Animal Crossing: New Horizons
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.
Contents
Gameplay
In the beginning of the game, the player is greeted by Timmy and Tommy Nook, apprentices for Tom Nook. The player’s character receives a Deserted Island Getaway Package from Timmy and Tommy where the game then continues to ask the player’s name, birthday, and directs the customization of their character. There are then 4 different island layout starters the player can choose from, each with their own random, unknown native fruit and flower. Once an island is chosen, the character is flown to the island where they are greeted by Timmy and Tommy Nook again alongside the players’ 2 starter villagers that will live on the island with them.
The player is directed to their plaza where Tom Nook awaits to welcome them and provides the opportunity to figure out where the player wants to set up their tent while they work up to a home. In this process, the player also helps their villagers pick a spot in which their tents will go.
From this point forward, the player is mostly taking tasks from Tom Nook that will help further the beginning development of the island for an in-game day. Along the way, players gain crafting recipes for tools that will help them with tasks and any additional material gathering by either finding these recipes around the island or they are given by Tom Nook. The player will also gain Bells, the form of currency in this game series; Nook Miles, a different form of currency that allows players to not only buy premium items and supplies in their Resident Services, but also tickets to fly to different, vacant islands in order to find new villagers or resources they may need.
Once players progress past this introductory in-game day, the accelerated time progression is shifted to follow a real-world 24-hour day based on what time and day the player has their console set at. It is at this point that the game progresses as the player chooses. By following any additional tasks asked for by Nook, fishing, catching bugs, etc., the player can begin to shape their island however they want. Players will receive 8 additional villagers and have the choice to pick where they want their homes to be around the island. They will also be able to place Timmy and Tommy’s store, Nook’s Cranny, and a clothing shop, Able Sisters, owned by 2 hedgehog characters, Mable and Sable. The more ornamented, neat, and overall pleasing the island is, the higher the rating of the island will be. Island ratings can be seen by the player through interacting with Isabelle, who works alongside Tom Nook in the Town Hall. Once a player reaches a 3 star rating for their island, they unlock new ways to customize their island via terraforming, and K.K. Slider, a musician, visits the island to perform. After this 3 star rating is achieved, players can further develop their island to get to 5 stars with the help of the terraforming feature they gained.
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 some animals which are seen as having human-like abilities and qualities as well as those which are non-sentient and caught, sold, or crafted into different materials or food items. This encourages players to partake in non-vegan activities. It may also bring a moral conflict for those who may be vegan. This issue was addressed by PETA and they provided a way to try and avoid these in-game actions. The game also allows for animals to be seen with human emotions, rights, and consciousness with the ability to cohabitate peacefully alongside humans. 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.
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
Redd becomes a point of contention when considering his position of selling fake artwork and likely gaining a profit from his actions. Amongst these works are real-life pieces of art such as Girl with a Pearl Earring, Vitruvian Man, and The Mona Lisa. The poor ethical implications of having forged artwork being sold at its valued price or more is clear within New Horizons as Redd is warned against by characters like Blathers and Isabelle, and the manner in which Redd visits the island is through a run-down, sketchy boat that is docked at the very back of a player’s island.
References
1. Halder, Rituraj (November 9, 2022) https://www.essentiallysports.com/esports-news-animal-crossing-new-horizons-reached-an-unbelievable-milestone-breaking-all-the-previous-records/ Retrieved on January 26, 2023 2. PETA https://www.peta.org/features/animal-crossing-new-horizons-vegan/ Retrieved on January 26, 2023 3. Casamitjana, Jordi (August 22, 2022) https://veganfta.com/2022/08/22/why-vegans-dont-have-pets/ Retrieved on January 26, 2023
