When gyroids were introduced in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, they looked quite different from their original designs. It’s widely agreed upon that gyroids were creepy little creatures, looking hollow but also somehow possessing life-like qualities while they move around. But now, the wide majority of them are adorable, brandishing bright pastel colors and exhibiting a wider range of more expressive sound effects, running parallel to the changes and direction the Animal Crossing franchise has moved toward with New Horizons.

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What New Horizons Has Done to Animal Crossing

Aside from Pocket Camp, the mobile spinoff of Animal Crossing where players can build and decorate a campsite, New Horizons is the first installment to take crafting and customization to its current level. The series has always been open-ended, with ambiguous goals, though it’s consistently involved paying off loans and decorating the insides of homes. So that’s not to say that the series has never been about decorating, but not to the degree that it currently is at.

By (finally) allowing players to place furniture outside, they’re able to virtually control the look and themes of their islands, and the concepts some have conceived are stunning. Sharing islands via visits from friends and social media has increased the drive for this even more so, almost making the act of decorating the New Horizons island competitive, so as to create the best island possible. While some fans have designed entire islands to be haunted houses, often inspired by Resident Evil or Silent Hill, others choose to recreate retro towns, such as Japanese neighborhoods in the 80s.

Furthermore, Animal Crossing: New Horizons has seen more demand over the cutest villagers than ever before. In the early days, Marshal and Raymond were all the hype, but since the 2.0 update, Shino, Sasha, and Ione have stolen the spotlight and can be sold for an insane number of Nook Mile Tickets and Bells online.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is more attractive and aesthetically pleasing than past games have been, and the redesign of the gyroids is representative of that. Also being simply a lot smaller than they were before, gyroids now blend in with furniture and suit themes and sets much better, but it’s undeniable that they’re simply considerably cuter than in previous installments. Having done away with the family sets of gyroids, consisting of regular, mini, and mega versions, players have shown viral love for the squeakoid, the whistloid, and even the crumploid online.

Now, entire rooms and areas can be themed around gyroids without looking like a crypt of mummified husks doing strange dances. Though its also grown its social simulation aspects, Animal Crossing is also about designing and decorating. Over the years, it becomes more sugarcoated in kind words, beautiful scenery, and relaxing music, and the recent additions to Animal Crossing: New Horizons, including the 2.0 update and the Happy Homes Paradise DLC, prove that.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is out now for the Nintendo Switch.

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