I've played 700 hours of Animal Crossing New Horizons — here's my verdict on the Switch 2 edition

Animal Crossing New Horizons: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition screenshot — (Image credit: Nintendo)

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is approaching its 6th anniversary. To celebrate, Nintendo has released a Switch 2 Edition of the game alongside the 3.0 update, which adds new free content. It’s been a long time since New Horizons got a major upgrade, so I was excited to see how the game could be improved after spending more than 700 hours with the game on Switch 1.

Even better, if you already own the Nintendo Switch version of the game, you can grab the Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade pack for $4.99 / £4.19 / $8.00 AUD. But is this new edition worth the upgrade fee? In short, I love the improved graphics, but I have mixed feelings about the other new features.

Improved Graphics

The biggest reason to get the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the improved visuals. When playing in docked mode, the visuals have been noticeably upgraded from 1080p to 4K. This makes a big difference, especially when playing on a large TV.

I didn’t have many complaints about how New Horizons looked before the upgrade, but I was impressed with how much better the new Switch 2 edition looked — any jagged edges that were visible when you looked closely at the original version of the game are now smoothed out. It lets you get further immersed in the colorful world the game creates — fish look more lively, food looks tastier, and your fellow island inhabitants look cuddlier than ever.

Mouse Mode

Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition & Free Update – Announcement Trailer - YouTube

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When playing with Joy-Con 2 controllers, you can place a Joy-Con 2 face down to activate Mouse Mode, and move a cursor around freely like you would with a computer mouse. Mouse Mode controls aren’t available for every type of gameplay, but you can use them when decorating your home’s interior, writing messages on the bulletin board, and creating custom designs.

I gave the Mouse Mode decorating controls a try while I decorated a hotel room. Using the mouse controls to pick up and rotate items felt great, and I was able to move furniture around faster and more precisely than before. I also liked that I could drag wall-mounted items and spin the room around in a flash, something that I previously found very sluggish with a joystick.

The downside is that when looking for furniture items in the menu, mouse controls are not available. This forces you to constantly switch between traditional button controls and mouse controls. You don’t have to lift your Joy-Con 2 out of mouse mode, at least, but it’s trickier to get your head around than it should be.

Using mouse mode to draw custom designs and bulletin board messages is much easier, since there are simply fewer controls to deal with in these activities. I was able to knock out a bulletin board message in a flash, and even made a new shirt design — look out for it in an Able Sisters store near you.

Megaphone

Back in the Nintendo 3DS game, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, you could use a megaphone to call your villagers if you couldn’t find them. With newly added mics on the Nintendo Switch 2 console, Nintendo has brought this feature back for the New Horizons Switch 2 Edition.

For me, using the Megaphone in New Horizons was a failure. I was situated in a quiet room, and tried playing in both docked and handheld mode. But getting my islanders to answer my calls to attention was dicey at best.

I called out every island resident’s name several times, changing my voice’s intonation, volume, and pitch — and the only animal I could consistently get a response out of was Bud. However, he also answered when I called out “Klaus,” “Leopold” or “Annalise,” so I don’t know what that tells you.

Expanded multiplayer features

I wasn’t able to test out the new multiplayer features myself, since most of my buddies have either moved on from playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons by now, or haven’t upgraded to a Nintendo Switch 2 yet. But, if you’re a big fan of multiplayer, you’ll now be able to connect with up to 11 other players in online multiplayer mode, as well as use a USB camera to display your face when using Game Chat. It’s nice to see the developers still thinking of ways to improve Animal Crossing’s online experience in the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition.

Should you upgrade to the Switch 2 Edition?

If you play Animal Crossing a lot — particularly in docked mode, on a large 4K TV — the graphical upgrade alone makes the cost worth it. You’ll also want to get the upgrade if you wish to play in large groups of more than 8 people.

But if not, you can probably skip this one. Even as a big fan of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, I play the game solo and in handheld mode most often. The improved graphics are nice to have, but the free performance upgrade that came with playing on the more powerful Nintendo Switch 2 console is enough to make me happy. (And Nintendo doesn’t charge you an extra five bucks on top of the price of the game and console for that luxury.)

Millie is a Deals Editor at Tom's Guide specializing in deals content. She also covers the latest tech news and and creates how-to articles about everything from phones, streaming devices, and headphones to apps and video games. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, gaming on her Nintendo Switch and creating digital art.

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