NintendoAnimal Crossing: New Horizons offers hours of fun all year round, but as veteran gamers will know, things get even more exciting when the events of the game take over your beautiful island.
As expected, the festive season is a particularly joyous time – this weekend there have been many social media users sharing videos of their island New Year’s Eve countdowns as we entered 2021 and Christmas events like Toy Day made the long wait for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve a little more bearable. Even players had the opportunity to enjoy seasonal food to celebrate.
But unfortunately, not everyone will have been able to enjoy these events. It turns out that in order for these events to be played into play, players must reach a certain point of progression when it comes to building their island and opening the City Hall. Depending on how you choose to play, it may take a while to complete and anyone who still doesn’t meet the requirements won’t be able to see any of these special events in any form or form.
Normally, this may not seem like a big deal: unlocking more content by getting tasks within the game is rewarding, right? – But what about all the new players who have been given a copy of the game over the holiday season, possibly assuming they can join Nintendo’s celebrations advertising?
For Nintendo Life reader Dennis, this exact situation caused disappointment to the whole family:
“My wife and two kids love Animal Crossing and we all have a copy of New Leaf on our 3DS systems. We especially enjoyed the Christmas and New Year events. We only had one Nintendo Switch, so we had no game there, until Christmas, where I surprised my wife and children with a Switch Lite each, including Animal Crossing.
We really wanted to play at the Christmas and New Year events at New Horizons … We played for hours every day, but at Christmas and New Year nothing happened on our islands. No gifts, no countdown, not even a mention.
It turns out that for any event-related event, you need to level up in the city center. My wife played more every day and we got it on January 2nd, my kids and I are still there. Therefore, for anyone who had a Switch and Animal Crossing for Christmas, it was IMPOSSIBLE to participate in the Christmas and New Year events. What a disappointment. There was nothing for the new players, not even a mention or anything else. “
A quick chat on Nintendo Life HQ reveals that a young family member also fell out of trouble during the holidays, as they had not yet completed the necessary tasks. Progression and unlocking of content have been a major thing in games for as long as we can remember, so it’s hard to complain about the practice used here, but it could be considered a blockade of new players out of special weather-specific events by Nintendo, especially around the holidays?
Did you find a similar problem with New Horizons this holiday? Had you already played enough to watch the celebrations? Feel free to share your experiences in the comments below.