Animal Crossing: New Horizons Update 1.9.0 Patch Notes - First Anniversary, Bunny Day And More

FARTS ARE NOW IN ANIMAL CROSSING YESSSS

Man what a disappointing anniversary. I'm someone who really stuck it out even as most of my friends stopped playing as the months went by (1300 hours), but after jumping in a few hours for the Halloween and Christmas updates I've had 0 desire to get back into it. There's nothing left to do with my island! I don't WANT to be done, there's clearly so much left for them to deliver like new shop upgrades and more animal villagers, but the churn out is so slow and weak, I'm afraid I'll have moved on completely by the time we get anything substantial. The anniversary was their chance to show us they're competently staying in touch with what the players want but I fear they care more about waiting until sales dip to a certain level than keeping the real fanbase happy.

I don't have this game. Would you say it gets pretty good/useful updates, or is that a rare exception?

with a new expansion of 50 slots added to both the Normal Custom Design mode and Pro Custom Design mode, you can truly let your imagination run wild!

this is the highlight for me !

@Prizm The updates are really shallow, and the game has less content than it's predecessors. If you want a good animal crossing, I suggest probably picking New Leaf up for the 3DS, if you have a 3DS. It's 19.99 and has more content than New Horizons does.

@Akasi Hey uh.. I'm pretty sure this is against the forum and site rules..

@SpaceboyScreams Not trying to minimize your feelings, but getting 1300 hours of entertainment from a $60 purchase is quite good as far as video games go. Don't get me wrong, I've totally been there wanting a game to keep going but I've exhausted all the content, but I'm just trying to put it into perspective.

@ducttape12 I'm not trying to say I'm not appreciative of what's there already, I'm just criticizing the content roll-out and how it's holding the game back from living up to its potential, something someone with my amount of time investment might be qualified to offer an opinion on. I definitely feel like I got my $60 worth, I'm eager to spend money on bigger updates, especially because they made it obvious that a lot was held back with the intent of drawing the updates out.

@SpaceboyScreams You should be happy you get any new content at all. And all added content is free as well. Something that's not common anymore these days.

@sanderev Uh yeah thanks for that. I feel what I feel despite whatever might make you like me more. The DLC, free or not, has not been substantial enough to keep me coming back for extended periods. That's my truth. Sorry it hurts you.

@SpaceboyScreams I've been playing the game past year nearly daily. And I am still discovering new things. I play the game without cheating, and I play the game as relaxed as it goes. I am still having a LOT of fun. It's by far my favorite Animal Crossing game, and GOTY of 2020.

Yeah... Thanks but no thanks. Ran out of substantial content months ago and was hoping for a big blast of new achievements and unlockable to improve my island with. A cake and a few extra design slots (which isn't my cup of tea to begin with) was not on my wishlist. Larger house? Use for the pier? More stores? Literally any island improvement that wasn't some crossover gimmick would have been very well received.

@Echostory
Larger house?: They increased the storage space not so long ago. And it's already quite large enough.
Use of the pier? For what?
More stores? For more items you say you don't want.

I want to like this game so badly but I don't see how people aren't bored after paying off the final loan. Doing the same tedious tasks over and over again, I heard everything residents have to say a few days in meaning their personalities are so superficial, I cannot believe Stardew Valley cost me 1/5th of the price when the gameplay, storylines and characters are so much more developed.

@Aozz101x,

A great upgrade with the custom design slots, there were far too few of them and you were constantly juggling designs, this update doubles up the spaces so no more compromises.

@Absol,

I have played for around 1065 hours, and my residents still say new things, of course you do get the repeated dialogue which has been par for the course on every animal crossing game as well.

I personally agree with previous posts that ACNH has given us a ton of content for the $60 over the past year, but at the same time I can't help but see how Nintendo is marking the first-year anniversary of such a huge hit (it performed WAY beyond their expectations) as a big disappointment. A game that gave countless players a measure of respite from the isolation and stress of COVID cemented its place as one of the Switch's most beloved titles.

