Summary
WhileAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsreceived critical acclaim and became the best-selling game of the series, the sequel may want to look to Nintendo’s other trailblazers likeThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildfor ideas about where to take the wholesome slice-of-life simulator next. With a development and release cycle hovering between three and five years, some are already anticipating thata newAnimal Crossinggame will be announced soonsinceAnimal Crossing: New Horizonswas launched in 2020. But with the Switch’s future and its potential successor still uncertain, so too is the future of theAnimal Crossingseries.
Whether thenextAnimal Crossingwill coincide with the Switch 2or another next-gen console, Nintendo might benefit from adopting the ambitious yet promising approach it once took withBreath of the Wild. LikeAnimal Crossing: New Horizons,Breath of the Wildquickly became one of the most successful and belovedZeldagames ever, despite its significant departure from the series' traditional design. WithAnimal Crossingfacing the same challenge thatZeldahad to overcome, it could be time for Nintendo to learn fromBreath of the Wild’s success as the series' next game aims to go even further beyond its once-new horizons.
Animal Crossing Needs An Overhaul
Though it’s undeniable that theAnimal Crossingseries has continuously enhanced players' experiences since its first game in 2001, it’s also clear that, by contrast, the series' traditional formula has remained fundamentally the same. Ranging from gathering collectibles, becoming homeowners, and bonding with other characters, eachAnimal Crossinggame is virtually the same - albeit with new and improved gameplay features. For some players, this familiarity could arguably be one of the series' key selling points owing to its continued success, but this same familiarity runs the risk of futureAnimal Crossinggames eventually becoming flawedand stale over time.
Animal Crossing is Already Following The Legend of Zelda’s Footsteps
With variousZeldagames being considered as the series' best, such asOcarina of TimeandA Link to the Past, it’s possibly no surprise that Nintendo felt it needed a completely new approach for the series, especially when its other recent games at the time likeSkyward Sworddid poorly. Recognizing that sticking so closely toZelda’s overused formula would always result in new games being overshadowed by earlier successes, the only option left was to break from tradition and do something completely different. In doing so,Breath of the Wilddemonstrated how to overcome the stalemate of series fatigue thatAnimal Crossingfinds itself approaching.
Animal Crossing Could Borrow Breath of the Wild’s Blueprint
Fortunately,Animal Crossing: New Horizons' success means that the series is currently enjoying a grace period before it begins to see the same kind of frustrations that players once had with each newZeldagame that came up short. However, this same success has set a near-impossible standard for the nextAnimal Crossinggame to meet player expectations, let alone surpass them, ultimately putting the risks of series fatigue at an all-time high. Therefore, thenextAnimal Crossingshouldn’t pass on the opportunityto maintain this momentum by cutting to the chase of a huge design overhaul, just asBreath of the Wilddid forZelda.
How exactly the nextAnimal Crossinggame will achieve this will be up to Nintendo, as even thoughBreath of the Wildwas hugely different from otherZeldagames, it was still a recognizable part of the broader series. Likewise, even with a design overhaul, the nextAnimal Crossingshould still share key features such as character, home, and world customization. However, there are also some obvious new directions the next game could take. For example, it could betime forAnimal Crossingto have a proper story, explore all-new settings, or even revisit older games to both recapture and revamp their original potential.
