We attended an event where we see how our island has evolved since its inception after a few weeks and even a month.
The launch of a new installment of Animal Crossing is something we can only live once every generation, almost every decade. We are, therefore, before a special moment, one that moves us immediately to remote times, when perhaps our lives were very different from what they are now. Far are the 2013, 2008, 2005 or even 2003, dates recorded in fire in the memory of those who have been immersed in this universe since its inception; But it is time to approach a new adventure and see what is sighted beyond those horizons. We have already played Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
One day, one week, one month
Nintendo Spain has held an event in Madrid to present, in compressed form, what we can find after a couple of days on our desert island; what we will have advanced after a couple of weeks and, finally, what those hectares will have become when more than a month has passed. Evolution, after all, and a sense of progress.
As you can imagine, there are more restrictions and aspects that we cannot talk about than we do; but that is also the grace of each new iteration of Animal Crossing: discover the unknown. Wrecking surprises in the form of content, mechanics that are still added quality of life or uncover now or in the Reviews what we are most like would be a serious error.
Because Animal Crossing: New Horizons is full of surprises. It is a video game that asks for perseverance and perseverance, which does not deceive, that allows you to manage your time and resources. So far nothing new, right? Well, when the game is in stores this March 20 on Nintendo Switch you can see how much some aspects have changed, although aesthetically it may seem a translation from the traditional to high definition.
We have walked, breathed and molded to our liking the island of Lindsey, the character that has allowed us to incarnate in this opportunity. The first sensations are, for the peace of mind of those who already have their reservation made, very positive.
The pole is much more important than it seems; It accompanies us constantly on the move.
What do I do now? The importance of the Nookophone
Diary of a Villager: Day 1
One of the most recurring phrases we made in the previous installments was that: what to do next? The arrival of the Nookófono, as the Smartphone that Tom Nook gives us when arriving at our island (invoice through, missing more) completely changes the day-to-day gameplay. It is not just an operating table as an interactive menu; It is also a notification base with which to always be aware of what we can create through DIY (we will talk in depth about crafting in the Reviews); the list of insects, fish and other collectibles that we have registered; the camera to take pictures with; and, especially, the Nook Miles, that other fictitious currency with which Animal Crossing: New Horizons takes center stage from the berries and introduces a new currency into the equation.
The comfort to modify, order and decorate the home is total. Evolution regarding Happy Home Designer.
As if it were a current free to play video game – with two currencies for different or complementary uses -, with the exception that in this case there are no micropayments, but that these Miles are designed to redeem objects, pay for some tasks or unlock lessons (a kind of recipes with which to unlock the manufacture of tools, objects …).
The incentive is constant, from day one: fish five fish; catch ten insects; blow up two balloons; Take a picture; cut down a tree Everything has compensation. Everything counts. There is nothing for nothing in this game. The feeling, from day one, is that the player's time is rewarded and that you do not perceive that you cannot do anything.
Diary of a Villager: Day 15
Lindsey Island … has changed, certainly. He has done a lot: there are more neighbors, our house is bigger, there are bridges (we have a pole to jump!) And certain monuments and places to trade have been built. Our inventory is larger, we have a roulette to quickly select each of those tools … A substantial improvement, go.
The selection wheel makes it easy to access all tools at any time.
As you can guess, in Animal Crossing: New Horizons it is not enough to dedicate a day four hours, but it counts more to do the same one hour for four days. The reason is very simple: time is worth gold and things, after all, take time. Do you want a museum? You have to prepare your inauguration. Do you want more rooms in your house? Touch wait for it to be built (dizzy mortgage in between). And so on. The difference is that the team of Katsuya Eguchi and company has established a much more sensory gameplay, with more power to act with the stage. We will not reveal anything that has not been seen in the Nintendo Direct in February in this regard, but we can see that these good intentions are materializing in more productivity.
It is not a desert island, but a blank book where to draw your own path
Pave the floor, decorate the house in the purest Animal Crossing style: Happy Home Designer (2015, Nintendo 3DS) or eliminate time constraints for some tasks perfectly combine with how the video game industry has evolved in recent times. Part of the public to whom this delivery is directed, inevitably, is an adult segment, seven years older than in the previous work, which has forced to give and take certain concessions where the clock and the lack of sunlight are not a barrier to advance .
This is already another story.
You feel that the island is yours and that, contrary to what it might seem in the first instance, it is not a desert island, but a blank book where you can draw your own path. Soon everything will be taking the form of a town, if you want; or rather a tropical environment. Even if you wish, you can stay forever in a tent located on the edge of the coast.
Nintendo proposes you a rhythm to play, but it doesn't force you to follow those tasks at length. During these days, after talking with other colleagues in the press, we conclude that the Nookófono does not become oppressive or overwhelming; It is there, it is true, it notifies you and lets you know that you are unlocking things and completing challenges. You decide whether to ignore. Meanwhile, after fifteen days, Lindsey Island has become a fairly well-planned town project.
Multiplayer and terrain modification: the real change of these deliveries
Diary of a Villager: Day 30
A month has passed. The storage room? To overflow. The museum is huge and we find it difficult to count the number of neighbors on our island. Now we see waterfalls, mounds, more bridges and even stairs with which to reach inaccessible moments in the past. We reserve to comment what we could see inside some of those stores and homes of the neighbors, but the newsletter of Tom Nook tells its novelties by the tens.
The local multiplayer mode allows you to change leaders at any time.
The Raccoon Desert Islands Settlement Plan left for the end in this test session what surely most attracts our attention because of its novelty: the improved local multiplayer mode and the possibility of modifying the terrain. Lindsey Island had little to do with that first stage. Over the weeks, this villager has unlocked the construction license and, with the helmet well fastened, it is time to take the shovel and do what we want. From making a waterfall in that corner to doing a second level – with the size we want – and putting, if we want, even the house of one of the future villagers that are to come; since this time it is we who choose where each home is housed (nothing to spoil our gardens or take a fruit tree ahead).
In the test to which we had access, we made a small lake in a part of the island next to a waterfall on one side. There was no problem in putting objects or trees, it is simply a change in height that we can even speed up if we build a bridge or use the ladder, another of the utensils that will accompany us every day.
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In Animal Crossing: New Horizons it is enough to take a second Joy-Con or a Switch Pro Controller command so that another villager starts playing with another of the island's residents if they have them (there are several local and online multiplayer modes). The camera is now much more dynamic by allowing us to tilt the vertical axis, thus giving more visual coverage and much closer to the almost aerial view of the GameCube delivery. The result, given the speed at which everything happens, is that there is no feeling of chaos. It is possible to say, and this seems to us a real shame, that it is not possible to rotate the camera to the sides; For example, if we are fishing and hide the fish ourselves with the mere presence. With a small turn to the left or right it would have been solved, but you can't. Changing leaders (the one with the main focus of the screen and has more power in the main actions) is as simple as shaking the command. For the rest, the second resident can make use of tools and even keep everything he takes, but if they are resources they will be housed in the pocket of the main villager.
The museum aims to be one of the main claims for the most complete.
The countdown begins: Island Settlement Plan in progress
We saw much more, it was a town with all of the law at the end of that long month, but it will not be until our Reviews when we tell you what and how the island of FreeGameTips is progressing. We place you, however, at that moment, but the first sensations are not only positive because of how it looks, how it is heard and how it feels, but because of how well designed and integrated everything feels. A game with wicker to become a new essential in the Nintendo Switch catalog. Animal Crossing: New Horizons is what we were waiting for.
We have made these impressions after a test session conducted by Nintendo Spain in Madrid.
