Animal Crossing: Top elements removed from the game

Animal Crossing: New Horizons completed its first anniversary just a few days ago. This was a surprise entry in the list of titles released in 2020. But it quickly cemented itself as a popular choice for games across demographics.

Since then, the title has seen several updates. While the premise has remained the same, developers have included new content to keep the title fresh. Furthermore, they have removed some features that were available at launch.

Animal Crossing players have been highly appreciative of the new additions but have also been anticipating the return of the elements that were secretly removed. This article dives into a few of the elements that were removed from the game.

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Missing features from Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Hybrid flower island

Nintendo allowed Animal Crossing players to discover some rare islands to keep things interesting. These rare islands have items and resources that sell for a pretty lucrative price and can also be used to craft rare items.

There are many mystery islands in New Horizons. Scorpion, Money Rock Island, Fin Island, Gold Rock, and Scorpion Island are the rarest of all.

(Image via Reddit)

Hybrid Flower Island was removed a couple of months after the title was introduced. The reason for the same remains shrouded in mystery.

The island was Hybrid Flower Island, and, just as its name suggests, it comprised many hybrid flowers that players could take back to their island with them.

This meant that the players could create a Hybrid flowers collection, a hobby several players took on after being forced to sit at home because of COVID-19.

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Star fragment tree

Star fragments are magical items that Animal Crossing players can find on the side of the beach after a night of wishing on shooting stars. It is a craftable material and can glow at night.

In August, star fragments could grow on trees, and it shocked the entire community when they first appeared on trees.

(Image via Animal Crossing world)

Sadly, the developers soon found out that it was hacked through third-party software and wasn't approved by Nintendo, resulting in its immediate removal.

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Big fish island in Animal Crossing

Animal Crossing: New Horizons lets the players do things they would do in real life. This means that players can catch fish, swim, talk to NPC's, and develop hobbies in this real-life simulation.

Players can also try to catch real-life fish in the game and sell them at ludicrous prices.

(Image via Animal Crossing world)

However, that's easier said than done. These rare fish aren't that easy to find. But the developers were kind enough to reward the players with the big fish island. It enabled players to catch rare fish that could be sold or added to critterpedia.

The island wasn't tough to spot and also contained species of hybrid flowers, which made the deal even sweeter. Unfortunately, the developers removed the island from the game and made the task of catching rare fish tougher.

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Planting trees on pathways

This was more of a glitch than a feature. It allowed players to plant trees and bushes on pathways made out of stone.

(Image via Animal Crossing world)

Even though it was pretty cool and enabled players to decorate their islands, the developers patched it with an update.