For the uninitiated, every Animal Crossing game starts the same way: You play as a human who moves to a small town filled with anthropomorphic animals. An entrepreneurial raccoon named Tom Nook helps you find a home, while also burdening you with a hefty mortgage. And then you're off to do whatever you want: fish, catch bugs, chat with your neighbors. New Horizons changes things up a bit by offering a lot more customization from the beginning.

Instead of being placed right into a village, you start off at a ticket counter, where the adorable Timmy and Tommy Nook start planning your upcoming getaway to a deserted island. You can choose between a spot in the northern or southern hemispheres, which determines the weather, as well as four different island layouts. (I stuck with a northern island to sync up the weather with New York City.) And, this being an international trip, you'll need to show your passport photo, which doubles as a character generator. You can shape your hair and face to your liking, but best of all, you can finally customize your character's skin tone. Previously, you had to go through an annoying tanning process for a darker complexion.

That extra bit of representation goes a long way. I was immediately more connected with my brown-skinned character (sporting blazing white anime hair, because that's how I really see myself), than I was with the simple models from Animal Crossing: New Leaf on the 3DS. As I picked the ideal spot for my tent -- with a river to the north and the ocean to my west -- I visualized the sort of area I'd love to escape to in real life, away from anxiety-inducing headlines and reminders of the fragility of modern society.

A quick walk around my new home island "Lostia" (I never said I was very original) made it instantly clear how much of an upgrade New Horizons is. Every new entry in the series is typically an evolutionary leap, thanks to hardware advances. But this time around, it's even more charming than I expected: the jagged edges and simple textures from the 3DS have been replaced with smooth 3D models and luscious colors. Every area on the island -- from forests rustling in the wind to wave-lapped shores -- is painstakingly detailed and alive, responding to the weather and time of day. Playing New Horizons is like jumping into an interactive storybook.