Summary
Nintendo’s games have always been great at making sure their staple IPs always feel the same while striving for innovation. One series that has been ever-changing to match the needs and desires of players isAnimal Crossing, which has seen numerous incremental changes. WhileBlathers' museumhas stayed roughly the same, others such as Cap’n’s boat and bus rides have changed to answer to a key function with each of the game’s different settings.
Animal Crossingusually sees players live in a small town that gives them different levels of influence over what goes in their towns depending on the game.New Horizonsreaches the heights of this influence by allowing players to not only control who moves into their town and where, but also how their island looks from furnishings to landscapes, and theHappy Home ParadiseDLC even lets fans design the homes for their villagers as well. While the islands ofNew Horizonsare great for player freedom, there was one flaw with them that the next game could do without.
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The Biggest Problem With Animal Crossing: New Horizons' Multiplayer
Ever since theAnimal Crossingseries began humbly on the Nintendo GameCube, there has always been ways for players to visit other towns, and this has only grown in scale with the game-changing addition of online multiplayer first introduced inAnimal: Crossing Wild World. This feature would become a series staple ever since, which meansAnimal Crossing: New Horizonshelped players from around the world connect.Animal Crossing: New Horizons' multiplayerin particular was a beacon of light for many players during the COVID-19 pandemic as they could live on their islands together in quarantine.
Part of the multiplayer experience forNew Horizonsgot a bit old once the game was no longer a time-killer in isolation. As each player lives on their very own island, fans travel from village to village via seaplanesoperated by Dodo Airlines. The person arriving gets a bird’s eye view while in the air, and the player who’s being visited sees progress of their friend’s flight on an arrivals board. As fitting as this animation is, it takes a little over a minute of overall playtime. The way this grinds the game to a halt is a good argument for Dodo Airlines employees Orville and Wilbur to find customers elsewhere.
What the Next Animal Crossing Should Do with Orville and Wilbur
Dodo Airlines creates a unique aesthetic for what’s essentially a loading screen to make sure players' games are properly connected and synced over the internet, but the way it’s done is terribly slow, especially if one player is trying to bring as many friends over to their island as possible.Whatever the nextAnimal Crossingseeks to do, it should definitely look for a faster way to facilitate multiplayer connectivity.
This doesn’t leave much room for Dodo Airlines to remain part of the multiplayer no matter whereACfinds itself in the future. However,Animal Crossingmakes it a prominent trendto keep characters around, even if they may not serve a purpose anymore in proper gameplay. Mr. Resetti, the iconic mole that came to bother players who closed the game without saving, serves as a great example as to where Wilbur and Orville can go next.
The two dodos could easily follow Mr. Resetti’s lead and become cameos at The Roost cafe, be it as occasional visitors, or in-between their work hours regularly. The two could also find work in another one ofTom Nook’s real estate endeavors, also following in Mr. Resetti’s footsteps as he now works with the Nook Rescue service. No matter what happens to Dodo Airlines, Orville and Wilbur likely won’t sit out of the nextAnimal Crossingentirely.
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