The release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been filled with joy, celebration, and great reviews, as the game has become something of a lifestyle for millions of people. But, as time has gone on, many have started to express disappointment with some missing features that were beloved in older entries in the series.
Nintendo has shown that they're listening by adding new updates and features a few at a time over the past several months, including the Dream Suite, swimming, and more. But there are still a few things missing. Here are some of the things from older games that fans would love to see return in a future update.
10 Perfect Fruit
As we all know, fruit can be very profitable in the Animal Crossing series, especially if you sell fruit that isn't native to your island or town. However, older entries in the series had "perfect fruit" which would sell for considerably more.
Your native fruit trees were capable of producing perfect fruit that looked visibly different from the regular counterparts and would sell for quite a few bells. If you plant one of these perfect fruit, the tree that grows will also only produce more perfect fruit. However, perfect fruit trees would eventually wither.
9 Characters
NPCs and various characters have always been the lifeblood of Animal Crossing, from the famous crooning K. K. Slider to the ever-helpful Isabelle. However, there are dozens of other NPCs that have made appearances over the years, from shopkeepers to special event guests and more.
Many of these characters are unfortunately absent from New Horizons. Some of the most notable include Katrina, Dr. Shrunk, and Digby. Some have been added with updates, like Leif, Luna, and Redd, but many are still missing.
8 Gyroids
Gyroids have always been a weird, yet fun, collectible part of the series, coming in an astounding number of varieties and appearing in different ways. Lloid, perhaps the most famous gyroid, is still present when the player constructs a bridge or incline to take donations, but he seems to be the only one.
While not the most important furniture item, gyroids are fun, unique, and come in a wide variety of designs and sizes. Hopefully, they'll come back to the series.
7 Re-Tail & Other Stores
With the absence of many special NPCs comes the absence of their respective stores. Shampoodle, Kicks' shoe store, the Happy Home Academy headquarters, the Post Office, and many other stores from the series are missing in New Horizons.
This may be to save space on islands but their absence from the game is notable and a sore spot for many players. Perhaps the developers will add some of these shops in the future, even as additions to existing buildings.
6 Gems
Players are always excited when they smack a rock with their shovel and a gold nugget comes out. These special items are used to craft a variety of furniture items as well as golden tools, which have much higher durability than their regular counterparts.
However, gold wasn't always the only available gem. Ruby, amethyst, emerald, sapphire, and silver were all also available as ore from rocks in the games. Hopefully these return, as they'll probably bring with them new furniture that can be crafted.
5 Nintendo Items
One of the coolest additions to New Leaf was the fortune cookies, which, when eaten, could give the player a fortune that they'd then redeem for a special Nintendo item — special furniture that could be given to the player in exchange for the corresponding fortune.
These items ranged from the Master Sword to a Bill Blaster, and even Wii U consoles. These items have not been introduced into New Horizons, and fortune cookies have not either.
4 Megaphone
Ever struggle with finding all ten of your villagers each day? Many people do, and it can be even more irritating when you realize they're somewhere in the maze-like museum or hidden awkwardly behind a tree or building. Finding all of your villagers to chat with or gift an item can be a headache.
The Megaphone was an old item that would help with this, allowing the player to say the name of a villager into their 3DS microphone, with the villager responding with their location. With the presence of Nook phones in every player's inventory, shouldn't they be able to text or call their villagers to find where they are?
3 Mini-Games
The new tropical getaway setting of the series in New Horizons keeps the player almost-permanently on a tropical island. This was formerly reserved for Tortimer Island in New Leaf — a tropical island that the player could visit.
On this island, the player could catch distinct bugs and fish as well as participate in a few different mini-games. These mini-games are notably absent from New Horizons, possibly because Tortimer Island itself no longer exists.
2 Fruits
Perfect fruits aren't the only fruit that is missing from the games now that New Horizons is out. Some have also pointed out that the game only contains six fruits: apples, oranges, pears, peaches, cherries, and coconuts. Sure, that's a lot, but the older games had a few more that are now missing.
Persimmons, lemons, durians, lychees, mangoes, and bananas were all added to the series in New Leaf but then removed again in New Horizons.
1 Café & Brewster
Probably the most lamented absence from the new game is Brewster and his café, The Roost. The player could purchase a cup of coffee and impress him with their ability to drink it hot.
In New Leaf, the player could also get a part-time job at the café making coffee for their villagers. Each had a particular way they preferred their coffee and the player could earn café-themed furniture for their work. Hints have been made in the code of the game and by other sources that Brewster is coming in a future update, so fans are optimistic.