On February 20, Nintendo Direct's streaming show unveiled a range of new features and surprises in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but perhaps the most game changing and defining feature of them all is the ability for players to terraform the land mass and geography of their island. By terraforming the land mass in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, players can truly create unique islands for themselves which stand out from being just another land mass with all the norms and repetition that is often portrayed with procedurally generated worlds.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons allows players to travel to other players' islands if they are invited. This becomes a well suited treat and an incentive to travel by having different island worlds that uniquely stand out among the creative tools which terraforming provides.
For fans of Minecraft, specifically those who are enticed by Minecraft's emphasis on building, yet may be turned off by its pixelated style of graphics, Animal Crossing: New Horizons could provide a similar itch and a satisfying alternative with its terraforming features. However, it is important to have realistic expectations regarding just how deep the terraforming abilities are, despite it being a first for the Animal Crossing series.
At the current time, while it is possible to add or remove cliffs, or add slopes to cliffs, as well as replace water features with land mass, or vice verse. This will also allow for rerouting rivers. What is less clear is just how high or low one can drastically change the elevation of land mass in terraforming their island.
It is not yet clear if players will have the ability to create gigantic towers or giant mountains of land mass, or different types of land mass such as stone or brick walls for the Animal Crossing: New Horizons villagers and characters to traverse, which would resemble the level of customization that Minecraft entails. Currently, video footage and details given have not confirmed nor denied the possibility.
It may probably be a good idea to expect a more limited "Minecraft lite" experience in this regard, as to avoid disappointment from overly heightened expectations. Laying paths along the ground is also a simple task this time around, as opposed to previous games, with options for different pathway textures, such as stone or dirt, for multiple players to walk along in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
The Direct stream also confirmed that Animal Crossing: New Horizons will allow players to import custom designs from other Animal Crossing games and apps, such as Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. These can be applied for creating objects such as furniture. Players could potentially partake in this joy now and prepare in advance while they wait for the release of their Animal Crossing: New Horizons pre-orders to arrive.
What is less clear, and which could be a welcome feature, is the ability to customize the texture designs of land mass features to truly create unique looking landscapes in all aspects. If it is not available at launch, it certainly could be a feature released in the future through Animal Crossing: New Horizons DLC and free updates.
It will certainly be interesting to see what sort of worlds players create among their own unique islands. In a way, Animal Crossing: New Horizons could make for some interesting and immersive role-play as players may choose to create islands with their own unique themes, rules, and maybe even lore, history and leadership. The game even allows players to design their own flag to represent their island, seemingly establishing and operating a make-believe digital island-nation in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons releases on March 20, and will be the first game release in the main series in eight years. Given all this time, players can certainly expect a giant leap in customization, features and depth from the previous games, as well as long term support and new features through regular updates by its developers. The future of Animal Crossing: New Horizons' island getaways looks joyfully bright and full of immersive joy.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is set to release on Nintendo Switch on March 20, 2020.