3.5/5 ★ – Bulky_Bob's review of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Animal Crossing has a tight grip on my life. I’ve grown up with the series since I was the age of 7, starting with the first on GameCube. Since then, I’ve owned every single mainline game and spent countless hours in each. So many memories with friends, ones I hold near and dear. With that, this one also slipped it’s way into the depths of my mind, placing itself nicely within my core memories. As it was for many, this release was a lifeline. I still remember that night, I was way too excited to play and couldn’t wait to pick up my preorder after work, so I purchased a digital copy to play at midnight. From that moment, I couldn’t put it down. My initial impressions were extremely positive. The first few weeks of the game were so fun and fresh because it felt extremely different. You were quite literally building this island from the ground up. In previous entries you’d be coming to an already established town; albeit, not always in the best shape but a developed and lived in one. With the addition of crafting mechanics, things felt more personal. I was finding what I needed for every new tool or project, exploring each corner of the island, planning what I was going to do next. Everything was coming together from my hard work! I loved this part of the game. And then graphics, OH MY. So much eye candy and a lot of little details, one of my favorites being the wind. Trees and flowers shaking in intensity depending on the weather, plants inside reacting to the fans you put up — even reacting to oscillating ones accurately. Nook Miles were also a very welcomed mechanic, pretty much achievements/tasks that earn in game currency for special items or upgrades. It’s gratifying to complete them and get your dated stamp, really gets those dopamine receptors poppin’. Once you have your core buildings made, it starts to feel like just another Animal Crossing game but with more customization options. Your island can almost completely be terraformed to your liking, buildings moved wherever, creating furniture with color variants and custom pattern options. I’ve spent many hours doing these things, it’s fun to me! But to some, it’s a bit too much. Say you’re not the creative type and just looking to chill on your island as is; you’re just going to have that core experience you’ve always known. As a newcomer this isn’t so bad. But as a seasoned Animal Crossing enjoyer, well… this is where the cracks start to show. Personally, I felt at launch, the furniture options were DISAPPOINTING and even after updates, it still didn’t feel up to par with what came before. New Leaf spoiled me. It had all the classic furnitures that had been in each game up to that point and even more added in to boot. And what, no Nook Shop upgrades after the one? This was something that I always looked forward to that felt stripped away for no reason. When it came to multiplayer options, there was nothing to do! Why did the last game have fun mini games to play with friends at launch but this didn’t? What were we supposed to do with each other besides show off our islands? Speaking of updates, that was such a weird decision. I understand, triple A games are extremely difficult to create and crunch culture is horrible. But when your game needs updates to add things included in previous titles already, it doesn’t feel very fresh. It just feels like an arbitrary way to get us coming back. And that promise of long term support through updates? Out the window after the first year. That always rubbed me the wrong way. Sure they added new and interest things like cooking, vegetables, and a new type of island tour. But here’s a list of things that were in older titles, brought later in updates: swimming, gyroids, Leif, Kapp’n, art gallery, the Roost. These were the ones I could think of off the top of my head. It was kinda sad to get excited for things I’ve already experienced in previous titles. Anyway, it seems as though I don’t like this game very much, but that isn’t true. I’ve spent 430 hours in it and have gone through two islands so far. But this game, at launch, was super barebones. And at the time I was excited for new updates, but taking a step back — it felt bare minimum at times. I hope the next entry has a fuller, fleshed out launch with more activities to do with friends and more legacy content. This game series continues to breathe new life into me every few years, it’s my comfort game. I don’t like being disappointed by it.