Maybe there is no longer room on many players' islands for something that would require the footprint of, say, Brewster's, Celeste's Observatory, or even a Nookington's upgrade. Maybe the gardening and other things rumored shortly after the game's launch were merely extra code that will never materialize. But this game frankly deserves better than a cake to commemorate its first year (let alone the reappearance of Zipper T. Bunny to remind us that seasonal content will always and forever remain the same from here on). I personally would even support a season pass if the amount and quality of new content and features was right. It's been a great ride, but somehow I don't want it to be over.

@AtlanteanMan

This update is a bit more than just a cake, but I do see where you are coming from, and I would like to see more content obviously, but I just do not share some peoples view that the game is broken without them.

I think another point in your post is very relevant too, in the fact that if a player had decorated their island and utilized every bit of space, so basically all the footprints for buildings etc fit, then if Nintendo upgrade and make these bigger, how would that work?, of course they could upgrade and keep the same sizes.

Overall I have been very happy with the game, and the extra features like terra forming and island design have made me play this more than any other game in the franchise, and I am pretty sure I am not the only long term fan to feel this way.

Wow I really don't understand what all the crying is about. Ive been playing the game religiously since launch. have over 800 hours and the game still feels SO FRESH! Really enjoying it still, and will enjoy it for a continuing long time. Thanks for ACNH Nintendo, loving it to the max!

@SoapMonkey,

Same here and also have no issues with a more streamlined approach, I mean a shop upgrade would be cool, but as you get the shopping app on your Nook phone it's pretty redundant, apart from the aesthetic value of course, now they are even putting the Abel sisters custom design portal on the nook phone, which again will take away the reliance of shop opening times etc.

For me another massive draw is the visuals which make you want to look around your Island, and spend more time there just soaking up all your hard work, for me the most personal game in the series as you actually feel it's your creation.

Maybe it's just because I'm not time-travelling or taking shortcuts by going on those nookazon or whatever, taking things slow by only going on it an hour a day, more or less, I still find a lot left to do and still playing it. I guess the covid caused a lot of people to tire it out quicker...

I'm happy for these updates and hope that a 2.0 is around the corner.

Already a year! This game was an absolute saviour for me. Bought the game at launch, but unfortunately within that week I was on a ventilator thanks to Covid (only 27yrs old btw).
After 2 weeks and out of hospital and back home, AC was there to try and help take my mind off things during my recovery and the game did amazingly so for a few months onwards.

Sadly there's a caveat now that when I boot up the game I am reminded of this time last year. So lately has been sat idly on the shelf.

Except for the 1-year anniversary cake this looks like a regular update, focused on design tools, which is great.

Looking forward to 2.0.0 too !

