Animal Crossing Villagers Don't Judge You As Much In New Horizons DLC

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The Happy Home Paradise DLC includes a major improvement over the Animal Crossing: New Horizons base game thanks to its absence of guilt trips. New Horizons is among the best-selling games for the Nintendo Switch for good reason. Its carefree, bucolic island life provided a welcome escape from the tension of the pandemic, and the endearing animal villagers’ warmth and optimism offer relief for any kind of stress. This applies if the player logs into the game regularly, at least. Everything changes when a player takes a hiatus from ACNH and then revisits their island. A game that is meant to be an escape from stress becomes stressful itself, as the player is greeted with an island overgrown with weeds and villagers who — either subtly or not — shame the player for their absence. Happy Home Paradise offers no such rebukes, as Lottie and the rest of the Paradise Planning crew are just happy to see the player, making it a better experience to return to than the Animal Crossing game that spawned it.

It might strike some as odd that Happy Home Paradise doesn't spread the guilt so thick. Working for Paradise Planning is a job, as evidenced by the Dodo Airlines’ option to “go to work.” Players are paid (in Poki instead of Bells), and their role involves more than decorating vacation getaways. The player is responsible for Animal Crossing facilities, arguably among the best features of the expansion, letting them design schools and hospitals along with cafes and restaurants.  Working at a business, alongside managing education and healthcare, certainly sounds more vital than running around an island to pick weeds and say hello to one’s neighbors. Niko, Lottie, and Wardell will never bemoan the difficulties of running things in