Difference between revisions of "Animal Crossing: New Horizons"

Revision as of 18:45, 27 January 2023

Animal Crossing New Horizons is the fifth game within the Animal Crossing franchise made by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch console. This social simulation game fixes itself in a storyline of a character which is made by the player. This character lives on a deserted island they purchased and must build it up with guidance from Tom Nook, a raccoon holding a businessman/real estate agent occupation. By buying, selling, crafting, and completing tasks around the island in order to customize it, the player is able to form a community of animals deemed as villagers–– animals who live on the players’ island–– or visitors–– animals which will visit and stay for a day.

Created by Katsuya Eguchi and Hisashi Nogami, the fifth rendition of the game began its development in 2012 before announcing it’s coming in 2019 at the Electric Entertainment Expo at a Nintendo Direct event. New Horizons then made its worldwide release in March of 2020, gaining critical acclaim and major success amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gameplay

In the beginning of the game, the player is greeted by Timmy and Tommy Nook, apprentices for Tom Nook.

Characters

Villagers

Villagers take on a variety of different animal appearances such as eagles, dogs, koalas, pigs, and many more. These villagers will have their own home on the player’s island and interact with one another, will be seen doing various activities (fishing, catching bugs, etc.), as well as with the player.

Main and Special Characters

Tom Nook: A raccoon businessman and travel agent within New Horizons that manages the players’ loans within Resident Services. He also helps players with infrastructure customizations around the island, home expansion, and home relocations.

Timmy and Tommy Nook: Tom Nook’s apprentices, although they are widely referred to as nephews of Tom Nook. These 2 smaller raccoons own a shop, Nook’s Cranny, where the player can buy decorative items or supplies and sell any sea life, bugs, fossils, and other miscellaneous objects.

Isabelle: Isabelle is a dog appearing character that works as a secretary alongside Tom Nook in Resident Services. She is in charge of keeping the player’s island reviews and star ratings in check and providing suggestions should a player check in on their island rating. Acting as an administrative role, Isabelle is also able to change the island’s tune and flag at the player’s request. She is also the first character to be seen in the regular gameplay when a player enters the game for the first time in a given day by giving announcements regarding island events, birthdays, or visitors.

K.K. Slider: K.K. Slider is a dog who is a musician who is usually seen sitting on a stool, playing the guitar. This character signifies a milestone in the player’s game progress, as it means that the player has managed to build up and decorate their island to a 3 star rating amongst habitants and visitors. After this milestone, Slider can be found in the player’s plaza on Saturdays performing.

Blathers: Blathers is an owl who is the owner of the museum on a player’s island. The player brings Blathers any sea life, fossils, bugs, and/or art to be inspected and put in the museum should they be missing from it. He will also offer information about an item a player brings in if it is brought in on its own with no additional critters.

Redd: Redd is a fox that will show up on islands on his boat to sell art. He is known for being a con-artist because he looks to scam players into buying fake, forged art pieces at an expensive price. It is up to the player to identify whether or not the art they buy from Redd is fake or not.

Ethical Concerns

Veganism

Animal Crossing’s gameplay is based in various interactions between the human character and animals which some are seen as both having human-like abilities and behavior as well as those without

COLLABORATIVE WRITING EXERCISE: Animal Crossing: New Horizons allows players to commit some acts that are deemed not vegan such as fishing, catching bugs, digging up clams and digging up clams. By allowing users to complete these actions in the game, developers are normalizing these non-vegan activities. Additionally, these activities can cause a moral conflict for users that identify as vegan, as much of the gameplay surrounds performing these actions. Much of the money earned within the game can be obtained through fishing and catching bugs, prohibiting vegan users from the same gameplay as non-vegan users.Animal Crossing: New Horizons also helps to promote some of the ethics and moral views of veganism by allowing animal villagers to be seen with the same rights, emotions, and abilities as humans. Portraying an island where animals and people cohabitate peacefully, users of Animal Crossing: New Horizons are able to comprehend the ideals of veganism, and the value of both humans and animals. One of the key aspects of ethical veganism is the idea that humans do not own pets, nor are they above animals. Rather, they live with animals and cohabitate in the same environment. Animal Crossing: New Horizons demonstrates these ideals and how well they can be comprehended and achieved with the villagers of the island.

Sources: https://www.insider.com/peta-its-not-vegan-fish-or-catch-bugs-animal-crossing-2020-3 https://veganfta.com/2022/08/22/why-vegans-dont-have-pets/

Bullying

In the beginning of the game, players begin to gain 8 new villagers on top of the 2 they are randomly given at the start of the gameplay. These 8 villagers will at times also be randomly assigned to move onto the player’s island if the player does not seek out villagers for themselves. If a villager is not a favorable character for the player, the player may continue to find ways to remove them from their island. Although there is no set method to move villagers out on a player’s own decision, a player may begin to berate these characters in multiple ways such as hitting them with a net, enclosing them with fences, making hateful displays against them, and more.

Forgery and Plagiarism

References

1. Veganism <3 https://www.insider.com/peta-its-not-vegan-fish-or-catch-bugs-animal-crossing-2020-3 https://veganfta.com/2022/08/22/why-vegans-dont-have-pets/