Animal Crossing: New Horizons Switch 2 Update Preview

Animal Crossing: New Horizons was one of the defining games of the last decade. I had expected Nintendo to move on as the Switch 2 era began, but that clearly is not happening. New Horizons will receive a free content update next year for every player, alongside a Switch 2 upgrade that uses the new system’s hardware features and stronger performance. It was an unexpectedly welcome announcement, and I was keen to see more during a hands-off demo earlier this month.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Switch 2 features

The session began by showing off the Switch 2-exclusive additions. They are charming novelties, although only a handful look especially practical. Nintendo has, in effect, assigned a use in New Horizons to each major new console feature. Mouse controls are the most straightforward, but also the most appealing: they let players arrange furniture at home, create custom designs and draw on the town bulletin board.

The megaphone is less compelling. With this new item, you can say a villager’s name into the Switch 2 microphone and call them over. However, both of you need to be outdoors, and the villager must be close enough to hear you. It is an amusing idea, but those restrictions make it seem too situational to be genuinely handy, particularly as it occupies a valuable inventory space.

Switch 2 support also brings GameChat compatibility and raises the maximum number of island visitors to 12. However, when a second player entered the demo, the loading screen lasted around 30 seconds. Getting a complete group onto an island would require considerable patience. Everyone must also be using the Switch 2 edition. It is an enjoyable prospect for a dozen people determined to spend time in Animal Crossing together, but I would be surprised if it transformed the experience for many players.

Slumber Islands and hotel design

Fortunately, the more substantial additions will be accessible to everyone, whatever Switch model they own. The headline feature is Slumber Islands: spaces you can create, terraform and decorate as extensively as you wish alongside friends. Until now, inventive Animal Crossing players have had to overhaul their entire island to pursue ambitious builds. These islands not only provide three extra places to design, but also leave the home island free for anything else players want to do. They are available in large, medium and small sizes, with the large option being approximately the size of a standard island, allowing for projects at different scales.

You can furnish Slumber Islands using any furniture obtained in the waking world, as well as trees, other outdoor flora and even villagers. The demo featured a Residents section in the menu, which lets you bring characters currently living on your island into these dream versions. Visitors appear to be able to add their own residents, too: the second person in the demo summoned Bob, despite him not appearing on the host player’s resident list.

Multiplayer decoration has plenty of advantages, though each island is tied to a single player’s account and can only be visited while that player is present. You cannot continue working there while they are offline, and everybody is removed if they leave. In my view, that is a sensible safeguard, although it could prove inconvenient for anyone hoping to use it as a shared Minecraft server.

The update also introduces a hotel to New Horizons. It must be unlocked, after which it is automatically attached to Kapp’n’s pier, wherever that happens to be on your island. Prospective residents can come to stay in rooms that you decorate around preset themes - I would estimate there are roughly 20 - with a collection of items suited to each style. The demo showed the Dreamy theme, built around pink and pastel shades, snacks and a large stuffed teddy bear. Naturally, custom themes will be possible as well, and I am looking forward to seeing the strange and inventive results people produce.

Decorating rooms rewards tickets, which can be spent on special furniture in the hotel lobby. Tickets are also available by selling Kapp’n a rotating range of craftable items outside the hotel.

Players can dress mannequins in the lobby, too. As visiting villagers wander around the island, they may be seen wearing those outfits - rather like a tourist walking through New York in an "I Love NY" T-shirt.

Splatoon, The Legend of Zelda and Lego décor

Lastly, the update brings several crossover décor collections, including Splatoon, The Legend of Zelda and Lego. The Splatoon and Zelda sets are unlocked using amiibo from their respective series. Although amiibo can only be scanned a limited number of times per day, a single amiibo from a series unlocks every crossover item. One Link amiibo, for instance, grants access to all Zelda items; the items are not tied to individual figures.

The demonstration reinforced my early impression of the update. It is great that Nintendo is continuing to support the game, and dedicated players will have further reasons to log in every day. Still, it does not seem quite radical enough to persuade everyone to return en masse. Any criticism that some features feel modest or unremarkable is eased by one simple and positive detail: the 3.0 update is free, while the Switch 2 features cost only $4.99. Both arrive early next year, on January 15.