It’s no secret that Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a huge success. Even five years after the game came out, players are still enjoying building and customizing their islands, socializing with villagers, and collecting bells. Some fans have even bought multiple Nintendo Switch consoles just to start a brand-new island. However, even after five years, New Horizons is missing some beloved features from the Animal Crossing franchise. This includes special Nintendo-themed characters and furniture, a popular addition to previous games like New Leaf.
Videos by ComicBook.com
The very first game in the series, Animal Crossing, started the tradition of Nintendo collectibles in the game with NES games you could get from villagers or find in hidden locations. Since this initial crossover, subsequent Animal Crossing games like the beloved Nintendo 3DS Animal Crossing: New Leaf have featured many nods to classic Nintendo. This includes several Nintendo-themed villagers in New Leaf. Many characters, including Epona, Ganon, and Medli are from The Legend of Zelda, and arrived in New Leaf alongside Legend of Zelda-themed furniture and decoration items.
Alas, even though it’s been 5 years since we first got Animal Crossing: New Horizons, these previous Nintendo-themed characters haven’t returned. No new Nintendo villagers have been added to the game, either, leaving some fans to wonder why this feature wasn’t brought back when it’s clearly so popular. Given the number of responses on this r/AnimalCrossing post from Redditor @Infinite_Truck2164, many fans would love to see these beloved characters return to the modern Animal Crossing.
In fact, this is only the most recent post to mourn the lack of crossover villagers in New Horizons. Fans have been asking what happened to these beloved characters basically from day one, and we still don’t have a good answer.
How Nintendo and Other Crossover Characters Worked in Animal Crossing: New Leaf
Crossover characters from Nintendo and a few other franchises were added to New Leaf on the 3DS alongside support for amiibo. The Welcome Amiibo update let players collect crossover characters from Splatoon, The Legend of Zelda, Sanrio, and even the Seven-Eleven convenience store. Players could add the villagers by scanning their amiibo, making for a great merchandising opportunity.
Given that Nintendo continues to make new amiibo and that fans would love to see crossover characters return, it’s interesting that Animal Crossing: New Horizons hasn’t made it happen. While licensing might be tricky for brands like Sanrio, Nintendo publishes Animal Crossing. So, in theory, using its own characters in the game at the very least shouldn’t pose that much of an issue. And it could potentially sell more of those new, pricier Legend of Zelda amiibo to Animal Crossing fans.
RELATED: New Cozy Game Is Animal Crossing Meets Tiny Glade, On Floating Islands
At this point, it’s unlikey we’ll see these crossover characters return to New Horizons. Although a new Animal Crossing game still hasn’t been officially announced, most fans expect we’ll hear something about a follow up to New Horizons for the Switch 2 soon enough. If Nintendo is already thinking about the next game, it probably isn’t planning major updates like bringing Epona or other crossover characters to this game. Still, we can hope and dream to see them return in whatever Animal Crossing game comes next.
Which crossover villager would you most want to see back in Animal Crossing games? Let us know in the comments below!
