Animal Crossing, English, Gaming

Animal Crossing (Switch) – General

Hello all, and welcome to the Animal Crossing’s World for Nintendo Switch. In this mini guide, I will present you the game, some tips and tricks, personal notes and of course, my own take on it.

As you may or may not know, this game caused huge hysteria in the last weeks, especially with the COVID-19 quarantines. While I get this increase popularity, I have to also admit I am a fan of the series long time behind, since the releases for the Nintendo3DS. It was actually my first Nintendo game, so our relationship is pretty special. I thing I had over 300+ hours played in the previous New Leaf version. So let’s see what the future holds for New Horizons!

But first things… first! Let’s select our name, hemisphere and get going into our island. The first 2 inhabitants are waiting, together with Tom Nooks and his two loyal helps, Timmy and Tommy.

As first task, you will only need to set up and get the preferred location of your tent. This game, I am going to a beach house! Compared to the last game where you were the mayor, now you will start from scratch: deserted island, no houses (that you will build), objects can be both build and found and mostly it all revolves around the resources available on the island of your choice.

So let’s celebrate the start of our new life and go back to sleep. Tomorrow it will all start!

Generally, the game will work as in real life. So, if you are playing at 5 pm, then the game, temperature, light, animals and tasks will be set to that time. Exception is the first day, since you only get to set a tent.

So let’s get started!

As mentioned, the whole idea revolves around the DIY’s projects. You can collect different types of wood, weeds, stones and other resources, depending on the season. The receipts you can find, buy, or get from the locals. You will need that to also create your tools, which will hold according to the type of recipe. But generally, you will need to redo those a few hundreds of times during the game.

That being said, the first tools you will need are: shovel, fishing rod, net, axe and a slingshot. You will also need tools to climb or jump over rivers, especially in the first phase where no inclinations or bridges are build.

You can also upgrade in time and actively select and switch the tool you need. But we will come back to that later!

Let’s rest and order our first upgrade so we can move from tent… to an actual house!

OK, that looks sad at first. But it is work in progress and you can upgrade the room size, number of rooms and levels during time. That means more objects and more place for storage!

Gulliver

Gulliver is one of the first characters you will meet and you will meet him pretty frequently. At first, I have to say he is a weird guy. He always gets lost at sea following mermaids, gets his phone into pieces, you need to dug for it in the sand and give the 5 communication parts back to him each time so he can call his friends for rescue. The positive thing is, he will send you on the next day an interesting gift from around the world. Just keep your post with free letter space!

Note: In the old games, he would give you some info about the place and you will have to guess correctly where he comes from. I liked that approach better, as a general knowledge quiz. Or maybe that’s just me not wanting to dig so much in sand for a drunk bird that has relationships with multiple mermaids!

Blathers

Here comes one of my favorite character, Blathers. This cute owl is the museum owner and he will collect from you different types of bugs, fishes and fossils to asses and donate. From this version, he also gives you some nice information about the pieces you donate, which I personally find a very nice addition. By the way, he usually is active at night and sleeps at day, just like the animal he represents. But you can always wake him up if you need something.

He will first move in a tent, but after you reach the number of donations he ask, he will be able to set the museum, similar to the way you moved from the tent to an actual building.

Dodo Airline

Here comes another cute set of characters: the Dodos! They are working for the airport (in the old game the approach was a train, but since there is a deserted island, that does not fit).

You can use the airport to send postcards (so it works also as the old post office in New Leaf), get people coming to your island and/or visit other islands yourself. Once you get the Nook Miles running, you can also exchange that for a ticket to a random island.

In those islands, you have to be aware of a few things. Firstly, this is one of the best places to find people and convince them to move into your town!

Your ‘town’ supports up to 10 inhabitants and the development, is of course, dependent on the number of people that come to stay and/or visit your island.

You will need to build the place for them to move, and will get extra Nook Miles collected for that. I have to say that, even if you no longer are a mayor, you basically still hold the lead position and do, well, basically everything.

