Animal Crossing: New Horizonscame out at a time where many people were stuck at home due to the worldwide pandemic. The game brought many players together, urging them to visit each other’s islands and share their creations. This was initially only doable when two players were online, but after a massive update back in Summer 2020,Animal Crossing: New Horizonssaw the addition of Dream Islands.
For those unfamiliar with Dream Islands inAnimal Crossing: New Horizons, it essentially allows users to“dream” and visit other players' islandseven if they’re not online. While visiting the Dream Island, players are able to interact with the villagers, the island, and the owner of the island. With this feature, one player managed to visit their friend even though they had passed away.
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A Reddit user by the name of MajesticSamm shared an image alongside a friend during a Dream Island visit. MajesticSamm explained that their friend had passed away back in May and used the Dream Island feature to see her again. It’s an incredibly sad, yet heartwarming story and is just another example ofAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsbringing people together. To be able to visit Dream Islands, however, the owner of the island needs to set up a Dream Address. To get around this obstacle, the sister of the deceased friend got a Dream Address and shared it with MajesticSamm.
Although players are able to visit and interact with a friend’s island, no changes to that island will be saved. The Dream Island sort of acts like a copy of the original. Still, even though there isn’t anyone controlling the Dream Island owner’s character, having that character be present and walking around was sure to remind the Reddit user of when the two of them played together.
Others in the Reddit thread have commented how another video game has created this sense of connectivity with players that might not be online. The example mentioned isForza Horizon 5where players are able to race against A.Iwho can take the names of friends. For MajesticSamm and many others who posted in the Reddit thread, seeing loved ones who passed away through games they shared together was often a bittersweet moment.
Alarge 2.0 update forAnimal Crossing: New Horizonswas recently releasedwhich saw many fans revisiting the title to clock in dozens if not hundreds of hours. Many of those hours are sure to include moments where players are able to connect with each other through this hobby. The inclusion of the Dream Islands, letters players can send to friends and store in their mailbox, and even races that players can partake in against old friends are nice reminders that people can live on through games.
Animal Crossing: New Horizonsis out now exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
