ANIMAL CROSSING is a Little Ironic with Multiplayer

When I reviewed Animal Crossing: New Horizons, it proved to be a fun game. It still is fun, but a glaring problem has come to my attention as I’ve backed down on how much I’m playing the game. For a game all about community, it’s terrible at letting your island be a community if more than one person wants to play the game. I know many have a problem with the fact that there’s only one island per Switch console, but I’m not going to talk about that. I don’t mind that personally. My problem is much bigger.

The point of the game is to come together as an island and create your own paradise. Build shops and museums, bring in new residents, and much more. The problem is that only the first player to play the game on the console can do that. Since reviewing the game, I’ve relaxed on how much I’m playing, but my wife has upped her time on the game. This has led to us learning that if you were not the first person to play the game, you can do nothing to progress the game.

My wife was playing more, but little Tommy Nook never talked to her about building a store. As soon as I logged in, I was approached about the option. Then, it didn’t let my wife contribute any materials. Why is it that in a community-based game, can only one person do anything to advance the game. This is infuriating and nonsensical! I find it hard to imagine that Nintendo couldn’t have programmed it so that anyone can contribute to projects or progress. The proof is in the Museum. My wife has probably donated more than me by this point and Blathers has no problems accepting donations from either of us. Why are things like the island store different?

Another problem I have is how the online is handled. You can’t just pull up a list of your friends from the Switch and invite them over like in other games. First, you have to visit them or have them visit you in-game to become friends. This requires the use of a Dodo Code which changes every time. Why? Why not let this be like a friend code on the Switch? Have a single code that you can share instead of having to share a different code every time you’re playing the game.

This is me pleading with Nintendo to release a patch for Animal Crossing that makes it so that other players can progress the game. I know I’m not the only person pissed off by this huge oversight that is quite frankly very unfriendly and non-community-based. Ironic, huh?