How the Next Animal Crossing Can Improve CJ and Flick

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a game as lively as its characters, with its recurring island visitors serving as notable additions to the cast. CJ and Flick make up two such personalities, embodying their professions of catching fish and hunting for bugs through standout visual designs. The characters work to accentuate much of the charm of New Horizons' environment, given that the serenity of island life comes not just from building a home or decorating terrain, but from interacting with nature itself. As the two fan favorites are likely to return in the series' future, New Horizons' successor could work to integrate them more within their respective mechanics.

CJ and Flick operate under similar functions in Animal Crossing: New Horizons; as sporadic visitors to players' islands, the two can offer to purchase fish and bugs for a higher price than standard, letting players clear out some of their surplus inventory while making a few bells along the way. In addition, decorative models can be attained of certain fish and bug types through commissioning Flick, relying on players catching three of the same specimen. Such a feature helps to encourage continual interaction with island wildlife, as do the characters' respective tournaments, the Fishing Tourney and Bug-Off, which are hosted throughout the different seasons.

CJ and Flick Could Trigger New Special Events in Animal Crossing: New Horizons' Successor

The terrain of New Horizons' successor will almost certainly include wildlife to keep CJ and Flick acting as pertinent visitors, though their presence could have a further effect on the mechanics that they sport. For example, the two characters could offer certain items that help to attract rarer fish and bugs to the player's vicinity, raising their chances of being caught.

In CJ's case, perhaps a special bait that lowers the chance of trash being hooked while raising the odds of a special encounter could be made available after a certain number of fish are sold, tying itself as an extrinsic reward beyond earning bells. The same could apply to an insect spray from Flick that works opposite to a repellant, which could draw uncommon insects towards the player for a fixed amount of time.

Perhaps certain drawbacks could be implemented for the items to make them more risk-and-reward oriented, like the insect spray attracting more wasps alongside rare insects, or the bait increasing the chances of carp alongside unique fish types. Alternatively, appearances from CJ and Flick could have the opportunity to trigger an event where an exclusive fish or bug type spawns during the time they are visiting.

Such a feature would work similarly to how Celeste can appear across islands during meteor showers, tying the characters' visits to the environment itself. A dialogue line could denote such an event, where CJ and Flick tell the player that they've spotted something truly unique, but weren't sure if their eyes were just deceiving them.

Lastly, the next Animal Crossing title could feature one-on-one competitions against the characters, where CJ and Flick would be able to challenge the player's fish- and bug-catching mettle. This could have them act not as tournament hosts, but as direct opponents, allowing for a timed competition that takes into consideration both the amount of Animal Crossing fish/bugs caught and their types. This could tie into commissions from Flick, where the player could choose one of the fish or bugs they caught as the inspiration for a decorative model should they reign victorious.

With speculation over the relationship between CJ and Flick, most notable from their status as roommates in the game's Happy Home Paradise DLC, Animal Crossing's next entry could even debut the two characters together, perhaps having them work in tandem as nature guides. This could involve them teaching the player and their surrounding villagers how to use the fishing rod and bug net while allowing for unique dialogue interactions, working to establish the new terrain that the game will cover.