Animal Crossing: New Horizons is undoubtedly one of the most memorable entries in the Animal Crossing lineup, but in it, several characters that players had come to know and love throughout the series seemingly disappeared without a trace. While it's only natural that NPCs rotate out in long-running series, the change could've been a bit more transitional and less abrupt.

Given how marketable Animal Crossing is as a franchise, it's likely that the change took place so that all the NPCs in Animal Crossing: New Horizons matched the same small and cute aesthetic that the game itself evokes. While older NPCs weren't necessarily unappealing, they also couldn't be described as adorable either, resulting in them getting the boot in this latest game.

New Horizons Removed Classic NPCs Like Chip

ACNH Seemingly Decided Out With The Old And In With The New

If you've played through any of the other entries in the Animal Crossing franchise, you probably Chip, Joan, and Nat. Chip hosted the Fishing Tournament, Nat hosted the Bug Off, and Joan made Sunday visits selling turnips. These three NPCs were the original island visitors responsible for hosting events and selling turnips on the island before ACNH, but if ACNH is all you've ever played, then there's a good chance you had no idea these characters even existed.

Instead, in ACNH, all of these roles have been taken over by their relatives. Chip has been replaced by his son C.J., Nat has been replaced by his son Flick, and Sow Joan has been replaced by her granddaughter, Daisy Mae. In a way, the natural feeling of time ing that is indicated by them taking over their parents' and grandparents' roles is somewhat cozy, as it creates a bit of immersion and nostalgia, since the players are also getting older and may even be parents or grandparents themselves now.

That being said, the way this change took place does feel a bit abrupt. Rather than having a chance to slowly phase them out, they essentially just disappeared with maybe a mention here or there and nothing more. Thankfully, the Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2.0 update did attempt to fix this a bit by bringing them back into the game, but it was still in a very minor role that only made me miss them even more and wish they were still around.

New Horizons 2.0 Brought Back Some NPCs

Minor Appearances Just Re-Emphasized How Much These Characters Need To Make A Comeback

As part of the 2.0 update, several characters had Amiibo that could be scanned at The Roost in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, allowing you to grab a cup of coffee with them, which included Chip, Nat, and Joan. While this was a cute little interaction and gave more context to the relationships between the new NPCs and the old, since they would also often appear during these encounters or speak about them, it still didn't fully satisfy the need to have them back in the game.

Smaller references to these characters can also be found throughout the game. For example, if you investigate the lab area of the Bug section of the museum, you can find an interactive picture of Nat.

However, as part of Animal Crossing: New Horizons' Happy Home Paradise DLC, these characters got a bit more interaction. Nat can now be found outside of Paradise Planning, offering to provide a lecture for the school, which will then give you the option to use bugs as yard decorations for clients. Similarly, in Happy Home Paradise, Joan can be found at the hospital every Monday, where she will provide anywhere from 30 to 100 free turnips when interacted with.

Unfortunately, Chip did not receive any form of formal inclusion in Happy Home Paradise the same way the other two did, but he is still a Special Client option for the DLC if you have his Amiibo card, as are the others. Overall, these small inclusions are a nice touch, and while the next Animal Crossing game can't completely backtrack the now beloved new NPCs, perhaps they could find some sort of middle ground instead.

NPCs Could Share The Spotlight In Animal Crossing’s Next Game

Alternating NPCs Would Provide A Nice Bit Of Variety

Instead of following in Animal Crossing: New Horizons' footsteps and only including Daisy Mae, C.J., and Flick, or fully retconning and going back to Joan, Chip, and Nat, the next game should make an effort to include all 6 of these NPCs. None of these characters are always present, like Tom Nook, Isabelle, or the Nooklings, so it would be reasonable to rotate them out now and again. Even if it wasn't a 1-to-1 alternation between the original NPC and the new one, they could have the new ones be the primary visitor and perhaps have the old ones sub maybe every 2–3 visits.

This way, the cute new NPCs would still have center focus in the next Animal Crossing game, but the old ones would also be around enough to scratch that nostalgic itch and just keep players updated on them. The idea of time ing in Animal Crossing does add to the cozy feel of the game, but it's also a little concerning not to know what's happening to characters that have clearly been defined as being older. So, having them be a little more present to assure players they're still around would be a great addition.

Not only that, but it opens the door to new ideas. Right now, the events and turnip sales are handled by one NPC at a time, but perhaps instead of even alternating, maybe they could host a unique event once a month together. For example, maybe Sow Joan and Daisy Mae could host a Turnip event together that allows you to earn Turnips for free, or Nat and Flick could host a larger-scale Bug Off event that might even help them patch up their rocky relationship.

The possibilities of things to do with these NPCs are endless, but one thing is for sure, and that is that the next Animal Crossing will only be improved by including both new and old NPCs in some capacity. The history and lore of characters in the franchise stretch well beyond Animal Crossing: New Horizons, so the next entry in the series would do well to that by bringing back some of those notable aspects and characters that made previous games so special.