The October 2021 Animal Crossing Direct announced a slew of new content that would be included in the New Horizons 2.0 update and the Happy Home Paradise DLC. Here it is in its entirety.
Nintendo’s Animal Crossing Direct on October 15 finally revealed long-awaited news on Animal Crossing: New Horizons, promising a staggering amount of new content. After more than a year since the game’s last big update, the Animal Crossing Direct promised enough new improvements to breathe new life into it. Nintendo managed to cram a lot of information into the presentation’s 20 minutes, including details on improvements coming in both the free Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2.0 update and the premium DLC Happy Home Paradise.
The first portion of the Animal Crossing Direct focused on the new free material coming to Happy Home Paradise on November 5, while the second segment discussed the premium content coming to Happy Home Paradise. New Horizons 2.0 will be the game’s final major free update, while Happy Home Paradise may indicate further paid DLCs in the future.
The Direct opened with the much-anticipated announcement about Brewster and his upcoming café, The Roost, which would be located on the museum’s second level. For 200 Bells, players may purchase a cup of Brewster’s coffee and join other players or villagers for a conversation over a cup of java. Additionally, they’ll be able to summon their favorite villagers or NPCs using amiibo or amiibo cards. While Brewster initiated the Direct, he was by no means its exclusive focus.
Returning & Updated NPCs in Animal Crossing Direct: New Horizons 2.0
Kapp’n Returns
Players will be able to engage with iconic Animal Crossing NPC Kapp’n, who will take them on Boat Tours to mysterious islands filled with unusual flora and wildlife, in addition to Brewster. Players’ home island may be in a different season or at a different time of day than these islands. Kapp’n will pass the time by serenading the player with sea shanties on the journey. He’ll moor his boat on the piers of the players’ home islands.
Harv’s Island Changes
New Horizons’ Harv’s Island will also get a big overhaul. Players will be able to assist visiting merchants such as Kicks and Leif in establishing permanent stores, and they will be joined by additional returning characters from past Animal Crossing games such as Katrina, Harriet, and Tortimer. The Direct depicted these stores as tiny tents that NPCs use to store their products, which fit in nicely with Harv’s Island’s atmosphere. Once the island market is completely inhabited, players will be able to get their fate read, receive brand-new haircuts, create presently uncustomizable furnishings, and gain uncommon goods.
New Island Features in Animal Crossing Direct: New Horizons 2.0
Group Stretching Activity
There are also some modifications on the players’ personal New Horizons islands. They’ll be able to stretch in groups with their neighbors, either utilizing motion controllers to get a realistic stretch or just pressing buttons.
Island Ordinances
Ordinances are a feature from Animal Crossing: New Leaf that was reintroduced in the Animal Crossing 2.0 update and allows players to control things like when their villagers are active on the island. If a player can only play at night, for example, they can enact an Island Ordinance that makes all of their people active at night rather than during the day.
More Villager Interactions
Villagers may now either invite players over for a visit or stop by the player’s house to talk, which is perhaps one of the most intriguing improvements in the New Horizons update. It’s unknown what will happen during these trips, but they’ll almost certainly contain additional conversation and interactions, something Animal Crossing: New Horizons badly lacked.
New Reactions
Stretching, a two-handed wave, new dance styles, and more are among the eleven new reactions included in the update.
Quality-of-Life Changes in Animal Crossing Direct: New Horizons 2.0
Expanded Storage, Storage Shed, & Bells ATM
Several adjustments to the quality of life are included in the free update’s new content. Through different improvements, players’ Animal Crossing home storage may be increased to 5,000, more than double the existing capacity of 2,400. Players will be able to travel to a new Storage Shed, which can be placed anywhere and is connected to their house’s storage, if their pockets become too full while out and about. Cleaning and decorating the island should be considerably easier as a result of this. There will also be a Bells ATM that can be put anywhere on the island for gamers who want additional cash on the fly.
Permanent Ladders, More Inclines, & More Bridges
Players will be able to construct permanent ladders on cliff faces to make navigation simpler. These may be made using a DIY recipe available at the Nook’s Cranny store. In addition, each island’s number of inclines and bridges will be raised from eight to ten.
Narrow Space Movement
In New Horizons, one of the most difficult aspects of building an island or a home is that placing furniture too close together prohibits players from engaging with that area. Players will be able to travel across small spaces between parallel furniture items with the new update, allowing them to create practical, passable areas out of otherwise complicated room design.
New Photo Mode Views
Players will be able to observe the environment around them and snap photographs in first-person mode thanks to a new Pro Camera. This new vantage position will also open up new opportunities for engagement with the people. Players will be able to join these new-perspective photographs in the new tripod mode as well.
Island Life 101 App
On the Nook Phone, the new Island Life 101 app will provide users tips and tactics on how to play the game. It also seems to provide new players clues on what to do next, leading them through the plot development of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
New House & Furniture Choices in Animal Crossing Direct – New Horizons 2.0 Update
New Furniture & New Customization Designs
The Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2.0 update adds a number of new furniture pieces to Nook’s Cranny and to spend Nook Miles on, as well as the ability to utilize Sable’s clothing designs like other Pro Designs, allowing them to be placed on other clothes, walls, and other surfaces. In addition, a Pro Design License will allow users to install ceiling lights and shelves in their houses, and new accent walls will allow them to use various wallpapers on separate sides of a space.
