The Potential Benefits of Introducing a Cherished Pokemon Element to Animal Crossing Villagers

Article Key Points

Animal Crossing: New Horizons toned down the diverse personalities of its villagers, making them feel too similar to each other.

Villager hunting has gained popularity in New Horizons, and a potential future Animal Crossing game could enhance the excitement by introducing shiny variations of villagers, much like Pokemon.

By introducing shiny villagers, the game could effectively increase the number of distinct villagers twofold. However, there might be challenges to address, such as the creation of re-colored models for all current villagers and managing third-party markets.

The Animal Crossing series has always centered around its villagers, but Animal Crossing: New Horizons received mixed reviews from long-time fans due to the villagers feeling too similar to each other. To keep things interesting in future games, a popular mechanic from the Pokemon series could be borrowed to make villagers more exciting. Villager hunting became a popular activity in Animal Crossing: New Horizons with the introduction of Mystery Island Tours, allowing players to find and recruit new villagers. Instead of just random villagers moving in, players had the chance to encounter a camper on a mystery island and invite them to their own island. To add more excitement, future Animal Crossing games could introduce the possibility of these villagers having alternate color palettes, similar to shiny variants in Pokemon.

Animal Crossing Could Introduce ‘Shiny’ Villager Variants

In the world of Pokemon, there exists a fascinating phenomenon where certain creatures can appear in a rare, alternate color form known as a "shiny" variant when encountered in the wild. Despite having no significant impact on gameplay, these unique critters have captivated the attention of Pokemon enthusiasts, sparking a widespread interest in shiny hunting. Drawing parallels to the enthusiastic pursuit of favorite villagers in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, it would be intriguing for the future Animal Crossing installment to embrace this characteristic of the series and introduce the possibility of discovering a shiny villager within the captivating realm of village hunting.

In Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, the chance of encountering a shiny Pokemon is already quite rare, with odds of 1 in 4096. The game allows players to see multiple Pokemon on the screen at once, making it easier to come across them. However, in Animal Crossing, finding a shiny villager is even more challenging as players can only encounter one villager at a time on a Mystery Island. To address this issue, Animal Crossing could either lower the odds or allow players to come across multiple villagers on a Mystery Island.

Similar to Pokemon, Animal Crossing could provide players with additional tools to increase their chances of finding a shiny villager. For example, they could introduce a special reward for players who have a perfect island or town, which would enhance the likelihood of a shiny villager appearing. Another possibility would be to introduce a new NPC in the game who educates players about shiny villagers and offers to increase the odds of finding one in exchange for a fee.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons boasts a total of 413 villagers that players can welcome to their island. Should this number carry over to the next installment, the incorporation of shiny variants could effectively double the roster, reaching a staggering count of 826 unique villagers.

However, integrating shiny villagers into the next Animal Crossing game may face certain challenges. One major hurdle would entail creating re-colored models for all existing 413 Animal Crossing villagers, assuming no new ones are introduced in the upcoming title. Additionally, the game would need to address the existence of third-party markets that have emerged for purchasing and selling villagers, especially those highly sought-after characters like Raymond from Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Nonetheless, the potential for fresh gameplay experiences that shiny villagers could offer might justify the effort required to tackle these issues.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a simulation game developed by Nintendo EDP and published by Nintendo. It is part of the Animal Crossing franchise and was released on March 20, 2020, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch platform. The game offers multiplayer features, allowing players to interact both online and locally. It has received an E for Everyone rating from the ESRB, citing comic mischief as the content descriptor. Additionally, the game has an expansion titled "Animal Crossing: New Horizons — Happy Home Paradise". According to HowLongToBeat, the estimated gameplay duration is approximately 61 hours.

Editor's P/S

As an enthusiastic fan of both Animal Crossing and Pokemon, I am thrilled by the prospect of introducing shiny variants of villagers in a future Animal Crossing game. The concept of shiny Pokemon has been a beloved feature in the Pokemon franchise for many years, and its implementation in Animal Crossing could bring a new level of excitement and engagement to the series. Shiny villagers would essentially double the number of unique villagers in the game, providing players with even more variety and opportunities for collecting and trading.

Moreover, the rarity of shiny villagers would create a sense of prestige and accomplishment for players who manage to find them, fostering a similar level of excitement and dedication seen in shiny hunting within the Pokemon community. Shiny villagers could also open up new possibilities for gameplay mechanics, such as special interactions or bonuses for players who befriend or recruit them. Overall, I believe that incorporating shiny villagers into Animal Crossing would be a fantastic way to enhance the game's depth, longevity, and appeal to fans of both franchises.