Today's Animal Crossing: New Horizons Direct presentation announced tons of exciting content coming up in version 2.0. The patch releases on November 5 and will be the last major free update for the game. Several highly-requested past Animal Crossing features and characters will be added, in addition to some entirely new ones.
Players have been waiting quite a while for a substantial update. Nintendo continued to release smaller free updates and cycle seasonal content over the past year and a half, but it wasn't quite enough to keep up with the game's initial popularity and momentum. The main objective of the game can be completed rather quickly, so some players got their fill at a relatively rapid pace.
Brewster's appearance was teased during the Nintendo Direct on October 15. Players expected more information on the Roost, but were pleasantly surprised by much more, including the fact that it, and everyone's favorite barista, will be making a return as part of the update. Players will soon have plenty of reasons to dust off their island town.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Version 2.0 - The Roost
More information on Brewster was revealed; he will be opening his café in the museum after players help Blathers with a certain favor. Players will be able to enjoy a hot cup of coffee for 200 bells with island residents, employees, or visiting friends. They will also be able to use Animal Crossing amiibo or amiibo Cards to invite certain residents to the café. Sometimes they'll bring along company, such as Mable bringing along her two sisters.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Version 2.0 - Kapp'n Island Tours
Animal Crossing's Kapp'n will park his motorboat at the beach pier, ready to exchange sailor secrets for Nook Miles. He will be able to take players on boat tours to new, mysterious islands that only he knows about. After a sea shanty and a pleasant ride, players will find themselves in an entirely new place. New flora will be found on these islands, and sometimes an island will experience a different season or time of day from your own island town, allowing players to hunt for
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Version 2.0 - Harv's Island Open Market & Hairstyles
Harv's Island is gaining new features. With the help of Harriet, he will develop an area behind his home for characters to open shop. Gyroids will be present to collect Bell donations, unlocking spots for certain characters to visit. In the Animal Crossing: New Horizons Direct, several characters that infrequently visit the player's island town are parked with pop-up shops, like Saharah, Kicks, Redd, and Leif, each one with their own personalized trailer and plot.
Reese and Cyrus will also visit Harv's Island, offering special furniture customizations unavailable through typical DIY methods. Tortimer the retired turtle will visit, Katrina will tell the player's daily fortune, and Harriet will teach the player new ways to style their hair. Eleven new hairstyles will be added to the game, some of them only available through Harriet.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Version 2.0 - Group Stretching Exercises
A tape deck will be present in front of the Resident Services building, which players will use for group stretching exercises. Animal villagers, Isabelle, and others will gather in the plaza for this activity. The player will be able to follow along with either motion controls or button presses to get a healthy start to their day - and friends can join in the activity as well.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Version 2.0 - Island Ordinances & Upgrades at Resident Services
Ordinances from Animal Crossing: New Leaf will make a return. As the Resident Representative, players will be able to ask New Horizons' Isabelle to instate Island Ordinances such as Beautiful Island, Night Owl, and Bell Boom. The Early Bird ordinance will make island residents wake up and become active earlier in the morning, with Night Owl doing the opposite, allowing great flexibility for players with schedules that may not always agree with their New Horizons play schedule.
Tom Nook will have more housing exterior options to offer the player. He will also have more storage expansions available, increasing the current 2,400 item limit to 3,200, 4,000, and finally up to 5,000. His island infrastructure menu will allow the island to host ten bridges and inclines each, up from eight, and 9 new fence types will also be coming for players looking to improve their island infrastructure.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Version 2.0 - Storage & Convenience
In addition to player homes gaining more storage, an item called a storage shed will be available. It will be able to be placed outside to give easy access to the player's home storage. Finally, players won't have to sprint home all the time to empty out their pockets. An ABD machine will also be available to be placed outside, so players can withdraw Bells on the go. Adding to the ease of travel, a new wooden ladder set-up kit will allow players to permanently place ladders on their island. The DIY recipe for this tool will be available at Nook's Cranny.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Version 2.0 - Ceiling Décor & New Decorating Features
Players will be able to squeeze past narrow spaces between furniture, so rooms crowded with décor will have more accessible items. Players will be able to sit at a couch snug against a coffee table instead of just staring at an inaccessible seat. The Pro Decorating License, available as a new Nook Miles reward, will allow players to affix furniture such as hanging lights and shelves to the ceiling. Ceiling décor and other new and returning items like the Froggy Chair will be available at Nook's Cranny.
Players will soon have the option to apply accent wallpaper to a single wall in a room. Patterns previously used for customization will be able to be used as flooring and wallpaper, or worn on clothes. Nine fence types will be added: park, block, corrugated iron, large lattice, log-wall, green bamboo, bamboo-slays, log, and frozen fences. Some fences will also be customizable.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Version 2.0 - DIY Cooking & New Crops
More crops besides the pumpkin will be available to players, such as wheat, tomatoes, sugarcane, potatoes, carrots, and more. They'll be able to harvest these items and use them for cooking. The DIY Nook Phone menu will be expanded to include this special kind of crafting.
In the Animal Crossing: New Horizons Direct, the player is seen cooking alongside a stonework kitchen, so it is assumed that cooking DIY items will be done on kitchen furniture. Players will be able to make foods like mushroom salads, veggie sandwiches, and minestrone soup. They will be able to either eat them or place them on surfaces as delicious-looking decorations.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Version 2.0 - NookPhone Camera Update
The camera app will be updated to have a handheld camera mode. In this mode, the player will be able to walk around town and take photos in first-person. There will also be a tripod camera mode, which will allow the player to seamlessly set up the camera from first-person and run up to join in the fun.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2.0 - New Villager Interactions
Residents will sometimes invite the player to their homes, or make a surprise visit to the player's home. Interactions were typically random events outside, or an occasional birthday. Now players will be able to socialize more with their neighbors.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2.0 - Gyroids Return
Players will be able to dig up gyroids, like in previous Animal Crossing titles, though they're now dug up as fragments and grown. If they plant and water a gyroid fragment, it will grow into a whole gyroid overnight. These strange characters are more likely to appear the day after it rains once some have been planted. They make unique sounds, harmonize with music and each other, and will even act as customizable furniture items.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2.0 - New K.K. Slider Songs
Twelve new songs will be added to K.K. Slider's Saturday performance library, such as K.K. Break and K.K. Polka. One of his new albums makes him look like a sparkling anime Vocaloid. There will also be a new music box furniture item that can play his albums in a quiet, soothing style.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2.0 - New Nook Mile Rewards
There will be new furniture exchangeable for Nook Miles. In addition, players will be able to buy the following: Pro Decorating License, Custom Fencing in a Flash, New Reactions Notebook, and Pro Construction License.
Eleven new reactions will be added to the game, such as Double Wave, Stretch, Listening Ears, Say Cheese, and Jammin', in which the player does a little dance. It is assumed that the New Reactions Notebook will unlock at least some of these.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2.0 - Island Living NookPhone App
A new app will be added to the player's NookPhone with plenty of tips for island living. New players will have additional resources and guidance. Considering how much there is to do in Animal Crossing, this will be a helpful tool for remembering it all, especially for those who are coming to an Animal Crossing game for the first time.
It's approaching two years since Animal Crossing: New Horizons was released on the Nintendo Switch, and many players were patiently waiting for more. The sheer amount of new content will likely keep players busy for a while yet. While this may be the last free update, there will be more to come in the form of paid DLC, and this last free update should give everyone lots to do for a long time to come.