Animal Crossing: New Horizonsis out now, and in an unexpected yet heartfelt way, has beenuniting people all over the worlddue to the global lockdown brought by the COVID-19 virus. For several years now, theAnimal Crossingfranchise has brought hours upon hours of relaxing and fun gameplay to players of all ages. In the months leading up to the game’s release, Nintendo has been teasing players on what to expect in the upcoming game such as the multiplayer mode, crafting, and tons of customization options, which are all available inAnimal Crossing: New Horizons.
However, apart from these new changes and features, it appears thatAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsalso brought another major change in the game, but this time to a veteran character in the franchise. Throughout the series, Tom Nook has played a key role in ensuring that the player is motivated to keep playing the game. However, in previousAnimal Crossingtitles, Tom Nook has earned the reputation of being a greedy, shady, and sometimes downright mean businessman. But is he the same inAnimal Crossing: New Horizons?
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Who Is Tom Nook?
To the uninitiated,Tom Nookhas been a recurring character inAnimal Crossingever since the release of the first game back in 2001. Interestingly enough, Tom Nook is the first character that players will encounter in the firstAnimal Crossinggame, and he will be there to greet players the moment they step off the train platform. In typical Tom Nook fashion, he would immediately spit out some borderline offensive comments about the player being homeless, and then would immediately proceed to make an offer to purchase a home.
Of course, players won’t be able to refuse Mr. Nook’s offer. Why? Because there isn’t anyone around that could provide players with shelter, which is a requirement to proceed in the game. As soon as players enter an agreement with Tom Nook, their lives are now in his hands, just like any other villager who are living their “best lives” inAnimal Crossing.
Tom Nook’s Reputation Before New Horizons
In succeeding games prior toNew Horizons,Tom Nook has played the consistent role of being a shopkeeper and the secret dictator/overlord of the village. He has a reputation for being a business-savvy person and would be the one to talk to when purchasing homes in the game. However, Mr. Nook is infamous for his shady business practices such as upgrading the player’s home without their consent, burying them to even more debt. In previousAnimal Crossinggames, players would go to Tom Nook to purchase a home and he will gladly offer them a loan that they can payout at any point in the game.
Tom Nook won’t actually go after players for not settling their debts. However, his passive-aggressive attitude is seen once the player makes a payment where he will “joke” about “sending his cousins to (beat) meet you.” What’s worse is that after the player pays out their loan, Tom would automatically upgrade the player’s house and charge them with an even larger debt, all without the player’s consent.
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Yes! Tom Nook Is Actually Nicer
InAnimal Crossing: New Horizons, Tom Nook does appear to be nicer than he usually is. Upon reaching the island, Mr. Nook appoints the player as the village representative and spurts out all these nice things about living on the deserted island and the importance of having a sense of community to make their new living arrangements work. Again, in typical Tom Nook fashion, he goes on toremind players of moving-in fees, which wasn’t mentioned at all during his pitch when he was trying to get the player to move into the island. Of course, the moving-in fees would cost players a good number of Bells, but surprisingly enough, Tom would offer players a deal that will allow them to pay their fees with 5,000 Nook Miles instead.
To those who haven’t played the game yet,Nook Milesare points earned by players just by playing the game and participating in various activities such as fishing, bug catching, etc. Although 5,000 Nook Miles may appear expensive, it’s actually pretty easy to achieve and can be earned in two days at the most. After paying off the moving fees, Tom Nook would then offer players a loan to build a home. The difference here is he won’t automatically build players a home this time but would wait for them to come to him and request the loan. Tom Nook would even allow players to choose the color of their house’s roof, which is surprisingly nice of him.
In the end, it appears that Nintendo has made the effort of making Tom Nook nicer than he was in previous games. In an interview with the game’s developers, it was mentioned that Tom Nook is misunderstood but he is actually a good guy even beforeNew Horizons. Still, even though Tom Nook is nice now, manyAnimal Crossingfans are still considering him as the game’s villain and has sincecreated memesthat poke fun at the game’s infamous Tanuki/Raccoon. Of course, the game just came out so it’s probably too early to make a judgment call on Tom Nook’s personality, but within the short time players were able to spend with him, a lot of people are noticing that kinder and mellower version of Tom Nook.
Animal Crossing: New Horizonsis out now exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
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