Animal Crossing: New Horizons

 Switch
User Score
5.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 6617 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3,370 out of 6617
  2. Mixed: 571 out of 6617
  3. Negative: 2,676 out of 6617
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. Gull
    Mar 25, 2020
    0
    Game doesn’t let you keep multiple islands. It’s only one island PER SWITCH. If you have two people sharing a console don’t plan on both of them playing this. Can’t even buy two copies, nope, one island per switch. Horrible way to do it
  2. Ripfester
    Mar 25, 2020
    3
    Local multiplayer is completely broken; one island per console and the first player is the only one that can actually progress the game (and gets free things that the others have to pay for). Woe betide the household that lets their young child play first, as they will not be inclined to work to keep the game moving for everybody else and you'll all be stuck in the doldrums forever.
  3. Edh586
    Mar 25, 2020
    0
    Bought this game mostly because my girlfriend wanted it and because it claims to have local co-op. It seemed like a perfect game for us to share and play together. I ended up getting really into it until I realized how big of a problem sharing one island is and not being able to have separate save files. This MAJOR flaw essentially makes this purchase a complete waste of money. If you areBought this game mostly because my girlfriend wanted it and because it claims to have local co-op. It seemed like a perfect game for us to share and play together. I ended up getting really into it until I realized how big of a problem sharing one island is and not being able to have separate save files. This MAJOR flaw essentially makes this purchase a complete waste of money. If you are going to play by yourself, it is worth it but if you are planning to share this game with anyone in your house dont even bother. It is a complete waste of money and a terribly flawed game...unless of course you plan on buying another switch to share the game with someone.… Expand
  4. Ghoulosaurus
    Mar 25, 2020
    0
    Fun game. It is shameful that they have bricked up the AC experience just because they wouldn’t want you sharing TOO much of the game. No no, make your family buy individual switches so they can have any fun at all. I hope they fix this or it comes back to bite them, they don’t deserve the support they’ve received.
  5. Andari
    Mar 26, 2020
    0
    animal crossing new leaf was way better, the new breaking tool system sucks... the extra wait for game was not worth it 0/10
  6. Lastimosa94
    Mar 26, 2020
    3
    fiquei bem chateado de nao poder criar 2 ilhas diferentes no AC mas oque me deixou mais p da vida ainda é o fato de que só o criador da ilha que tem progressao no jogo o resto que quiser jogar tbm, tem q ser refem disso...
    por favor nintendo arruma isso
  7. LyoreC
    Mar 26, 2020
    0
    I love sharing a game with family members, only to find out the first person to play the game is the only person who actually gets to experience the game fully. There is literally no point in me playing this game unless I want to walk around shaking trees and building fishing rods, while the first person to play the game actually gets to enjoy what I can only assume is a good game. I onlyI love sharing a game with family members, only to find out the first person to play the game is the only person who actually gets to experience the game fully. There is literally no point in me playing this game unless I want to walk around shaking trees and building fishing rods, while the first person to play the game actually gets to enjoy what I can only assume is a good game. I only played the game for an hour and I want that hour of my life back, thanks Nintendo.… Expand
  8. IslandCrossing
    Mar 26, 2020
    0
    When my partner first told me about Animal Crossing, I was kind of excited. I’m from a tropical region and, while I hadn’t played it as a kid, I had played Harvest Moon, and the prospect of making my own cute farm island was a reassuring way to pass COVID-19 quarantine. The reality was not cute. My boyfriend didn’t think I wanted to play for some reason and set up the island and strippedWhen my partner first told me about Animal Crossing, I was kind of excited. I’m from a tropical region and, while I hadn’t played it as a kid, I had played Harvest Moon, and the prospect of making my own cute farm island was a reassuring way to pass COVID-19 quarantine. The reality was not cute. My boyfriend didn’t think I wanted to play for some reason and set up the island and stripped it of all resources. I had no idea how ACNH worked so I started a save file thinking I would either get my own island or have different resources generated for my file, or like anything a reasonable designer would think of, right?
    Instead of starting with a tutorial explaining what choices would be permanent and unchangable, I got a message that just told me to put my tent down. Noticing all the trees were bare, I confusedly put my tent close to my bf’s and tried to figure out what to do. After running around breaking my flimsy tools for two hours trying to get wood and stone that wouldn’t spawn, I looked up what was happening. Not only was there no way to respawn resources other players had hoarded, accidentally or not, as the non “representative resident” I couldn’t donate to the museum until it was complete and I could not build the store nor decide where it was placed. I also learned that expanding our houses was impossible if they were too close, which seems like vital clarifying information in a game aimed at children.

