Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been a while since I was surprised. For the first year, I was a regular player of the Nintendo Switch game. I checked in almost every day to see the progress of my village. Every holiday was a special occasion. I spent my evenings fishing and tending my garden before going to bed. Despite a few updates, I got bored. It's not possible to catch enough sea bass before it gets monotonous. My villagers are quick to point out that I have not touched the game for eight months. However, the most recent, largest, and final update has truly gotten me back to island life.
The most surprising thing about this is that I haven't yet experienced the most important parts of the update. The first paid expansion that lets you decorate homes for other characters has yet to be purchased. And the long-awaited caf addition is still being built. Both of these are exciting to me. I love Brewster, the barista, but it's the small changes that have helped revive a game that was feeling stale.
New Horizons, for instance, now offers cooking. The process works in a similar way to regular crafting. You get a recipe and gather the ingredients. Finally, you go to a stove to cook it. It makes my kitchen seem a lot more inviting and has a beautiful, detailed look. It has also changed the way I view my island. To this point, I have caught almost every fish and collected a lot of fruit. They now have many new options. Even if you catch the unpopular sea bass, it could be a way to get a new recipe. Finally, I have a reason for diving for seaweed. A cool poster with fossils and bugs can be purchased after you have completed a collection at the museum.
The new camera app makes it much more enjoyable to explore the island and take photos. You can see the island from a different perspective with the first-person view. Also, you have the option to use a tripod to take adorable photos with your villager friends. You can make your island cleaner with the help of Ordinances. Villagers will be uninvited to your home and will come by for a visit. For me, the most amazing bonus is that I can finally visit Harvs Island because you can now create a marketplace with people like Leif, his plant shop, and a fortune teller.
These changes make the game feel fresh and exciting again. I haven't even looked into many aspects of the game like growing gyroids or hanging out at a coffee shop or collecting furniture. The game makes it difficult to keep up with your own pace. Harvs coop is an example. You can only add one business per day and each cost 100,000 bells. Although it will be some time before I have a functioning market, this has not been a problem. It was so relaxing to just play for 20 minutes, do a few chores, then come back the next day.
New Horizons is not just about one feature. It's all these small details that make playing more fun every day. It's not clear how long it will last and it is sad that this is the game's last chance. But I know that I will be staying on my island at least until I get the fish poster.
