Animal Crossing: New Hozions is set to receive its next big update on November 5th, 2021, and Nintendo has said that this will be the last free major update to the game. Update 2.0 includes so many new features, characters, and items that fans may find it hard to keep track of and New Horizons could feel like a completely different game. While the feeling of a whole new game may have been Nintendo's intention with this free DLC, some players are likely finding it overwhelming. New Horizons was originally released on March 20th, 2020, and was given seasonal updates throughout the year that were often themed around holidays. This kept the game exciting over a long period of time and gave players something to look forward to over the course of the year, but in 2021 Animal Crossing: New Horizons continued to receive only the same seasonal updates once again, sometimes with no new items. Finally, players have new content to look forward to, but why did Nintendo launch it all out at once?
In September 2021, Nintendo teased new Animal Crossing: New Horizons content during its Direct, but it wasn't until October that fans finally received word on what the DLC would contain. The sheer amount of content that was covered in this jam-packed announcement has left fans scrambling to prepare for it all. This new update will include features that players have been asking for since day one, like Brewster's Cafe, as well as the ability to access home storage from outside the home. Animal Crossing Update 2.0 is bigger than any other New Horizons DLC, and along with the new paid DLC Happy Home Paradise, players should be busy for quite some time.
The game saw few updates in 2021, with the Animal Crossing: New Horizons Mario update and Sario Collection being the highlights of the year. Nintendo did continue the seasonal patch schedule throughout 2021, but with very few new items or events, making it all very predictable, and causing many players to take a break from the game. With so many new features and characters being introduced with update 2.0, it's a wonder that Nintendo didn't release any of these pieces sooner to entice players back to the game, especially with how long fans have been calling for these features. Given that since day one players have been saying that the islands need more bridges and inclines, or that the fences should be customizable, New Horizons could have stayed relevant more consistently throughout the last year and a half.
ACNH Paid DLC - Happy Home Paradise
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is getting its first paid DLC with Happy Home Paradise, a more integrated successor to Happy Home Designer, a game that was released in 2015 for the 3DS. Happy Home Designer is a spin-off Animal Crossing game in which players work for Nook's Homes, designing houses for villagers according to their suggestions. Unlike Happy Home Designer, which was its own game, Happy Home Paradise is a paid DLC for Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Happy Home Paradise interacts with New Horizons in fun new ways, giving the player a way to collect new furniture and gain new features for decorating their own homes, as well as their villagers' homes. In the announcement trailer, Nintendo teased that players will even be able to reorganize their villagers' homes if said villager has reached a certain level of vacation home on the other island.
With Animal Crossing: New Horizons getting its first paid DLC, it seems likely that fans can look forward to more paid ACNH content in the future. Perhaps if future DLCs are to be purchasable, Nintendo will continue to deliver larger chunks of content, and players won't get bored as quickly. However, if the New Horizons' DLCs continue to come this infrequently, players could experience burnout again and take a break from the game for several months at a time.
Update 2.0 Feels Like "Second Launch" for New Horizons
With such a huge amount of content included in Animal Crossing: New Horizons' 2.0 update, it feels like the game is getting its second wind. Many players are coming back to clean up their islands after months of putting the game down. This revival of the game may have been Nintendo's plan all along, and the reason that the company left New Horizons hanging for the last year. As with most things, games can be best enjoyed in moderation, and after taking such a long break, some players may enjoy the game even more. This resurgence could also convince new players to finally pick it up, and just like that New Horizons will have a thriving fanbase again. With so many added features, the game is sure to appeal to an even wider audience.
A large focus of the Direct was Animal Crossing's new cooking feature, which gives players a new way to live out their cottagecore dreams. The new cooking and farming additions to Animal Crossing: New Horizons, along with Brewster's Cafe going into the museum, give the game a wonderful cozy feeling that is perfect for autumn. Players will finally get to utilize their island's pier, as this is where Kapp'n will offer islanders the chance to travel to mystery islands and collect brand-new resources. Throw in that Harv's island will now have a sort of open-air market, and New Horizons now has many new avenues to explore.
Once players get a handle on visiting new islands with Kapp'n in the update, setting up Harv's plaza, doing yoga with their villagers, and making home-cooked meals, they can bring all of their newly learned skills from Happy Home Paradise back to their island and begin remodeling. With so many new activities, even jaded players can find something to get excited about.
For some, though, even this large update may not be enough to cure that sense of burnout. From a marketing perspective, it makes sense to push everything at once as it creates lots of hype for a single event, but for long-time players who have been playing Animal Crossing without new updates this year, it may be a case of there being too much too late. Many fans expressed feeling forgotten after Nintendo didn't give any Animal Crossing: New Horizons announcements at E3, and with little in the way of new regarding updates until recently, there's a chance they may have dropped off.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Is Enjoying A Revival
While some fans may have dropped off, this latest DLC has been met with a largely positive reaction. With such a positive reception to the update announcement, fans can expect a pretty big revival in the community. Both Brewster's Roost Cafe and the new stretching function have the capability to share the experience with real-world friends, making it a lot more fun for players to have visitors on their islands. It is unfortunate that Nintendo decided to unbox all this all at once, but fans can still be excited at the new content and enjoy the resurgence of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Overall, Animal Crossing should be fun, and not stressful, and though many fans feel that they have to learn every new feature right away, it doesn't have to be like that. Update 2.0 can give fans something to look forward to and to take their time exploring. That way, players can really get the most out of their game. Hopefully, update 2.0 and Happy Home Paradise will be enough to keep Animal Crossing: New Horizons flourishing for a while longer, at least until the next update.