New Fences & House Exteriors
New Horizons will get nine new fence types, as well as long-awaited customization possibilities for its current fences. Players may change the external aspect of their home by chatting to Tom Nook while caring to their yards.
Music Box & New K.K. Slider Songs
A new music box item may play simplified versions of KK Slider’s tunes, as well as 11 new songs that were included in the update.
Gyroids in Animal Crossing Direct: New Horizons 2.0
The mysterious Gyroids are returning to New Horizons after a long absence from previous Animal Crossing games. Players will discover them buried across their islands, with Gyroid fragments that must be planted and watered in order to flourish. A fully developed Gyroid can be dug up in that location the next day. Gyroids may be found all throughout the island as decorations. They come in a variety of sizes and colors, and they emit strange noises that may harmonize with one other and with the music on the island to create new sounds. Gyroids can also be customized to fit in better with their environment.
Farming and cooking have been updated in Animal Crossing Direct – New Horizons 2.0
New Horizons’ farming and culinary feature is perhaps the most significant inclusion in the free update. In the player’s garden, the Animal Crossing Direct featured tomatoes, wheat, sugar cane, carrots, and potatoes, as well as pumpkins. It’s unknown if other components will be added, but this is a wonderful start.
Players’ characters will be able to prepare and eat food recipes purchased using Nook Miles. These meals will taste like fruit and may be used to break boulders and move trees, as well as to simply beautify kitchens and dining areas. Since the introduction of pumpkin cultivation last year, cooking has been a much-anticipated addition to Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and this update arrives just in time for the Thanksgiving Day celebration. Perhaps this year, the players will be able to prepare a few meals for the party.
New Job & Buildings in Animal Crossing Direct – Happy Home Paradise DLC
Animal Crossing players can get a job with the premium Happy Home Paradise DLC. Wilbur of Dodo Airlines will transport them to a holiday archipelago, where they will be tasked with assisting various locals and NPCs in the creation of their ideal vacation houses. Players must figure out how these characters want their houses to appear and then construct them appropriately. There are a lot of locations and island development sites in the resort archipelago that need to match the characters’ desires. Players will be able to customize the inside and outside of New Horizons’ holiday houses to fit the preferences of each character. Though the islands’ landscape cannot be changed, players may change the time of day and season. The vacation archipelago will be visited by a variety of characters, but players may utilize amiibos to welcome their favorites. Villagers on players’ islands can also get gifts from the resort, which may inspire them to seek out their own holiday house.
Aside from holiday houses, the archipelago will contain a variety of additional structures and facilities that players may create, such as an Animal Crossing school, restaurant, and hospital. New furniture and things, such as hospital gurneys, massive restaurant ovens, school supplies, and more, are being added to appropriately design these new regions. It’s unknown how the vacationing characters will interact with these areas, but they’ll undoubtedly be used in some way, according to the Direct. On the Happy Home Network App, players will be able to share their creations with others, however this function will require a Nintendo Online Membership. Players may also use this app to check in on past vacation houses they’ve built for locals and make changes as needed.
New Design Techniques in Animal Crossing Direct – Happy Home Paradise DLC
In this DLC, new design methods will be made available. Players may now use partition walls and various counter sizes to create unique rooms and even more fascinating New Horizons designs. Players will be able to change the size of the residences, as well as the lighting and ambient music, in order to create the greatest vacation homes imaginable. These new skills will be available on the players’ home islands as well.
The New Poki Currency in Animal Crossing Direct – Happy Home Paradise DLC
This isn’t a volunteer role at Happy Home Paradise. Instead of Bells, players will be compensated with Poki, a new currency that can be traded for unique DLC goods. According to what the Animal Crossing Direct said, the archipelago’s store would be set out similarly to Nook’s Cranny, with four to five goods accessible each day.
DLC Pricing for Animal Crossing: Happy Home Paradise
The Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Happy Home Paradise DLC is available for $24.99 USD on the Nintendo eShop, but it is also included with the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription. On October 29, preorders will be available on the Nintendo eShop.
Series Five of Animal Crossing Direct’s Amiibo Cards
Series five of the Animal Crossing amiibo cards was the final announcement of the Animal Crossing Direct. Existing New Horizons locals like Judy, Sherb, and Raymond, as well as a few brand-new villagers not yet seen in the game, will be included. Some are reintroduced from earlier Animal Crossing games, while others are brand new. On November 5, the series five amiibo cards will be available for purchase at a variety of stores.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is finally receiving the upgrade it deserves after almost a year with little new material. While this is the last free update, there is so much new content that there will be plenty to keep you occupied for months. Not to mention that the Happy Home Paradise DLC is practically a subgame in and of itself, with hours and hours of additional activities to complete.