Summary
TheAnimal Crossingseries is one of Nintendo’s most universally beloved properties. The series' most recent entry, 2020’sAnimal Crossing: New Horizonswas a massive hit, released at a time when the distraction provided by its charming community-sim gameplay drew more players than ever before. Despite the creative breadth and inherent replayability of its central concepts,theAnimal Crossingseries features a frustrating restriction, limiting fans to the creation of a single Village. Should a fan wish to create a separate island from that of their first,Animal Crossingrequires that they erase all current progress and start again with nothing. However,Animal Crossingcould easily solve its save problem with one popular feature, which has been gaining popularity across nearly every modern genre: New Game+.
Animal Crossingis a social simulation series developed and published by Nintendo. Each entry sees a human character, the player, move into a village, town, or island populated with anthropomorphic animals, utilizing the console’s internal clock to regulate the passage of time. The very first entry in the series, titledDōbutsu no Mori, was released in Japan in 2001 for the Nintendo 64. In the years since, the franchise has grown to include five major video game releases, three spin-offs, and a feature film adaptation of its Nintendo DS titleWild World.
Animal Crossing’s Save Problem Explained
The incrediblesuccess ofAnimal Crossing: New Horizonshas more fans than ever eagerly awaiting the series’ next entry. While newer fans simply await more social simulation goodness, many longtime fans yearn to see the return of popularAnimal CrossingNPCs and improvement to the overall personality of Villager and locations. That being said, there is one feature that nearly every player wants to see made available in the next entry - the removal of the series’ single save restrictions. This “removal” could take myriad forms, but the most popular request from players is multiple save slots.
The ability to create differentAnimal CrossingVillages in separate save slots would allow fans both old and new to embrace a wider range of creative ideas. Each entry intheAnimal Crossingseriesoffers new buildings, NPCs, items, and environments to explore and adopt. However, players often have to approach their community creation with caution, as the amount of space on their single island or sandbox is limited. Allowing fans to create various locations, with a shared vault or item bank from which each file can access unlocked elements, would be a significant move forward for the much-beloved series.
A New Game+ Mode Could Modernize Animal Crossing’s Classic Approach
While the concept of multiple save slots is alluring to fans, it is highly unlikely that Nintendo will break away from the classic “single-Village” approach in the nextAnimal Crossingtitle. However, one highly popular video game feature,New Game+, could see this approach modernized to excellent effect. While still requiring players to erase their Village and start anew, New Game+ could see fans keep their unlocked items. Not only would this approach reward players who deeply invest in the next entry’s unique world, but it also provides a nice middle-ground between Nintendo’s approach and fans' wishes.
Animal Crossing’s potential New Game+ would also circumnavigate the complications that could arise in online play. The ability to visit other players’ Villages or islands is one ofAnimal Crossing’s most popular features, and New Game+ would ensure that every player has a single location to explore, requiringa single Dodo code per player. Likewise, it limits the risk of unfair advantages, as players could use a multiple-slot option to abuse internal earning and growing systems with little risk of repercussions. It remains to be seen whether the nextAnimal Crossingwill address fans’ long-held issues with the series’ save mechanics, but fans are hopeful that Nintendo will deliver a satisfying remedy. New Game+ offers the best option, as it shifts theAnimal Crossingseries’ toward modernization, but doesn’t require Nintendo to compromise on its classic approach.
Animal Crossing
Animal Crossing is a Nintendo-exclusive life sim franchise spread across numerous Nintendo consoles. Featuring anthropomorphic villagers, strong customization, and a real-time day cycle, the Animal Crossing series offer unique and varied gameplay.
