Though most entries don't make too many innovations over their predecessors, the Animal Crossing franchise has still evolved quite a bit over the years. Debuting in 2001, each and every Animal Crossing game centers around a quaint little town full of lovable animal villagers. The core gameplay loop of Animal Crossing sees players try to expand and customize their town with new furniture items and decorations, using cash made from selling scavenged goods. A core part of this progression system is Animal Crossing's museum.
First introduced in Animal Crossing: Wild World on the Nintendo DS, the museum acts as a central hub for all the collectibles in each game. When players gain access to the museum, they'll be able to store their fossils there, along with any captured bugs and fish. The player can then walk through the museum, seeing all of their collectibles up close. The museum is an integral part of Animal Crossing's gameplay loop, and while it continues to serve its purpose well, the next Animal Crossing might want to add some new features to it.
Animal Crossing's Museum Could Use a Bit of an Overhaul
The importance and originality of Animal Crossing's museum cannot be understated. In countless video games, players will spend tens of hours picking up collectibles strewn across the map. In the vast majority of these games, once they've been collected, they're never thought about again, simply being hidden away in the game's menu systems. Animal Crossing instead decides to reward its most dedicated players by showcasing these collectibles in-game, in a museum setting, a perfect fit for Animal Crossing's small town backdrop. There are only a handful of games where players are actually allowed to walk up and admire something they've spent time catching or finding, and Animal Crossing is one of those.
To make it even better, each museum in the series has a uniquely rewarding layout that meshes perfectly with Animal Crossing's cozy tones. Each type of collectible, ranging from fossils, to fish, to bugs is separated into its own distinct section, with Brewster's cafe breaking it all up wonderfully. However, while this feature has always done an admirable job of handling collectibles, Animal Crossing's museum hasn't really changed all that much in about 18 years.
The next Animal Crossing should give the museum the overhaul it deserves. Animal Crossing's museum doesn't really need to change its layout all too much, but what it does need is more options, both in terms of customization and additional collectibles. While fish, bugs, fossils, and art offer many players more than enough collectible content, the next Animal Crossing should offer even more. Ancient artifacts and inventions, for instance, would be a neat new collectible type. Players might be able to purchase rare antiques at a new auction house area, picking up items such as Grecian urns, Egyptian sarcophagi, and Terracotta Army statues.
Customization should also be a big part of the next Animal Crossing's museum. Animal Crossing: New Horizons added a feature with one of its final updates where posters would start to appear around the museum if players collected a certain amount of collectibles. While this is a neat feature, it's only a start. In the next Animal Crossing, players should be able to customize the vast majority of their museum, from wall paint, to floor tiles, to tank sizes, and even whole room layouts. Players should be able to feel like their Animal Crossing museum is truly their own.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now for Nintendo Switch.