I really WISHED we were ALLOWED TO BUILD OUR HOUSES BIGGER WITH BIGGER ROOMS. I also WISHED we could change outward appearance to maybe that of a castle, log cabin, brick home, ect. This IS TO BE A BUILDING GAME! What about building a greenhouse; garage for unusable land rovers, issuable bicycles, unusable scooters, unusable tricycles. You could take the silos and have us be able to make a room out of it. I LOVE BUILDING & THIS IS WHY I BOUGHT THE NEW ANIMAL CROSSING NEW HORIZONS GAME. I HAVE 7 ISLANDS.
I personally feel that we should be able to HAVE BIGGER ROOMS TO ORGANIZE OUR ROOMS. I wanted a HUGE LIBRARY WITH SEVERAL DIFFERENT LOOKING BOOKCASES WITH DIFFERENT TYPES OF PLACEMENT OF THE BOOKS. We MUST CRAFT EVERYTHING THAT WE USE. Why can’t we have tools that last instead of in middle of fishing your rod breaks or in middle of catching a butterfly your net breaks or in middle of watering a HUGE pumpkin patch your watering can breaks.
I mean come on; I was expecting much more with one year anniversary.
We DESERVE AN UPDATE TO THE STORE AND CLOTHING STORE. How about adding MORE FISH, BUGS, BUTTERFLIES AND FOSSILS AS WELL AS ART FOR THE MUSEUM. How about bringing in Brewster and his cafe shop; HOW ABOUT A BOOKSTORE; SEVERAL OF MY RESIDENTS SAY THEY READ BOOKS. Bookstore would BE GREAT! How about being able to build our island BIGGER! THAT WOULD BE FABULOUS BEING ABLE TO MAKE YOUR ISLAND BIGGER!
Speaking about clothing how about bringing in some JEWELRY; BETTER LOOKING SHOES, DESIGNER CLOTHING AND ACCESSORIES. DESIGNER BAGS AND TOTES THAT COULD BE USED FOR EXTRA CARRYING SPOTS.
OH; HOW ABOUT PETS! Throughout the game there is unusable pet bed; unusable cat tower, unusable pet food bowl. Why couldn’t we be offered puppies and kittens as travel companions. I do NOT UNDERSTAND WHY THERE ARE THESE ITEMS WHEN THEY CANNOT BE USED.
Why is it the animal residents get to eat sandwiches, candy, donuts, drink coffee, soft drinks and such and the “humans” ONLY EAT FRUIT; PERIOD!
I WOULD RATHER SEE CHANGES LIKE THAT MADE TO THE GAME INSTEAD OF BRINGING OTHER OUTSIDE GAME ITEMS FROM OTHER GAMES IN. As I stated earlier I BOUGHT IT TO BUILD AND DESIGN ITEMS.
I already have on my seven islands residents that I do NOT LIKE AT ALL. We SHOULD BE GIVEN CHOICE OF ALL ISLANDERS. Not a one of the islanders that I do NOT LIKE have left.

Anyway, these are some of my opinions about the update.
Thanks.

Lady of Lochaber Suzette

@VoidofLight I’ve picked up New Leaf after seeing so many players recommending it over NH, and sorry to say, but it’s not even nearly as good as New Horizons. It is missing lots of QoL features (fruits don’t stack automatically! You have to manually stack them on the touch screen) and has a lot of superfluous stuff instead that they replaced smartly in NH, villagers move out if you don’t do annoying boring tasks for them all the time, the museum looks boring, it overall looks like ***** (and I’m really no graphics schmo), and most importantly it does not even remotely have the same relaxing effect as New Horizons, and relaxation / iyashikei is all this game is about. I can fully understand players who want to have some of the content back (like museum descriptions and Brewster), but recommending NL over NH feels like yet another internet delusion to me. NL feels like they just exploited the engine of the old DS game as much as they could. NH is rebuilt from the ground up, extremely polished and deserves its success even though some things are missing that should be there at this point.

cannot wait to have to buy the cards on eBay for £20 when the scalpers get there first and buy them all

@ashaka,

Yes it amazes me people prefer New Leaf to the latest one, no competition in my mind, the new game is awesome.

Totally agree some things need to be added, but the game is still great.

To all the complainers, I'm still trying to figure out what wonderful depth and variety of content was supposedly in previous Animal Crossing games but is missing from New Horizons.

I've seen complaints about a lack of non-resident NPCs and shops, but what about the regular rotation of island visitors like Redd, Sabelle, Lief, Kicks, and so on?

People complain about not enough house upgrades, but instead we have an entire island that we can sculpt and landscape and decorate and move island structures to our heart's content (no more residents randomly plopping a house down where you don't want!), so is this a case of one step back and ten steps forward?

As for villager interactions, if I had a complaint it's that they seem identical to every previous game in the series. I personally would have appreciated more complex interactions, perhaps even a rudimentary system of branching dialogs, but I suppose that may be asking too much for a game that is intended to be played for years, so quick and simple is probably for the better. And even after 400-hours, my villagers still manage to surprise me with some of the things they do and say. Just yesterday, one of my residents swatted a neighbor with his net and then did the "D'oh!" emote, which I thought was hilarious.