    We tried playing for a few days but even though we were communicating it was not working out. We play video games very differently. I am impatient. My partner doesn’t like to put much thought into games or rush. I found out that I could time surf but my partner doesn’t want to do that since he is, apparently, “an animal crossing purist” or rather he doesn’t want the villagers to be “mad at him for cheating.”

    For those who are reading and saying “so what you’re just not trying to cooperate” we really are and ACNH doesn’t really provide anything to help with that! There’s no shared inventory pool so multiple players can easily contribute to helping build up the town.
    In order to send resources to other accounts on the same system you have to either mail them per item for 200 bells each (time consuming and not cheap x 12 items per day). Not exactly helpful. So after two days I had switched to hitting Nook miles achievements and using all my miles for nook tickets so I could actually like, get anywhere in the game without stripping the island of resources he needs to build the town. My partner was surprised I payed off my home loan before him. I told him I was using the Nook tickets like a revolving door to rack up achievements and resources. He said he had not used a ticket yet and had just bought hair styles. He was embarrassed to tell me this. I realized I was making him feel bad about his playing style just by him having to watch how I play. I normal speed through games faster than he does but he never has to play the same file I do until ACNH. We had thought this would be a fun bonding activity while we were locked in but it wound up being stressful and anxiety inducing.

    The feeling we had fostered around the game was not one of shared joy and reassurance, but unease and mutual resentment, I resented that I could not run the island and build the town and my boyfriend resented seeing the rushed way I was playing since it took the relaxing element of playing away from him. So yesterday, I emptied my inventory out on the ground and deleted my Animal Crossing file. We have pretty good communication and lots of other games I enjoy so while upset, I’m know my ACNH experience isn’t as bad as it could be. I know if I was a kid ,who are the ~main group~ this game was made for, who had to share this with a sibling while in quarantine I would be crying. Even if we bought a second cartridge we can only have one island per switch system.
    Half the world is unemployed for at least a month, does Nintendo really expect people to buy second and third switch systems to play one game fairly?

    TLDR: I rate this game 0/10 for worsening an already traumatic experience of being trapped in my house with no control over the world, and making my partner and I feel bad for just wanting to play a game differently. Bad user experience design for no easy item sharing while demanding people share an island. This was frustrating as adults with good impulse control, I cannot imagine how infuriating it is for the target audience of children and teens.    … Expand
  9. evan22
    Mar 26, 2020
    0
    This game is great for one player. As dozens of other reviews say, the problem starts when you have multiple people in the house. My girlfriend was just as excited to try this game as I was when we got it, so you can imagine the disappointment for both of us when we discovered how there can only be one island. As player 1, I spend most of my gameplay feeling guilty and feeling bad aboutThis game is great for one player. As dozens of other reviews say, the problem starts when you have multiple people in the house. My girlfriend was just as excited to try this game as I was when we got it, so you can imagine the disappointment for both of us when we discovered how there can only be one island. As player 1, I spend most of my gameplay feeling guilty and feeling bad about making decisions that she’s not allowed to participate in or trying to balance between wanting to do everything but not wanting to take all the resources from her. As player 2, she spends the gameplay basically just being a visitor to the island, never able to make any actual changes or shape the island how she really wants. She’s also locked out of many little tasks (such as helping Gulliver). This simple mechanic that would be easy to fix in an update has truly ruined the experience for both of us. The fact that Nintendo is trying to use this as an opportunity to sell more switches is absolutely absurd and it’s honestly really disappointing. It turned what should have been a happy and fun experience for us both into a really disappointing one all in the name of corporate greed. Shame on Nintendo.… Expand
  10. Eldurjn
    Mar 26, 2020
    0
    I bought this game and my husband unlocked pretty much everything already. Now I wanna play but it only allows one island per person. Even if I buy another copy of the game it would not let me have another save.
  11. Hanlond
    Mar 26, 2020
    0
    Gameplay is determined by the first login. They pick the island and all other users exist on their island and have a completely frustrating game play experience. Save your money.
  12. Dtrixtreme
    Mar 26, 2020
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I made an account just to review this game. Because of my disappointment

