TheAnimal Crossingseries has arguably been just as about discovery and customization as Mojang’sMinecraft, though one is definitely more adventurous in its direction than the other. AsMinecraftis a sandbox game where players need to survive the dangers of monsters to uncover secrets, andAnimal Crossingis about fans making themselves comfortable in a new town, they meet in the middle with similar themes of making the best out of what players have.
While there are many differences between these two iconic “cozy” games, there’s one that sets them rather drastically apart.Minecraftis a title that gets frequent improvements and updates regularly, and while Nintendo has been trying new things with its social simulation hit, it’s debatably been at the cost of the true flavor thatmade the originalAnimal Crossinggreat. Not everything withAnimal Crossinghas improved overtime, though, and that’s where it could benefit from taking a page out ofMinecraft’sbook.
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Animal Crossing’s Museum Could Use a Refresh
In the many entries to theAnimal Crossingseries, players can help donate to a small museum on their towns and islands that’s rather bare when they arrive. With plenty of fish and bugs to catch, randomized fossils to dig up, and rare paintings to collect, many fans of the series consider it to be a great achievementwhen Blathers says the museum is complete. However, it comes with its own caveats.
Animal Crossing’smuseum hasn’t been updatedmuch beyond its original iteration in the GameCube game back in 2001. Beyond a few new bugs and fish and the fact that each new title involves players starting from scratch every single time, there isn’t much that keeps the museum exciting while almost every other aspect ofAChas gradually been improving. Compared to howNew Leafintroduced the ordinances system andNew Horizonsmade almost everything about players' island customizable, the newer lay-outs of the museum in each game don’t cut it anymore. However,Minecraftmay have a new feature that may fix this problem.
Minecraft’s Archeology Features
Throughout the most recentMinecraftupdates, one feature was consistently delayed until the most recent Trails & Tales update. This would be the new archeology features which allow fans to find artifacts and more by using the new brush tool on strange blocks and marks in the sand. Ever since the Trails & Tales update went live, many players have enjoyed the exploration it offers, quickly trying to discoverevery new Decorated Pot inMinecraftamong other things.
Archeology was originally meant to be added toMinecraftas part of the Caves & Cliffs update that was released back in 2021. As a result, it was definitely meant to add depth to the game’s caves, as Caves & Cliffs brought in more realistic cave generation,givingMinecraftmore surprising discoveries in cavesamong other game-changing items. Even though the archeology aspect came in late, it helped make familiar cave journeys exciting in a new way.
Like how archeology was designed to help an old aspect ofMinecraftfeel new again, a similar system could be implemented to help make theAnimal Crossingmuseum feel new and interesting after it has remained the same for twenty years. After all, the only true changes to the museum over the years is Blathers has now been able to access fossils himself, eliminating the need for fans to send the fossils to another museum for verification like in the originalAnimal CrossingGameCube title. Making it so fans could go on their own fossil excursion and identify what they find could make a great mini-game expands the possibilities forAnimal Crossingfar beyond one simple town and location, if Nintendo ever chose to pursue it.
Animal Crossing: New Horizonsis available now for Nintendo Switch.
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