With the announcement of the Nintendo Switch 2, many Animal Crossing: New Horizons fans were expecting to hear some good news about the game’s successor. However, Nintendo has kept information about the new installment of the Animal Crossing franchise under wraps. To the bittersweet chagrin of many who enjoyed endless hours in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, no news has meant that fans have had to return to existing titles to get their Animal Crossing fix.
While the question of the Switch 2’s Animal Crossing is still up in the air, players who are revisiting New Horizons have been holding on to hope, nostalgia, and islands that may have been created all the way back in March 2020. However, with no news and almost four years without content updates, New Horizons may easily start showing its age. It may be time to approach New Horizons with new eyes—and perhaps, a new island.
Animal Crossing May Want to Go Back to the Drawing Board With These Villager Types
While the Animal Crossing franchise has a lot of interesting personalities for its villagers, a few could use a rework for the next game.
The Case to Start Over in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
For players who have held onto their island since the early days of New Horizons, saying goodbye may seem like an impossible task. However, starting over doesn’t have to mean losing everything. For many players, wiping the slate clean can be creatively liberating. After years of curating specific aesthetics and min-maxing villager relationships among different Animal Crossing villager types, starting anew can return some of the magic that New Horizons offered early on. Suddenly, bugs are worth catching again. Museum donations can feel exciting instead of obligatory. Even weeds and misaligned paths can take on a kind of rustic charm.
More importantly, a new start means the next game can comparatively push boundaries. If Nintendo is preparing Animal Crossing for a next-gen evolution, then the series may expand in bold, unexpected directions. Players tied to a saved island that is fully developed and beautifully decorated could make some players hesitate to move on to the next game. A clean break opens doors.
New Horizons Was a Milestone, But Some Players May Have Reached the End of the Road
Animal Crossing: New Horizons launched in 2020 and quickly became a bestseller, praised for its quality-of-life improvements and the unprecedented control it gave players over their island environments. From terraforming to themed builds to curated villager rosters, New Horizons allowed players to craft perfect islands that truly reflected their creative muses. But while this creative freedom was exhilarating, it also means that many fans have reached the practical end of the road after five years.
Four years after the Happy Home Paradise DLC and hundreds of hours poured into daily routines, the hype around New Horizons is simply not what it used to be. Many New Horizons islands are no longer active towns. Instead, they’re curated museum exhibits often trapped in a time capsule. And since it is not likely that players will have the option to transfer over their island to the impending Animal Crossing, it may be healthiest for players seeking some new fun to either grab hold of another game while they wait, or simply start fresh.
Nintendo Rarely Looks Back
It’s worth remembering that Nintendo has a track record of prioritizing fresh starts over continuity—especially with Animal Crossing. Every mainline entry in the series has asked players to begin again, embracing the passage of time and the charm of starting over. From Wild World to New Leaf to New Horizons, the fun has always been found in discovery and reinvention, not in clinging to past layouts or item collections.
If Animal Crossing does come to Switch 2, it's unlikely to offer full data migration or allow direct transfers of entire islands. Players might retain some in-game perks or collectables through online services, but the idea of continuing a New Horizons island exactly as it is may be off the table. Fortunately, players porting New Horizons to Switch 2 can keep their islands. But given the larger history, it may be emotionally and strategically wise for longtime players to start weaning themselves off their five-star paradises now.
Letting Go Is Part of Animal Crossing’s DNA
There’s a quiet lesson at the heart of every Animal Crossing game: nothing is permanent. Villagers come and go, seasons pass, and time marches on whether a player logs in or not. The series thrives on that transience. Letting go of an old town or saying goodbye to a favorite neighbor has always been part of the experience. This time, it might be the entire island that gets left behind. It’s difficult to say farewell to a space that holds literal years of memories, but the essence of Animal Crossing lies in its gentle impermanence. It teaches patience, routine, and most of all, the joy of starting anew. Besides, not every Animal Crossing player has the choice to erase their island.
10 Best Mobile Games Like Animal Crossing
Animal Crossing has taken the gaming world by storm. Mobile players don’t have direct access to it but there are plenty of alternatives to try.
Animal Crossing's Future is Worth Waiting For
There’s still every reason to be hopeful. If Nintendo is investing in a next-gen Animal Crossing, it’s likely taking cues from what worked in New Horizons while pushing the series further. More dynamic Animal Crossing NPCs, deeper villager relationships, enhanced multiplayer, or even new types of towns and terrain could be on the horizon. But for now, in the absence of official confirmation, fans might want to take a deep breath and start saying their goodbyes. Scrap the old island. Try a minimalist run. Make peace with the idea of letting go—because the next time Tom Nook hands out a loan for a new home, it’s definitely going to be on completely new soil.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 90 /100 Critics Rec: 99%
- Released
- March 20, 2020
- ESRB
- Everyone / Comic Mischief, Mild Fantasy Violence, Users Interact, In-Game Purchases
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo EPD
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo
- Engine
- Havok
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Local Multiplayer
- Expansions
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons — Happy Home Paradise
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Simulation