All in all, New Horizons seems perfectly par for the course for Animal Crossing.

@ashaka when it came out NL was a great game, it’s been almost 10 years so obviously the game appears dated in the graphics department and other things that you mention. I had a blast with NL but i agree with you that recommending it over NH is ridiculous. People need to take off those nostalgia glasses and try to look at things a bit more objectively. NL had definitely more gated content and unlocking the various stages of main street was fun and gave you a sense of progression(t&t emporium was glorious) but some other stores were pretty meh in terms of content once unlocked shampoodle, club lol, and katrina’s come to mind. I think some people confuse the flair that these stores and characters brought to the game with actual fun. However NH could benefit from some of that flair, i think they could add more visitors to the island because the game is a bit lacking in that sense as it is with furniture sets. Villager interactions are pretty comparable between the two games, but to be honest i never expected to get hours of entertainment from talking to my villagers… NL had also a few nightmarish aspects, unlocking public work projects was truly awful , and in my island i couldn’t get a few that i wanted even after +800 hours, not to mention that towns looked pretty much all the same in spite of what NL purists want you to believe. I could go on and on listing pros and cons of both titles, but what i’m trying to say is that both are great games in their own right and both had their flaws, the fact that many people got burnt out by NH because of the pandemic and because they were able to play it for 8-10 hours every day should not cloud the judgement of the game itself.

@Mountain_Man,

I remember the houses bottom floor rooms being able to be upgraded in size like the main room, but by the same token the upstairs room was quite tiny, so I bet you have more space overall in the new horizons houses.

And yes I played New Leaf quite a lot, as well as older games in the series and just do not remember all this missing depth and nuance, sure there are items and features missing, which is very subjective to weather they are needed or not, and most complaints tend to be of a more personal requirement than anything else.

The whole terra forming and island decoration was a real game changer for me, of course the complainers will point out games like Minecraft that have better overall systems, but really they are totally different games, and personally I think Minecraft looks total garbage, just my personal opinion of course.

I just want to know when the sanrio cards will be available in the UK!

Damn people spend A LOT of time on this game. What's the loop that keeps you coming back? I like a loop, but for me it's a loot loop (Destiny/Borderlands) or Rogue-like/lite loop (Binding of Isaac you wonderful *****)

The Android phone
Ammibo you make
Great fun
Money saved
Options increased

@johnvboy Right. I'm not saying New Horizons is perfect. Mystery Islands are pretty much a bust, there's not nearly enough to do with Nook Miles, and the inability to collect all non-native fruit and flowers without trading with others online sucks, and I do kind of miss town projects which would be a neat way of giving more "stretch goals" in the game, but all in all, there is far more I like about New Horizons than what I don't like.

@johnvboy I had an instance of dialogue I had never heard the other day. Big Top made a comment to me about my perfectly round big head. Considering I do have quite a large noggin IRL, I found it to be quite funny and a bit insulting at the same time

@UmbreonsPapa,

That's a common comment on my island, both Bones and Billy say it quite a lot, makes me very paranoid.

@johnvboy I have a question. I have never played AC before, and I often play offline so can AC Crossing be played offline, or is it compulsory to play online?

@sanderev I have a question. I have never played AC before, and I often play offline so can AC Crossing be played offline, or is it compulsory to play online?

@sanderev "And all added content is free as well."

Paid content is the 2nd thing on the list after the free cake.

"Sanrio Sweetness – Add some Sanrio sweetness to your island. Starting March 26, the Animal Crossing Sanrio Collaboration Pack will be available for purchase at Target stores across the U.S. at a suggested retail price of $5.99. You’ll be able to use these six vibrantly designed amiibo cards to invite cute and colorful Animal Crossing residents inspired by popular Sanrio characters to your island, including Rita, Chai and Toby. These amiibo cards let you exchange bells for special Sanrio-themed furniture and fashion items in-game, too. You can even invite these characters to Harv’s Island for a fun photo session in Photopia."

