The Animal Crossing Valentine's Day celebrations are underway, and villagers are sending players gifts to kick off the pretty subdued event. Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the most recent title in the series and also its most successful, with its first year anniversary after launch swiftly approaching on March 20, 2021. As of right now, it's the second best-selling Nintendo Switch game of all-time behind Super Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and well ahead of third place in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, a position that indicates just how potent the franchise has become with its most recent iteration.
Part of the game's appeal is the way it handles real-world events such as Animal Crossing Valentine's Day celebrations. Just days before, Animal Crossing Lunar New Year was underway and treating players to both event-specific items and a new mechanic that allowed them to raise villager friendship using bells, supplementing the stylish implementation of the celebration with some functional use as well. Past celebrations have varied in their reception by fans, but ever since the arguably disastrous Animal Crossing: New Horizons Easter event, holiday-themed updates have ranged from deep, fun endeavors to light, unintrusive affairs.
The Animal Crossing Valentine's Day celebration is more in the latter category, with very little in the way of meaty updates or additions coming to the game. However, one touch that's being welcomed by fans is the fact that Animal Crossing Valentine's Day gifts have been appearing in their mailboxes from the villagers they've put time into becoming close friends with. A report from DualShockers detailing what the event has added goes over the smaller scale additions, but it seems to be a subdued day by Animal Crossing standards, perhaps because Valentine's Day can be a divisive subject among people depending on their personal lives.
For those interested, Animal Crossing Valentine's Day also marks the last day for its event-themed items, so those who have been putting off picking them up but want to add them to their collection will need to do so soon. Otherwise, the day seems to be a transition period between Lunar New Year and the next major event, which is Festivale.
The fact that Animal Crossing Valentine's Day isn't as obvious or pervasive as some of the game's other events is pretty nice, and probably indicative of the fact that the game doesn't want to make anyone feel too bad about the holiday if they already have some negative connotations with it. As Animal Crossing: New Horizons continues to add more content, it's seemed to navigate potential pitfalls quite well, and with an eye towards making its players happy above everything else, there's no reason to believe that's going to change any time soon.
Source: DualShockers