Nintendo, who reported that the game has sold over 22 million copies in only a few months. The timing was perhaps perfect, with most of the world in lockdown due to the rising spread of COVID-19. Plenty of people were indoors and looking for a game with a laid-back, relaxing atmosphere. Animal Crossing: New Horizons was the answer.
Because people love the game for its relaxing vibes, it may sound counter-intuitive to say the game needs combat. However, an optional combat feature seems like a natural next step. The newest additions to the franchise offer even more Minecraft. With games like Minecraft and Dragon Quest Builders 2 offering all sorts of creation mechanics mixed with combat, Animal Crossing could (and should) lean in that direction as well.
It’s highly unlikely Nintendo will pepper the islands of Animal Crossing: New Horizons with random enemy encounters or vicious monsters that come out at night. Instead, the best route would likely be a new building, perhaps an arena, where players could have good-natured fights with their animal friends. It’s like the museum in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, only instead of displaying items, players could have the option to go head-to-head with the various of the colorful cast.
Animal Crossing Combat Brings Crafting Possibilities and More
Having a combat aspect in the game would also open the door for all sorts of new crafting possibilities, since players could create their own armor and weapons much like in Minecraft. If Animal Crossing: New Horizons allowed fans to add custom designs to their armor, even better! Adding custom designs to clothing is already a popular feature in New Horizons, where gamers have created anything from Breath of the Wild to Batman and Robin costumes.
For fans worried about the arena being too violent, the game can take a route similar to Splatoon, another big Nintendo property, which replaces real guns and bullets with paint and ink. Maybe in the arena, players simply practice fencing with their animal buds. Nintendo could even add optional motion controls so that fencing could be used in a fashion similar to Swordplay in Wii Sports Resort. Additionally, Animal Crossing could implement has Splatfest. This would also be a great way to facilitate regular interest in the game.
Thinking that Nintendo might implement combat directly into Animal Crossing: New Horizons, via DLC or a quick patch, is a stretch. More plausible is that the next entry in this beloved series will have a combat aspect, although to what degree remains uncertain.
