Animal Crossing: New Horizons took center stage during the September 2019 edition of the Nintendo Direct presentations, and the trailer provided the best look yet at a title that is brimming with promise and both visual and mechanical upgrades on its franchise premise. A new Animal Crossing game has been requested from fans for years now, and the release of the Nintendo Switch only heightened urgency from consumers waiting to interact with Tom Nook and the other humanoid critters that make up the series' robust cast.
Instead, fans were first given Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, a mobile title that has managed to do fairly well for Nintendo but never gained the sort of traction that other major Nintendo properties, like Dragalia Lost, have garnered. Nintendo first confirmed a new Animal Crossing for Switch a year ago during a Direct in September 2018, but there were no updates provided again until Animal Crossing: New Horizons was officially announced with a trailer during the company's E3 2019 Nintendo Direct. That trailer also came with somber news regarding the delay of the game, but fans were extremely understanding, having waited so long for a title they wanted to be good and relieved to find the developers were getting all the time they need to execute on that promise.
After the delay, it felt like it was always going to be necessary to begin feeding fans more information about Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which Nintendo followed through on with its September 2019 Direct presentation. Animal Crossing: New Horizons looks positively gorgeous in its newest trailer, a vast improvement over the sneak peek fans already got at E3. The world players will inhabit is brimming with life and features extremely lush and varied environments, something that Animal Crossing in previous generations wasn't able to do to the same extent. The demonstration also kicked off with the reveal of the new NookPhone device and NookMiles, a rewards program that will allow players to gain special items for completing goals like fishing up a bunch of catches in a row without letting any get away.
Perhaps the most exciting confirmation was that multiplayer support would be as robust as fans hoped. Animal Crossing: New Horizons will feature four-person multiplayer on a single Switch console or up to a whopping eight people in online multiplayer. It will truly be the most accessible Animal Crossing title that's ever been produced and will offer fans exciting new ways to interact with each other in an online setting.
While there's still a lot consumers don't know about the game, the newest Animal Crossing: New Horizons trailer didn't fail to sell many on the title being worth the wait. The tone, aesthetic, and gameplay all appear to revisit the core design ideals that have made the franchise so enduring with its fans, and there's no reason to believe that further information won't confirm more of the same. It's been a long wait for Animal Crossing fans, but with each bit of new information, it all feels a little more worth it in the build-up to the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Source: Nintendo/YouTube