Animal Crossing gets one last free major update in November
The October Animal Crossing Direct arrived this morning, and it was stuffed with new content coming to Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Alongside a paid expansion DLC in Happy Home Paradise, a free update arrives on Nov. 5 with a wealth of new things to do for villagers on their island getaways.
The first part, which was teased during the recent Nintendo Direct, is that Brewster’s coffee shop is coming to the island. You’ll be able to order a nice cup of coffee at The Roost, and even share it too, with either your online friends or Animal Crossing friends you can invite using an amiibo phone.
This Ver. 2.0 update has much more than coffee in store, though. Kapp’n Boat Tours will become available, and Harv’s island will also open up, with different donation spots for vendors to start selling their wares there. Katrina’s fortune shop also makes an appearance.
Back on the home island, there are a lot of quality-of-life changes and new features in store too. Stretch with your villagers using motion controls in the town square, or learn to cook dishes from a wealth of new DIY+ recipes. Isabelle can enact ordinances to determine when villagers head out and about, with options like “Early Bird” and “Night Owl” determining when everyone is up and active. Oh, and villagers can now invite you to their homes and surprise you at yours too.
A bunch of new items are coming to Animal Crossing: New Horizons with the free update as well, including the beloved froggy chair. Storage sheds can let you access your home storage on other parts of the island, and an ATM-style kiosk will let you pull more Bells from your account. Gyroids also return, and things like max storage and max number of bridges are getting bumped up.
For the home designers, a wealth of new features are coming in the paid DLC update also announced today and also going live on Nov. 5, called Happy Home Paradise. But even in the free Ver. 2.0 update, there are some really nice designing additions. There are more exterior options for homes, the ability to set an accent wall, and lighting and ceiling decor.
My favorite addition might be the new camera options, which let you go into either a first-person view or set up a “tripod” for snapping selfies. It’s going to add a whole new view to players’ islands, and I’m really excited about the potential for incredible island walkthroughs and new snapshots.
Today was an absolutely, surprisingly massive flood of news for Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Between both the free update and Happy Home Paradise, there’s a lot on the way for the island life sim. Importantly, Nintendo specifies that this is the last major free content update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons. But I can’t help but feel like this is the Animal Crossing team going out on a bang. It all hits the islands on Nov. 5, 2021.
