Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Nintendo Switch

Literally the chillest game I have ever played, if you want to take a load off after a long day and relax this is the best game to do so. It never fails to put a smile on my face. So much to do and will you keep you coming back everyday. A must own for switch owners!

I went into this game with hesitations about it. I didn’t like the graphics too much at first and I feared the game was really starting to stray from the core of Animal Crossing. But when I started playing New Horizons for the first time, about an hour into it I really started to fall in love with the game and I realized that Nintendo is still being true to the core of Animal Crossing. I am addicted now. I love how much they have added, there is a lot to do. I ended up liking the graphics too. Music is subpar but I think that’s because I love the Gamecube and Wild World soundtracks lol. Definitely worth buying, it is potentially even better than New Leaf. And yes, it is one island per console but that was how it was with City Folk so I’m not sure why everyone is so outraged

Ho boy. Im not sure where to begin. There is really a lot to say about the long awaited addition to the Animal Crossing family and to be fair, some of it is positive. To be honest, plenty of the criticism is deserved as well. As a mother of four kids and a fan of the game myself (yep, I played it on the wii and fell in love. The ONLY video game Ive ever truly been a fan of- what can I say? It helps me de-stress!), Im not going to pull any punches when I say that the one island per Switch thing is ridiculous and could in fact damage future development and/or releases. This is a deal breaker for a lot of families. We went ahead and bought the game knowing this was an issue but were hoping to give it a try. After all, we shared City Folk just fine. But one of the main issues is that the person who starts the game sort of gets everything and takes over the development of the island while the other players are just kind of left in the dust for a while. Sure, they still gain points, manage their homes, get DIY plans, but everything they do comes slower, fewer, and is held up by the first player. Theyre not really creating their own story- theyre following in the shadows of the story the first player started. I say that as the first player of our game and it stinks. I would have loved to have passed on some of the challenges and rewards to my kids to complete but instead I just felt rushed to get as much done as possible so they could progress as well. Another interesting tidbit- and many wont care about this but conservative parents might so Im mentioning it for them- are the few LGBT references in the American or English version of the game. The Japanese version strangely doesnt contain these references but they were included in the English version and this is notable to me. I firmly believe in equal rights but in what is very much a childrens game with talking animals, I fail to understand how it was necessary to include these references. Why do sexual preferences even need to play a part in a game such as this? Without warning, the creators have chosen to include references that feel out of place and a bit like pandering. Im left scratching my head and wondering, Why? And if it was so important to include, why was it left out of other versions? Cant we decide what we deem appropriate for our home and kids rather than having Nintendo make a blanket determination of our culture and then plopping something into the game that they wont even include in their countrys version? Its just an odd choice for this type of game. If this seems vague, search it out. The information about this is available. Another issue along these lines is the deletion of gender. Im aware that there was a group of people that wanted non-binary options in the game, but it seems that gender pronouns have been erased entirely in only the US version. Players are referred to as they and their by the animals. This is probably my biggest gripe. There is a VERY small population of the US that identifies as completely non-binary. Of that group, its another small population that plays animal crossing, but any references to she and he have been replaced in the game with they. My entire family would prefer to have our pronouns of she or he used but, so far, this is not an option. It would be great if we could at least choose to have standard pronouns acknowledged rather than erasing the option entirely. An update would take care of this. As far as some of the changes, like crafting your own tools, there is good and bad. It can be fun to get new plans for building and it adds an element of excitement as the game progresses. However, it can be incredibly tedious trying to constantly gather resources for the many tasks you will have thrown at you. And as the first player, you will be hogging resources the other players will need as well and there simply arent enough to go around at first. I quickly grew tired of having to gather, gather, gather for Nooks demands when I really wanted to just explore the island. But much of your exploration largely depends on getting those things done. Also, some islands start