Gotta be careful when you say free, and all. People also bought amiibo and other amiibo cards to use in this game. Probably helps them keep the other updates free. Well that and it's a $60 game thats still selling well, so money still coming in. And people have to pay for NO to play online, so more $ there as well. My son wanted NO for SSBU, but I got the family pass so I could play this online. Which I did once.

I don't think the free cake is any threat to bankrupt Nintendo. Adding more slots is simply changing a number in a code from 50 to 100, it's not like they added in a new storyline or something. Since you mentioned other games charging for DLC.

I got my money's worth. Never hit 1,000 hours like other people but around 550. People like it, people don't, it's all just opinion anyway. Except saying it's all free when they lock some content behind amiibo cards. 😉

@quangtuyensa90,

The game can be played offline, but the online connection is needed for certain things.

@HotGoomba wut

@quangtuyensa90 "...can AC Crossing be played offline, or is it compulsory to play online?"

I don't have a Nintendo Online account, and I've still managed to sink 400+ hours into New Horizons, so it's certainly not compulsory. It's not without some downsides, such as the inability to collect all non-native fruits and flowers which requires trading with other players, or accessing the custom design portal which is an online-only feature, but these are minor deficiencies. You will still have access to 99.9% of game content even without a Nintendo Online account.

oh my what a disapointement, i expected more given this is one of anniversary of Animal Crossing New Horizons and the franchise 20th anniversary, please wake me up, when they do a relevant update that add the third and final expansion to Museum, the final expansion to Nook Cranny and QOL improvements such as Bulk Crafting or a shopping options in Able Sisters and Nook Cranny, in the meantime i would be spending my time playing Monster Hunter Rise and Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild e Pokémon Legend Arceus on my extended battery Switch.

@ashaka it’s missing the qol from new horizons, but I’d take new leaf over it, since more content is better in my eyes than qol.

Nobody has mentioned in thus far, but the worst part of New Horizons for me is the lack of multiplayer content! I put 260 hours into New Leaf (my most played 3ds game), largely because there was always something new to unlock, but also, because there was always something to do with friends. Going to Tortimer's Island with friends and doing tours was a blast, or even just going with random people online! It was always a fun time. Many of my friends have New Horizons, and we played it together maybe once or twice, because there's really not much to do besides look at each other's islands. I still have hope that they will add the island in an update maybe this summer, but it's kinda ridiculous to constantly advertise New Horizons as a multiplayer game when there's basically nothing to do with each other! Also, I loved the game at first, but it is a bit disappointing that all the updates have just been more items to craft/collect, or more things to design with, when I was never crazy about all that in this game. I wish they did more well-rounded updates!

@ashaka also, for someone who hasn’t played New Horizons, or isn’t bothered by quality of life features not being present, they won’t be bothered by the lack of quality of life. I honestly couldn’t give a damn if I can’t decorate outside or if I have to stack fruit myself. I also couldn’t give a damn that the graphics aren’t as good, and buildings aren’t as pretty. I’d rather have good gameplay and features over quality of life and graphics honestly. Those who don’t mind it/haven’t gotten New Horizons won’t miss the quality of Life introduced there.

Still no news about the card availability in EU/UK?...

@VoidofLight,

So by the same token, anybody that has not played New Leaf will not miss any of it's features.

I know I have played the game and do not think I am missing that much.

@TheLightSpirit,

Same here, even tough I prefer New Horizons, I still like New Leaf, is this even allowed on here.

New Horizons is great but really it does need certain changes. Multi crafting, more villager dialogue, more things to do with the villagers, finally allowing us to upgrade the store, more shops, Brewster, etcetera. It's been a year and at least half of these things should've been in there already.

