Disney Dreamlight Valley has just launched into early access across all platforms.
It's a new live service, life sim from Gameloft. It's essentially a blend of Animal Crossing and Stardew valley with random Disney characters thrown into the mix.
The main plot is that, a thing called 'the forgetting' has separated the realms and you have to unite them once more and drive the evil away.
This essentially boils down to you completing a series of sub quests, with their own storylines, for various characters located within their own unique biomes.
As you complete these quests, you will learn various crafting and life skills with which to enhance, enrich and improve the valley, thus attracting well know characters as residents and unlocking further biomes and collectables.
It was difficult for me to approach this game objectively as every fiber of my being wanted to hate it. The saccharine drenched wholesomeness of the Disney corporate machine, essentially sugar coating microtransactions for kids.
....But it's actually rather good and far less evil than I first presumed.
Disney Dreamlight Valley is currently in paid early access, with plans to launch as a free to play model some time in 2023.
It does have a monthly themed "battlepass" called a Star path that is also a real money purchase.
However the game is entirely enjoyable without paying anything extra.
There's a surprising amount of story to it and the controls and methodology are instantly familiar to Stardew/ACNH players. Even improving the formula in some respects, such as no durability to worry about on core utility items.
Dreamlight Valley looks and feels Disney, for better or worse it really nails the 'magic' and design of the realms. Graphics are great, along with animation, audio, controls and mechanics.
There was a touch too much dialogue for my liking, but I have zero investment with any of the characters. Any Disney fans would no doubt love the lore and world building.
I tested the game on PC and SteamDeck where it worked flawlessly. There were no connection or server issues, but I was reviewing it pre early access launch.
As much as I thought I'd really dislike the game, Disney Dreamlight Valley is a solid entry in every way and I genuinely had fun playing it. Definitely one to check out for anyone who's enjoyed similar genres or who are fans of Disney franchises.
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