off with only about a quarter or less of the island available to build on. We stupidly chose one of those not realizing we wouldnt have access to the rest of the island for a while. This meant we had to place four human player tents, two animal tents, the museum, and Nooks nephews shop all in the same tiny area. Needless to say, some of us are relocating as soon as that becomes an option because were all horribly cramped into one space. Keep in mind, relocating is expensive. It becomes more expensive as the game progresses and you gain more control over the islands design. As for some of the positives, the graphics are lovely and pleasing. The island setting is fun and the water, the sounds, the scenery are awesome. This makes for delightful game play. They nailed the sound of rain, the distant rumble of thunder, the wind picking up in the afternoon- such fun elements!! Visiting other islands is a cool bonus even if it does get a bit tedious when four islands in a row are pretty much the same, but its a great way to pick up resources. The animal characters are more interactive, have more personality, and are fun to watch as they seem to do their own thing rather than walk around aimlessly. In spite of its flaws, there is something delightful and addictive about the game. Some fun bonuses: tarantulas are a bit easier to catch, you can uproot trees and just transplant them whole from other islands if you eat fruit first, and you can bring harder to find flowers in crossbred colors from other islands and transplant them on your island (this is rare however!). Also, after acquiring shoots from other islands, you can grow bamboo on your own island. This is a fun bonus, however, so far, Ive visited about about 8-10 other islands and havent seen another type of fruit other than my own and only came across bamboo once. My son has visited other islands about the same amount and has only seen one other type of fruit. All in all, this game offers some pleasant entertainment and a nice escape from real life for a bit. Im giving it sound 3 stars because the verdict is still out- I need to see how things develop before I decide if this was a fail or if it will unfold nicely over time. Overall, there is some disappointment and frustration, but the positives are worth noting so I cant pan it. Hopefully, as time passes and updates are made available, well be pleasantly surprised, but until then, Im not going to gush about this game. Edited 3/27: Im going to add another half star to one star. Things are picking up and there are more fun bonuses weve discovered as a family as weve played. The other players still dont have as many diy plans as the original player and theyve missed out on some things because of their status in the game, but those things become less important as the game progresses. A few still cause issues but were hoping that will be fixed in the future. In the meantime, there are a lot of things that make this game worth playing and its easy to see the incredible work that was put into creating the game. So. . . For our family of six, were currently giving it 3.5 to 4 stars after one week of consistent game play. Edited 4/21: Plan on having to spend a LOT of time to get the necessary DIY recipes to create furniture. The game is designed to absolutely need an online connection and to play with friends so you can get every type of fruit, flower, DIY recipe, etc. Count on months and months of consistent playing in order to unlock a few things to decorate your house unless you catalog with other players. Count on a lot of repeat DIY recipes you wont need, few furniture options for long periods of time, and count on having to track down other players in online forums in order to catalog items or share resources because there is no other reliable method of getting what you need. I dont like my kids playing with strangers or inviting strangers into our island (I didnt in past AC versions and we did just fine) and I dont have friends who are playing so this puts families like mine in a difficult situation. I appreciate that there were more options in past AC versions for people who didnt want to do a lot of online play but it seems ACNH depends very much on online interaction and help. Hopefully some future updates will remedy this. In the the meantime, our score remains at around 3.5 to maybe 4 stars.

This was a great gift for my 8 year old granddaughter. She loved it, since it was a basic game and the onscreen characters teach you to plan. That made it enjoyable for her, which equates to a Good purchase.

My family has been playing Animal Crossing since Population Growing on the GameCube. It’s been an incredibly relaxing game to play, an excellent stress reliever! My oldest child not only has anxiety, but has been anxiously awaiting a game that isn’t a shooter, or multiple dangerous enemies you have to watch out for. There is already so much to do from the get go, and the whole family gets excited when something new happens. The art style has improved incredibly since the last installment of the game, and it makes great use of the Switch’s larger engines. With the game being released around the time of the pandemic, it’s an amazing reason to stay inside and keep busy.

