Going Open World for the Next Animal Crossing Could Be Huge

I have loved the Animal Crossing games ever since I first played Wild World back on the Nintendo DS. I would then go on to play the original Animal Crossing on the Game Cube, New Leaf on the 3DS, and finally New Horizons. Now I wonder what the next Animal Crossing could be and how they can top New Horizons.

Terraforming in New Horizons took the game to a whole new level. It was so interesting to see the many creative ways players designed their islands. Some people even created full backstories along with the design of their islands.

Going Open World for the Next Animal Crossing

In my opinion, the developers of Animal Crossing have made significant strides in creating immersive and enjoyable gaming experiences, evident in the many improvements made in previous games and side games. By leveraging features like terraforming, Mystery Island Tours, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, and Harv’s Island, they have the potential to create an open-world game that would take this franchise to the next level. They could continue to enhance the exploration element of the game and the development of unique character identities that players can engage with. If the developers combine all these features and continue to build on these strengths, an Animal Crossing open-world game would undoubtedly be a compelling and engaging experience for fans of the franchise.

Improvements

It would be beneficial if the developers of Animal Crossing could create additional incentives for players to visit other towns or islands. For instance, the turnip system was an excellent way to encourage visits as players could announce a high turnip buying price, attracting hundreds of players to their island to sell their turnips. This created an opportunity to interact with other players and make new friends while showing off their island designs.

However, these visits were usually brief, and it would be even better if the game could provide incentives for players to stay longer. This could be accomplished by offering additional rewards for those who stay longer or by introducing more interactive elements that encourage collaboration among players. This would enable players to showcase the effort they have put into developing their islands, which would create a more enjoyable and fulfilling gaming experience.

Plus, they could have a system where if you see a villager you like while exploring someone else island, you can talk to them and invite them to your island. Then when you have space, there’s a chance that that villager will show up. I wouldn’t want it to be a guaranteed thing, however. In my opinion, the randomization of the villager move-in system adds more excitement to it.

Plus the Mystery Island Tour was an interesting way to find villagers. Finding villagers via Mystery Island (or whatever they would call it in the next Animal Crossing) should remain prominent. But having multiple ways to find specific villagers wouldn’t be a bad thing.

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