One of 2020's most anticipated Nintendo Switch releases is Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
With a release date of 20 March 2020, we don't have to wait much longer to start exploring the vibrant and intoxicating world of Animal Crossing again.
2020 will be a crucial Nintendo. They have a string of new releases hoping to keep players engaged ahead of the release of the Nintendo Switch Pro later this year.
Animal Crossing has long been a staple franchise for Nintendo and is nearing its 20th anniversary. The latest instalment, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, looks like to breath a new lease of life into the iconic game series.
Graphics
HD GRAPHICS: New Horizons will be the crispest yet
In
comparison to previous animal crossing games, New Horizons has a plethora of
stand out differences.
The most innovative and exciting of these being the HD aspect of the game. This will be the first-ever Animal Crossing game to be in HD making it a monumental achievement for Nintendo and potentially bring in a whole new audience to this much-loved franchise.
Just being able to wander around the iconic locations and see the characters in HD glory has excited fans of the game since its announcement at E3 2019 and aims to completely enhance the gameplay.
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Just looking at screenshots that have been released from E3 and Nintendo highlights the beauty that exists in the game’s graphics.
The colours are bursting with life and create a picturesque setting for the game and provide an intriguing look at what's in store for the playing. The graphics are by far the best of any Animal Crossing game with more detail in the textures, backgrounds and characters than ever before.
As the title suggests the game is taking on new horizons by switching up the location. Instead of the usual town and city settings of the previous games, New Horizons has decided to move in a completely different direction, with a desert island paradise to explore.
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This will allow players to not only explore a new and vibrant environment but to also have a level of freedom not previously available in the past Animal Crossing games. Players can now build their own island to what their hearts’ desires due to the game’s multitude of new customisation features.
Like in previous
games, players can collect resources and craft everything from creature
comforts to handy tools but in New Horizons players now have the luxury to create
the things they need using a variety of new features that have been added to
the game.
New Features
CREATE: There are a huge number of new customisation options
New features in New Horizons include the ability to create your character with far more customisation options than ever before, especially when it comes to a larger selection of skin tone, hairstyles and clothing. This is a big step up from Animal Crossing: New Leaf on the 3DS which addressed the complaints about previous versions lack of skin tone options by allowing you to change the skin tone for the first time.
New Horizons sets to take this even further by allowing a wider array of tones to pick from to make it more inclusive, allowing the player to fully immerse themselves within the game.
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A robust new crafting system aims to make Animal Crossing more engaging and satisfying than previous games by allowing the player to collect materials to construct everything from tools to furniture with items they find exploring the islands.
New Horizons allows up to eight players to reside on an island, creating a unique multiplayer experience to further enhance the gameplay.
All in all, Animal Crossing New Horizons looks set to be a new and exciting addition to the Animal Crossing franchise, hoping to offer fans of the franchise new features and settings to whet their appetite whilst also bringing in a new audience and a new appeal.
The game looks fresh, exciting and innovative, which is just what the Nintendo Switch needs in 2020.