Now this is the wholesome content that Animal Crossing: New Horizons fans just live for. What’s the first thing players do with the brand-new swimming feature? Create a charming little display of pure synchronized togetherness, that’s what.
The Animal Crossing experience is one that’s best shared. Whether you’re searching out special event items for friends, helping them collect the furniture pieces for that room theme they’ve been working on, chatting with their villagers or simply popping over to admire their newly-built garden, the social experience is fantastic.
Having said that, some players find that once a group of friends have all gathered together on an island, there isn’t really a whole lot to do together. In a traditional multiplayer sort of sense, it’s really down to the players to improvise. Treasure hunts, obstacle courses and other fun things have been enjoyed by fans, by the new update adds another unique possibility, alongside the new special characters and such: synchronized swimming!
The big draw of today’s update is the return of wetsuits and sea-swimming, a feature one enterprising quartet wasted no time in getting to grips with. Over on Reddit, joel_ker posted their adorable synchronized swimming routine. They explain that the group’s WiFi was bad and they had to accommodate for each group member’s lag, making the cute feat even more impressive.
Swimming isn’t just for show, either. As returning franchise fans will know, there are various sea critters to collect by diving, meaning more opportunities to donate to your island’s burgeoning museum. Special character Pascal the red sea otter also returns with the update, ready to give the player a range of special items (fans of the Mermaid set from previous games will delighted) in exchange for their finds. Not forgetting pirate Gulliver!
Speaking of special characters, wily dataminers have discovered something super interesting about this new update. As Eurogamer reports, it seems that, as of version 1.3.0, players are now free to buy more than one piece from each category from Saharah at one time. Not only that, but the carpet-loving camel, Kicks and Leif don’t seem to be guaranteed visitors every week any more, keeping the flow of special characters more interesting.
The last word from seasoned dataminer Ninji is potentially the most exciting of all for some, though:
Save data backup? Could it be? There’s nothing official just yet, but in the meantime, enjoy the first part of the update (the second is coming in August) and happy swimming!
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