It’s almost surprising that it took so long for a game like this Disney’s Dreamlight Valley finally be made. The new game, now available in Early Access, combines the life sim gameplay of animal crossing and Stardew Valley except with a deadly combination of famous Disney characters, movies and worlds. The end result is something that some people will likely consume completely. And as someone who didn’t care much animal crossingthe more narrative-oriented world of Dreamlight Valley hooked me in a way that Nintendo’s popular life sim never did.
Developed by Gameloft, Disney’s Dreamlight Valley is a third-person life simulation that follows a similar playbook as other recent Disney video games, such as Twisted Wonderland or Kingdom Hearts, in which all of Disney’s iconic and beloved characters coexist in one vast IP wonderland. But also like these other games, in Dreamlight Valley, something terrible has infected the world and caused all sorts of problems that only you can solve. In this case, it’s something called “The Oblivion” that manifests as dark tendrils and thorny tendrils throughout the valley. Tidying up this stuff helps characters like Mickey and Scrooge McDuck remember who they are, where they are, and all the friends who’ve disappeared since the creepy vines showed up and took over.
Just outside the gate, the biggest difference between this and animal crossing is how structured and narratively focused Disney’s game compares to Nintendo’s village simulation. Quests consist of multiple steps, and there are even basic dialogue options when speaking to characters between steps. Characters seem to react differently depending on what you say, which means you can lose dialogue options as well. Of course, there’s nothing earth-shattering here, but it’s a far cry from Nintendo’s ultra-simple writing. Finally, you also unlock access to side quests. All of this is easily organized in your quest log with great quality of life features and has helped keep me busy. Every time I log in I feel like I have something to do.
As Stardew Valleythey arrive Dreamlight Valley after your main character is fed up with the city. They decide to return to a quiet valley they once played in when they were younger, and soon discover Merlin, who explains that everything is screwed up, people are missing, and the magic is gone. The first hours of Dreamlight Valley spend helping Merlin clean up the first area of the game while learning the controls and basic systems. You’ll also quickly get tools to dig holes, water plants, mine rocks and minerals, and a fishing rod to catch sea life.
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The main game loop of Dreamlight ValleyOnce you get past the tutorial and the opening section of the game, it’s all about completing quests and tasks and helping the various Disney characters you meet.
For example, to unlock Remy, you must learn his classic Ratatouille Recipe for a Nameless Critic. Once you’ve unlocked your new rodent friend and brought it back to your village, you can help him open his restaurant. This involves a few different quests that have you walking through the valley, gathering ingredients, buying furniture for the new location, and more. Finally, when you help him successfully open his restaurant, you can drop by to buy new groceries, get help from Remy cooking meals, and even prepare orders for other Disney characters to stop by for a bite to eat. This is just a questline, but it illustrates how Dreamlight Valley uses its characters to create evolving quest lines drawn from Disney history.
I wouldn’t consider myself true”Adult Disney Fan‘ I have to admit that you can hang out and make friends with famous Disney characters like Remy Ratatouille is beautiful. While it helps that I’ve already shared the story with the characters, the writing uses that familiarity to flesh out the characters in interesting ways, rather than deliver one-note characters that can be boiled down to catchphrases, as in animal crossing.
All of these characters can receive gifts, be spoken to on a daily basis, and have their own quests that you unlock as you spend more time with them. You can even take them with you when you go around doing daily tasks and they will not only help you but you will become better friends. It’s a different way Dreamlight Valley provides structure and gives you something to do.
As animal crossing, Customization is a big part of Dreamlight Valley. And isn’t just limited to your character or home, the entire valley outside can be tweaked and modified with a fairly powerful set of tools that let you easily move bushes, lampposts and more without having to run around the island. You can also collect and grow resources that you can use to cook meals or craft new furniture from the start New Horizons had to be updated later in its lifetime.
Thankfully, not everything in the game is Disney-inspired. In fact, you can easily build an elegant and modern home or dress your character in stylish clothes, none of which are covered with Mickey Mouse ears or Frozen Characters. But if you want to completely deck out your home and character with Disney content, don’t worry, there’s plenty of that too. Also, not only do the articles cover so many different movies and features, they are also well designed which means you can enjoy them even if you are not the world’s greatest Beauty and the Beast fan or whatever.
I’m only in about 11 hours or so Dreamlight Valley and I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface. Every few hours I find new characters or Disney locations to explore as the narrative around the mysterious “forgotten” continues to unfold and keeps me hooked and interested in what happens next.
It might be easy to write off Dreamlight Valley than just one animal crossing Rip off, but that’s not the case. Instead, this new Disney game feels deeper and more interesting. However, it captures the key aspect that was made animal crossing so successful at all: the nagging feeling that is there just one more thing You can quickly achieve what quickly becomes two things, and suddenly you’ve completely lost track of time. It helps that how animal crossingCharacters have their own routines and there’s always something different happening depending on when or where you’re looking.
The real question I have now is: How will Dreamlight Valleyy develop and grow forward? Considering the massive content library that Disney owns, this could end up being one very large Game in the future and one that will completely consume Disney fans no matter what platform they play on.
Disney’s Dreamlight Valley is now available for PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 and Nintendo Switch. Currently the only way to play the game is the buy a Founder’s Pack or being a Game Pass subscriber.
