Guys I put a poll up on my blog earlier today and most of you wanted to see me react to the Animal Crossing direct from Friday (15th October), so here it is!
I’ve actually been really excited to share and talk about the Animal Crossing direct with people since watching the stream. So much so I was toying with jumping on Twitch or Instagram live for an hour to watch it and react for the third time. xD
Instead, I have decided to write about it instead, so I can get any thoughts and feelings that came to my head the first time I watched it, as well as when I watch it today. I am literally typing my thoughts as each section of the direct is shown. I will also try and grab some screenshots to especially empathise on anything in particular I’m excited for.
So, make sure to grab yourself a hot drink and/or some lunch/dinner whilst you read this post. 😛
Just to pop a “warning” here. All images taken in this post are from the Animal Crossing direct itself. I print screened them. 🙂
First of all, straight away when you get into the direct they announce when the free update will be out, which is Friday 5th November, which is just under three weeks away now! I’m really happy they decided to bring it out then however as I’m off work that day. I did want to go out for Bonfire Night, but as Dane isn’t fussed, we’ve both decided to stay in and play Animal Crossing together for the day.
Nintendo didn’t hang about and made sure to start off the stream with the goods that we were expecting… Brewster (the best pigeon boy) and The Roost! The Roost has always been one of my favourite parts of Animal Crossing, especially when I worked at Costa Coffee when New Leaf came out. I always loved logging onto the game daily to make coffees for my villagers and more.
This time it doesn’t look like you can jump behind the bar and give Brewster a hand, but you can invite your favourite characters/villagers into the game to come for coffee! I’m already excited to invite some villagers who I don’t have on my island for coffee dates, as well as my friends and Dane.
KAPP’N IS BACK! I know some of my friends and people of the internet were commenting how they thought and hoped Kapp’n would be back, but I didn’t actually think that would be the case! I’ve really missed him and his songs and I genuinely think my favourite part of the direct was him singing.
I do wish he was taking you to Tortimer Island that you ventured to in New Leaf where you could play games, grab some new fruits (lychees, durians, lemons, mangoes, bananas, and coconuts) and buy limited items. However, now you can venture to a new island each time, the season and time of day will be different depending and it does look pretty cool! You just spend your Nook Miles to go. It definitely changes it up from flying on the plane with tickets.
I don’t think any of us were expecting a trip to Harv’s Island to find out we’re getting a shopping market there, as well as the photo studio! :O I was so excited to see Harriet though in a matching outfit to Harvey, it’s so adorable. Then to see some of the other stores popping up made me happy, especially seeing Cyrus and Reece! I loved seeing them during the wedding event in the summer, so to now be able to see them all the time is great, especially if they’re able to change items for us that at one point were only obtainable from being sent them by different people, or mystery island trips.
Sahara (rugs and wallpaper), Katrina (fortune teller), Harriet (hairstyling), Tortimer (not 100% sure to be honest), Redd (rare and fake items) and Kicks (shoes and bags) will all be there selling their goods! I know a lot of people are excited for Katrina to be back, but I was never really invested in her before so I’m excited to this time around. I’m also excited for Harriet to be there to give us some new hairstyles, eleven in total!
I’m also really excited for Tortimer to be back, but as I said above, I don’t 100% get what he’s there for?
Also… Where’s Digby? I miss him. 😦
Group stretching looks so adorable to do and the fact you can do it with the motion controls to ACTUALLY take part is amazing. This will be nice for people to do in the mornings and maybe before bed too. It’s definitely something I’d like to do in the morning on my game before I go to work. This honestly reminds me of something Japanese communities would do and that in itself makes me a mixture of happy and sad, because I bloody miss Japan now. 😦
We’re also getting the chance to change our island ordinances, which isn’t something I’m too arsed about. We now get 5,000 items in our storage, which is fab and the chance to change our homes exterior to match the style of our island.
New items will be available to buy with Nook Miles. I have so many to spend so I’ll have plenty to go around. 😛
It’s been a rumour for about a year now since pumpkins could be grown that vegetable patches were going to come in the future, which obviously has turned out to be true. Not only can you grow all sorts of different veggies, but you can make cook and make some yummy dishes with them too! I’m not stupidly excited about the cooking side, but growing veggies will be fun! I’ll definitely make dishes, but it’ll be more for displaying in my home/on my island.
