Fan-made Animal Crossing Direct imagines the quality-of-life changes we all want
May I Celeste...
Like many people around the world, I'm currently obsessed with the peaceful and cosy world of Animal Crossing: New Horizons - but even I have to admit there are plenty of things that bug me. Namely, the way Animal Crossing's UI and menus work, which often make simple chores feel like a complete drag. Not to mention the several lines of dialogue required to get anything done. I'm looking at you, Orville.
Summarising these issues and how they could be solved, YouTuber Nick Ha has produced his own version of a Nintendo Direct focused on quality-of-life changes for Animal Crossing. With the help of some voice actors and serious amounts of editing, the video provides a surprisingly realistic visualisation of the changes fans have been asking for. Why craft one at a time when you could craft in stacks? Why not have crafting benches inside your house linked to your storage? There's even a suggestion for how to speed up Orville's endless nattering.
It's unlikely we'll see these changes actually implemented by Nintendo post-release, sadly, but I guess it's nice to dream about what could have been. If anything, the glut of community suggestions shows the importance of getting UI design right in games. For which I can only give New Horizons a C+.