Stepping from the seaplane onto my new deserted island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, it was hard not to smile.
There's a unique peace of mind that comes from Animal Crossing games, which amount to not much more than lackadaisical chore and interior design simulators, like stripped-down Sims games that replace romantic relationships and the threat of death with whimsy. They are charm incarnate.
Having said that, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a game that comes with baggage. For many, this Nintendo Switch title has been a long-awaited cure for the stresses of life. As things like uncertainty about basic healthcare, a once-in-a-decade virus, and everyday anxiety threaten to send the general public into a spiral at any moment, Animal Crossing: New Horizons feels like a little beacon of hope; a place to catch bugs, plant flowers, collect furniture, and chat with animal neighbors with little-to-no pressure.
In my own experience, Animal Crossing: New Horizons manages to live up to those expectations, at least as much as we can reasonably expect from a video game. Playing it makes me feel like I'm taking the video game version of a breath of fresh air, or going on a little vacation away from everything that feels like it could make me collapse into a pile of jittering slime.
In that sense, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is great. As a game outside of all the context of life, it's fantastic.
The island experience
As my little villager I created first walked onto my selected deserted island alongside the iconic landlord Tom Nook, his little twin tanooki employees Timmy and Tommy, and two animals who would soon become my neighbors, the little wave of excitement that ran through me was delightful.
There is nothing on the island aside from the trees, rocks, weeds, catchable wildlife, and a little tent set up for Resident Services. While earlier Animal Crossing games set villages up with homes, bridges to get across rivers and natural ramps to make it up cliffs, there's none of that here in New Horizons. I was sort of trapped on a flat section of land, wondering when I'd be able to explore the island further as I found a nice spot by a waterfall to set up my home.
Image: kellen beck / mashable / nintendo
It's not long before the game starts eeking out little bits of progression to make life on the island a little easier and little broader. The first big tool that opened up a larger part of my island was the vaulting pole, which I got the crafting recipe for on day two along with a shovel. For hours I was walking around, vaulting across rivers, and catching bugs and fish with my flimsy crafted tools to gather enough resources to help get this little island on its feet.
Within a few days, I upgraded from a tent to a house, helped open up a museum, and gathered enough materials to build the inimitable Nook's Cranny store. I crafted furniture, went on a couple mystery island tours using my hard-earned Nook Miles (which you get by completing certain tasks like catching a certain number of fish or selling fruit) and started laying down plots for new residences.
Image: kellen beck / mashable / nintendo
Going into this game, I thought that the crafting might feel weird, as it's only been a feature in the subpar mobile game Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, but in the context of this game, it works well and adds a little extra flavor to the whole game. Just the other day, I got a recipe for a barbell and immediately crafted one so I can get huge. Or pretend to get huge.
The trickling out of new items and infrastructure options is something that really makes New Horizons shine brighter than the older entries of the series, which were fantastic in their own right but lack some of the progression systems that we've become accustomed to in modern games.
Image: kellen beck / mashable / nintendo
As more and more things become unlocked and new areas open up, the momentum of the game keeps going and the wonder of what's still to come sustains excitement long past the point where past games slipped into routine. From what we've seen in trailers, there's still a lot more to come in my game, and I've already put more than 30 hours into it over the past 17 days.
The little things
The progression system in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a lot of fun, but what's perhaps most important for this game is the fact that, even with these new features, at its core this game does all the classic Animal Crossing stuff perfectly.
Image: kellen beck / mashable / nintendo
Bright colors and great, upbeat music fill the game with life, and while I haven't heard the song for every hour of the game (I haven't played at any point between 2 a.m. and 7 a.m. yet), what I've heard is just wonderful.
The fishing and bug catching continues to be the main way to make money and it's as enjoyable as ever. Finding a new beetle to donate to the museum still delivers that same excitement. Casting a line into the ocean during a rainy day hoping for a rare coelacanth and finally catching one after dozens of attempts is such a moment of elation.
Image: kellen beck / mashable / nintendo
There's the little conversations with animal neighbors, the little jokes they tell and the jokes when you catch fish and bugs, the appearances of characters like Gulliver the seafaring pelican who routinely washes up on beaches and Sahara the camel who sells wallpaper and flooring, and of course the ever-helpful Tom Nook and Isabelle.
There are a couple new character like Flick and C.J. who are obsessed with bugs and fish respectively. When they're in town for the day, they'll pay 150% of the normal price of bugs and fish, turning those days into frenzies for either of those activities. If you're normally a fisher like me, Flick gives you a good excuse to focus on hunting butterflies, beetles, and other bugs for a windfall of bells that could pay off a new bridge or make a dent in a home extension loan.
Image: kellen beck / mashable / nintendo
Another one of the classic parts of Animal Crossing is the interior design aspect. Between Nook's Cranny, the crafting system, shaking furniture out of trees, and shooting down presents floating on balloons in the sky, there are so many great ways to customize your home and even the outdoors of the island. It's a nice feeling to start putting together a room that has some semblance of a theme, or craft a big fountain to place near to plaza for everyone to enjoy.
Image: kellen beck / mashable / nintendo
Animal Crossing: New Horizons isn't a game that dazzles or gets the heart racing, that's for sure. The most exciting moments are when you manage to catch a tarantula or rare fish. But it doesn't need to elicit those kinds of emotions to be great.
The game is relaxing and soothing. That's it's strong suit and it nails it completely, making it easy to sink hours and hours into in a single day.
It is without a doubt the best entry in the series yet.
Image: kellen beck / mashable / nintendo
Animal Crossing: New Horizons releases March 20.