    I am a solo player who was entering this franchise for the first time. So the single island per console thing doesn't effect me, but in an era where other games can have as many procedural generated worlds as people can fit on their console hard drive...that makes absolutely no sense. And these islands are tiny.

    My first impression of this game is that it forces you to play it how IT wants you to. I have repeatedly changed my in game clock on my switch just so I can progress the game, and when you consider that you can hit the first time gate in 40 minutes, it puts you in an awkward position where your first day of the game is just shaking tree's and catching bugs and fish while trapped in the starting area. I felt like I was playing an early access title.

    What's worse is you are punished for your progression initially. You get locked out of content because the game decides you've done enough of it and then doesn't let you back into that system for 48 real world hours. At one stage you are not allowed to buy key items used in repeatable achievements because you are playing the game at the wrong REAL WORLD time. And this makes no sense when you consider the first version of the shop is available 24-7.

    The control mapping is bizarre, the tool system, which is arguably the most important system in the game is bound to the D-pad instead of the back buttons, which is annoying when you consider that fast moving insects exist in this game and you have to stop moving to swap to your net. Also the phone being bound to ZL instead of + symbol makes no sense..The + symbol is only used to access a specific menu in the phone...The central buttons on a controllers are universally used for key menus in most modern games so why was this an exception?

    To further add to the clunky issues with the game, the shop system puts filler dialog in everything, and only allows you to buy items in 1's or 5's, while some repeatable achievements require 3 of the item, so you either buy 5 to save time, or buy 3 increments of 1 just to save money. I don't know if future upgrades to the island make this simpler, but if that's the case, why on earth would game designs make players have to unlock intuitive design?

    If not for the returns policy of the retailer I bought this at, I would already have returned it. I will continue to play my $69AUD investment to the endgame and may change my review depending on how the mid-late game is.    … Expand
  13. Gamer1989
    Mar 26, 2020
    0
    Looks cool, my husband has a great time playing, but unfortunately, they only allow 1 island save PER SWITCH. So I will never know what it's like to play how I want to. Got super excited to start and was dropped on to his already populated island. A real let down. Shame in you Nintendo, you know this is a greedy tactic.
  14. avonkorff
    Mar 26, 2020
    0
    This game is marketed as being multiplayer friendly, and an experience all can enjoy and share together. It is not designed as such. Unless you are a single person, or are the ONLY person playing on the Nintendo Switch you download/install this game on, this game is currently in a criminally unplayable state. Currently, whichever Switch user account launches Animal Crossing first, is theThis game is marketed as being multiplayer friendly, and an experience all can enjoy and share together. It is not designed as such. Unless you are a single person, or are the ONLY person playing on the Nintendo Switch you download/install this game on, this game is currently in a criminally unplayable state. Currently, whichever Switch user account launches Animal Crossing first, is the ONLY account that gets the full retail game experience. All subsequent accounts have to play a miserable shadow of the game the customer paid for.

    This design oversight is so heinous, it's causing many people, including myself, to wonder if this is actually a ploy by Nintendo to get people to buy more Switch/Switch Lite consoles. As a life long fan of the company it would be pretty devastating to watch them go the way of EA, Zenimax, and so many other fallen titans in the industry.

    Extended Review:
    The whole world is on lockdown right now, and a fun, relaxing, life sim type game such as this sounded like a great way for my wife and I to enjoy some decompression time together. Not the case. I spent $60 dollars on the Nintendo store only to find that we had to share one island (not a problem) but that only ONE of the profiles on the switch was able to progress the story, and advance our island's progress.

    My wife was the first to launch the game. I made my character and started building my only little house on the island a few hours after she had some time with the game. Fast forward 3 days, and now I find that I cannot help settle new villagers, I cannot be given tasks by varying NPCs, I cannot contribute/have a say to the layout of new buildings and terraforming on the island, and a result, I've paid $60 for the pleasure of farming materials to trade to my wife's account for use as she deems fit.

