Nintendo LifeAfter a long and tiring old year, Animal Crossing: New Horizons needs a shot. No, not the arm shot that is currently being developed all over the planet with varying degrees of alacrity; we’re talking about a caffeine shot from the series ’roasted bean juice supplier, Brewster.
The damn coffee from everyone’s favorite barista is perhaps the most obvious and most “significant” element of previous games that fans are desperate to return. After 365 days of updates both small and large, we honestly thought there would already be everything in the game, but the huge success of the game seems to have caught Nintendo suspiciously and there are indications that the company might be looking to keep the ball rolling with new updates and tweaks for the upcoming annual events (Bunny Day, for example, already has news this year) and can add more facilities and mechanics to the game during its sophomore year.
We looked at the things we’d like to see updated almost close to the release and brainstormed about some deeper features that we wouldn’t mind seeing added in May as well. A full year since the launch, some requested additions have arrived: Crazy Redd purchased its products on your desert islands in April, for example, and additional custom design plans are now available at the first update of ‘birthday, although others are still AWOL
So take a break and take a look at the things we’re most interested in seeing that come to the horizon as the game ends in its second year on Switch. There’s a poll at the bottom, so let us know what you’d like to see …
Brewster’s Roost
One of the most sought after items still missing in New Horizons, the ability to get to The Roost and grab a cup of Joe from Brewster, has been greatly missed by AC fans. Maybe we just need our ear ready for a bar to pour out our blocking problems, or maybe we just want to relax in some relaxing “coos” as we pluck our Arabica from the Colombian foothills.
Either way, we desperately expect Nintendo to have a pigeon up its sleeve for the 2.0 update. We would gladly deliver coffee to the island given the opportunity and of course some appropriate rewards.
Resetti, Gracie, Dr. Shrunk, Wendell and other special characters
© Nintendo LifeThe list of special characters who have not yet appeared on our desert islands is long. Resetti is safe, persistent (as an employee of Nook Inc.’s rescue service, no more and no less), but he actually has someone seen he in shape not statue?
Wandell the Walrus wandering is one of our favorites, but we’d love to catch fashionista Gracie in our plaza; similarly, insurance salesman Lyle, Katrina the Fortune Teller or top psychiatrist / comedian Dr. Shrunk. After last year, we could all do it with a laugh, if not with some time on the couch, right?
Gyroids
© NintendoThe NL team is divided over whether the Gyroids are deliciously crazy little collectibles or baffling, dead-eyed figures that we’re thrilled to see on the back. Still, some time ago we asked Nintendo Life readers if they would like to see Gyroids return and the answer was a resounding yes.
So yes! Why not? We fill our islands with more shit fabulous items!
Tortimer Island and more multiplayer activities
Improvements in the online component of the game, specifically with regard to the hoops through which you will have to jump to get out of your island and the a time-intensive process to get more than one person to visit your island, maybe ask you a little. Nintendo has made it clear that a fast and fluid online experience is low on the priority list; what is there may be awkward ones compared to other online experiences, but it’s just about features. Sounds good enough is good enough. It’s not as if awkward online features have done a lot of harm to sales.
In the absence of a more thorough online review, we would love to see Tortimer return, potentially in his role as Animal crossroads: new leaf island’s leading tourist, which could introduce a lot of mini-games, focused on multiplayer or otherwise in New Horizons. The May Day maze event with the return of Rover was one of our favorite events so far (although you preferred Halloween and Toy Day), so any extension of this theme would be most welcome.
Batch creation
Fish bait. That’s right, we just want to make fish bait faster! When we are trying to hunt Golden Trout or Stringfish, crafting fish bait in batches instead of getting an RSI with the “A” button would be a lifesaver. Or a saving of hands, at least.
The ability to draw in batches. That’s it, Nintendo. Come on, throw us a bone here! Even multiples of ten would save our precious digits from a horrible beat. You want us to keep buying game stuff from our staff, right? We players have to take care of ourselves and not help us.
More critters to catch
After spending an entire year capturing fish insects and finally sea creatures, many players will have completed their Critterpedia and captured absolutely every creature in the game. For many, hunting everything marks the end of the game, so adding a new batch of insects or marine life can be a way to attract players.
Of course, you don’t want to overwhelm newbies. If we were commissioned to expand the catchable critters in an update, we would probably have a special NPC once you got 100% of your Critterpedia to give news of new animals to catch. Maybe a new type of tree or flower would attract new insects to your island. Perhaps a special sonar device will help identify previously “hidden” fish. Or what about receiving a golden ticket to a new tropical island full of your own bespoke wildlife, ready to catalog it? How about some bird watching?
They don’t sell us the idea of critters of different sizes, nor would we want Animal Crossing to become Pokémon (we don’t want them to catch male and female fish, or bright versions of standard critters … can you imagine ?!), but we would love a reason to take out the insect net and fishing rod again.
The possibility of changing the resident representative
Nintendo LifeIt could have taken a while, but Nintendo ended up updating the game to make it possible to transfer your island to a new Switch using the island’s special transfer tool. You can also move individual players to other islands if they are not the island representative, but it is currently not yet possible to change the resident representative of an island.
Why might you want to do this? Well, let’s say you bought New Horizons for one of your kids and turned them into the main player. Fast forward a month and they lost interest – it turns out you or someone else is playing the game more these days. Unfortunately, the “progress” of the islands (the ability to build new structures, pay the mortgage, etc.) is tied to the resident rep, so you’re forced to play like them if you want to get things done.
For some people, this addition would not make much of a difference; for others, it would be transformative.
Old Nintendo or Arcade consoles.
© Nintendo LifeOkay, listen to us on this topic. Everyone wants the NES games from the original No animals back, but anyone who pays a Nintendo Switch Online subscription already has access to it, right? So why not combine the two in a way that makes sense for Nintendo in 2021 – if you buy the NES and SNES at the Nook store and make them at home, you’ll get a special Animal Crossing “wrapper” to play to the NSO? NES / SNES games are now available. Easy!
If Nintendo wanted to go to the city and install an arcade building on our islands, we would too. But since we can already buy the normal Switch, the Animal Crossing brand Switch and now Switch Lites (exclusive to NSO subscribers, no more and no less) in the game, why not the NES, SNES and any other retro console that may appear as part of Nintendo Switch Online in the future? They would look great in our home with all of Mario’s 25th birthday items.
Do you still play Animal Crossing a Switch? Would any of the above additions include you again? One-off non-annual events, perhaps? What would keep you fresh from New Horizons when the game enters its second year at the peak of the 2.0 update? Let us know with a comment below.
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