Animal Crossing: New Horizon's 3.0 update and Nintendo Switch 2 Edition are both out, putting a smile on the faces of villagers everywhere who feared the game had long been abandoned. But the new content isn't a total slam dunk as some fans aren't too smitten with the Slumber Islands.
Slumber Islands are essentially a freeform sandbox or 'creative mode' for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, introduced in this week's free 3.0 update, letting players freely decorate an empty island stuck in an alternative dreamworld. You can't take or use up any resources while in the Slumber Islands, either, so fixing them up is purely a creative pursuit.
Villagers are a little disappointed about two things, however. First is the fact that Slumber Islands require a persistent-online connection and are basically paywalled behind an active Nintendo Switch Online membership, as are the shoddy collection of retro games. Second are all the building limitations Nintendo have imposed, which raise a few eyebrows in a mode that's supposed to be a low-stakes decorative endeavour.
Multiple Reddit posts and several more on other social media sites all complain of Slumber Islands' restrictions, which don't let you place any buildings other than your own house, and don't let you change seasons to create, let's say, a Christmas-themed getaway.
"I am so disappointed by this update," one Redditor writes. "The lack of those basic features is astoundingly bad. All they've added is that I can change the weather and the time of day and that bridges and inclines are insta-built, otherwise everything is exactly the same as changing my own island."
Actually, things can be considered even more limited than on your base island, given the lack of buildings you can place. After all, you can only have one house (your own), so anyone hoping to make a fresh residential area for their villagers is out of luck.
"When I realized you couldn't change the season or add buildings I lost all interest in the update. What’s the point of the slumber island then??" another player questions.
Of course, being able to test designs and ideas and layouts on a separate island is still better than nothing. Even still, having friends decorate their own homes on the same island or being able to make seasonally-themed areas would've helped to turn Slumber Islands into more than just a testing ground.
Deleting my Animal Crossing: New Horizons island has changed the way I play, and it feels like returning to 2005's Wild World
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