Photo taken by Emma Michaud of her TV with the Dreamlight Valley load screen
Written by: Emma Michaud
Disney Dreamlight Valley was released by Gameloft on the 6th of September, 2022. It’s available on multiple platforms, including Steam, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and PlayStation. The life-sim adventure game challenges players to create their own characters and immerse themselves in the fictional world of Dreamlight Valley. Playing as yourself, you meet different Disney and Pixar characters – heroes and villains – while completing quests, exploring the valley, and experiencing other fun activities like designing your own house.
The character creation is simple and has many customization options regarding physical appearance and fashion. You have free reign over who you create, their appearance, and the character’s name. You can also obtain new clothes as you do quests around the valley. Scrooge McDuck’s shop is where you can use in-game coins to buy new clothes and furniture to decorate your house and the valley. Speaking of furniture, just like clothes, there are hundreds of options to make your house your home. As you progress in the game, you can upgrade your house through Scrooge McDuck’s shop and build extra rooms and floors, expanding it to its largest size. Plenty of other objects in the game in which you have free reign, such as crafting and cooking at the respective crafting tables and stoves. As a player, you must explore the Valley to collect different materials by mining, watering, fishing, and digging. In this game aspect, the ‘life sim’ genre shines through and offers an interactive and cozy feeling.
In the Valley, there are different areas you can unlock as you play the main story quests and friendship quests. Unlocking each area will unlock new characters, quests, buildings, and materials. The game has two quests: main story quests, which obviously follow the main story, and friendship quests, where you hang out with different characters and complete the tasks they need help with. You can talk with the characters and give them their favorite gifts to increase their friendship level. You receive rewards like clothes, furniture, and stickers as you increase the friendship levels between characters. You’ll also form a closer bond with the characters, offering an element of the game where you can have fun with your favorite Disney characters – even the villains! As you do all the quests and progressively level up, you’ll gain experience points for even more rewards.
While I won’t go into detail about the game’s whole storyline for spoilers, the basis is that a character named “The Forgotten” has shown up and made everyone in the valley forget who they are and what they were doing. With the help of the characters Merlin and Mickey (as well as your own magic), it’s up to you to unravel this mystery and help the other characters remember and return to the Valley before “The Forgotten” consumes everything.
There’s so much you can do and see in Disney Dreamlight Valley that I haven’t even scratched the surface of what I’ve told you so far! I have so much fun playing this game! It’s an excellent, cozy game that anybody can play and enjoy. Even after you complete the main story, new expansion packs, realms, and characters are added to the game, bringing even more things to do around the valley. You never finish the game because new content is always being added for you to explore and enjoy. I love this game so much and hope you will try it and feel like you are living in the valley with everyone, just like I do!