SPOILER-FREE REVIEW
A soothing life sim with plentiful diversions, immense creative freedom, and lots of charm, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the definitive escapist experience.
If there’s ever been any better proof that video games can be a positive force than Animal Crossing: New Horizons, then I have yet to see it. As we hunker down inside our homes waiting for better days to come, it has served as a soothing balm for frayed nerves and cabin fever. Whether it’s fencing off land to construct a new house, watering flowers, or fishing by a waterfall, New Horizons always manages to lift my mood and cheer me up. But it’s also more than that; even when I’m doing good, I still find myself picking up my Switch and booting up this game. There’s always something to do but there’s never anything I have to do, and there’s never been a better place to escape.
New Horizons kicks off by upending a series tradition. Having moved to a desert island after purchasing a getaway package from Tom Nook, your task is no longer about becoming part of a community, but about building one up from scratch. You start off living in tents around a tiny town square made of dirt, and over many real-time days and no small amount of hard work, you gradually build it up into a bustling island paradise in the hopes of making new friends, getting a five-star island evaluation and maybe even getting the renowned travelling musician K.K. Slider to play a concert there.
The game is geared towards progression from tiny hamlet to seaside town, but it’s generally pretty chill. If you prefer living the quieter, more rustic lifestyle, you can hold off. Even if you do continue developing, the game’s glacial real-time pace means there’s plenty of time to do the things you enjoy after you’ve completed the minor chores you’ve chosen for yourself. I’ve seen some complaints that the real-time progression can be onerous, but in my experience, New Horizons is following series tradition in being a slow-burning game that pays off days, weeks or even months later. Having to wait a day for someone new to move in or for construction to be completed didn’t feel like a big deal. It’s a true pleasure to be able to play something as slow, steady and relatively undemanding as this game. On some days, I played it for hours. On others, I dipped into it for fifteen minutes and the development of my island never felt like it suffered. It avoids offering hard objectives, opting instead for guidance that gently nudges you in the right direction.
There’s plenty to do: fishing, catching bugs, picking fruit, planting trees, the list goes on. All of that contributes towards developing your island community; donating fish, bugs and fossils allows you to open a museum for example, while selling fruit and other items earns you Bells, one of the game’s two currencies, which you use to fund new construction. New Horizons keeps track of a wide variety of stats. Reaching particular milestones awards you Miles, a new currency which you can redeem for special items and unlocks, including inventory expansion and air tickets which let you fly out to uninhabited islands to grab extra resources. If you’re lucky, you might even find a new pal who you can ask to come and set up a house on your main island.
The game provides a steady stream of both currencies, so things don’t dry up too quickly, striking the perfect balance between keeping your attention while remaining laidback. Visitors show up regularly, offering new shops (the infamous turnip market is one of these) and new challenges like the recent fishing challenge offered by a fast-talking otter influencer. The game’s first event, Bunny Day, whose implementation was ever so slightly overzealous, has just passed and there’s more like it coming soon, so there’s always something new in town. Regardless, you can do what you want when you want, with little to no pressure. I’ve spent a few hours just sitting on a log bench by a campfire just listening to the game’s gentle guitar soundtrack blend with the sound of the waves lapping on the beach.
Creative freedom is central to this game’s design. Your island is already a pretty nice place when you first get there, with free next-day shipping, the opportunity to grow literal money trees and an extremely flexible loan repayment policy: a lowkey suggestion that Tom Nook might really be in the offshore tax haven business. But you can customise it to your heart’s content. There’s no shortage of new furniture recipes to learn and craft, and you can spruce up your island with a truly impressive array of hand-crafted furniture and décor, from simple wooden rocking chairs to town fountains and even a statue of Godzilla, if you’re so inclined. With customisation kits, you can even change up the style of your stuff, including changing colours and types of wood. This is where the game guarantees rewards for persistence. I’ll likely still be decorating my island months from now. In the game’s later stages, you can construct bridges and ramps, and even earn permits that let you reshape your island’s terrain. Ever built your own waterfall? With enough Bells, New Horizons lets you.
The game is also technically spectacular. Taking advantage of the Switch’s ability to complement and accentuate colourful art designs, New Horizons looks incredible whether it’s on the TV or in handheld mode. The island’s rich primary colours pop off the screen, and every little animation shows incredible attention to detail and a commitment to maximise wholesomeness. The leaves in the trees rustle in the evening breeze while rivers and lakes reflect a distorted image of a starry night sky at night. The game’s anthropomorphic animal characters are almost ridiculously adorable, with little hints at the lives they live when you’re not around. Wandering through the main plaza, I’ve seen my villagers exercise in pairs or burst into song, and I’ve caught Isabelle smelling the flowers behind her desk in the town hall more than once. The little details are guaranteed to bring a smile to any face.
My complaints are few. Aside from the minor inconvenience of breakable tools and the conspicuous lack of a tool hit indicator, they’re mostly limited to the (optional) multiplayer and other technical inconsistencies. Most annoying is the lack of cloud saves. Like many people, I’ve put good time into my island and the risk of losing it all forever in some kind of freak accident is not a prospect I relish. Aside from that, the game limits you to one island per Switch console. For those of you who share a Switch with others, the first to get into the game and roll an island wins the prize. Other users have little control over the existing island’s resources and absolutely no control over progression, which is managed exclusively by the first player. This didn’t impact me directly since I mostly play alone, but it’s certainly something to be aware of, so buyer beware.
But don’t be too cautious. Minor flaws aside, this is quite possibly the most relaxing, most wholesome game ever produced. We drop a lot of the games we review after we play them, but with New Horizons, I’m already doing the exact opposite. I’m still hammering down fences, going fishing and catching bugs, and waiting eagerly to see what Nintendo has in store for Earth Day and beyond. There’s a lot to do, and I’ve had such a relaxing time with the game so far that it’s guaranteed I’ll be there for what comes next.
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