Nintendo’s Open-World Revolution: What’s Next for Animal Crossing?

by

Summary

  • Donkey Kong Bananza and Mario Kart World are shifting to open-world formats, a significant change for both franchises.
  • The open-world structure in games like Donkey Kong Bananza allows for free exploration, destructible environments, and diverse biomes.
  • With the success of open-world games like Zelda: Breath of the Wild, it may make sense for Nintendo to focus on an open-world format for the next Animal Crossing game.

Open-world video games have faced a tarnished image within the gaming community for some time, but they’ve been striving to enhance their reputation in recent years by offering expansive worlds that are filled with engaging gameplay and compelling narratives. Titles like “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” and “Elden Ring” serve as prime examples of this approach, setting new benchmarks for future games and fostering a push towards higher quality within the genre. Interestingly, Nintendo is venturing further into the open-world format with its upcoming releases, such as “Mario Kart World” and “Donkey Kong Bananza.

The forthcoming Nintendo Switch 2 titles, namely “Mario Kart Universe” and “Donkey Kong Frenzy,” have formally embraced an open-world design, signifying a substantial change for their respective franchises, while also showcasing the potential capabilities of the new console. Given Nintendo’s recent enthusiasm towards open-world games, particularly after the triumph of its latest “The Legend of Zelda” series installments, it’s intriguing to contemplate the company’s strategies for the next “Animal Crossing” game and how these plans could influence the franchise’s future.

Nintendo’s Open-World Focus Could Aim for Animal Crossing

Donkey Kong Bananza and Mario Kart World Are Both Open-World Games

A free-roaming game structure could suit ‘Donkey Kong’ quite nicely, but it represents a significant leap for ‘Mario Kart’. Regardless, titles like ‘Donkey Kong Bananza’ and ‘Mario Kart World’ are venturing into open-world territory, potentially marking significant shifts for both series if the risk proves rewarding. If successful, these changes could dramatically alter the ‘Donkey Kong’ and ‘Mario Kart’ franchises, mirroring the impact that ‘Breath of the Wild’ had on the ‘Zelda’ series.

In “Donkey Kong Bananza”, players delve into a vast open-world below the Kong Kingdom. Here, Donkey Kong embarks on a mission to recover stolen Golden Bananas from the antagonistic group, VoidCo. The game offers sandbox-style levels that promote free roaming and interaction with the surroundings. One unique aspect of this game is its breakable environment, enabling Donkey Kong to blast through terrain to uncover fresh paths, concealed areas, and hidden treasures.

In the expansive world of Donkey Kong Bananza, you’ll encounter a variety of landscapes, such as frozen tundras, vibrant forests, and underground caverns, each presenting distinct puzzles and hidden treasures.

In the game Mario Kart World, it draws inspiration from Diddy Kong Racing with its self-contained open world, brimming with interconnected tracks in its “Free Roam” mode. This means that players can navigate off-road and explore this world at their leisure. With the new format, there’s likely a wealth of activities for players to engage in, collectibles to discover, but most notably, it seems designed to make the game more inviting for both novice and casual gamers by offering them a more regulated gaming experience.

Animal Crossing Could Target a Huge Open-World Format

From what we know about each game so far, Donkey Kong Bananza and Mario Kart World seem promising additions to their respective franchises. Given this, it’s plausible that Animal Crossing could be in line next. If Nintendo decides not to wait for the outcomes of the open-world experiments in Donkey Kong Bananza and Mario Kart World, they might already be developing a new Animal Crossing game featuring an expansive open world. This would align with the series’ formula and also wouldn’t be unexpected, as it seems that Nintendo has hinted at its intentions in this direction.

In a potentially significant shift, both “Donkey Kong Bananza” and “Mario Kart World” are venturing into an entirely open-world format. If this gamble proves successful, it could mark a transformative moment for these renowned franchises.

Without a doubt, the enhanced capabilities of the potential Nintendo Switch 2 hardware are quite remarkable. It’s now more capable than ever of managing extensive maps with greater ease compared to its previous version, as demonstrated by games like “Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.” This newfound power might indeed motivate Nintendo to create a sprawling open world for the next “Animal Crossing” game. However, only time will reveal their decision.

Read More

2025-04-12 14:35