In an interview with French game outlet Gamekult, Director Aya Kyogoku and Producer Higashi Nogami confirmed some interesting details about the upcoming Animal Crossing: New Horizons. During that interview though, it was confirmed that New Horizons will be going without the cloud backups feature.
Have you read the reactions of fans or do you prefer to avoid these things to stay motivated?
HN : Yes, of course, we were attentive to the reactions …
AK : … and not only online, but also when we walk down the aisles of the show, and the fans approach us to tell us that they are anxiously waiting for the release. It’s these kinds of interactions that keep our motivation intact.
HN : We also had the chance to see the reactions of the fans gathered for the broadcast of Direct simultaneously at Nintendo World, in New York. The excitement over there and the online reactions were far more impressive than we had imagined. We were very touched and very happy to receive such a positive welcome.
In New Horizons, you have introduced the Nook Phone. Do you also plan a dedicated application in real life to synchronize exchanges?
AK : We want to make sure that everyone can play without making this kind of companion app necessary to enjoy the experience. That’s why we prefer to avoid making it a pre-requisite. That being said, we will take advantage of the Nintendo Switch Online application for voice chat, and we are also planning other things for the future through this service.
Do you plan to take advantage of touch to play or customize items?
AK : We wanted to make sure that New Horizons used many features of the Switch, both un-docked and docked. When users play in docked mode we want to make them easier to handle with a traditional control method. To answer your customization question more specifically, there are My Design elements borrowed from New Leaf that will be in New Horizons.
HN : In summary, we designed the gameplay for a classic grip but there will also be elements designed for touch-screen play.
How do you choose the new species of animals that will be included in the game?
AK : When we come up with the concept of a new character, we think first and foremost about the role that they can play in the game. From that moment, the choice of the most appropriate species comes to us naturally.
HN : That’s how Tom Nook’s character was born. The reason we chose a tanuki may not be obvious to see Europe, but in Japan the raccoon is synonymous with good deeds. The same goes for Blathers, the curator of the museum who has been there since the very first installment, simply because owls are symbols of wisdom.
With the introuduction of cloud saves and automatic saves, how will you handle Mr. Resetti’s interventions?
HN : New Horizons will not be compatible with cloud backups to avoid manipulating time, which remains one of the founding concepts of the series.
Can you confirm that Animal Crossing: New Horizons will be compatible with the amiibo range?
AK : Given the number of cards and figures available, we obviously think New Horizons will be compatible with amiibo, but I can not tell you more about this compatibility at this stage of development.
And when are the best-of Kéké’s (K.K. Slider) songs going to be on Spotify?
AK : (laughs) The developers do not have a hand on this stuff so I have no idea unfortunately.
HN : But you can find Kéké (K.K. Slider) in concert every Saturday in New Horizons.
AK : It might have been difficult to hear during the Treehouse, but you could get Kéké’s music in the background from the radio. We have included different ways to listen to Kéké’s music in New Horizons and we hope fans will enjoy that too.
According to Aya Kyogoku, the reason the game will be going without the cloud backups feature will be to stomp out the possibility of players cheating the game through manipulating time. This also means that if something were to happen to your Switch, you would have to completely start over your game save.
Many online are also upset with the fact that Nintendo currently charges for cloud saves (via Nintendo Switch Online), but it actively making new games that don’t support the paid feature.
New Horizons looks like it will be a great entry in the Animal Crossing series, but the strange decisions from Nintendo continue to peck away at all the positivity around their upcoming titles.
Translated interview source: Miketendo