I have the idea now of moving my museum to the top of my island and where my museum currently is to create a veggie and fruit growing area. Plus it’s given me more ideas, depending on the types of food you can cook…
Pro decorating licences are now something you can obtain so that you have more ways of designs and customising your home, including lighting and ceiling décor! You can also do accent walls now, which I love the idea of. I love the funky and unique wallpapers you can get and whilst I have them up in rooms in my home, sometimes it’s a bit too much, so accent walls will be perfect.
Can I just say, I didn’t quite realise you could only have eight bridges and inclines… So, ten is pretty good!
As someone who has fences around all their villagers homes, I’m excited for new fence types and being able to change their colours too. It feels like a lot of my villagers have the same style, which I’ve always wanted to change up. I had to include the image above of Marcel the dog, I love my dog villages so much so whenever I saw them on the direct it made me smile so much.
I didn’t think the camera would be updated and I know this is a change that made Dane smile! I love how the camera can now go into handheld mode so you can take loads of really cute photos of your villagers in first person. I mean, look at how cute Leif is! I also love the tripod mode so you can get some cute photos with your villagers better than ever before. I’m so excited to use this with my villagers, especially Cookie.
As I mentioned earlier, there will be eleven new hairstyles to choose from and I’m excited for all of them, but especially this side braid type style, which is me ALL OVER! This is how I wear my hair most days (been doing it since I was 20? xD) so it’ll be nice to finally get a style that’s actually me? I felt before that the hairstyles in game were a bit bland, so I’m glad we have some more to choose from.
As well as hairstyles, we’re also getting eleven new reactions too! The double wave will be one of them, which is so cute. Quite a few of my villagers double wave when I leave their house and it’s adorable!
Island Life 101 will be perfect for all age groups players who are new to the Animal Crossing games, especially younger ones! I know some younger players who get stuck with what to do, so this will definitely help.
Finally, new items are coming to the Nook Miles store to redeem and they all look amazing. There appear to have been a lot of theme park style ones showcased on the direct, which I’m definitely excited for… Maybe I’ll bring a mini theme part to my island? Maybe… 😛
I actually screamed out loud when I saw the storage shed and the automatic bell dispenser. These are things I have definitely needed on my island for AGES now and I’m so happy that we’re finally getting them! I don’t have a clue yet where I’m going to pop them, but I’m sure I’ll think of something…
Just when I get my K.K. Slider library full (apart from K.K. Birthday), they add some additional songs. I’m excited for these though and will make sure to be on my island as many Saturday’s as I can so I can add all these to my library. K.K. Bashment’s song image looks so cute, I love it.
I love the sound of music boxes, they’re relaxing for a start, so to be able to have them on New Horizons now is awesome! I’m going to be buying/making loads of these to place all over my house, as well as the island.
YES GYROIDS ARE BACK! I’ve actually really missed these in Animal Crossing, as it always felt like something else I had/wanted to collect alongside fossils. I especially loved The Roost ones. Who else remembers in New Leaf in the museum where the exhibit areas were on the second floor? I used to keep all my gyroids in there!
Okay, I don’t know if it’s just me but… I don’t remember ever digging up gyroid fragments in previous games? Let alone planting them and watering them! This being said, I do love this, it’s adding more stuff to do on a daily basis and I’m down with that.
The gyroids look so much better than ever before and still look quirky, but cute with it. I also like how you can change the colour of them to fit around you home and island. I’m going to plan on having some of these on display around my island, especially the beach.
As soon as I saw the gaming PC set up, I thought about Dane. I showed it to him when I watched the stream for a second time, we’ll both be keeping eyes peeled for it for him. I’m definitely going to get one for my home and fingers crossed it’s customisable too.
Okay the wooden ladder set-up kit is very handy! This is something I’ll be adding to my island. Inclines are good, but this will be a bit quicker to navigate from parts of the island.
Okay, Nintendo have really stepped up! I like that we can now walk through tight spots, it’ll make decorating rooms a lot nicer/easier now without having to think about whether or not we can even get around the room!
