As always, Nintendo fans are clamouring for news on Animal Crossing Switch. The game hasn’t even been announced yet, but in the mind of Animal Crossing fans, it’s basically guaranteed. Regardless, just because we haven’t heard a word of the games development, doesn’t mean we can’t talk about what new features and ideas we’d like to see when it finally does release. So, without further ado , here are the top five things I hope to see in Animal Crossing for Nintendo Switch. If you can’t wait for the next Animal Crossing Switch game, then check out our list of most adorable must-have Animal Crossing Merch to tie you over.

A Job System

Prior Animal Crossing titles have dabbled with the idea of giving players jobs. Whether it was the work you had to do for Tom Nook in the original Animal Crossing, Wild World and City Folk or the job you could land serving coffee at the Roost in New Leaf, the series has had small attempts at creating jobs for Villagers to be able to work. In Animal Crossing Switch, I’m hoping for a properly implemented job system. Imagine after being a regular customer at one of the games assortment of stores you were offered a part time job, with the promise of Bells, exclusive items and even a staff discount. The more work you do, the greater the pay and staff discount, with some stores being more generous with their pay than others (I’m sure Tom Nook would be the guy to pay you almost nothing and give you a 1% staff discount).

For example, maybe the Able sisters hire you to fulfil Villager requests for outfits, and you spend some of your time each day designing said outfits. Another job possibility could be to work alongside Harriet at Shampoodles, possibly as a stylist. Customers come in and ask about a particular style and colour, you decide and Harriet does the work. These are only a few examples, but I’m confident that a job system like this could be implemented successfully.

Greater Online Player Interaction

Something I’ve always dreamed about having in Animal Crossing was a bit more freedom regarding the games online player interaction. With the announcement on Nintendo’s paid online service releasing in September, it’s only fair to assume that Animal Crossing’s online offering will be greater than prior games, to justify people spending money to play online.

One thing I would love to see in Animal Crossing online is some sort of social hub, in a similar vein to Inkopolis in Splatoon. Imagine a City (like the one in City Folk) where Villagers all around the world can gather and communicate, trade items etc. The hub City could also contain exclusive shops, which would encourage players to visit and spend time communicating with other players. It’s an idea I doubt will be implemented, but I can hope and dream.

We’d also like to see the possibility of being able to have friends online move in to your town, whether that be in your own home as a roommate or in their own home entirely. Imagine having a town to share with friends, where you can work together each day catching fish and bugs or working jobs (like the ones in my job system idea) to pay off your house to build a bigger one. Having the option to share your town with a friend would be a mind-blowing feature that’d raise my hype for the game to even greater heights.

World Customisation Control

When Animal Crossing finally lands on Nintendo Switch, I hope to see the option of being able to set the village up manually. Having an option to personally set the location of shops, houses etc at the beginning of the game would be a welcome feature that I believe would allow for players to create towns with their own personality. Allowing for such customisation could lead far more variety when it comes to town layout. For example, one player may want to place all shops and houses together in close proximity, creating the feel of a tight-knit community while leaving the rest of the map to feature as a dense and isolated forest to grow flowers, catch bugs etc, while another player may prefer to spread all of the towns locales evenly across the map, so that no area of the town feels too barren.

The ability to have a say where things go in your town shouldn’t just be set to the beginning of the game either. Every fan of Animal Crossing is acutely aware of the immense frustration felt when a new Villagers house just happens to be plotted exactly on top of your meticulously prepared flower garden or orchard of fruit trees. To make sure that this problem doesn’t occur again, it would be great to be able to place the locations of new Villagers houses. It’s a feature that wouldn’t require too much, and it would save us all the heartache of losing parts of our towns we work so hard to build. It’d also be great to be able to have a proper paving system, instead of having to use patterns to mimic actual pavement.

At the end of the day, the freedom to customize the town to your liking should be a feature when Animal Crossing Switch releases.

More Depth in Villager Interaction

Animal Crossing has a bunch of adorable critters to befriend, there’s no doubting that, I just wish there was a bit more depth when it came to talking with them. Building stronger relationships with characters is something I feel that the Animal Crossing franchise could significantly benefit from. If Villagers could have their own distinct likes, dislikes with food, activities etc, it would be a great system that could be used to build on character relationships and it would also greatly encourage the player to try and befriend the townsfolk.

For example, if there was a cooking system implemented in the game, you could create meals that you could give to Villagers to boost your friendship. Whether they like the food or not could be established by what they talk about when chatting to them. Imagine being able to win over a notoriously grumpy character such as Wolfgang by making him an apple pie because when you talked to him one day he mentioned how much he missed his mother’s apple pie, or something along those lines. Paying attention to what the characters say and presenting them with things that they like is a simple way to make a friendship system, but I hope that the next Animal Crossing game features a similar system that rewards the player for listening to what the Villagers say. 

Utilise the Switch’s hardware

This seems like a bit of a no-brainer, but do let me expound. If and when Animal Crossing releases on the Nintendo Switch, it’ll be the first AC game on a home console since Animal Crossing: City Folk on the Wii. Therefore, it’s safe to assume we are going to see a large technical improvement over the last home console release. There is no doubt that game is going to look gorgeous on the system, with beautiful polished graphics sure to blow fans away. However, greater graphics aren’t the only thing We’d like the Nintendo Switch to bring to Animal Crossing. Seamless transitions in and out buildings would be something We’d like to see, as ridding of the short loading times between transitions would add to the feel of the town constantly being alive. Removing the short periods that break immersion would quite obviously make the game feel a bit more immersive.

We’d also like to see the game environment be bigger and have varied terrain, whether that be varied ground heights like the cliffs and slopes seen in other Animal Crossing games, or new types of terrain entirely. Size of the world increasing should only be executed if there are more things to do in the Village, otherwise in the increase in size could be detrimental to the games feel (quality over quantity).

HD rumble is a feature that Nintendo have touted numerous times since the Switch was announced, and it would be cool to see if it could be effectively used in Animal Crossing. I could see the HD rumble being used in numerous ways. For example, the controller when shovelling dirt might register a soft and ever so slight vibration, whereas hitting a rock with a shovel would lead to a sharp thud of a vibration. Small attentions to detail with the HD rumble would be great to see, as it’s a feature underutilized in the Switch’s life so far. It could even play a role in fishing, with the tugs of the fish sending a vibration to the controller to mimic the bite. The options are endless.

The Switch’s hardware is set to create a truly amazing and immersive Animal Crossing experience, but we just need to wait and see when Nintendo decided to share the new Animal Crossing Switch with us. So for now, we must wait. In the meantime however we can fill our hearts with these adorable Animal Crossing goodies. Or this adorable Animal Crossing Mug, Tea Pot, Cushions and more!

Check out what Animal Crossing Switch could really look like here.