Animal Crossing: New Horizons Review-in-progress
Animal Crossing: New Horizons -in-progress
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Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the first ever HD Animal Crossing game. There have been two portable AC games and two console ones. New Horizons is the first one to ever be both. Fans and newcomers alike have had high expectations for this game. So, does it live up to the hype? Here is our review-in-progress of Animal Crossing: New Horizons for the Nintendo Switch!
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the fifth game in its series. It is also the very first HD Animal Crossing. Not only that but the game has changed a bit; the gameplay has evolved. What do this mean for fans and new players?
EVER CHANGING ISLAND
The island you start with at the beginning of New Horizons will look very different even after playing only a few days.
When you start New Horizons, there is nothing on the island expect you, Tom Nook and family, and two other animals. Then you start getting visitors and before you know it, you have a full blown museum!
I’ve only been playing New Horizons for a little while so as of this writing, I have only scratched the surface of what New Horizons has to offer.
Think back to the Animal Crossing: New Horizons Nintendo Direct. There were multiple shops, a bunch of animals, lots of stuff outside, and terraforming!
I have not seen the terraforming yet. I don’t know how it works or how good it works. This feature could make or break the game. I have no idea. I do know that I’m looking forward to seeing it a lot.
For right now though, I’m really enjoying the games day-to-day progress. It also helps a lot that you have Nook Miles in this game.
Nook Miles is a new feature to this Animal Crossing game. You can earn these “miles” by just doing what you usually do in Animal Crossing: fishing, bug hunting, and more. The miles can be exchanged for a bunch of goodies. I won’t spoil them.
Oh and another thing I should mention. This is a huge game changer: the crafting! New Horizons is the first Animal Crossing where you can make your own tools and furniture and its a blast. I love this feature.
And if you are terribly lonely on that island with just you, Nook, and some animals, why not invite a friend to visit your island?
VISITING OTHERS
At first, I was just playing local multiplayer with my dad. That works perfect!
Then I decided I should check out the online multiplayer. The first couple of times that I ventured out, I did get some errors. And there was one time when I was disconnected but thanks to the autosave, I did keep some progress!
But after all that, the online multiplayer started working great. Now I go to visit other people’s islands all the time. I even visited our editor-in-chief Adam Roffel’s island. Here’s a picture as proof:
Today I opened my island for the first time and had no trouble at all. Three different guests stopped by. It was a blast!
I love the handy best friend feature. I am addicted to sending letters to my Animal Crossing friends too (and receiving them).
The online and local features in New Horizons are awesome. I have not tried out the same console local feature because we are a multi-Switch house. I may check it out in a feature review-in-progress post.
I am having so much fun with this game! It is so great. And you know what’s also great? New Horizon‘s graphics are great.
STUNNING GRAPHICS
The graphics in New Horizons continue to blow my mind. Animal Crossing looks amazing in HD. I have only been playing the game in portable mode so far. I will update you in the future about how it looks on the TV. For now, let me just say: if you love playing games in portable mode, then you’ll be really happy with New Horizons!
Everything from the characters (HD animals) to the island look fantastic. All of it is so detailed, right down to what each character wears and the leaves that fall out of trees. Each item you’ll put in your tent/house is a wonder to look at. And the shadows in this game will shock you. It seems like everything that can go outside has a shadow. Nintendo really put their all into the game’s graphics. They put their all into its sound too.
WHEN WILL K.K. SLIDER VISIT?
I’ve seen K.K. Slider once in New Horizons but he hasn’t visited my town on Saturday nights yet. I miss him.
But don’t worry: there are still plenty of good tunes to be heard from K.K. in your house. The music outside, at any time of the day, is wonderful too. The sound effects are pretty great.
New Horizons is absolutely a must have game!
NOT DONE YET
This is absolutely not our final review of Animal Crossing New Horizons. There is still so much to see and do in this game. We will continue to provide review-in-progress articles on New Horizons as much as possible.
Even in this early stage though, I can say that New Horizons is a must have game. It is one of the best games on the Nintendo Switch. Go get it now!
Thanks to Nintendo Canada for providing a digital code for this review. Animal Crossing: New Horizons is now available on the Nintendo Switch eshop.
Overall: 10/10
Graphics: 10
Sound: 10
Gameplay: 10
Article By Daniel Fugate
Daniel Fugate has wanted to be a writer since he was seven years old. He has a bachelor's degree in English and he's a huge Animal Crossing fan. The Wii U and 3DS are currently his favorite video game systems!
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Twitter: @df2506