Nintendo seems to be going big for Animal Crossing: New Horizons with its one-year anniversary updates, but there may be even bigger plans on the horizon. After nearly a full year, players have had their share of complaints and wishes for the Switch title, wishes that are clearly being heard.
Given that Animal Crossing: New Horizons is set for at least another year of support, it's fair to think that the updates aren't going to stop any time soon. The best part of that is just how much sheer potential updates for the game have.
Holiday Tweaks and Themed Furniture
A lot of the fans who started playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons around the time of its release got to experience Bunny Day, the in-game holiday equivalent to Easter. It proved to be a bit of a nightmare for new players as fish, wood and any other gatherable resource ended up being replaced by different colored eggs for nearly two full weeks. The game received a patch at the time to reduce the number of eggs, but this year, the event has been shortened as well. It's completely possible the game's other major holidays could be altered as well this year in future updates to address any issues players may have come across.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons players were curious about the rewards that holidays would bring for the game's second year. Fortunately, it's been confirmed that players will be able to purchase all-new Bunny Day items throughout the week long holiday, giving both old and new players something to look forward to. It's likely that this will be the case for Animal Crossing's other returning events as well, allowing players to decorate in all sorts of different ways.
New Villager Interactions and More
A few months after Animal Crossing: New Horizon's release, a number of fans noted the lack of villager interactions compared to past games. Villagers appeared to rarely ask anything of players, resulting in repeated dialogue and fewer chances for players to bond with their animal neighbors. This could change in a later update this year.
Furthermore, Brewster has probably become one of the most talked about characters in the Animal Crossing community. While this pigeon has never had a particularly prominent role in the series, the effect of his absence has been felt by longtime fans of the series and has newcomers hoping to get their first taste of the his special blend.
The inclusion of Brewster would almost feel incomplete if it didn't bring along the introduction of Gyroids along with it. Like fossils, a wide variety of Gyroids could be dug up each day in past Animal Crossing titles. Seeing as Brewster collected the strange little statues, it only makes sense to add these in together in a future Animal Crossing: New Horizons update.
New Crops and Cooking
Bringing pumpkins to Animal Crossing: New Horizons for Halloween introduced a lot of new possibilities for the series. Many fans were expecting the return of fruits like durians and bananas, but pumpkins allowed players to turn their islands into actual farms. It wouldn't be a surprise to see this new mechanic expanded on with additional crops and the ability to craft them into appetizing dishes.
Like with the new villager interactions, this prediction comes from data found in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, listing several crops such as potatoes, carrots and wheat. While this doesn't confirm anything, it does potentially mean that players will one day be able to farm, cook, and hopefully eat a variety of dishes later this year.
Fortune Teller Katrina
Two elements currently missing in Animal Crossing: New Horizons that were in past games are luck and fortune cookies. The role of fortune cookies may have been removed, but luck could see it's way back into the series with fortune teller Katrina. Luck didn't have a major impact on Animal Crossing's gameplay, acting mostly as a hidden mechanic in past titles. It could affect player's popularity with their villagers, the chances of finding rare items and how often a player would trip while running. Players could find out their luck for the day by visiting Katrina, and she would even offer ways that a player could reverse bad luck.
While there's been no mention of Katrina's return yet, a hint at her possible inclusion can be found in Nintendo's latest Animal Crossing: New Horizons announcement regarding Nook Points. By opening the Nintendo Switch Online app, players can earn Nook Points by launching the newly announced Nook App. While earning these points, players will also get a tip from fortune teller Katrina. This could be a crazy reach, but these tips along with the newly created icon for Katrina may be a teaser that she'll be visiting islands with advice for players that will come at a cost.
The future is continuing to look bright for Animal Crossing: New Horizons with each update building the game up to be something bigger and better. Not all of these predictions may come true, but there's no doubt that Nintendo has big plans for the series and are likely listening to what the fans really want.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now on the Switch.