Animal Crossing: New Horizons was the most popular game in the world in March of 2020 because it was released at a time when players simply wanted a place to exist when they couldn’t do so in the real world. Two years later, Disney Dreamlight Valley seeks to capture the same joy, but rather than having inhabitants who resemble animals live on your island, it has some of the most adored and recognizable Disney characters ever. Even though based on my playing thus far, Disney Dreamlight Valley’s life-simulation component falls short of games like Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley, its charm has captured me and shown that it is amusing to do the seemingly impossible.
I never anticipated that Disney Dreamlight Valley would remind me so much of Kingdom Hearts when I first started it up (more on that later), but here we are. The story begins with your ambiguous character being abandoned on a sinister island with no knowledge of what is happening. Merlin, from The Sword in the Stone, greets you right away, although he is sad of little assistance. It turns out that everyone in the Disney kingdom has a condition known as “The Forgetting,” which effectively means they have forgotten everything. Even while some people might be disappointed that these individuals might not be aware of the background we’ve all known, I do believe it’s the most effective method to feature well-known characters while still allowing the player to have a connection with them on their terms.
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With the little bit of progress I’ve made for this preview, that’s about as far as the tale has gotten, but it’s enough to keep me interested. Everyone has lost their memories, and it is your responsibility to assist them in regaining them while creating a new home for them. In any case, I don’t play these kinds of games for the narrative, and Disney Dreamlight Valley succeeds in this environment. I wanted to be put onto an unkempt island that needed my care with semi-vanilla inhabitants to form relationships with, just like in Animal Crossing, and that’s precisely what I got.
The first thing you’ll notice when you’re finally permitted to begin exploring is how chaotic your island is—and I prefer it that way. Being forced to spend the first few hours cleaning up my new virtual home taught me everything I needed to know about this area. Learning the locations and landmarks of your new virtual home is crucial to growing attached to it. I cleaned up some Night Thorns (the plant that has caused everyone to forget everything), assisted Goofy in fixing up his seed stand, and even constructed a store for Scrooge McDuck during that period. I also had the opportunity to produce crops, cook, mine, and dig. Everything is here, only with a beautiful Disney twist.