Animal Crossing New Horizons Update 2.0 and Happy Home Paradise First Thoughts

The Animal Crossing New Horizons 2.0 update came out on Wednesday night, surprising everyone. And then the Happy Home Paradise DLC came out on Friday. Now that they both are here and I’ve played them some, here are my first thoughts on these new additions to the game.

Back when Animal Crossing New Horizons came out, I gave the game a 10 out of 10. I was wrong. The game was really good and I was (still am) a major fan of the series. So I was majorly biased. The gameplay, at least, should’ve been a 9.5. It became obvious, as the game progressed, that there were things from the last game missing and tons of potential for new stuff.

Don’t get me wrong, New Horizons was still a fun game in the beginning. However now…

Now its a truly amazing game. I wish I could score it higher than a 10 but we don’t have a score higher. All I can say is that the game 100% deserves the 10 out of 10 now.

Why?

The update came out on Wednesday night and then the paid DLC (Happy Home Paradise) came out on Friday. Both of these updates to New Horizons are huge. Data mines suggest that there are over 9000 plus new items in the update alone. There’s even more in the DLC.

Its not just the new items though.

The update added more farming, a cafe in the museum, new shops, new interactions with the animals…basically it just added so much stuff that New Horizons almost feels like the sequel to the game that came out last year!

And then there’s the paid DLC, Happy Home Paradise…

This DLC adds in a totally new area for players to visit. You take up a job designing vacation homes for animals.

Nintendo could have easily made this a separate game. In fact, Happy Home Designer on the 3DS had a similar concept and it was its own game. Instead, Happy Home Paradise is apart of New Horizons and it totally fits in.

The interactions between the two, so far, are pretty good too. You can actually take animals from your own town over to the DLC. Not only that, but items you get and abilities you learn can go back to your town.

Plus, you can fly directly from Paradise to Harvey’s Island or back home. Its amazing.

Oh and to switch gears, Harvey’s Island is finally useful. I love being able to get shops there and I have a reason to actually go visit the place.

There’s so much to do in the update and DLC that I’m not even covering it all here. Before the update and DLC, New Horizons was starting to be all about playing with my friends online and checking on my town a little bit. Now, I’m constantly playing the game. I go online, I farm, I go to work, and so much more. I don’t imagine that I’ll be slowing down anytime soon.

Whew. Thats a lot. I will write about this update (and dlc) again soon!

Thank you Nintendo!