It’s 2026, six years on from the start of arguably the biggest global event of our lifetimes: the debut of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. With the Nintendo Switch 2 update, I’ve finally found myself back on this game’s shores once more, and things aren’t the same now that I’m all alone.
This installment in the hit Nintendo franchise is intrinsically tied to COVID for me, and I’m sure for many others.
It debuted on March 20, 2020, when all of us here in the UK were on the cusp of lockdown, along with most countries that weren’t already ordering people to stay inside. The cutesy island vibes, space for creativity, and crucially online connectivity made it a vital crutch in the strangeness and scariness that was a global pandemic.
Spending hours crafting the perfectly designed island in tune with my creative visions, searching for foreign fruits among my friends’ homes, betting it all on stalk market predictions aided by sophisticated online apps, making my way through every achievement for my Nook Miles fix, and hunting down every critter from the land and sea for my museum.
Then, after a month or so, my fixation was over. I stopped playing. I moved on. I let my crutch go as lockdown became normal.
Now I’m back playing New Horizons thanks to its Nintendo Switch 2 update, and a lot has changed (at least from my perspective).
There are all the updates I missed since I stopped playing – from wet suits allowing you to explore the ocean surrounding your home (I might have just been around for that one, but not for long), to paid DLC that opens up new development opportunities, and most recently, a hotel being opened up on your island.
There’s also some Switch 2-specific upgrades like 4K gameplay in TV mode, mouse controls to help you create custom designs, and larger (up to 12-person) multiplayer sessions if everyone is on the Switch 2 edition – you can also call out to players in-game using a new megaphone and your console’s built-in mic.
Even with all the changes, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is still as charming as ever. In fact, there’s an undeniable chill charm to it now that I’m playing it purely for fun and not as an essential pressurising part of my social routine – finally enjoying the title at the more island-vibes-appropriate pace.
Good thing it isn’t a pillar of my social life either because it’s also, ironically, a much more isolated experience.
When picking up my Nintendo Switch 2, I traded in my original Switch console, and I didn’t organize my cloud saves ahead of time – that’s to say, my old island was gone, and I’d have to start all over again somewhere new: an island I’ve called Hazy Sands.
Instantly, I settled back into the New Horizons lifestyle. Taking relaxing strolls along the beach searching for shells, waiting on riverbanks as I fish to my heart’s content, rolling snowballs into the perfect-sized snowmen, and building a town K.K. Slider could love.
This is delightful.
There’s a busywork to Animal Crossing that I find inherently cathartic. I’m the sort of gamer who likes to just boot up a new Minecraft world, create a beautiful home with a farm, a mine, a local village, and a few defining features, and then abandon that world so I can repeat it all over again somewhere new.
With this latest Animal Crossing playthrough, I’ll admit to doing some time travel here and there (setting my console’s clock forward) to help me corner the stalk market and not need to wait for buildings to be done, but I never felt like I was losing out on the relaxed nature of developing my dream town.
I was taking the game at a casual pace, chatting with my villagers, having a swell time.
The Switch 2 upgrades are nice too. The 4K visuals look beautiful on my QLED TV, and I’ve had fun using the mouse controls when painting custom designs – though more precise stick motions are often my preferred choice when crafting.
There’s nothing majorly different, but it doesn’t have to be – the same but better is more than ideal for a title with as well-defined a gameplay loop as ACNH.
But after a few weeks, when I’m now reaching a point where I want to showcase my island’s beauty, I realized something: no one I know is playing.
All alone
That’s not to say the community is dead – I’m in enough very active turnip-related subreddits to disprove that, and have visited several islands to hawk my stalks – but in my circle of friends it’s as extinct as the fossils I’ve collected for Blathers.
This has ripped an essential social core from Animal Crossing: New Horizons that I sorely miss – but it’s also to be expected from a game that’s coming up to six years old.
The game feels a little emptier for my social emptiness, too.
Wandering my island is like wandering my local area on my Covid-era one walk a day – I see the odd person, but it’s quiet – too quiet to appreciate.
None of this is to say you can’t play Animal Crossing: New Horizons as a lone wolf. I’ve found plenty of enjoyment from my experience, but it’s clear the game needs its social core.
It’s built to be a social space.
And even if it’s no longer a required space in a world without mandatory social distancing, it’s also a pretty fun one.
So if you’re considering snatching up the Animal Crossing New Horizons Switch 2 edition, my one word of advice: take some friends with you. Upgrade your games as a group, and enjoy the experience together.
Otherwise, this might be a Switch 2 title you’re better off leaving behind in 2020, where it shone brightest.
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hamish.hector@futurenet.com (Hamish Hector)
