Countdown to Animal Crossing New Horizons: 2 Months

[Alolan_Apples]

As this is the first countdown entry of the year, it’s also one of the last ones since Animal Crossing: New Horizons comes out in two months. I can’t believe we are that close.

Just recently, I heard that Animal Crossing: New Horizons is having paid DLC, for the first time. And it’s not missing content to an unfinished game. It’s additional content to a finished game, like how Little Big Planet treats DLC. Also at the same time, Pokémon Sword and Shield is going to have paid DLC.

Judging by this recent news (and the new features revealed earlier), I can see how Nintendo is finally catching up with the rest of the gaming industry, as they are also radically changing the Nintendo franchises by the time they make it to the Switch. Examples:

• Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is more like Fallout 3 than Ocarina of Time. In addition, Link can now jump, all weapons break, and you have more crafting.
• Super Mario Odyssey is more like an adventure game than a platformer. There’s no more limited lives, main hub world, or an even distribution of collectibles in every level.
• Pokémon Sword and Shield scrapped the Elite Four, added a Wild Area, cut back obstacles that require an HM or Poké ride to get past, and added expansion packs.
• Animal Crossing: New Horizons involves crafting, building your town from ground up, and deserted island life. Autosaves are in effect, and paid DLC is becoming a thing.

Although Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Pokémon Sun and Moon are the closest to being the most revolutionary titles to their franchises, every Nintendo franchise up to the 3DS and Wii U era followed traditional gameplay.

I would also like to mention how new games in franchises like Pokémon and Animal Crossing are reflecting today’s values. This is especially noted by the smartphone-esque items and features. And, as science and technology changes, older games may seem outdated by today’s standards, but newer games follow it. VHS didn’t even exist in the GameCube Version of Animal Crossing (at the time the GameCube was the most recent Nintendo console), but New Leaf (after the update) made a reference to people that look at their phones in public.

While Animal Crossing: New Horizons may not be like the previous games, there’s another thing I would like to share today. The other Animal Crossing game that’s not like the others is the GameCube Version. While it’s normal for developers to do test runs on the earlier entries, some exclusive features to the earlier installments may seem rather weird when you look at them today. On the subject of Animal Crossing, here are some features from the GameCube Version that will never come back:

• Shine patches where you can get extra Bells.
• A gyroid assistant and the fact you have to run to your gyroid to save your game.
• The acre system.
• Miscellaneous items belonging to villagers and how you have to get the items back from villagers.
• Everyone gets their own house, but it’s in the same acre.
• Nook’s Cranny, Nookway, and Nookington’s all has the same hours of operation, but not Nook ‘N’ Go.
• All Museum exhibits have one room, and looks like an under-funded museum.
• You had to mail fossils to get them identified.
• Only five fish lived in the sea, and there are three types of basses in the river.
• The raffle at the end of the month.
• Universal codes.

This list can go on and on, but seeing how long it’s been since the GameCube Version came out and how these features were removed shows how much the series has progressed. Changes in these features were a convenience in Wild World, but now it’s hard to imagine playing Animal Crossing with those features listed.