Animal Crossing: New Horizons has changed a lot in its first year of release, but there are still a number of staple features absent from the series' latest entry.
To correct this, Nintendo has continued to add new content to Animal Crossing: New Horizons, introducing new items, villagers and features. While most fans are appreciative of the title's dedicated support, there's still a vocal demand for features that have yet to be revived. Some of these lost features are practically synonymous with the Animal Crossing franchise and need to see their way into the new game at some point.
RELATED: Animal Crossing: New Horizons Cherry Blossoms Are Back in Season
One of the biggest things that Animal Crossing veterans were quick to pick up on in Animal Crossing: New Horizons was the absence of gyroids. These odd Animal Crossing items were a collectable that players could dig up and trade with other characters or use them to decorate their homes. With each gyroid having a different appearance and making a different periodical sound, many fans had favorites to display
Gyroids have been a part of the Animal Crossing series since the very beginning, so it makes that fans would be shook by their sudden disappearance. While the construction foreman, Lloid, serves as proof that gyroids haven't been completely forgotten, there's still no word on when players will be able to decorate their islands with the odd little creatures.
Fans have been crying for Brewster's return since Animal Crossing: New Horizons' release, but the stoic pigeon is still nowhere to be found. Brewster and his cafe, The Roost, have a special place in many longtime fans hearts. Making his first appearance in Animal Crossing: Wild World, players could visit Brewster's cafe for a cup of coffee. Over time, players could even befriend Brewster, making him one of the more memorable Animal Crossing NPCs.
To many fans, it isn't a matter of if Brewster will return, but when. Resourceful fans have already found the character's data in the game's source code, and given the expanded role that the character had in the last game, allowing players to work at his cafe, it would be a surprise if he didn't come back in a later update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
One of the more common complaints about Animal Crossing: New Horizons are the limited types of interactions that players can have with their villagers. Past games allowed players to ask villagers for tasks while other games had villagers suggest different minigames or request a home visit. These features are what help many Animal Crossing players bond with their villagers and keep small-town life from feeling too dull.
While villager interactions haven't been removed from Animal Crossing: New Horizons entirely, they have been toned down heavily compared to past games. Only one type of minigame can be suggested by villagers and the chances of it happening are incredibly low compared to earlier Animal Crossing titles. Similarly, villagers can no longer visit homes and requests are far more rare as well. Fans would surely appreciate to ways to spend time with the villagers that they sometimes spend so much time hunting for, so hopefully a new update allows them to do so.
One of the few marks of progression in the Animal Crossing series comes in the form of Tom Nook's store, Nook's Cranny. Each game has the store evolve from a rundown wooden shack which offers one or two items, eventually transforming into a multilevel department store. Not only does this make it easier for players to find the items that they're looking for, but it adds a sense of change to the game's world.
In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Nook's Cranny grows once from the regular wooden shack into a decent mom-and-pop shop. After a year of playing, longtime fans are still waiting for a new store upgrade. Players have noted the blocked off stairs in the current store, which will hopefully lead to a bigger store one day.
Just as features like diving and art collecting made a return, fans are hopeful that Animal Crossing: New Horizons will one day have all of the features that that the series is known for.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available on the Nintendo Switch.
MORE: Other Amiibo Villagers That Need to Come to Animal Crossing: New Horizons