I just need more than a handful of new items to get me back into the game. More things to stick in storage is just... ehhh.

Even drawing on past games, there are things they could bring back - Coffee shop and those creepy but cute doll things.

Or they could add in more vegetables to grow - they already have the basic mechanics done for Pumpkins, let's get a farming update!

Or how about another shop upgrade for both shops? Let's get some special super high end items at the Nookling's and maybe have the able sisters partner with the shoe guy.

Or honestly, give us a big paid DLC update and treat it like a major expansion to the game with a bunch of new things. Not just decorations, but new mechanics, locations, mini games, dialogue, etc etc.

Interesting that this wasn't Update 2.0 but rather 1.9.

@SpaceboyScreams 1300hrs?! Now I want to see your island. Can you share your dream address?

As someone else just mentioned, the big draw of new leaf vs new horizons was the multiplayer content that you unlocked on the third in game day of moving in. If this game used the dock to allow us to do the same with our friends via Kappn, then I wouldn’t say that New Horizons feels like a sandbox collecting game. Rather with friends or strangers on the internet, I had a blast for over a 1000 hours on New Leaf thanks to it, and the shop upgrades/slow progression being the same as the slow updates New Horizons has thanks to trying to stop time travelers from spoiling the game. Any and all updates have destroyed any reason to own a physical copy of this game to the ground. A lot of basic stuff was simply there for one to discover, on cart in New Leaf. Of course, to each their own, but it’s why I feel as I feel, and why I haven’t played New Horizons in a long while. My real friends stopped playing it, unlike how we had fun with the things to do in new leaf, and I lost interest more and more, especially with all the other games that come out on switch to engage with.

Oh, and for those saying, “But you want shop upgrades which will simply give you more of the dreaded items???” Its akin to going shopping in a store as opposed to buying something online. Shops breathe life into the game. It makes it more of an interesting place to explore. Seeing faces and allowing those people to actually move in at some point was a nice draw for bringing me back again and again. It’s not that New Leaf is better. It is dated, but there was more a feeling of life to it, with NPCs and multiplayer, if you weren’t a massive decorator, and New Horizons shines more if that’s your thing.

This is awesome ^3^ Time to update my game and enjoy all those goodies ^3^~♡

@Tulio517,

I have around 1065 hours and still play the game every day, not for as long as when I was designing my island, but still have fun each day.

My Dream Address is DA-0957-2799-1843

@Heavyarms55,

To be honest I do see some paid DLC on the horizon, pardon the pun, could be wrong though.

@ashaka Thank you for your words! As I look at these posts, I agree with your words the most.

Could the game have more content? Sure, but I have already enjoyed more than 400 hours playing it, and continue to love it. It is a relaxing experience, first and foremost. But add to that the creative possibilities!

With custom design, terraforming and collecting, my island has a Chinese restaurant, a library, a cafe, an arcade, a church, a cemetery and more. Not only do I design my house, I have designed the whole island.

When I bought the switch in 2017, I was wondering when the animal crossing game would arrive. It came, I am still playing after a year. I am one happy gamer!

I did play this for 500 ish hours and very much enjoyed it, but unlike the previous games I just burnt out on it. I put this down to the game just coming across as too easy, and personally I very much enjoyed collecting items which I didn't in Horizons. I actually blame the online nature of games to that, and the time travelers, it just took the challenge away from the experience. I also felt duped by the so called updates, which I felt were just holding back of content and the events were normal calendar events which I expect in the game as standard.

In some ways I felt that the things I disliked about the game were possibly the reasons that more people were loving the game. Anyways just my gripes about a game that I enjoyed for 500 hours and felt happy to but back into it's box.

@johnvboy No pardons needed. I enjoy puns! (I'm just terrible at making them myself)

@Perryg92 thanks for sharing that story, that hit me hard, I hope you’re doing well and healthy today.

oh god...Bunny day /horror