Look.. It’s Froggy Chair… I’m not someone who is mad about the froggy chair but I know people who are. I’ll definitely be getting one of these for my home! 😀
YES VILLAGERS CAN VISIT US AGAIN! I’m so ready for my little cuties to come and look around my home, especially Cookie. Plus, you can be invited to their homes too for certain times of day, which I’m really excited about.
Genji is on my island (was one of my first villagers) so I had to show him going into someone’s home during the direct. The best eyeliner award goes to Genji for sure. 😛
So, Nintendo asked, “What do you think?” Well, we were only ten minutes into the direct and I was pretty fucking happy to be honest! I thought we were just going to be told about The Roost, some new amiibo cards and maybe a few other things, but the direct up to this point was incredible! It actually feels like Nintendo have listened to their fans and what we have wanted for over a year.
To see that this is the last major free content update was a shame… We waited ages for all this new exciting content to be shared and yeah… That being said it just sounds like in the future we’ll be paying for content, which I don’t mind. I love Animal Crossing and it makes me happy to play, so it’s worth the money if you ask me.
BUT WAIT. HANG THE FUCK ON. WAIT A MINUTE. WAIT A FUCKING MINUTE. IS THAT A NEW DOG VILLAGER?!
It is!, It is a new dog villager and his name is Frett! This isn’t the first time he’s been in Animal Crossing either, but OMG OMG OMG. You guys know I love my dog villagers, so to be given a new one makes me so damn happy.
We also have a new rabbit villager too called Sasha, who is so precious and everyone loves her. She’s definitely fast turned into my favourite rabbit villager. 😀
Seriously though, I’m so excited for this yellow pupper to come to my island one day.
At this point the direct has been on for ten minutes, when it’s been mentioned previously that it would last for twenty? So, what else are we finding out about during the direct? We’re then transported to the airport and wait… “I want to go to work.” WUT?
Go to work?
Where are we going?
What work?
OH MY GOD, IT’S HAPPY HOME DESIGNER!
But now it’s called Happy Home Paradise, a paid DLC. My body is ready for the next ten minutes of stream to find out alllll about it.
Lottie is back and she has a whole new team behind her! Wardell the manatee (he must be Wendell’s cousin?) and Niko the monkey. Everyone has gone MAD for Niko.
Like before, you’ll get villagers come to the island requesting their vacation homes to be designed with ideas in mind. For the direct Maple was the example, with lots of bears in her dream vacation home. You can choose different locations on the island that fit with the villager in question, which I liked. Apparently there are ten locations on offer, so ten new villagers? I don’t know if this is 100% true.
Like Happy Home Designer, you get given the basics that the villager definitely wants in their home and then unlimited access to furniture to design their home. You can also hang lights and furniture from the ceilings, as well as add themed walls.
Outside the garden can be decorated too, with paths, fences, furniture, trees and more. The house can be moved to sit in the perfect place, the look of the house can be changed too, and the trees you plant can even have their size changed. It blew my mind and I don’t know why. xD
You can even change the time of day, season and the weather. This is definitely what Happy Home Designer was missing back in the day.
Not going to lie, they did Maple dirty… Filming her in the rain for the direct. Poor cub baby… 😦
I had to add this photo of her, look how happy she is. It actually makes me so happy! I honestly hope she comes to my paradise island for a vacation home.
Next up, design techniques! I had to include his image as it’s Butch, one of the first dog villagers I ever met on Animal Crossing (Wild World). You can change the size of the rooms interior, both length and width. I wish we could do this on our own homes. They have said we can’t, but they haven’t said we can either?
Partition walls, counters and pillars? DAMN Nintendo have gone all out with this update. Kitt’s home looks amazing!
Lighting is pretty cool to change the mood too, especially depending on the theme of the room in question. This is definitely something I’ll do depending on the villager. It looks pretty funky in Kyle’s home, very nightclub looking to me!
Soundscapes are also around, so you can make the house sound like anything! I feel like this was in Happy Home Designer… Polishing is new to Happy Home Paradise though and personally I feel like it’s a bit pointless? From the direct you can either polish items to sparkle, or have butterflies surrounding them. I mean, it’s cute but… Meh?
For any villagers you help design their perfect vacation home, you earn poki currency, which can be spent on limited and unique items. I’m already loving these double beach chairs with the umbrella. I’m going to need plenty of these for my islands beaches!
