Froggy Chair is Back and Nature is Healing – A Breakdown of the Animal Crossing Direct

Still no bulk crafting option, though!

It’s finally here. Friday the 15th, 10:15am – I’m sat at my desk, patiently waiting for the clock to count down to 15:00. What will a full Direct dedicated to New Horizons bring? My predictions are Brewster (obviously), shop upgrades, a return of Tortimer and Gracie Grace, and Shrunk. Oh, and gyroids – surely they can’t have The Roost without them? 

I am one of the people whose quarantine was saved by my little island paradise and its animal inhabitants. Logging over 610 hours in this game, that’s almost a full month (25 days, to be precise) spent in the virtual world. But now, it looks like I’ll be adding 600 hours more. 

The Roost is of course back, and better than ever. Located once again in the Museum, there will be plenty of opportunities to invite both your friends and favourite island residents over for a cuppa – and who doesn’t need one of those these days? Kapp’n, as predicted, is also back – serenading away as he takes us onto new Island Tours. New flora (vines and bioluminescent flowers) can be seen, as well as the opportunity to experience different seasons or times of day. 

Harv’s Island finally, finally has a purpose – the area will now feature all of your favourite faces and merchants – Redd, Kicks, Sahara, Tortimer, Harriett, Leif and Reece, and Cyrus. Katrina’s long-awaited return has arrived, a welcome surprise, as well as new hair customisation options.

Here’s an odd one – group stretching is now… a thing you and your villagers can do! With integrated motion controls, the whole island can have fun doing daily stretches and exercise, honestly, a charming way to encourage players of all ages to get their bodies movin’ and groovin’.

New Leaf fans will be happy to find ordinances make a return, as well as new house exterior customisation options (making upgrading your house fully ACTUALLY worth it). Home storage has more than doubled, holding a total of 5,000 items. In the Nook Miles Shop, there’s now the Island Life 101 Service, the Pro Camera App, Pro Decorating License, Custom Fencing in a Flash, New Reactions Notebook, Pro Construction License, and Top 4 Fab Hairstyles.  

And for the builders, you heard this right, the bridge and incline limit has been raised to 10 each!

Some other new additions include triangular topiaries, crosswalk signals, curved streetlights, and flower beds – offering even more items exclusive to your island. Items such as a plaza arch, volleyball net, park fountain, pergola, balloon wagon, and plaza Ferris wheel will also be available – put in seemingly to answer the call for more Pocket Camp like items. 

We see a new addition to the series, cooking, and farming, with what looks like the option to make savory and sweet treats, as well as a mysterious new third icon (I’m assuming for farming tools or seed bags, maybe even fertiliser). Wheat, tomatoes, sugarcane, potatoes, carrots, and more will be included – which means you can finally put that kitchen room to good use. The new food not only looks great but adds incentive to come back daily to check on your crops. It looks like a cooked meal rewards you with more energy points, something dearly needed. 

Hanging furniture and lighting is coming, as well as accent walls to spice up your island home. 9 new fences, including the elusive white picket fence from the first trailer, are coming; that doesn’t even include the different colour customisation options.  

I CAN’T BEGIN TO TELL YOU how happy I am that the ABD and Storage Shed are here – it was genuinely one of my biggest pet peeves with the game, and not having to run to the other end of town for a fishing rod sounds like heaven to me. 

We also have some new K.K. Songs (first ones since Welcome Horizons), and these include 11 titles – the more interesting ones titled Chillwave, K.K. Break, K.K. Polka and K.K. Slack-Key. I’m sure we’ll all enjoy listening to those, both from the game’s stereos and the newly added music box items – perfect for listening to Stale Cupcakes.

Gyroids (as predicted) are back! You can plant Gyroid fragments and water them, only for them to fully grow overnight! What’s better, you now have the option to customise them on your DIY bench, a new feature in the series.

Ladder Set Up Kits let you permanently place cute ladders around your island, and it looks like they work on both front-facing and angled cliffs! I will assume that the vines we saw earlier will function just the same, and it seems like the ladders themselves can be customised in both colour and style to perfectly match your landscape. 

Your island neighbours will finally visit your home unexpectedly, as well as invite you over to visit – a welcome return and a much-needed personality boost to otherwise unremarkable, cookie-cutter characters. Speaking of, new island neighbours have been spotted, counting 16 new faces to welcome to the roster! Fear not, they will be coming to a store near you along with the Series 5 Amiibo – Raymond included.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons version 2.0 will be available as a free download on November 5th, 2021. If you missed the direct, you can watch it here !

What do you think about today’s announcements? Is it enough to make you consider returning to your island? Let us know in the comments!