: transporting players to a quaint village inhabited by critters with different personalities. Catching bugs, paying off a home loan, and whacking aesthetically unpleasing villagers with a net in hopes that they would leave became the blueprint that players became fond of for a little over ten years.New Leafprovided a slight remix of the concept in 2012, giving players some control by making them the mayor of an equally recognizable village—the same script, with some new features. ButAnimal Crossing: New Horizonshad its eyes set on rewriting the belovedAnimal Crossingscript. The latest installment of the franchise placed players on a deserted island instead of a village and granted them the maximum expression of creativity with an almost fully customizable town.
Animal Crossing: New Horizonsachieved great success due to its enhanced experience for new players and its launch during a period when people sought connection amidst a global pandemic. Quite literally,New HorizonsreinventedAnimal Crossing’s already successful formula, launching it to new heights that made it worthy of being considered one of the best life-sims of all time. However, with new horizons come new expectations that may be hard to meet. Long-timeAnimal Crossingfans have their eyes and hopes set on the inevitableSwitch 2Animal Crossinggame. It’s only a matter of time until an announcement graces their ears. With the dramatic makeover thatAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsbrought to the series, it’s entirely plausible that fans might be expecting strides as bold as the game’s ambitions. However, there might be some glass ceilings set byNew Horizonsthat may actually be a little hard to break.
The New Animal Crossing May Struggle to Improve on Design Freedom
Animal Crossing: New Horizonsimpressed both franchise veterans and newcomers with the number of customization options available. With many wishlist boxes marked off at once,New Horizonswas able to provide players with expanded choices when it came to making their island their own:from terraforming an entireNew Horizonsislandto making a cute island representative. However, by fulfilling so many long-standing player requests, the game may have already delivered the definitive customization experience. This means that the next entry might struggle to improve on any of the features noted below in a meaningful way.
Island Customization Reached Its Peak
WithNew Horizons,Animal Crossingplayers gained unprecedented control over their island’s landscape. Terraforming tools allowed players to shape cliffs, rivers, and waterfalls to their heart’s content, while a massive selection of outdoor furniture and custom path options helped define the aesthetic of each unique island. For a franchise once limited to strict town layouts, this was a massive leap forward. However, the introduction of such deep customization raises the question of where the series can go beyond this milestone. When players can already design everything from a rustic village to a tropical paradise, Nintendo may struggle to addmeaningful innovations inAnimal Crossing’s island customizationwithout becoming entirely overwhelming for new players.
Diminishing Returns for Home Upgrades
In earlierAnimal Crossinggames, upgrading a house was one of the main motivators for collecting Bells. Each expansion felt significant and came with new design possibilities.New Horizonscontinued this tradition but added so many decorative tools outside the home that the outside of a home began to feel equally important as the inside. While theexterior options were not as expansive asNew Leaf’s, they became crucial to an island’s aesthetic. Unless future titles find a way to tie home upgrades to gameplay mechanics or introduce systems like functional room types (e.g., kitchens, workshops), players may feel less excited about homes altogether.
Full Control Over Villager Homes
New Horizons’ Happy Home Paradise DLC gave players a creative playground where they could design dream homes for every villager, unlocking new furniture, floor plans, and layout mechanics in the process. This expansion wasn’t just a fun diversion. It reshaped what players expect from home customization. Suddenly, fans weren’t just decorating their own spaces; they were transforming the entire residential experience of the game. And with features like partition walls, accent walls, lighting adjustments, and ceiling decor, it offered interior design tools more powerful than those in the base game. This may mean that the nextAnimal Crossingneeds tomakeHappy Home Paradisecontent base-game content.
DIY Crafting Already Covers Everything
One ofNew Horizons’ most celebrated innovations was its expansion of player agency, especially through its crafting system. For the first time in franchise history, players weren’t just buying or unlocking furniture; they were building it from scratch, collecting materials, and learning recipes tied to events, seasons, and villagers. This new mechanic added a layer of progression and purpose to daily gameplay loops and a list ofsought-after DIY items inNew Horizon. However, like many ofNew Horizons’ biggest swings, its success has come with a tradeoff: the next game may have little room left to meaningfully evolve this system.
Recipes Saturated the System
When DIY crafting was first introduced inNew Horizons, it felt like a refreshing twist on the franchise’s traditional item acquisition methods. Suddenly, players were foraging for materials, crafting seasonal items, and customizing furniture with paint and patterns. But as the game matured, the once-exciting DIY system became oversaturated. Players quickly found themselves drowning in duplicate recipes, hunting endlessly formissing DIY blueprints, and hoarding stacks of wood, iron, and stone just in case. The initial novelty faded into tedium.
Now that the game boasts hundreds of recipes across events, biomes, and personalities, it’s hard to imagine how a sequel could expand crafting without simply piling on more of the same. A handful of new materials or seasonal items wouldn’t be enough to rekindle interest, and adding too many could make the system even more bloated. The crafting system’s sheer volume is already difficult to manage without a complete overhaul to inventory, sorting, and recipe discovery.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
WHERE TO PLAY
Escape to a deserted island and create your own paradise as you explore, create, and customize in the Animal Crossing: New Horizons game. Your island getaway has a wealth of natural resources that can be used to craft everything from tools to creature comforts. You can hunt down insects at the crack of dawn, decorate your paradise throughout the day, or enjoy sunset on the beach while fishing in the ocean. The time of day and season match real life, so each day on your island is a chance to check in and find new surprises all year round.Show off your island utopia to family and friends—or pack your bags and visit theirs. Whether playing online** or with others beside you***, island living is even better when you can share it. Even without hopping on a flight, you’ll meet a cast of charming animal residents bursting with personality. Friendly faces like Tom Nook and Isabelle will lend their services and happily help you grow your budding community. Escape to your island getaway—however, whenever, and wherever you want.
