It's been a while since I played Animal Crossing: New Horizons. In fact, it took a long time, 5 years. I had been gone so long that most of the animals on the island probably thought I was dead. Everything is basically the same as before, but there are more weeds and bugs. I don't know what else I expected.
I didn't think this would be a complete overhaul of the game. But after many years, when I return to my small town, I experience something strange. A completely unexpected feeling. Visiting Animal Crossing Village again feels like coming home again, but it doesn't feel right.
I could go home again, I just feel bad
Now, before we get into the topic, I would like to tell you that these are my own feelings. This isn't a strong criticism of a game I like very much. And after searching the internet, my opinion seems to be in the minority. A lot more people are excited to be back and feel like the game has been revamped. Maybe I'm doing it wrong. But I can't shake the feeling that my island is a place I used to live in, and a place I don't really like anymore after seeing what else the world has to offer. It's not even a metaphor. That's exactly how I feel!
I'm originally from Florida and this used to be fun and now sounds like an escape from Fallout's Shady Sands. Every time I return home to visit my parents in the same town I grew up in, just a few miles from where I grew up, I feel a sense of distance that is both familiar and completely alienating. Of course, none of these are new ideas. You can't go home again.
But every time I visit, I visit the same stores, see the same people, and feel completely disconnected. There's a big difference between knowing what makes a place special and the enormous changes that have occurred since that place was special. And strangely enough, the same thing is happening in my fictional village full of sentient birds and beasts.
I'm not at home anymore. I'm at home.
Visiting Animal Crossing Village five years after the pandemic felt like visiting my high school after college. The building is also the same. There are still many employees left. But since I don't come there every day anymore, I'm kind of an outsider to everyone else, even people I know.
In New Horizons, I went from spending my days throwing kitchen appliances all over the floor of my room. I'm no longer the guy who built a fence on top of a mountain for a miniature theme park. It's like visiting a museum, except this museum actually has another museum inside it. It's imperfect enough to be annoying and perfect enough not to be worth the rest of the effort.
I think the word ‘visit’ carries too much burden. I check in every day and even with a little renovation of the hotel, it feels like I'm only there for a little while before I leave again. It's no different than doing chores for my parents while I'm there. I am very happy to be able to do some dishes. In both cases, I am staying in my old house, not living there. It's more like having drinks with some friends before Thanksgiving and not seeing them for the next year than building a town for friendly people.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons belongs to me in 2020
It sounds completely stupid to talk about a video game like this, but we have to remember how anxious we all were in 2020 when this game was released. I poured so much emotion into Animal Crossing: New Horizons during those strange times that it made sense. For about two months, it seemed like the only way to live a full life! It was my home and it was special. Now I see all the lazy infrastructure choices and the sad leftovers that haven't changed at all over the years. That applies to both my hometown and the Animal Crossing islands.
It's like, I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I get back home. When shopping in old, run-down malls, you often realize that it doesn't have the same fun as it did when you were a kid. Or when a new shopping mall opens. Alternatively, paying Tom Nook meant he would get a bigger home in exchange for extra space to store more unsold fish. I wouldn't say it's boring. I would like to say that I have done everything I can and I don't know what else is out there. Should I stay here and support my family? It was definitely nice to see everyone, but I'm not sure how long I'll be there.
Yes, you can blow up the town and start over. Or I could simply ask Resetti to clean the parts of the island I don't like. I could complain about all the residents and have them kicked out and replaced with nicer, newer ones whose houses are now in reasonable locations. Damn, I could have just redone the whole thing. But it's just not the same. I'll be fine. Let me stop by and say hello. But I don't live here anymore.
- released
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March 20, 2020
- ESRB
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All/Comedic Pranks, Mild Fantasy Violence, User Interaction, In-Game Purchases
- developer
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Nintendo EPD
- publisher
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nintendo
- engine
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Summer clothes
- multiplayer
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Online multiplayer, local multiplayer
- cross platform play
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no
