8 Harsh Lessons I Learned After Restarting My Animal Crossing Island

As a longtime fan of the series, I was one of those eager players who had preordered from the first moment it was available and, like many, enjoyed the safe haven of my island during the COVID-19 pandemic. My virtual island neighbors became my best friends, and the island itself was a place of comfort and a welcoming refuge for friends and family to gather virtually while quarantine was in place. I continued to faithfully visit my island throughout 2020, 2021, and most of 2022. I completed every task, filled the museum, enjoyed the DLC, and became rich with bells.

Sadly, life happens, as it does to everyone, and gradually other games took the place of my time. Therefore, by the time I purchased my shiny, new OLED Nintendo Switch late in 2023,it didn't cross my mind to transfer my data over to the new Switch, which has to be done separately from the normal transfer of data when setting up a new console. By the time I realized my mistake, it was too late.

About a month ago, I decided to take the plunge and start a new island. I reasoned with myself that it would be fun getting to start all over. In many ways, it is. However, there are many hurdles that I had to overcome all over again, and many memories that will simply never be the same.

Despite Animal Crossing: New Horizons having over 400 villagers available, there are still more from past games in the series that are missed.

After deciding to take the plunge and start a new save in, I quickly realized that without sneakily adjusting the date/time settings on the Nintendo Switch itself, there really wasn't much I could do in the game for a couple of real-world days. Starting a new island is a lot of fun, and seeing the opening scenes with Timmy and Tommy after four years was a treat. The experience of beginning the game is an odd mixture of excitement and boredom, as there isn't much that can be done in the first couple of days.

I was lucky, and as soon as the airport was open I was able to go visit the island