Animal Crossing: New Horizons Is Sorta Dark If You Think About It
It's not something that's crossed the minds of many players beyond Tom Nook's obvious capitalistic tendencies, but Animal Crossing: New Horizons is actually kind of dark if you think about it. If the gaming community can agree on anything, it's that this Nintendo game is heartwarmingly cute beyond all reproach, so why does it still make some players so feel bad for the adorable animal companions it's named for?
Players who allow themselves to truly get sucked into the island world of Animal Crossing: New Horizons will find themselves developing some very strong opinions on certain animal residents, unconditionally showering favorites in attention and gifts and giving undesired personalities and visages the unceremonious boot. However, they'll generally have respect - if not a full-on soft spot in their hearts - for the many animals in Resident Services, Nook's Cranny, and the Able Sisters who keep their islands running when they aren't looking, and those animals' likability is by design. Why is it, then, that these animals (many of whom are series icons) are treated by the game as undeserving of freedom and players' love?
Everyday when players boot up the game for the first time, Isabelle makes chipper announcements about any island goings-on. She frequently catches herself going on tangents about her TV habits and other things that hint at her complexity as a character, yet players will never see her do anything but toil away behind the Resident Services counter (excepting ceremonies), only stopping on occasion to smell her tulips and look wistfully outside at the tropical freedom that she's denied daily. The very same can be said of Dodo Airlines' Orville, who is subjected to players' every repetitive demand while uncomfortably standing behind an even smaller counter all day, every day. Why can't players give them gifts, send them cards, or even just converse with them beyond the task at hand?
Although this complaint can even be extended to Tom Nook, his situation is self-inflicted unlike his subordinates', and it's hard to feel quite as bad for a workaholic bellionaire who subjugates his own kind. Instead, players need to look no further for the most depressing examples of quiet injustice in Animal Crossing: New Horizons than Timmy and Tommy. Hinted to be Nook's adopted sons in a previous entry, Timmy and Tommy are heartrendingly cute children who spend a whopping 14 hours a day working on their feet selling wares at Nook's Cranny, getting no relief even after expanding the shop. Child labor laws must not be a thing in the Animal Crossing universe, but it's just morally wrong that these raccoon kids' entire island experience is vicariously lived out based on the bizarre creatures and trash that players sell them.
Since it was announced, Animal Crossing: New Horizons' whole shtick has been the blurring of lines between players' real lives and the "Nook Island Getaway Package," taking the series' thematic and visual blend of the charmingly absurd and realistically familiar further than ever before. And there's no question that Nintendo accomplished that goal with flying colors. Still, it seems either cruel or reckless that the designers didn't take the realism slant slightly further to realize that animals like Isabelle, Orville, Timmy, and Tommy deserve some fresh air, a home, and players' undying affection now and again.