If we ever feel the need to, we can revisit and remodel villagers homes, which is a great idea. This is definitely something Happy Home Designer was missing. As soon as you’d completed a villagers home, it was done and you couldn’t really do much else, which made the game boring after a while. This will be great if you get some new ideas you want to add.
ALSO you can have two villagers live together?! I LOVE THIS CONCEPT! I have a feeling you have to have two villagers of the same personality, but that’s not such a bad thing. I’m already planning who I want to have living together. I just think it looks so cute how they can become roommates.
The island you’re on for Lottie’s business has grey buildings that require some decoration and being brought to life, including a school, restaurant, hospital and more. I can’t remember if Happy Home Designer had this, but my body is ready to built the perfect places for my villagers to go and play in.
Honestly, I just love how the villagers are taking advantage of the places. The school is really cute and they even have uniforms on! Vivian as the teacher made me smile, she’s such a cutie.
I had to include this photo… Yes Sherb, I would love a water refill! Where is Sherb when I’m working and need my water bottle topped up.
Okay, so the idea of design samples is pretty cool but unless it’s a mandatory thing, I think I’ll be anxious about using this. I always worry the way I design my island and homes will look like shit and someone out there will just mock me for it, which would suck. This being said, I’ll be excited to look at other peoples ideas and designs for inspiration.
I have to get this out there, Shino is absolutely adorable. Everything about her design shouts Japan to me and I NEED her on my island! I don’t know what personality she is, I don’t know who would go so she can move in, but I need her amiibo and I need her. Also, her vacation home is gorgeous too to boot!
YES! We can use amiibo to invite our favourite villagers to Happy Home Paradise! I’m already so excited to bring lots of doggies to my island, as well as some of my other favourite villagers too.
I also like how you can bring the techniques you learn on Happy Home Paradise to your own home/island to use in your home, as well as your villagers in the future. So, some of the new ways you can design your home (light/furniture on the ceiling and accent wall) come from the DLC? This will suck for people who have no interest in the DLC itself, but want the added features and items.
It’s cool to know if you gift your villagers items from the DLC, they’ll want to come and get their own vacation home too? I love this idea and I’ll definitely be asking Cookie to get a vacation home. I mean, she’s my best girl and favourite villager, so why wouldn’t I? 😛
Again, Nintendo wan to know what I think! Nintendo I think you’ve outdone yourself. You’ve made me and other Animal Crossing fans very happy. This direct is phenomenal! I expected some awesome news, but not this awesome. xD
Happy Home Paradise will launch Friday 5th November for £22.49. Pre-orders will start from Friday 29th October, which I’ll be doing. Me and Dane will be getting this together and playing the day it comes out on our day off.
With all the excitement around the stream, I almost forgot about series five of the amiibo cards launching! Series 5 is officially coming out on Friday 5th November and will contain 48 new cards, 33 being new cards for characters released with New Horizons and Happy Home Paradise.
I can finally get my hands on Dom and Judy! Two villagers who I’ve always wanted on my island.
PLUS we have loads of new villagers, sixteen in total!
Sasha, Ione, Tiansheng, Shino, Marlo, Petri, Cephalobot and Quinn are brand new villagers!
Ace, Azalea, Chabwick, Faith, Frett, Rio, Roswell and Zoe are all returning villagers either from Dōbutsu no Mori and Dōbutsu no Mori e+ and have not featured since!
This is why I think Wardell is Wendell’s cousin… He reminds me of Wendell so much!
So, there we have it guys! Overall I am super excited for Friday 5th November and I am counting down the days now until I get the chance to play all the new and exciting updates. As I said before, it’s my day off so I’m especially excited to spend the day with Dane playing Animal Crossing and drinking hot chocolate.
I really hope you enjoyed this weeks post, I’ve really loved writing about it. You all know how much I love Animal Crossing and I really wanted to share my love and excitement of the new updates. 😀
Are you excited about what’s coming to Animal Crossing: New Horizons? As well as the new DLC Happy Home Paradise? Make sure to let me know your thoughts and feelings in the comments.
Until next time guys, take care and I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekends!
There Might Be Coffee 