Animal Crossing: New Horizons had the world in a chokehold during the pandemic, but it’s been five years since Nintendo’s cozy simulator. Even with updates and daily gameplay mechanics, many of us have moved on to newer games. Then there are the people who have diligently cultivated their islands since day one. They’re still playing today, except they’ve upgraded to the latest Nintendo hardware. And the experience is way better on Switch 2, they say.
These are the sorts of players who spend hundreds if not thousands of hours decorating their islands just so, intent on cultivating a specific vibe or style. More often than not, this approach pushes Animal Crossing to its limit as players place so many items on the map, the game starts lagging. The original Switch, after all, was arguably outdated the moment it was released. Switch 2, on the other hand, is a much more capable machine that closer approximates the graphical standards players expect from modern gaming hardware.
While Nintendo doled out enhancements for many of its core titles to mark the occasion, Animal Crossing: New Horizons wasn’t marketed as such. At most, Nintendo ensured that New Horizons players could properly transfer their saves, as the files are tied to hardware. But the new console has still made a difference for players, especially those who have some of the most elaborate islands around.
“I’ve built, torn down, and rebuilt my island many times,” says a content creator named Ash Snap’em, who estimates that she has put over 2,600 hours into the game. Recently, she shared footage of her most recent island, a pastel wonderland akin to a digital Disney World. Every villager’s house is decorated to look like a store or restaurant. The carnival-like landscape is so detailed, rides are layered upon one another. There’s even secret passageways and other flourishes meant to dazzle visitors, like dedicated photo walls where players can pull out their cameras for posed pictures. And it could only be fully realized on the Switch 2.
Previously, as other players discovered over the last few years, elaborate islands could stutter and have severe pop-in, which undermined the brilliance of the meticulously crafted worlds. Some players settled for lesser visions, but others didn’t let the tech deter them.
“The lag was a little disheartening, but as someone who played about 1800+ hours in New Leaf leading to New Horizons where customization was very limited in comparison, I just gave it my all anyways and made it MY perfect island,“ Ash said in a message. ”I feel that many in the Animal Crossing community who have very decorated islands all have just settled with the lag because it was the only way to have our islands the way we imagined and desired.“
“I just decided early on that if that’s what I had to live with so my island could look the way I wanted it to, then so be it,” Ash added.
This type of upgrade is commonplace for re-releases on Switch 2, as its predecessor often required compromises in order to make games run at all. While power does not determine whether or not a game is enjoyable, in cases like that of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, the hindrance actively got in the way of the game’s intended experience. Where the developers sought to provide a seamless open world, instead players were relegated to playing a game that seemed to barely keep it together. On Switch 2, however, the improvements make entirely new playstyles possible now.
Similarly, in New Horizons, the upgrades are more than skin deep as evidenced by the game’s wildly disparate loading times on both platforms. Already, Ash is contemplating the possibilities that open up with a more powerful console. Perhaps she’ll build a cityscape, castle ruins, or a tropical paradise.
“I’ve had a lot of people tell me in the last day that if the Switch 2 can handle having a lot of furniture out on Animal Crossing without lag, they’re sold on getting a Switch 2,” Ash says.