    This is a wholly unacceptable state of the game and legitimately needs to be patched. I will be following up with my credit card provider tethered to my Nintendo Online account (bought the game on Switch store) and asking for refunds on the same basis that hundreds of thousands of Fallout 76 players got their refunds for: consumer ethics breach.

    Nowhere in any advertising or marketing material was I given the impression that only one person in my household would be able to fully play the game. I'm not talking about a subjective "enjoyment" of the game...I am referencing the clear and simple fact that only one account per Switch has access to the entirety of the game that was sold for $60 USD. Secondary, tertiary, and all subsequent accounts will have a miserable, gated experience and have 0 agency over the ONLY island the entirety of the household is allotted.

    Without a clear disclaimer being present prior to purchase, this is unethical and either needs to be patched or customers need to be refunded. Until either happens, this is a 0/10, awful, regrettable purchase for anyone not living/playing alone on their Switch.    … Expand
  15. Benthefry
    Mar 26, 2020
    0
    It is such a shame that you don't get an island per account. I mean, we get along fine, and our first reaction was that it was a shame not to be able to fill each our museum, or to just fully control our characters when we both play at the same time.
    Not having two islands unless you buy two consoles is greedy and is a big let down!
  16. MrRenner
    Mar 26, 2020
    1
    Horrible decisions for multiple players. I bought this game because it's the only thing my wife will play. I let her play first and now, as soon as she gets bored of it, the game will stop progressing. I can't restart the island because I want her to have the "player 1 experience" in the only game she has ever shown interest in. This would be fine for a 20-30 dollar title. But for a fullHorrible decisions for multiple players. I bought this game because it's the only thing my wife will play. I let her play first and now, as soon as she gets bored of it, the game will stop progressing. I can't restart the island because I want her to have the "player 1 experience" in the only game she has ever shown interest in. This would be fine for a 20-30 dollar title. But for a full 60 it is unacceptable.

    It completely overshadows any charm this game has. And all the people saying "its fine" are people that aren't affected by the issue. I feel as if I was sold an experience tthat was not advertised as what it really is. It is a single player game. Players 2-8 might as welll be NPCs. Nintendo laid an egg. But it could definitely be fixed. But I wouldn't count on it.    … Expand
  17. KingJoffrey
    Mar 26, 2020
    10
    Fantastic game. Daily grind is super addicting and the game is as charming as can be. Love this game
  18. Ray99
    Mar 26, 2020
    0
    I'm not sure if this is pure Nintendo-style incompetence or unethical, malicious, money-hungry nastiness. I prefer the latter because I can't imagine Nintendo is this inept Here are the main issues which this otherwise great game which drag it down to the depths of cynical, corporate garbage.

    1. One island per switch? What? Completely and utterly destroys any hopes of playing with    I'm not sure if this is pure Nintendo-style incompetence or unethical, malicious, money-hungry nastiness. I prefer the latter because I can't imagine Nintendo is this inept Here are the main issues which this otherwise great game which drag it down to the depths of cynical, corporate garbage.

    1. One island per switch? What? Completely and utterly destroys any hopes of playing with others. If you're in a household with multiple people who want to play this GAME, think TWICE before buying. This will create problems and essentially force you to both buy a second switch (or more) if you want to have the experience. What are parents supposed to do with multiple kids who want to play? Nintendo's plan all along was to have multiple switches per household, and they are trying to implement it in the most disgusting way, with artificially installed limitations. There is NO technical limitation there can't be more than than one island per switch.

    2 - Is there a way around it through coop? NO. Local coop is bare bones, pathetic, and an embarassment. You have zero agency as the second partner, basically just following along like an idiot. You cannot progress in any meaningful way. So no, this is not an option for multiple people to enjoy this game.

