Summary
Although a newAnimal Crossinggame has yet to be officially announced, fan speculation surrounding the series' future has begun to heat up as the release of Nintendo’s next console approaches.Animal Crossing: New Horizonsadvanced the series in many ways, iterating on staple features of the franchise to give players more customization freedom than any previous entry. The nextAnimal Crossinggame is likely to further develop the series' core concepts, including the series' traversal options and the method of transportation players take to and from their towns.
The opening of eachAnimal Crossinggame follows a similar formula that sees the player move to a new town ready to start their life among itsanimal villagers. While this iconic opening has varied slightly from game to game, it is a key element in establishingAnimal Crossing’s core concept of new beginnings and will likely be present in the next entry. However, one way this opening has changed between games is the method of transportation by which players arrive in their new town, meaning the nextAnimal Crossinggame is already set to shake up the series' travel options.
The Next Animal Crossing Will Likely Have a New Method of Travel
The originalAnimal Crossingfor GameCubebegan with players arriving in their town on a train, while its sequel,Animal Crossing: Wild Worldfor the Nintendo DS, opened with players arriving at their new town in a taxi.Animal Crossing: City Folkchanged this sequence up further by having players arrive in town via a bus, which would also then transport players to the city whenever they wished to visit.Animal Crossing: New Leafbrought back the classic train as its transportation method, butAnimal Crossing: New Horizonswent in a completely different direction by flying players to and from their island on a plane flown by Dodo Airlines.
With the exception ofNew Leafreusing the train motif from the originalAnimal Crossing, each method of transportation has been different between games. With the nextAnimal Crossingrumored to take players back to a city environment, there are a wide variety of transportation methods the game could feature. AfterNew Horizonsmade traveling abroad a standard feature viaMystery Island Tours, it only makes sense that its sequel would utilize a convenient method of transportation to build upon this world-exploration mechanic.
Predicting How Players Will Travel in the Next Animal Crossing Game
An obvious choice for the nextAnimal Crossingto use as its main means of transportation is cars, given that it’s rumored to be set in an urban environment. Cars are not new to theAnimal Crossingseries, with players being able to use them as furniture but unable to actually drive them. Giving players the ability to drive their own car to travel to and from their town would be a huge change from what has been the standard in past entries, but it would certainly open the door for new gameplay options including anewAnimal Crossingcustomizable systemand greater player control over their ability to explore outside their town.
Another traversal method that makes sense in an urban setting could come from the series bringing back its train imagery and using a subway for transportation. Depending on the size of thenextAnimal Crossing’s supposed city, a subway could take players to and from their town, as well as to different areas around the city itself. Aside from these vehicles, bicycles would be another great option for the nextAnimal Crossingto feature, as they would fit with the urban setting while maintaining the franchise’s cozy, rustic aesthetic that has become so popular amongAnimal Crossingfans.