The island is also an opportunity to get extra resources, and try to get new insects and fishes. Mind that the island only can give you a better likelihood of catching more rare resources, but it will not give you another hemisphere. That means if you are fishing in March, you will get only fishes and bugs from that month only, whether you are on your island or other island.

There are also some rare islands with resources that are not available at your place, as well as new types of flowers and fruits to collect. I was generally not that lucky with the island, but I did manage to get my resources over time.

Miles+

Going back to the miles topic, you will get at the very beginning a phone holding different options that you can try over time, which will be upgraded as you advance in the game.

Stores

The development of the island will also depend on the evolution on your shopping places. While all starts with Timmy and Tommy and Nook’s Cranny, over time you will be able to open a clothing store, too. Just mind the main square, as that is the first place new people will come sell their goods.

Daisy Mae

Here comes a new character introduced in the New Horizons: Daisy Mae. You might know his old grandpa selling turnips, but now she is taking over.

You can buy turnips and wait to sell it at a better price in the Nook’s Shop! I have to admit I never got a good exchange rate, but maybe I am not patient enough, which my husband will clearly agree with!

Saharah

From the old New Leaf, Saharah’s character did not change much. She is still going around the town once a week, selling her carpets, flooring and ceiling’s wallpaper. The only difference is that now you can buy it directly and she does not go and messes up with your home. You can also store tickets and exchange them for carpets as you continue to buy and ‘grow’ points.

Bridges and Inclinations

As mentioned above, the bridges and inclinations are the first step into developing your island, making more places accessible for your neighbors. There will always be a celebration for it!

The Museum

After you start with the donations, a museum will be opened. Blathers will continue to take in new fishes, bugs and different artifacts until the collection is full. That might take at least a year, given the fact that only certain months have certain insects and fishes showing up.

All in all, you can always visit and monitor your progress in all sections!

Wisp

This little ‘fellow’ appears and night and even if it is a ghost, it seems to be afraid of humans. He will be splattered into ghost pieces that you need to find and give him his old form back. You will get to choose a present for the help you provided, too.

Isabelle

As the island continues to grow, help will come for Tom Nooks and the chores will split between him and his assistant, Isabelle. She might seem familiar to you, as she was the mayor’s help in the old versions.

In the new Resident Services, she will deal with people, mostly the satisfaction levels, giving advice and helping you advance with the rating.

DIY’s

As mentioned before, one of the way to get objects is by making it yourself. While you can always search or buy new receipt, if you visit your neighbors while crafting something… they will teach you, too. You only need to ask!

The nicer you are to them, the better the friendship formed and the higher the chance you will get receipts, objects and letters from them.

Clothes

Of course, besides the look of your home and island, we can also talk about your own personal style. You can always check into your wardrobe and select new clothes.

Later own you will also be able to create wands that can store different types of clothing… just select your favorite look!

Making Money

Well, now that you want to have more clothes, more objects, storage, a bigger house and new island structure… of course that does not come for free! Make money by daily cleaning your city, shaking trees, collecting shells from the beach, catching fishes and bugs, exchanging objects, shaking rocks, growing money tree and many other activities you can do on your island and/or by visiting another one.

Just sell, sell, sell!

Presents

Of course, if you do not want to send the duplicate objects, you can always gift it to your friends. In order to wrap them, you will need to buy the paper from Timmy and Tommy.

COVID-19

Well, nice sense of humor, Nintendo! With the latest update, you can actually get a mask and wear it inside the game, too. Safety, first!

Passport

As in the end, you can always edit your passport depending on the preferences you have. You should always update the picture, especially if you change your hair or eye color. That would just be the legal thing to do.

The End?

The main goal of the game is to get KK Slider to perform a concert on your island. By improving, you will finally get him to make a positive comment on your city and then be able to hold a concert as a sign of his love for your place.

Is this the end? Well, not really! It just started. Now you can start the actual city development in more depth and KK will hold a concert each week on the main square. By attending his concert, you also get new Miles!

Additional events will come depending on season and time of the day, so just keep coming every day!

I will come back with more posts on the bugs and fishes you can get, as well as on events, Amiibo and further information. Just keep having fun and stay cute and fabulous!

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