Animal Crossing: New Horizons Official Thread (March 20)

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This is an Animal Crossing game through and through, and although that comes with some time-based frustrations, that urge to just spend 'five more minutes' on your island deepens with every passing day. As your island evolves and starts to drip-feed fresh things to discover and see, you'll have the urge to check up on your toe bean-boasting critters on a daily basis more than ever before. Animal Crossing: New Horizons has perfected the gameplay loop the series is famed for, and somehow manages to keep its steady pace relevant in a world where there are plenty of genre rivals. Prepare yourself for spending many a year to come with Tom Nook and co.

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New Horizons’ early hook is that you’ve signed up for a Tom Nook-arranged trip to a deserted island (you’re no longer visiting an established animal village). Here, you set down roots and eventually build a brand-new community of animal friends. There’s a fun roughing-it together vibe throughout, which is a refreshing change of pace from being the new kid in town. The early hours almost play like a survival game, albeit one without life-or-death stakes. Even so, you’re in charge of your own fate in some significant new ways. You choose where you want to put your home, and you also get to designate plots of land for the other residents and services. I liked being able to control my island’s fate, especially since I had my own vision for how best to maximize the randomly generated landscape. Much of your island is likely to be off limits when you start, thanks to an abundance of rivers and cliffs. I was thrilled to get the tools to cross those areas, and even happier when I could place permanent solutions like ramps and bridges.

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While Animal Crossing is a series that has always prided itself on its open-ended nature, New Horizons is built around continuous progression. In past games, you arrived in towns that had already been established. Here, everything is new. You'll start with just yourself, your two neighbors, Tom, Timmy, Tommy, and the dodo brothers Orville and Wilbur. The latter two are new characters who man the island's airport. That's it. There's no museum, no Nook's Cranny, no shop for Sable and Mable. To get all that and so much more, you'll need to complete tasks and collect items for crafting.

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