Issue #45: A Walk with the Animals – March/April 2020

“If we could walk with the animals, talk with the animals, grunt and squeak and squawk with the animals, and they could squeak and squawk and speak and talk to us . . . what a neat achievement that would be!”

Ah, friends! It’s finally here. At long, looooong last, the Animal Crossing series — the mainline, proper Animal Crossing series, not a spin-off — is finally coming back to our television screens. It’s been 3,000 years!

. . . Well, more like 11 and a half. I’ll let our History of Animal Crossing feature article deal with the dates more precisely. What I’m getting at is that the gap has felt much longer!

I blame the Wii U! I know, I know. The Switch is three years old now and it’s probably shameful to still be bashing its predecessor at this point, but the fact remains that the Wii U never got a proper Animal Crossing sequel of its own — and that’s probably because its early years of other software didn’t build up enough of a user base to justify it.

Or maybe the lack of a real Animal Crossing is what doomed the Wii U to begin with! Ack, it’s hard to say. My mind is a whole messy barrel of monkeys trying to sort the whole situation out.

Speaking of monkeys, how about those animals, huh? Regardless of how it happened, New Horizons is now just over the horizon for the Switch, and with the return of the series that lets you walk with the animals and talk with the animals, we’ve felt compelled to craft creature features to fill this latest edition of NF. In addition to the aforementioned full History of Animal Crossing, we’re also bringing you Beast Friends Forever, a nostalgic look back at some of our favorite animal buddies from over the years. (It’s not to be confused with Best Friend Forever, a dog-owning/date-seeking sim previewed in the Download section.) You’ll also find animal-related games being reviewed both there and in the retail- focused Reviews section later in the issue, some animal comics sprinkled about and even an interview with the makers of Gato Roboto. Because what’s better than a cat? A cat suiting up in mech armor!

I know so many of you have been looking forward to the arrival of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. I’m right there with you! I’m thrilled that we can present this issue and help support the hype for what looks to be a great all-new series sequel!

For the double-sided wall poster this time, you’ll get the key art from Animal Crossing: New Horizons on one side, then the key art from Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX on the reverse!

In addition, this issue marks our second-ever partnership with Limited Run Games! All physical copies ship with an exclusive LRG trading card, #532 depicting the heroes of Vitamin Connection. The only place you can get it is with this NF issue!