I am one of those people who poured hundreds of hours into Animal Crossing: New Horizons back when we were all in lockdown. I knew that eventually I would be able to go outside again, and the constant need to play Animal Crossing: New Horizons would die down. Well, it’s been nearly 6 years – which is horrifying – since the game came out, and I haven’t really thought much about it. Now we’ve got access to version 3.0! Is this the update that gamers have been waiting for? Is this the thing that’s going to make people come crawling back for more? Does the Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade make the game a must-own on the new Nintendo console? No.
The first thing I noticed when I booted up Animal Crossing: New Horizons on the Switch 2 was how much nicer and crisper it looked on my TV. The resolution has improved noticeably, and visuals are clearer than ever. I don’t really know much at all about graphics or what to touch on, other than the fact that the game looks much better. It also looks way better in handheld mode than it did on the OG Switch, even without the OLED screen.
What sucks is that even though the game looks better, it performs basically the same. We’re still stuck at a tragic 30 fps. I don’t know why the game can’t run at a faster framerate – I think it’d be way better for it. Just knowing how much more powerful the hardware is makes me frustrated that a game six years old can’t run better. I’d assume it couldn’t be that big a challenge, but I’m not a game dev, so what do I know?
Another performance enhancement is the game’s overall loading speeds. When booting up Animal Crossing: New Horizons it would take on average a minute and a half to two minutes of waiting before you could start. It now takes about 20 to 30 seconds to load, which is still a long time to sit and wait in 2026, but there’s clearly some stuff that is causing the console to work pretty hard to run the game. I’m assuming this is the best they could do while also making the rest of the mechanics work in a more polished state. Although Death Stranding 2 on the PS5 is playable from launch within 4 seconds, so that may have ruined all loading screens for me!
There’s also some snappy new mouse controls for Animal Crossing: New Horizons on the Switch 2 version of the game. You can use the mouse to draw pixel art for custom designs and when decorating a space. I do think there’s way more that could have been done with the controls, and it feels weird to me that Nintendo didn’t consider adding new movement options with the mouse. Outside of Metroid Prime 4, I haven’t seen a game properly utilize the mouse function, and I think we’re all still waiting to see it used in an interesting way.
I didn’t get to test the multiplayer function at all. Truth be told, I don’t know a single person who still plays Animal Crossing: New Horizons today. But I do know you still have to sit through the godawful airplane sequence whenever someone joins your session. The Switch 2 version boasts multiplayer sessions for 12 players, as opposed to the original’s 8. Imagine sitting through that airplane cutscene a whole 11 times to play with your friends. That’s like a full 15-20 minutes of waiting. Sounds like torture if you ask me.
The game also includes a megaphone you can use to call other people on your island. You can call their names out into your microphone, and if they hear you, they’ll call out to you. Basically, it’s just a way to find out where your favourite villager is hiding. What is frustrating is that I’ve got a penguin named Roald and a bear named Barold on my island. If I called either of them, it would be a 50/50 chance that the right guy would respond. I’ve also heard from people online that some villagers will respond regardless of what you yell. The megaphone is a cute idea, but it doesn’t seem to work quite right.
The major additions to version Animal Crossing: New Horizons 3.0 are definitely the Slumber Islands and the Resort Hotel. The Slumber Islands are dream spaces you can visit when you go to bed. You can create new islands that don’t follow the rules of reality. You have the freedom to terraform to your heart’s desire, and you can use any item you’ve collected through your playthrough.
The Resort Hotel is probably the part of this update that people will gravitate to most – especially if you like decorating. Basically, you get different themes for rooms, and you have to make a room that fits that theme. If you make it correctly, somebody will come by to stay in your hotel. You continue doing this again and again. That’s the loop of it all. What sucks the most about this is that if a villager that you really want to live on your island comes to stay in your room, there isn’t a way to offer them a place. They will come and go, and you won’t be able to give them a home like you’ve wanted. It’s annoying, it’s a baffling design choice, and I hope they change that in the future.
In conclusion, Animal Crossing: New Horizons 3.0 feels almost hard to notice unless you know what you’re looking for. The Switch 2 features are interesting, but not game-changing. Personally, I was hoping for a lot more to be included in this new “major” update. While this wasn’t the update I was hoping for, it adds a decent amount of new content for those who love decorating. If that sounds like you, it might be worth paying the additional cost for the Switch 2 version. However, this is far from a necessary purchase.
