Should I Reset My Animal Crossing Island

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

For some Animal Crossing players, New Horizons' 2.0 update means starting over

To restart or not? That is the question

By Nov 1, 2021, 10:00am EDT

In one case the excitement over Nintendo'due south Animal Crossing: New Horizons ii.0 update died down, Animal Crossing fans began returning to their islands. For some of u.s. — ahem, me — it'due south been nigh a yr since we've final played in a meaningful way. When the New Horizons 2.0 trailer ended, my heed wandered over to a darker thought: Oh no. My island.

You see, I abased my isle around a year agone, shortly after the beginning Halloween event. In an try to reignite a spark for the game in my eye, I had started a major renovation project. Just that spark never came, and I abandoned my island in a wrecked country, with items scattered on its beaches and flowers spilling over into any open space. My immediate thought was that I would apparently just restart my island — to begin again as a way to prepare for the upcoming update. Seconds later on, I had another thought: My DIY recipes. In the early months of New Horizons, when everyone was playing, I worked hard to collect and trade recipes and other items with anyone else playing the game. Information technology wasn't really difficult, because so many people were playing the game; with a single post on social media or in Discord, I could find someone with whatever DIY I was looking for, someone with slap-up turnip prices, or fifty-fifty open my isle for hordes of visitors looking to sell theirs.

Times have changed. My friends take moved on. Sure, enough of us are coming back in anticipation of Nov. 5, but the sheer excitement of New Horizons' release has passed — it was a moment that couldn't be recreated in 2021. The thought of doing it all once more, this time, largely on my own, was enough of a deterrent to stop me from annihilating my isle. But it wasn't for plenty of other people who've said bon voyage to their original villagers, bells savings business relationship, and established islands.

For some, the only way to usher in New Horizons' 2.0 update and new DLC was to begin again. New Horizons actor Chloe, who put more than than 300 hours into her original island, started over to bring more than peace to her playthrough. "I had to weigh how attached I was to my existing isle vs. restarting, but ultimately I decided to restart considering when I would play it would experience stressful and overwhelming, and I didn't need that in my life," she told Polygon.

Some other New Horizons role player, called Pepper, agreed: "I'k enjoying restarting because when I final played, there was so much intense pressure on social media to brand your island perfect/play everyday to proceed up with friends. Now, I can merely relax and bask Air-conditioning on island time."

Prototype: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

Some players are fifty-fifty avoiding those large community groups that popped up around the New Horizons release. A New Horizons thespian, Dylan, said he started the game using Facebook Groups to buy and sell turnips to plough huge profits. (I did this too.) "I'm purposefully avoiding that this time to make the progression feel more natural, as I recall information technology kinda broke the experience last time."

And, indeed, this is true for a lot of players. New Horizons' mainstream quantum in 2020 — documented on social media similar no other Animal Crossing game earlier — changed the manner players experienced the fandom. Though New Horizons has been touted for its relaxing, slice-of-life gameplay, it's too been equally fastened to FOMO (fright of missing out) and island insecurity — the desire to make the perfect island. In that location's truly no incorrect fashion to play New Horizons, merely players still feel tons of pressure to create something worthwhile. So many of us have fallen into that trap, when the excitement and playful dread turns into something that feels more similar piece of work than play.

Letting go of an island that brings up those emotions makes New Horizons something new. Malindy Hetfeld, a games author and New Horizons player, told Polygon that returning to an in-progress isle felt similar a chore. And so Hetfeld restarted.

"I didn't think [about] the DIYs at all, considering earning them, doing the museum hunts again, that was when I had a purpose and I really wanted that back," Hetfeld said.

Losing DIY recipes — similar the beloved Ironwood furniture series — is one of the master reasons people told me they didn't want to restart their islands. Losing those would exist devastating, for some players with hundreds of hours worth of progress in building their collections. For that problem, clever Brute Crossing players with multiple Switch consoles accept a solution. One player that reached out to Polygon said they've concocted an elaborate scheme with their partner to preserve some of their favorite or pricy items earlier they restart: One will hold onto the items, transfer them dorsum, and so restart themselves. It'south a lot of piece of work, simply not as much piece of work every bit the hours of gameplay necessary in gaining them dorsum.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

In talking to a dozen of New Horizons players about their island plays, I oasis't heard any consensus on the right way to set up for the new update, or even a consensus on why they've restarted. And that's because there isn't a correct way to prepare for the update, or a singular reason to restart. No one can make this decision for yous, to restart or renovate. Information technology depends on what New Horizons is to you. For some, it's the procedure of daily rituals of collecting and harvesting. For others, it'due south the legacy built from hours and hours worth of gameplay and intricate blueprint. The joy of forever having new bugs to bring to the museum, or the joy of never having to become angling again.

I saw a post on the Animal Crossing subreddit today that said it well enough as anything else: "Please don't stress. You can permit yourself to go at your own pace. Your island isn't perfect? That's completely fine, you lot have tons and tons of fourth dimension to arrive look like you desire it to look. The update isn't a deadline. The game isn't a second job. The game is an island getaway where yous can make your own rules. It's your isle, not an assignment."

Then mayhap there'due south nothing you want to do in preparation for the update — no renovating or restarting. That'due south skilful, too.

Should I Reset My Animal Crossing Island,

Source: https://www.polygon.com/22750681/animal-crossing-new-horizons-acnh-update-restart-island

Posted by: rhonethoon1978.blogspot.com

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