Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Day 1

Earlier today we touched down in Nublar and started to get settled with our newly found Island Life. Now it's a new day, and we got up a whole lot of shenanigans, and I mean a lot. When we finished up last time, we were awoken by Tom Nook, and now it's time to see what he actually wanted...

...it was our very own NookPhone! This will come in very handy on Nublar with the various apps it has installed. Nook gave us a quick rundown, before swiftly getting back to business - we had to pay off out Getaway Package... great.

There was just one slight problem... we didn't have any Bells! But good old Nook had a back-up plan, his very own Nook Mileage Program. There were more details about this on our NookPhone, but in short, it's a handy way to earn points for completing tasks. Tom requested 5,000 points to pay off the Getaway Package instead of the 49,800 Bells.

Now that all the small stuff had been sorted, it was time to officially start Island Life. I noticed my letter box blinking, and opted to look inside. To my surprise there were two letters, both from Nintendo! The first gifted us our very own Nintendo Switch console, and the second included a DIY Recipe that should come in handy later.

To start my day, I decided to head on over to Resident Services, but no the way there I bumped into Plucky. I decided to talk with her to see how she was settling in. She seemed to be going fine, and was very grateful for my help yesterday with placing her Tent, that she gave me the DIY Recipe for a Leaf Umbrella. Thanks Plucky! Now I have two DIY Recipes I need to figure out what to do with.

I went back on my merry way over to the Resident Services. Tommy was wondering around outside, and he told me they plan on keeping Resident Services open day and night, and that I was welcome to stop by any time I need. A nice 24/7 service like this should come in handy! I also stopped by the Bulletin Board to read any notices, to find Tom Nook had already written a message for us. I decided now was a better time than any to write a message of my own, too.

Now that was out of the way, it was time to finally enter Resident Services. I'd heard some rumblings that Nook was holding a free DIY Workshop, which hopefully would put my two DIY Recipes to good use. Thankfully, that's exactly what he was doing, and he gave me a quick rundown of how everything worked. His class for today was on a Fishing Rod, and wanted me to gather 5 Tree Branches. They were easy enough to come by yesterday, so I'm sure that won't be a problem.

I went outside and started to explore Nublar and gather up the necessary materials. There was a lack of Tree Branches on the ground so I had to try my luck with shaking trees. Unfortunately, I got unlucky and accidentally shook one that had a Wasps nest inside it, causing it to fall out, and the Wasps to sting me. Darn! The good news is that I was able to easily locate 5 Tree Branches and grab myself a Fishing Rod, as well as the DIY Recipes app!

Now that we had some sort of Tool, we went outside to explore the wilderness. This time, we bumped into Rory who noticed out Wasp stings, and showed us how to make some Medicine, which sure cam in handy. I was able to heal my wounds up in no time! Our Fishing Rod got put to use, grabbing Nublar's first catch, the Sweet Fish! We took this fresh catch to Nook and he told us that there's a huge abundance of wildlife yet to be discovered on Nublar, and wanted us to help out with discovering them all. He gave us yet another app, the Critterpedia, to keep track of all our catches.

He then asked us if we could catch 5 different Critters and bring them to him... challenge accepted! As we were out exploring, we noticed some places off in the distance that were inaccessible. There was a waterfall to the north of The Island, and a river to the west that looked like they could be accessed, but we didn't have any means of getting there... Maybe a couple more days learning about Nublar will help us get there

In no time at all we were able to net 5 Critters and quickly brought them over to Tom Nook. Much to my surprise, he made a phone call to a familiar name, Blathers, and was quick to tell him about all the wildlife I'd discovered. After the conversation between the two was over, we were informed that Blather's had an interest in coming to Nublar to see all this for himself, and were requested to place his Tent somewhere on The Island, so he'd have a place to stay. I found a nice little spot in the north-western pocket, just below the river.

It seems we're really making progress here! Since I'd been hanging around Resident Services a lot today, I decided to venture out and check out other points of interest. The next stop was the Airport, which sadly wasn't open for business. I did introduce myself to Orville though, who seemed more than happy for me to come back tomorrow when everything was in operation. 

Since I'd achieved a lot already, I took a look at my Nook Miles app, to see I'd earned 5,000 points already! It was time to head back on over to Resident Services and share the news. In doing so, Tom Nook gave me the option to upgrade my Tent into a House (which I totally forgot about until later), as well as access to a redemption service, where I could exchange the Nook Miles I'd earned for sweet rewards. Some of them were really nice, but some were also exclusive to a Nook Miles+ program...

I stumbled across Rory again, and wanted to thank him for the Medicine recipe he gave me before. He brushed it off like it was no big deal, and instead gifted me a Mesh Cap, which would certainly come in handy with protecting me from the sun. I put it on right away to freshen up my look.

As my Fishing Rod was already out, I headed over to the beach near my house to try my luck at some more fishing. I was quickly distracted when something washed ashore caught my eye, a bottled message. I picked it up and unscrewed the cap to read what was inside, a message from Wolfgang. It also included a DIY recipe for a Wooden Table Mirror, which I believe we can use later to change our appearance. Wherever you are Wolfgang, thank you!

I pottered around Nublar some more, fishing and catching bugs, but also fished up some trash. Luckily it didn't go to waste, as finding trash gave me some ideas on how to re-purpose it, such as using a tin can to make a succulent plant, or an old tyre to make a little seat.

I knew there were a couple more apps on my NookPhone that I hadn't checked out yet, and opted to give the Rescue Services a call. A familiar tune started playing in my head, which reminded me of a short and stout figure, wielding a pickaxe and hardhat... though he didn't make an appearance. I was given a few options of where they could drop me off, being my Tent, The Plaza, or The Airport, and I opted to go with The Airport. I was abruptly dropped off, but not before hearing another snarky remark from the mysterious voice.

It suddenly hit me that I hadn't spoken to Nook about upgrading my Tent to a House, so I scurried back on over to Resident Services (this would have been easier had my brain thought of this earlier, I could have had the Rescue Service drop me off there instead) to speak with Nook. He was more than happy to accommodate my needs in upgrading my Tent, and this time charged me a fee of 98,000 Bells that I could pay off at any time. Sadly, there was no option to pay with Nook Miles this time around.

In doing so, I was also signed up to the previously mentioned Nook Miles+ program, which seemed to be an expanded service on Nook Miles. Now I can earn points for completing daily tasks, such as catching a specific fish, or 5 bugs. This will sure come in handy with racking up those points.

The locked options at the Nook Terminal now were accessible (for a hefty fee!), but I chose to redeem my points for the Pretty Good Tools Recipes, and Tool Ring Recipe. An easy was to switch between my many tools, and an assortment of stronger tools are sure to come in handy!

And that just about wraps up most of today. The majority of it was just gathering resources, clearing the weeds off Nublar, and catching a fish and bugs for Bells. I did find an insane amount of new catches though, so here's hoping when Blather's arrives he's more than happy to take them off my hands! I'm sure tomorrow will be just as eventful as today was.

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Disclaimer: I received a copy of Animal Crossing: New Horizons from Nintendo AU