    3 - Online multiplayer. Don't get me started. I've never seen such a poorly implemented online from Nintendo. This is WORSE THAN SMASH. And that's saying a lot. Firstly, you have to go to the airport, wade through seas of text, including the bird actually "connecting to the internet." Is this dial up? Then when you finally get to of a friend's island, and someone else wants to join, you will have to sit through a green message popping up forcing you to quit your menu, a FIVE STAGE flight screen for the plane to arrive (God knows why this is necessary, what is it loading??), a save screen, and a cutscene of the person walking in the airport. This happens EVERY TIME someone joints the island, and breaks up anything you're doing multiple times. Absolute lunacy. Again, not sure if this is incompetence or purposeful - Nintendo is known to hate online. This is their way of saying - Online is unplayable, don't do it, just buy more switches and play locally. Also, why are there no mini-games to play with friends like New Leaf? There is nothing to do with multiplayer online and things get boring fast. Would minigames have been so difficult to implement?

    4- No cloud saves at launch. Apparently something is being "worked on". Why not at launch? Is it so hard? Are they so concerned about cheating? People are time travelling like crazy as we speak. They could have easily imposed some limitation like one cloud save per day. This is just mean, honestly. Pure meanness. Creates unnecessary added stress about losing your save. Apparently a download will be allowed once, but who knows if this is true. Why??!

    These are just some of many issues. What is Nintendo thinking? They've been working on this since 2012!!!

    Don't expect a patch. Like Mario Part, Smash, etc. there has never been a patch that improves the fundamental problems of the game.

    Single player is good but I have to give 0/10 for this because it can't be comprehended other than through a lens of cynical exploitation.    … Expand
  19. Tonygrimlock
    Mar 26, 2020
    0
    My 11 year old daughter was the first to play. Little did I realize that she would therefore be the owner of the island. She got to name it and no one can change anything about it. Nor can anyone else in the household have the same gameplay experience because you can only have one island per switch console. I’m was really looking forward to playing. Now I’m disappointed and upset thatMy 11 year old daughter was the first to play. Little did I realize that she would therefore be the owner of the island. She got to name it and no one can change anything about it. Nor can anyone else in the household have the same gameplay experience because you can only have one island per switch console. I’m was really looking forward to playing. Now I’m disappointed and upset that I wasted the money buying this game.… Expand
  20. shaun97
    Mar 26, 2020
    0
    I cannot believe Nintendo has people spending $60 on this game and not giving it more than 1 save file. People use this as a home console and many families will be restricted because of the save files as well as the fact that player 1 gets to choose everything.
  21. Mpolirevat
    Mar 26, 2020
    0
    I will give the game a good note when Nintendo decides to let me play, as i am the second player and my sister left the game I literally can't play the game if i don't waste like 20 hours of gameplay, this game sucks and won't stop sucking unless nintendo patches the game and let you change the Resident Representative
  22. omgwtfkitteh
    Mar 26, 2020
    0
    The one island per console has caused me to hate the game. I have no control over my girlfriend's island. What she says goes and I rarely to never get to pick villagers because she wants the perfect island. It has ruined my fun and I don't even want to play the damn game now. It's not review bombing if this is literally the way I feel. 'But they said it was one island in an article' GoodThe one island per console has caused me to hate the game. I have no control over my girlfriend's island. What she says goes and I rarely to never get to pick villagers because she wants the perfect island. It has ruined my fun and I don't even want to play the damn game now. It's not review bombing if this is literally the way I feel. 'But they said it was one island in an article' Good for them. I don't read articles constantly.… Expand
  23. KK_disappointed
    Mar 26, 2020
    0
    Made this account just to say the Nintendo overloads are greedy demons. Forcing players to buy another $300 SWITCH, just to share the game with loved ones is fking criminal. I highly advise NOT buying the game if you live with anyone else who's excited to play it.
  24. SnackEat1
    Mar 26, 2020
    7
    I actually think this game is really amazing, addictive and all that jazz, but I can’t get behind the “one island per switch” and every player past player 1 is useless and can’t do anything to help the island or have fun in general. It’s just Nintendo’s way of making people pay for another game and switch. It’s abysmal!
  25. Hazman
    May 26, 2021
    8
    Animal crossing new horizons is a great game anyone can enjoy. My only nitpick is that it starts off slow and is really best played with one person on the island, other than that, there is not much else bad about it. Solid 9/10
  26. Lord_Nep
    Mar 27, 2020
    0
    The game looked amazing when I first heard about it. I've always loved Animal Crossing games. But this one not so much. I hate it because the first one to start up the game becomes the "Resident Representative" and gets to choose the island, name it, build houses for the residents, do tasks which lead to the construction of a museum and the construction of a shop, and other various tasks.The game looked amazing when I first heard about it. I've always loved Animal Crossing games. But this one not so much. I hate it because the first one to start up the game becomes the "Resident Representative" and gets to choose the island, name it, build houses for the residents, do tasks which lead to the construction of a museum and the construction of a shop, and other various tasks. Everyone who starts the game after the "Resident Representative" is put into the same island and is unable to do any similar tasks. As someone who isn't the Resident Representative I have to say it makes it hard to stay interested. My brother who is the Representative, always gets tasks to do while the only interesting thing I can do is pay off a loan or maybe build furniture. I have to deal with whatever he chooses to do because I have no other choice. It doesn't give me as much freedom as I expected. The game is supposed to be about how you build your own island and not about favouring someone over others. It forces the others to live on an island which is controlled by someone else. Basically, the game ignores what it is supposed to be about.

