It is without a doubt that Animal Crossing: New Horizons is one of last year's most successful games, especially after it was able to sell more than 20 million copies. Of course, apart from its laidback gameplay and adorable characters that have made Animal Crossing a household name, Nintendo's consistent content updates also ensured that players will always have something new to do in the game.
Now that 2021 is here, Animal Crossing: New Horizons players are probably wondering what's in store for the game in the coming year. Luckily, Nintendo reiterated its commitment to the game, saying that it plans to release more updates in Animal Crossing: New Horizons this year. However, while Animal Crossing: New Horizons introduced new features that made it a stand out title from its predecessors, there are still some features from previous games that Nintendo could bring back in New Horizons.
City Exploration
One of the main features of Animal Crossing: City Folk is the ability to head into a city and visit shops. To those unfamiliar with the game, Animal Crossing: City Folk is still set in a quaint village, but from time to time, players can head into a big city and explore new locations. Of course, given that Animal Crossing: New Horizons is set on a remote island, visiting a nearby city could prove difficult. However, it is worth noting that every village in New Horizons has a working airport, which Nintendo could utilize to bring players to a city and explore some of the shops featured in City Folk, such as Gracie's store, Shampoodle, and more.
Happy Home Designer
Although Animal Crossing: Home Designer is technically a spin-off, its primary gameplay allowed players to decorate villagers' houses. Given the vast amount of customization options introduced in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, having the Happy Home Designer feature in the game would certainly be a welcome addition. Moreover, Nintendo could expand on this by introducing a village planner feature that would give them an aerial view of the town to place objects and other decorations more efficiently.
Adventures on Tortimer Island
One of the best features of Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the ability to head to the airport and explore mystery islands. However, while these islands would vary from time to time, they do not really offer anything unique apart from resources that may not be available locally. Now, one thing Nintendo could do to spice up this feature is by adding Tortimer's Island in New Horizons. To those unfamiliar, Tortimer played as the mayor in previous Animal Crossing games. However, Tortimer entered retirement in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, where he moved into his own island that players could visit. On Tortimer's island, players could take on a wide variety of mini-games such as ore-collecting, gardening, fishing, balloon-hunting, and more. Each activity would earn players medals, which they can use to exchange for unique items from Tortimer.
Of course, it would be interesting to see the return of Tortimer's island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons as a new special location for players to visit. Apart from engaging in the mini-games that were first introduced in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, it would be nice for players to interact with Tortimer and get tips on managing a village and how to deal with villagers. In the end, it remains to be seen whether Nintendo would introduce new gameplay mechanics in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. However, players should expect that more updates will be introduced soon as the game enters its second year.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is out now exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.