Going Swimming!

Agent S had a birthday today, and I made sure to stop by her house to attend the party. Hornsby was also there for the occasion. Agent S didn’t waste any time in asking for her present. 😂

Agent S: Can I have my birthday present now? Like, right now? Please?

I gave her a heart doorplate that I bought at Nook’s Cranny, and she seemed to like it a lot. I hung out for a couple minutes before leaving the party. But Agent S (and Hornsby) seemed to be having a really good time. Happy birthday, Agent S!

When I returned home, I checked my mail. Gulliver sent me a tubeteika, which is a type of hat. I wish Gulliver’s gifts were all furniture, like in the older games. I’d like some more large monuments to decorate my town with, like the Stonehenge he sent me months ago.

Able Sisters had some sports tanks for sale, numbered one through eight. I wondered why there wasn’t one with a nine on it, but then I realized it’s probably for online play. If you were having a race of some sort, each player could wear a different number.

Sports tanks number 1-8 appear in Able Sisters.

My 2nd Jacob’s ladder…or lily-of-the-valley…appeared today, up on Spectacle Rock. I kind of like having it there.

A Jacob's ladder (aka lily of the valley) appears on Spectacle Rock in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Regarding visitors, Leif was in town today…but I didn’t buy anything from him. Celeste showed up later on, and she gave me a recipe for a Cancer table.

The game update for July went live tonight, and I promptly downloaded it. After starting the game back up, I had a letter from Nintendo waiting for me. It thanked me for downloading the update, and a snorkel mask was included.

Nook Shopping informed me that new seasonal items were available. I only saw one new item though, some bamboo grass, which is a Japanese item for “Tanabata.”

But most importantly, there was also a letter from Nook Inc. It informed me that the waters around the island are safe for swimming, so wet suits are now available. I rushed over to Nook’s Cranny, and I bought the only one: a horizontal-striped wet suit. It’s ugly as sin, but it will have to do. 😛

Jeff tries on the horizonal-striped wet suit.

I ran to the pier and dove in. Swimming is officially here!

Jeff dives into the ocean.

The controls are similar to New Leaf swimming. You can press A repeatedly to swim fast, or hold A to swim a bit slower. You press Y to dive, but this is where the differences begin. While underwater, the camera angle changes to an overhead view.

Diving takes place from an overhead viewpoint.

Catching sea creatures seems considerably easier here than it does in New Leaf. I didn’t have any trouble at all catching anything I found. Maybe I just haven’t encountered any fast critters yet. Of course, I only spent about 15 minutes swimming, but to this point, catching sea creatures seems easier than, say, catching a fish or bug. Just in those ~15 minutes, I’ve already caught nearly one-fourth of the sea creatures in the game.

Jeff has caught 9 out of 40 sea creatures.

You can catch other things besides creatures, too. I found myself a pearl!

I found a pearl! Could today get any more pearl-fect?

It can’t be donated to the museum, but it can be sold at Nook’s Cranny for 10,000 bells! Not bad!

I swam all the way around my island. But as you can imagine, the game doesn’t let you swim up the rivers. But hey, I had to give it a try!

Swimming may not be something you’ll want to do for hours at a time, but it is fun in short bursts. It is certainly a welcome addition to the game. Have a good time swimming, everyone! I’ll be back with another entry late tomorrow night. 🙂

Animated GIF of Jeff swimming in Animal Crossing; New Horizons.

One other note: I uploaded a new video today, taking a look at a number of typos and mistakes in New Horizons and some older Animal Crossing games as well. “Kindess” isn’t the only mistake around. 😉 Check it out!