    I'm really disappointed in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The developers have made a great game but it has a major flaw which makes the game hard for me to enjoy. $80 spent just to be let down. Thanks Nintendo. You could've done better.    … Expand
  27. rico3233
    Mar 27, 2020
    0
    The one island/one user per switch makes no sense! When the switch was designed to be a multi user platform.
  28. BangBangBang
    Mar 27, 2020
    0
    Bought the game and unfortunately let my brother start the game FIRST, then realized that I became a glorified visitor instead of a game owner at this point, the single console single save file approach is one of if not the MOST anti-consumer move that I have seen recently, this literally made me so sour that my sentiment of towards the game went from hopeful and excited into rotten sour,Bought the game and unfortunately let my brother start the game FIRST, then realized that I became a glorified visitor instead of a game owner at this point, the single console single save file approach is one of if not the MOST anti-consumer move that I have seen recently, this literally made me so sour that my sentiment of towards the game went from hopeful and excited into rotten sour, literally bought the game but can't play the game, this is the very first "have not started the game but already gotten hurt by the game", does not feel good at all, very conflicted right now.… Expand
  29. mswrx
    Mar 27, 2020
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The game is good. I bought it for my and my daughters. The moment I found out that only one of my daughters who happened to arrive first in Atlantis can get the receipt for the flimsy axe and do many other things, that neither me or my other daughter could do, I couldn't believe it. Then I have to find out that this is a feature - not a bug. This is simply unacceptable. All others not arriving first are just sitting in the back seat and can work as slaves. At least the receipts then should be shared. What is point for the other to have their own house if they can't produce anything and are dependent on tools they also can't create?… Expand
  30. werez
    Mar 31, 2020
    0
    As a new Nintendo Player and Animal Crossing player. This 1 player progression fundamentally kills the experience without any forewarning to let you know. Waste of many that will be getting refunded, never again Nintendo.
Page:

Awards & Rankings

3
#3 Best Switch Game of 2020
1
#1 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2020

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
90

Universal acclaim - based on 111 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 110 out of 111
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 111
  3. Negative: 0 out of 111
  1. Universo Nintendo
    Dec 19, 2020
    95
    Animal Crossing New Horizons is basically perfect. Full of wholesome content that helped us cope with the COVID-19 pandemics, the game keeps the heart of its predecessors while innovating enough to make it unique. It may not have won Game of the Year but it'll be the game we all remember from 2020, for sure.
    Read full review
  2. The Digital Fix
    Jun 22, 2020
    80
    Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a stunning new instalment in the Animal Crossing franchise, hindered only by its lack of immediate content, quality of life issues and missing returning characters and features While future updates will give the game long-term playability, for those already sipping vacation juice on their five-star islands, island life feels pretty mundane right now.
    Read full review
  3. CD-Action
    May 12, 2020
    95
    It’s full of detail, pretty small things, and surprisingly well working simulations and systems – everything polished in such a way that the player really does care about everything that’s going on. [06/2020, p.40]
See all critic reviews »