Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a game stuffed to the brim with details. From allowing players to play actual games of pinball with decoration items to enabling some of the most ridiculous cockroach-killing antics seen in any video game to date, there can be no doubt that New Horizons' developers put a lot of love into the franchise’s latest instalment.
Some details are fun, some are funny, and even more are just plain impressive, but multiple Redditors have caught on to a detail that can only be described as atmospheric. Reddit user u/lumachi68 and u/Weolehr noticed several months ago that during rainy weather, water droplets will collect on and drip down player or villagers’ windows.
The water droplets look remarkably realistic, quite apart from the round and colorful style that the Animal Crossing franchise is known for. The contrast creates a dreamy, almost idyllic atmosphere that perfectly suits Animal Crossing. lumachi68 and Weolehr’s screenshots give the impression of a dollhouse, with the water pattering against the windows providing a reminder of the world outside.
This should be immersion-breaking, but given players’ reactions to finding this detail, the realistic water droplets collecting on the windowpanes only seems to reinforce New Horizons' appeal. The overall opinion seems to be that this little detail makes a very cozy game feel even cozier. It's a shame that there isn't a way to manually toggle rainy weather, because hearing and seeing the rain patter against the windows in Animal Crossing is so relaxing that it would put any Lo-fi Study Stream to shame.
And if you're of the opinion that seeing realistic water in Animal Crossing is extremely jarring, New Horizons also lets players close their curtains. So if players truly don't want to see the water effects or just can't be bothered with their villagers that day, they can interact with the curtains to pull them shut over the windows. What didn't the developers think of?