Distributor provided an update code
Animal Crossing: New Horizons couldn't have released at a more perfect time. Well, not for everyone else, but for a social simulation game that is.
It arrived at the start of the global pandemic, which saw much of the world's population stuck at home with nowhere to go for almost two full years. For some, it was even longer. In a world that had suddenly come to an abrupt and traumatic standstill, it was no wonder the casual and repetitive nature of New Horizons took off as it did. Suddenly there was an outlet for our collective anxiety, one with very small stakes and clearly defined parameters that provided comfort in an uncertain time.
Six years later, while COVID still remains a threat and the world isn't exactly sane or normal again, we are back to doing most of the things we once used to. How does Animal Crossing fit into that lifestyle anymore? Well, instead of a new entry to the series, we now have something of an answer in the form of the Switch 2 update, which brings graphical upgrades and gameplay enchancements to those who've upgraded to Nintendo's lovely new console.
At a low asking price of just 5 Euros to update (if you own the Nintendo Switch version), is it worth the return to Tom Nook's island paradise? Yes, but with a few caveats.
The first thing you'll probably notice is the updated resolution, which now comes in at a pristine 4K image helped along by Nintendo's DLSS upscaling. Docked, the game looks wonderful, with every little detail coming through crisp and clear. New Horizon was always a delightful looking game, and it remains a joy to this day.
Sadly, the resolution bump doesn't guarantee a higher frame rate for some bizarre reason. New Horizons remains stuck in the archaic 30fps that it was on the original Switch, and there's no option to play at a lower resolution coupled to a higher frame rate, either. It's definitely a knock on an otherwise great update.
According to the internet, this appears to be tied to the game mechanics themselves, where a higher frame rate would break the established animations for things like chopping wood and so forth. I get it, but I don't have to like it.
Other upgrades are more on the social front, and they're all very, very welcome. You can now invite more people to visit your island at once (12 instead of the original 8), and the Switch 2 supports both GameChat and CameraPlay, giving you a fun little icon over each player showcasing their real-world faces if they've got a webcam attached to their console.
This is probably one of the best things about the update, as New Horizons was always an escape that allowed us to be social and gather in virtual spaces during a time that physical connection was limited. Today, we can just go and meet people in public, so the demands of a virtual world isn't as great. But for those of us who made friends online during the pandemic years, it's a wonderful addition to now play together while still "seeing" one another in real-time.
It must be said though that Nintendo's approach to social chat and video still remains bafflingly backwards and there are all kinds of hoops you need to jump through first to get things going. Once you do, the experience is great. It's just getting there that's the issue.
Other performance upgrades include far superior loading times, which were always an issue on the original New Horizons release. This time around it doesn't take minutes to get into the action, but seconds. The updated version also moves much faster between buildings and the overworld map.
You can also now place far more items and buildings on the map than before. There's a fantastic quality of life improvement that allows you to access your storage anywhere on the map, including when building items. This cuts down on pointless running back and forth.
For those coming back after a long time away from the game, there's also a handy option to reset the entire island start from scratch. A brand new location, the Resort Hotel, gives you a chance to decorate rooms with chosen themes for even more elaborate dollhouse gaming.
Finally, there's a new tool called, the megaphone, that allows you to call up any of your NPCs on the island from a single location. It's a small fix, but one that cuts down on some of the pointless grinding and allows you to focus on the fun parts of the simulation.
All in all, New Horizons on the Nintendo Switch 2 is well worth your time if you still haven't had enough of its charming delights. The update itself doesn't set the world on fire and it's a bit hard to call it an upgrade pack with a straight face, but it does deliver improvements that fans have demanded for years. If we can't get a full new game, this is as good as it gets, at least for now.
