Nintendo’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons was welcomed by a world in isolation. The game’s virtual world gave its players a chance to socialize when they needed it the most. Though the Animal Crossing in itself isn’t new, it has experienced a huge surge in popularity since the onset of the pandemic. Millions of people are spending more time soaking the sun in Animal Crossing’s virtual island than in their own homes. It has essentially served as a lockdown distraction, an alternate world that people can escape to when they miss the outdoors. Various celebrities are also indulging in this game whilst surprising people by visiting their virtual islands. New Horizons is a newer version of Animal Crossing that was introduced by Nintendo in March this year. It has sold an astonishing 11 million copies and continues to make record-breaking sales.
Why Are So Many People Taken By the Game
With the way that the social distancing practices are continuously changing the kind of lives that people are used to leading, Animal Crossing; New Horizons gives its players a new virtual way of life. The game lets you do everything that you can’t do in real life. Be it fishing, hanging out with your friends, or the simple pleasure of watering your garden. The game is extremely relaxing and laid-back. It doesn’t put you up against difficult challenges or push you to continuously make progress. You’re free to do as you please and take your time doing it. The virtual world is brimming with possibilities. Players are taking the liberty to create whatever they can conceive from haunted houses to cute little farmers’ markets. The game was created to be shared, so it’s growing popularity only speaks further of its success.
The social nature of the game is what makes it so interactive and immersive. It lets people all over the world come together and enjoy its virtual paradise. The game encourages communication, whether it’s communicating within the game, or talking about the game in a group chat with your friends. Animal Crossing: New Horizons has managed to secure a place in the lives of its players. Just like the real world, Animal Crossing’s virtual world also continues to grow whether or not the player is in it. Time passes in the game just like it does in real life; days turn into nights, seasons come and go, even the weather is subject to changes.
Summer Update
The trailer for Animal Crossing: New Horizons summer update released by Nintendo last month had revealed a set of new features that the game was going to get. The update was bringing back an old character, Luna. With the addition of Luna, players could unlock a dream world that would enable them to travel to other islands within the game in their dreams. The players could also make changes on these islands without making an impact on it in reality and share these tweaks with their friends through a dream link. The players could gain access to this dream world by simply going to sleep on any bed.
The update also introduced a firework show along with a feature that would let the players craft their fireworks. The fireworks show was going to be a regular feature throughout August with weekly fireworks.
Why Is the New Update Disappointing?
Unfortunately for Nintendo, the players were expecting much more from the summer update. The fireworks update was criticized for not being new. This is true since this is not the first time that fireworks are being featured in the game. Even the dream world brought by Luna is not exactly being featured for the first time. A similar feature was also available in the older Animal Crossing: New Leaf where players could interact with their dreams. Despite being a fun addition, the new update fails to surprise the old players. If Nintendo wants to surprise its players with an update, it will have to work on some new concepts.
The Challenge With Introducing Something New
This exception might prove difficult to work with for the developers given how delicately the virtual world of Animal Crossing has been balanced. The introduction of a new feature might set off the balance by changing the overall experience of the game. Whatever the new features may be, they will need to align with the larger concept of the game. Since the game world is so densely interconnected, the introduction of anything new will have to change some variables. For example, the DIY crafting feature of the game, just like all its other features, cannot be isolated. The resources needed to craft the items are also grown on the island itself. So along with enabling DIY crafting, the feature also makes the plants that produce the resources more significant.
Animal Crossing has been popular since the beginning and continues to remain a Nintendo favorite. After all, there aren’t many games in the market that can compete with the carefree existence that Animal Crossing: New Horizons offers. Given the success that its developers have achieved, they might just be able to surprise the players with more original features in the future updates.
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