Animal Crossing: New Horizons Update Lands With A Splash

Summer is here and with it, Animal Crossing: New Horizons has rolled out its first wave of free summer updates. Bringing the game to version 1.3.0, the patch was released on July 3rd, 2020. As per the official patch notes, the following is now in play:

Players can now wear a wet suit and go diving in the ocean.
Players can now catch sea creatures while diving, which they can then donate to the museum.
Players can now encounter new visiting characters somewhere on the island.
Nook Miles can now be traded for new items.
New seasonal items have been added to the Nook Shopping catalog, available for a limited time only.

Swimming and diving are available all year round, for any concerned players of Southern Hemisphere islands who are currently stuck in winter. All you need to do is be wearing a wetsuit or other swimming gear, at which point you can run, wade, and flip your way into the water to your heart’s content.

Booting up the game after the patch will net you a free snorkel courtesy of Nintendo. However, for the wetsuit, you’ll need to use Nook miles through Nook Shopping or bells through Nook’s Cranny to get the one you like. It’s worth noting you don’t actually need a snorkel to dive, you’re not at risk of drowning and your islander will simply come up for air when they need to.

One of the new characters you can encounter is Pascal the otter, who you can find when deep-sea diving. He’ll give you gorgeous sea-themed mermaid DIY recipes in exchange for certain things you find, such as scallops. There’s a total of 40 new creatures to be found from diving and new objects, like pearls, which are necessary to craft the mermaid recipes you can get from Pascal. You’ll also find Gulliver washed up on your shores as usual from time to time but instead of his usual sailor’s outfit, he’ll be dressed in full pirate regalia and with a salty accent to match.

According to the notes, some language errors in Korean and Simplified Chinese were also fixed. Apparently, some tweaks were made to “ensure an enjoyable gaming experience”, although as usual Nintendo declined to detail exactly what that means. The Animal Crossing community is a fierce one though so if there have been any changes made to crucial gameplay, such as the prices of various sellable items or game mechanics, they’ll be sure to unearth it as quickly as possible.

Nintendo has announced that the second summer update will be coming in early August, so better keep an eye on the horizon.