Animal Crossing: New Horizons is... actually playable again?

If you’re anything like me, you spent 300+ hours playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons when it first came out at the start of the pandemic only to tuck the cartridge away for about a year, occasionally thinking about how you abandoned your villagers. That is until this last week when it was announced that on November 5th, New Horizons’ FINAL "major free content update” will be released!! 

New Content

A lot of NPCs were sadly left out of the game on release that are finally making their journey to the island, including one of my favorite characters: Brewster. He’s a chill, down-to-earth rooster who runs the cafe called The Roost where you can relax with friends and various residents over a cup of coffee. He may seem reserved at first, but the more you visit the cafe, the more he’ll warm up to you.

Kapp’n will also be making a much needed return, along with his iconic (and sometimes creepy?) sea shanties. He’ll take you on his boat to never before seen islands where you might discover unique foliage, a different season, or a completely different time of day. Fingers crossed they bring back Tortimer Island from the New Leaf days at some point, I miss the “tour” mini games... T^T

Personally, I always found Harv to be a bit of a bore - especially because the photography studio never interested me. With this update however, he and Harriet, the owner of the barber shop Shampoodle from previous games, will be using the island to make a little shopping district that reminded me quite a bit of City Folk. Behind his house will be a plot of land where you can donate bells to open up new shops for visitors like Sahara, Kicks, Leif, Redd, and even Tortimer who we all thought died of old age… I guess that's finally debunked.

Reese and Cyrus from New Leaf will also be making an appearance at Harv’s, and they’ll be able to customize items you can’t on your own. Having the ability to change the appearance of furniture and items you couldn’t in the past is HUGE, I’m finally free from the shackles of my ugly red Snack Machine and pink Drink Machine combo!!

I’ve been a big fan of Animal Crossing since the Gamecube days, and I still vividly remember the joy of collecting Gyroids and setting them up all over my house. If you’re new to the series, they’re these little funky “statues” that dance and make noise. They’re definitely one of the series’ most unique and ~quirky~ items so I’m really glad to see these return.

The Island Ordinances from New Leaf will be making a reappearance, with a total of four to add. The options to choose from are Beautiful Island, Early Bird, Night Owl, or Bell Boom. Depending on what you choose, you can really change the lifestyle of your residents. I love playing ACNH before bed, so the Night Owl ordinance will be perfect for me; no more time traveling just to say hi to Punchy before he KOs.

When they introduced the pumpkins last fall, I thought it was a little random and didn’t have much use outside of Halloween time. Thankfully, they came up with a way to use the pumpkins and the soon-to-be-added other crops year round through cooking. As both a kid who grew up on Harvest Moon and an adult who has an embarrassing amount of hours in Stardew Valley, I can’t wait to pull out my overalls and get to farming.

Other new content including furniture (FROGGY CHAIR! FROGGY CHAIR! FROGGY CHAIR!), options for the exterior of your home, KK Slider songs, an increase in storage of up to 5,000 items, nine new fences, eleven new hairstyles and reactions, the ability to add two more bridges/inclines, and a Pro Decorating License to add ceiling decor and accent walls to your home is also being added. I’m counting down the days until I get that mullet haircut, slap the new KK Slider song that looks like it’s inspired by Hatsune Miku into my record player, and jam out in my Froggy Chair.

The final and possibly the most exciting thing I wanted to touch on with this update is the introduction of BRAND NEW VILLAGERS. Series 5 of the Animal Crossing Amiibo Cards will be released on the 5th of November as well, including 48 cards in the set and 6 cards per pack. From what they’ve shown so far, there are several characters such as Flick, Daisy Mae, Sherb, and Raymond (no more selling him on the Nookazon or the Reddit black market for millions of bells), as well as at least 16 never before seen villagers. Please let the gacha gods shine down on me cause I know I’m not stopping til I collect the whole set.

Final Thoughts

As a huge fan of the Animal Crossing series, I really can’t wait for this update. They’re finally adding in characters, items, locations, and options that will really make this game feel whole. On release, a lot of players including myself were disappointed by the exclusions made in New Horizons from previous games and were rather vocal about it online. I think this update makes us truly feel heard, and it's seemed to liven up the community again. 

Don’t be surprised when I go M.I.A for a couple months starting November 5th.