Animal Crossing DLC: All New House & Furniture Effects & Features
Animal Crossing New Horizons’ upcoming DLC Happy Home Paradise is adding quite a few new decorative features that players will be able to implement in their homes. Happy Home Paradise introduces a new archipelago resort to the game where players will work to create the perfect vacation home for a variety of Animal Crossing characters. In additional to all the new furniture and items that are coming with this paid DLC, there will also be new ways to enhance each design.
The Happy Home Paradise DLC will be available for preorder on the Nintendo eShop on October 29 and available to download on November 5. This is New Horizons’ first DLC, coming in about a year and half after the game’s launch. Releasing alongside New Horizons’ 2.0 update, Happy Home Paradise practically adds a new game’s worth of content. While most of this new content will take place at the resort, there are some features that players will be able to utilize on their own islands.
The Happy Home Paradise DLC for Animal Crossing New Horizons will be $24.99, but there is another way to purchase it. Nintendo is releasing its Online Expansion Pack, which also includes Happy Home Paradise for no extra charge. The solo plan for this Expansion Pack will be $50 a year and the family plan will be $70 a year. If players were already planning on purchasing the Nintendo Online Expansion Pack, then this is certainly a great deal. Additionally, those planning on buying the DLC for multiple islands may find that the family plan is a better deal for them.
Perhaps one of the most exciting features Happy Home Paradise is bringing to New Horizons is partition walls. Creating multiple spaces in one room was previously only doable with item-based room partitions or by cleverly placing bookshelves, and while these previous methods were fine in some instances, they simply don’t provide the same effect as an actual wall. With the DLC, players will finally be able to properly divide up rooms in a much more realistic way. This will be particularly important at the resort as the vacation homes only have one room. But this feature will also be helpful back on players’ home islands, too.
Two different sized counters are also being added with this DLC. Before, players would generally need to use desks or chests as their counters in Animal Crossing kitchen designs or shop builds, which usually ended up looking a bit awkward. Now they will be able to use actual counters to make these builds more seamless and realistic. Combining both the partition walls and the counters together will help make any build more interesting.
In order to design the best possible vacation homes, Happy Home Paradise will allow players to add soundscapes and lighting effects to better suit the design of each build. There will be a variety of soundscapes to choose from, including beach sounds, construction, rain, and more. Because each character will want a specific vibe for their vacation home, these soundscapes will help players better meet their needs.
Different lighting effects will also be available to further enhance each design. Players will be able to choose from different colors as well as brightness level. These lighting effects and soundscapes will also be available for players’ homes back on their islands. They, too, will be able to fill their homes will the relaxing sounds of ocean waves or the activity of an urban landscape will enjoying the perfect mood lighting.
An interesting feature coming with New Horizons’ DLC is furniture polishing. After each vacation home has been designed, players will be able to polish the furniture to add a “special effect.” This was demonstrated briefly in the Animal Crossing New Horizons Direct where it was shown that polishing plant and flower items can spawn little butterflies. It looks like polishing will simply add an extra something to make each home a little more special. Players can polish their own furniture, too, making their homes quite literally sparkle.