The game that kept millions sane at the onset of the pandemic releases its last free update
Picture this: it’s April of 2020. You’re stuck in your home with your Nintendo Switch and one comfort: Animal Crossing: New Horizons (AC:NH). There was a joy and a peace in spending hundreds of hours on your own deserted island with your villagers and a raccoon you’re thousands of bells in debt to. The cozy game brought great comfort to its players, and now it’s back with a new update to do this same again.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2.0 was released on November 3, 2021, with tons of new features and a little bit of controversy. When the update was announced, some people were upset because Nintendo said it was the last major free update for AC:NH. Many people poked holes in this argument, saying that Nintendo could’ve easily taken the EA route and made this update downloadable content (DLC) and charged money for it. The “EA Route” refers to how Electronic Arts made the base game of The Sims 4 costs $40, but all of the DLC costs over $900.
The new AC:NH update comes with lots of new features, including a cafe that can open in the museum, run by Brewster. Brewster is a pigeon that was initially introduced in AC: Wild Word. Another returning character to this update is Kapp’n, originally from the first Animal Crossing game, back again to give you a boat ride for 1000 Nook Miles. K.K. Slider fans, be ready for 12 new songs being added to his setlist.
The game has finally added cooking, making the kitchen in your home functional. It behaves in a similar manner to the DIY system. Now, the fruit you worked so hard to get from other islands and the sea bass you’ve caught so many times will come in handy as you learn all the different cooking recipes available. A new item for ease of access is a permanent ladder. No more spending thousands of bells for an incline or having to get out your ladder every time you need to climb. And for those just waiting so patiently for Flick to appear on your island only to find out you just missed him, Isabelle will now tell you what island merchant is visiting your island.
And what might be the best update: storing DIY recipe cards in your home. No more piles of DIY strewn across the island. It’ll be a relief to clean up your island of all the cards hiding everywhere. Now, the villagers visiting your home can’t see the mess of DIY’s you’re hiding in the back room. That’s right, villagers can now visit your homes. They’ll interact with your items, admire the portrait you have of them, and leave immediately if you have cockroaches.
Another fan favourite is also returning: The Gyroids. The Animal Crossing staple returns in a customizable fashion and is available to be placed anywhere with their own achievements.
If you’re like me and you recently reset your island to try again and make some different decisions, you’ll have to wait a little bit before you can try out a lot of these new things. Most of the new update items are inaccessible until you reach certain milestones on your island, but that’s a good excuse to play some more and work towards paying your debts to Tom Nook.
There are lots to find and unlock in Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2.0, and it’ll only cost you 731,380 Bells and 31,600 Nook Miles to do it all.
