Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Happy Home Paradise

Offering a refreshing, polished experience, Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Happy Home Paradise is an excellent DLC package to sit alongside the core Animal Crossing: New Horizons base game. Refined, flexible decorating options with a large catalogue of unlimited items mixes up the pace for creative freedom without the hording slog of the regular island. Happy Home Paradise is, quite simply, a playground of cosy fun.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Happy Home Paradise Expands on the creative freedom introduced in the base game and gives players a big vacant island with more to do and customize to their liking.

Happy Home Paradise gave me a lot of freedom to make choices then act on them without too many repercussions. Ultimately, I could do what I wanted and when I wanted (within reason). I like New Horizons, it’s a good game, but there is a limit on what I can do without needing to spend a lot of Bells or spend hours grinding for one simple change which could end up being a mistake. In contrast, The DLC thrives by offering players total control over their designs, and by setting the stakes low. From designing an entirely pink house for a fabulous Flamingo to remodelling the Cafe into a 50’s style Diner, there were few limits on my designs or on the potential to have fun.

Happy Home Paradise makes Animal Crossing: New Horizons feel like a 'definitive' edition, especially when considered alongside the substantial free additions of version 2.0. It's beautifully polished — and that's not a reference to the ability you earn here — and provides even more variety and depth to your daily AC island life. You may discover new villagers to call friends, and perhaps even learn a little about how to better decorate rooms and homes. Most importantly, it simply makes us smile — that alone is the best recommendation we can give.

Happy Home Paradise is the answer for those feeling fatigued by Animal Crossing New Horizons.

Happy Home Paradise is the most ambitious and substantial expansion for Animal Crossing: New Horizons. While it's also the series' first paid expansion, its price is certainly worth it as it nearly adds a whole new game to the original with what feels like a part time job from the game's location. Happy Home Paradise is without any doubt a major contribution towards making New Horizons the most complete and varied game in the Animal Crossing series so far.

If you really liked Happy Home Designer, you'll be very happy with how Happy Home Paradise improves on its formula, especially after you've worked your way up the ranks. If you're not interested in interior decorating, the only things you'll be missing out on of any note would be the ability to craft room dividers and redecorating your neighbors' homes. [Issue #57 – January/February 2022, p. 27]

A substantial addition that expands on the best gameplay elements of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. It’s a blast getting to just design for fun, and the addition of new customisation tools and brand new items open up the game even further.

A charming paid-for addition to New Horizons that doesn’t feel exploitative even as it comes off the back of one of the best free updates in recent gaming history.

There is nothing I like more in Animal Crossing than fidgeting around my house and changing the layout on a whim. That’s all you’re going to do in Happy Home Paradise, and for me, that’s more than enough to keep me logging in every single day.

The formula of the DLC is perfect for its playful potential.

Happy Home Paradise is a relaxing add-on to the base game.

Animal Crossing New Horizons: Happy Home Paradise allows players to get creative, adding new furniture and design choices at every turn.

Once players complete every milestone in their career, they can continue to update facilities, remodel homes, and offer new designs to visiting clients. This gives players a lot of content to discover and play through. When combined with the 2.0 update, the Happy Home Paradise DLC offers players a variety of new mechanics to unlock and use both at the resort and on their own island. Each new feature in Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2.0 and Happy Home Paradise adds to the players' overall experience by creating new customization options and different areas to explore.

Happy Home Paradise is proving to be a very honorable addition to Animal Crossing: New Horizons which is intended for none other than decoration enthusiasts. If the experience can be repetitive, it is best appreciated during quiet short sessions. And apart from a certain lack of ergonomics, the expansion benefits from long hours of additional activities, adorable and new inhabitants as well as very interesting elements transferable in the base game.

Happy Home Paradise is a delightful DLC package that allows you to express your creativity without putting any pressure on you.

Rather than a coat of paint, this DLC is more like an extra room added to the ground floor. Whether you want to build a couple houses or a whole map full of them, the Happy Home Paradise DLC has you covered.

Despite its clear downfalls, Happy Home Paradise is your first-class aerial ticket to design heaven. While the game does little to incentivise players, it ticks all the intended boxes of a near-sequel to Happy Home Designer. Perhaps the biggest advantage of the DLC is that it allows players to have their own vacation islands, so they can experience the story individually. On the other hand, the complete lack of personality from the characters means Animal Crossing fans may yearn for the hazy days of New Leaf. A classic case of paradise, lost.