Snow in summer? Sun in winter?
We’re less than a month away from the launch of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. On March 20, the ravenous fans of the series who’ve hounded Nintendo nonstop across social media will finally be able to put their cell phones down and pick their NookPhones up as they begin island life. As with any Animal Crossing game, there are a lot of decisions to make before you even start playing and New Horizons is giving players yet another choice to agonize over. For the first time in the franchise, players will be able to pick which hemisphere their island escape is located in.
This is something I didn’t think about too much in the past. For the 10 years or so, I lived in parts of the United States that don’t experience the traditional changing of seasons. My winters were more dreary than white; my falls bereft of the colors normally associated with the time of year. Because of this, I loved diving into my little Animal Crossing world to see the seasons as they should be.
But now I live in a place that does have a distinct spring, summer, winter, and fall; and a question I’ve been asking myself since the Nintendo Direct is whether or not I want to see those same seasons on my island when I can go outside to experience them in real life. Should I keep things consistent with my immediate surroundings or treat the game as a true escape from my world, getting glimpses of December snow when it’s 105 degrees outside?
Choosing the name of my town used to be the most difficult part of starting my life in Animal Crossing. Now, I’m just fretting over whether or not I want to build snowmen in the summer. Is this issue as much of a conundrum for you as it is for me?