Ive been a fan of this series since the original on the Gamecube so many years ago. I would say, without question, this is the most enjoyable Animal Crossing experience thus far. The earlier titles in the series, while great in their own right, had the flaw of making the player wish to time travel forward just to find something to keep them occupied. This version is so stacked with content I never once found myself even considering skipping forward in the game. The flaw of one Switch being needed for each copy of the game has been covered but it didnt pertain to me so it doesnt affect my rating.

Played the game for months straight and then got Burt t out . It’s great game with a lot to do and build. Good customization jsut wish it was not suck a grind.

The game is so fun, only problem we didnt know prior to buying the game is that you can only have one island per switch console, all users have to share the same island and the first player that started the game became the island representative which dictate how to design the island. We should have do more research before buying the game. Other than that, it has bought us a lot of joy in the 2 weeks that we have the game, maybe too much joy, our family spend way too much time than we should playing this game.

This is by far my most favorite game in the world, and has been since the original one came out back when I was in grade school! (Now Im 31!) To everyone complaining about the one island thing, it states this on the back of the game case, and Animal Crossing has always been designed this way, one town per console, and the different players just share that town. Yes it kinda stinks if you have multiple kids wanting to design their own island, but silver lining, its teaching teamwork! Just parcel out the island so each player has their own section to customize. As for the gameplay itself, everything has been so amazingly detailed, I am constantly finding new cute things everyday! There is a WAX WARMER! And a pink vacuum! Every possible improvement I could have wished for from the previous version (New Leaf) has been made. One of my favorites is the customizing option. You can change everything from the color of wooden furniture to the kind of magnets you want on your refrigerator. You could easily get lost spending huge blocks of time just customizing your house down to the smallest detail! Perfectionists rejoice! The custom clothing option has been greatly expanded and improved, and is another way for artsy and creative types to spend hours in the game! (Or search the web for other peoples cool designs and import them into your game!) Not only clothing either.. your designs can be applied to wall decorations, flags, signs, anything with fabric, and even the ground itself! Combine ground-decorating with being able to place anything anywhere in the world (not just in your house) and you can turn your deserted island into a bustling little town with streets, sidewalks, parks, cafes, graveyards, zen gardens, playgrounds.. whatever you want! And THAT is the beauty of Animal Crossing New Horizons! Your options are literally limitless and everything can be customized to exactly what you want. Combine that with the sheer amount of items to collect (furniture, wallpaper, flooring, clothing, accessories, music albums, flowers, fossils, bugs, and fish), the goals, (easy daily goals and more lofty long-term goals but all are do-able and reward you with miles that you can exchange for special items or airline tickets to go and explore more islands! ), and the beautiful graphics, changing seasons, gentle and relaxing music, adorably entertaining animal villagers, and you have one absolutely perfect game that you will be playing for years! The extended wait for this game was totally worth it - excellent job, Nintendo! This is not just a game, it is a gift!

Latest update: i am knocking off a star. Just upgraded the town hall and now that Isabelle is here, the background music is unbearably loud for me and the game doesnt have any way to adjust the sound. I have medical conditions that make loud music painful. Furthermore, I can no longer hear the balloon noises. I googled for a way to fix this and found many others having t hff e same issue after the town hall upgrade. If you are sensitive to loud music, this game doesnt care about you and I would suggest not buying it. Update: This is an update to my original review. There were 3 things that bothered me, fixed camera position, no way to invert Y axis, and, for those who work all day, you are basically playing in the dark as game time is your real time. After playing for a week or so, I have adapted to the camera position and, while still bothersome, the y axis. Having the game run on real time is still an issue for people who work long hours. For example, if you cant play on Sunday mornings before noon, you are going to miss a weekly event. You can adjust the time by changing your switch time, but I found when I did that, then changed back to the real time, I lost one type of progress in the game, so it isnt ideal. All in all, though, my opinion has risen much higher than the original rating. I played a lot of 2 older animal crossing games many years ago, as well as a couple of years of pocket camp, and this is an improvement in every way.