The upcoming 2.0 update toAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsis massive; it’s so big that it almost feels like something of a sequel to the original game. One addition in particular is going to changeNew Horizonsin a big way, and potentially impact future games in the series. Now thatAnimal Crossingis going to be introducing farming and cooking, it’s taking one step closer tofarming sims likeStardew Valleyand theHarvest Moonseries, which seems to be the proper direction for the franchise.
WhenStardew Valleywas released in 2016, it proved that the farming sim genre was still alive and well. The satisfaction found in doing virtual farm work was enough to entrance players into playing a game for, sometimes, hundreds of hours, by breathing new life into theHarvest Moonformula. Despite not featuring farming of any kind,Animal Crossinghas frequently been compared to both series, but the 2.0 update forAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsseems to be pushing the series even closer to farming sim comparisons.
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Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley
The reason that so manycomparisons are drawn betweenAnimal Crossing: New HorizonsandStardew Valleyis because both fall under the life sim genre and, aside fromAnimal Crossing’s lack of farming, share similar gameplay goals. Both games are about getting to know neighbors while enjoying the simpler moments of life, as the surrounding town grows as a direct result of the player’s actions. The two are distinct, however, because of where their individual focuses lie.
TheAnimal Crossingseries is all about decoration andNew Horizonsbrought that to the next level by allowing players to arrange furniture outside and make landscape changes.Stardew Valley, on the other hand, is focused on its farming and, while interior decoration certainly plays a part in the game, it’s not a major focus. Now thatNew Horizonsis adding farming, however, the game will inch that much closer toStardew Valley’s seemingly infinite replayability.
Animal Crossing and Farming
Animal Crossingseems like the kind of game that would feature farming based on the way that it treats the planting of flowers and trees, but the series never dived deep into farming simulation. Although the look atNew Horizons' farming system was brief,theAnimal CrossingDirectseemed to show that there’s going to be quite some depth to the farming options available to the player. Plenty of different crops were displayed and the recipes shown off indicate that seasonal crops will be a continuous part of the game moving forward.
This is a great way to keep fans playing even after thecontent updates forAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsstop coming.Stardew Valleyhas proven just how into farming games fans can get, and that seems to be bleeding intoNew Horizons. Hopefully, the farming aspects ofAnimal Crossingare as deep as they initially seem because, if they’re not, then they won’t sustain the game’s player base. Sure, farming might be entertaining while fans explore the major changes coming with the 2.0 update, but if it doesn’t have any complex systems working with it, then taking care of vegetables will just boil down to an alternate version of taking care of flowers.
The cooking that was shown off during theAnimal CrossingDirect seems to suggest that there will be more toNew Horizons' farming than just planting and watering seeds which is certainly a step in the right direction. Hopefully, this means that farming is going to be playing a major part intheAnimal Crossingseries moving forwardand that future games will be able to support players for even longer thanNew Horizonshas done.
