The New Features Coming In Animal Crossing: New Horizons' Fall Update
Autumn is quickly approaching, and now that September is finally here, it appears that fall has already arrived in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. With the change of the season comes plenty of new updates to the beloved game.
In a video titled "Exploring September," Nintendo gave fans a quick look at some of the changes they should be expecting. The description of the video reads, "September marks the beginning of the Fall season in Animal Crossing: New Horizons! From acorns & pine cones, to fall themed DIY recipes and more, drop in to discover this month's many changes!" With that exciting announcement out of the way, it's time to take a look at some of what New Horizons has in store for its first autumnal season.
The most noticeable difference that players will see right away is a change in the colors on the island. Since its release back in the spring, Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been known for its bright and vibrant color palette. After all, the game does take place on idyllic islands, so there's plenty of sun, sand, and beautiful greenery for players to take in (and take care of). However, the fall season is bringing a more orange and brown color palette to the game. You can practically smell the pumpkin spice already, can't you?
Acorns and pinecones will fall from the trees with more regularity as the season continues. Just give those trees a quick shake and you're likely to snag one of these new items. Also, there will apparently be new flowers arriving with the update, as well as fallen leaves that may start to litter the ground. The pinecones and acorns will also be featured in plenty of new crafting recipes that will be rolled out over time. These will allow you to build new furniture and other nifty trinkets for your video game home. It's seems that autumn is a gradual process in the world of New Horizons, so luckily players won't have to worry about being overwhelmed by a ton of new items and crafts becoming available all at once.
The new fall update also brings plenty of new bugs that can be caught by players who don't mind hunting down the little guys. Patience will be needed here, because these bugs are only available in limited quantities at very specific times. In fact, these new bugs appear to be just a bit harder to come by than the ones seen in previous updates. This could be because the world of New Horizons is getting a bit chillier, which has driven the little creepy crawlers into hiding. That patience will also be rewarded, since some of these bugs can fetch a high price when caught. For instance, the Orchid Mantis is worth 2,400 Bells, while the Peacock Butterfly is worth 2,500.
There are also plenty of new sea creatures that can be caught in the new update. Unlike the many bugs that can only be found at certain times of the day, players will find that the fish in Northern and Southern Hemispheres are apparently way more sociable. Some of the fish are available all day long, with many of them being worth a decent number of bells. Catching a Sturgeon could net you an impressive 10,000 Bells. In other words, September seems like the ideal time to get to fishing.
It's unclear how long these changes will last, but they will likely go on through at least the month of September. It wouldn't be a surprise to see the game get a spooky overhaul in October, following by more holiday-centric fare in November and December. It has also been announced that Animal Crossing: New Horizons will debut Super Mario-themed furniture in the game next spring. That alone should tell fans that there are plenty of updates already being planned.
Even if there weren't any major updates being made to Animal Crossing: New Horizons, fans have been making their own fun in interesting ways. One fan has used the game as an outlet for artists who have had their careers impacted by COVID-19 shutdowns, creating art galleries within the game and posting the results on social media. Another group of enterprising fans have started a weed-pulling business, helping Animal Crossing players to rid their islands of all of the overgrown weeds that pop up over time.
In other words, Animal Crossing fans are really good at thinking outside the box. It should be a joy to see what people come up with next, thanks to these brand new updates and incoming features.