Animal Crossing New Horizons reintroduces Isabelle, the secretary character introduced back in Animal Crossing New Leaf, to this new tropical island. This guide will help players unlock the popular puppy character. Animal Crossing New Horizons is a series that does not change much with new variations. Nintendo follows the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" philosophy with plenty of their iconic franchises. From Super Mario to Pokemon, each new entry of the series introduces very minor quality-of-life changes that overall build on the foundation the franchise had originally established. Animal Crossing New Horizons is no exception, with the big major change of this title being players having the ability to customize every aspect of their islands. In previous entries, players were limited with the level of customization, only allowing players to change their homes and potentially their neighbor's homes. In Animal Crossing New Horizons, if the player wants to put a blue couch right on the beach, they are only bounded by the limits of their imagination. The game also reintroduces several veteran characters of the series like Tom Nook, and the Able sisters. Another character to make their grand return in Animal Crossing New Horizons is Isabelle, a character who quickly became one of the most popular in the franchise once they were introduced. This guide will help players unlock Isabelle for their island in Animal Crossing New Horizons.
Isabelle is first introduced in Animal Crossing New Leaf back on the Nintendo 3DS. In that game, she functions as the player's secretary and assistant to the mayor. She found a place in many player's hearts as Isabelle is there from the very beginning, helping the player manage their town as mayor and helping with every step of the way. She's pretty clumsy and dislikes getting into conflicts but is always happy to help everyone in the town. She was also included in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a brand new fighter, revealed alongside Animal Crossing New Horizons in the same Nintendo Direct. In Animal Crossing New Horizons, she is not present until much later into the game. The player will only begin their island adventure with the Nook family, and a few randomly selected neighbors to help expand the town. This guide is meant to lay out the requirements for unlocking Isabelle for the player's island paradise.
Unlocking Isabelle in Animal Crossing New Horizons
Unlocking Isabelle is a game of patience, as it is with many situations in Animal Crossing New Horizons. Isabelle is only available after the passage of time in the game. Eventually, Tom Nook will begin to expand the town and build out new structures for shops and improvements. For starters, Tom Nook will suggest building a Nook's Cranny shop for Timmy and Tommy. After that, Tom will suggest that the player recruits new neighbors for the island and to craft and construct homes for them. To unlock new neighbors, the player must travel on Nook Tours to other islands. Players can buy tickets for Nook Tours at the Resident Tent for 2000 Nook Miles. On these other islands, the player has the chance to run into a new potential neighbor. Speaking with them will prompt them to call Tom Nook after a few days and welcome them onto the island.
After constructing their homes, Tom Nook will then suggest that the player builds a bridge somewhere around the town. This allows players to cross rivers without needing the Vaulting Pole item. Now once all of this is finally complete, Tom Nook will shut down his tent for reservations. He is planning to expand the Residents Tents to create a Residents Building in its place. The building will be unavailable for a few days, meaning the player cannot speak with Tom Nook or access the ATM inside until the building is complete. Once the building is complete, Tom Nook announces that it is open for business and that a new teammate will be joining the workforce. Tom Nook will then introduce Isabelle as the new employee on the island, and she explains how excited she is to help craft the perfect island paradise.
This may take some time and plenty of waiting, but there is a work-around. Players can enter the Nintendo Switch system settings and push time forward by changing the date forward a day. Although, the player will need to recruit at least one new neighbor for the island before Isabelle makes her debut. Pushing time forward will remove the waiting process for structures to be constructed and will assign Tom Nook new objectives for the player to complete. Once Isabelle is available, she provides the player the ability to change the island flag, change the island tone, and potentially remove a neighbor from the island. For a character who prides herself on avoiding conflict, she would be the one in charge of tossing out unwanted neighbors.
Animal Crossing New Horizons bringing along a fan favorite like Isabelle just shows how far developers will go to satisfy its fans. Isabelle plays a similar role as she did in Animal Crossing New Leaf and continues to help the player in a variety of tasks. This is also one of the final things to complete in the game before the game sets the player on a mission to improve the island's ranking. Improving the island's ranking will prompt K.K Slider, another iconic character in the Animal Crossing series, to come to play a show on the island. Once this is complete, the credits of the game will roll and the main missions will conclude. While the game does have an end credit sequence, Animal Crossing is a game that is meant to be played for a long period of time. Building up new structures, museums, shops, and more to expand the appeal of the island is the game's key features, but having fun and relaxing while completing low maintenance tasks is what makes the series so special. Animal Crossing New Horizons is meant to be played for months and years to come.
Animal Crossing New Horizons is available now on the Nintendo Switch.