Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Developer/publisher Nintendo (EPD)
Format Switch
Release Out now
Our NookPhone buzzes for the third time in a minute, and we curse our tanuki taskmaster. This so-called getaway doesn’t seem like much of an escape so far – we’re supposed to be starting a new life on a beautiful island, yet we’re spending half the time beholden to the black mirror, much as we would on a typical evening. We frown, too, as we find ourselves huddled over a workbench, combining branches and stones into an axe – and, not long after, watching in horror as it disintegrates, forcing us to forage for the ingredients to make a new one. A life sim that has always done things crafting? This isn’t the we know and love.
