I don't usually rate/review games until I've finished them, but I'm not sure Disney Dreamlight Valley is the sort of game that ends, per se. Or, if it does, whether that end can actually be reached yet. But none of that really matters in terms of my impression of the game, so I'm going to go ahead and do this now. I mean, I've been playing for a solid two months at this point; there's very little that developers Gameloft could do to make me completely reevaluate my stance.
First of all, Dreamlight Valley is a buyer-beware title. At some point (I've heard later this year) it's a game that is going to go free-to-play, so if you buy it now the main thing you're getting is extra time and an early leg up in terms of—what? currency? attire/furniture? that sort of thing? I forget the exact details—so I don't really recommend it unless you're keen enough to play right now to spend the money for the privilege. The reason I spent the money is I wanted to play right now (well, the "right now" of two months ago) and because whatever bundle I bought included a free pet (a cute sea turtle) to tag along with my character. I'm very much a sucker for tag along pets in these sorts of games. (I should note, in case the pet is a big draw for you: You can get pets both as you play and in the in-game store, so the purchase bundle should not be your deciding factor unless you're just super into the type of animal being offered. But after two months of regular play, I have a rabbit, two squirrels, one or two things I'm blanking on off hand, plus a pig. And the pig—which I unlocked through playing, not in-game currency—is the only pet I use now.)
With that "buyer-beware" out of the way, I should also note that even if I quit Dreamlight Valley today and never launch the game again, I absolutely feel like I got my money's worth out of it.
For being a game I've been playing for two months (and despite the threat in the above paragraph, I'm not quitting today, or tomorrow), Dreamlight Valley is a rather simple game built on a fairly simple premise: You are a normal person suddenly thrust into a magical world of Disney characters. This world has gone awry, as a dark magic has become entrenched in the valley, seeding disorder and weakening the memories of its occupants. This force is actually called "The Forgetting," but as you arrive, Merlin—one of the few remaining people in the valley—thinks maybe YOU have the innate magic to counteract the Forgetting and restore the valley to what it once was. To do so you are given a handful of tools (a watering can, a shovel, a fishing rod, and a pick ax), a nice stretch of early quests that serve as a tutorial, and are otherwise given free roam to gather resources and complete quests at your leisure.
It's very simple stuff. I cannot emphasize that enough. This is not a game you'll play for its satisfying mechanics or varying gameplay. There are two basic mechanics to everything: Gather resource, craft multiple resources into a new resource. That's it. That's the game. But it's not a game you're playing for the gameplay.
It's a game you play because you like the idea of living in a valley with a bunch of modern and classic Disney characters. You start off with Merlin, Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and Scrooge McDuck. But you'll quickly start unlocking new characters, some of whom are hidden away in not-immediately-accessible parts of the valley, others whom you have to travel to other realms to procure. Each has a friendship level that's influenced by having discussions with them and giving them gifts (as well as allowing them to hang out with you), each has their own set of quests that unlock as your friendship level goes up, and for each increase in friendship level, you get a little reward exclusive to them. And when you max out the friendship level of a character, never fear there are plenty of other characters to focus on because boy howdy are there a lot.
There are currently eight regions in Dreamlight Valley, six of which need to be unlocked by playing the game. Each region has its own personality and unique resources. I wouldn't be shocked if more regions are added—there's potential for a LOT more characters based on the number of inaccessible doors in the castle—and retail space is already starting to feel a bit cramped. (If I remember right, there's 30 characters now, a lot of whom have their own home.) The last character I unlocked actually had me a bit stumped as to where I was going to place his house. Ended up having to remove another structure I had placed to fit his house. Which is fine, but because each region IS unique, I don't like to mess too much with the preexisting foliage/rock/etc setup because I view those as pretty necessary to the way each area feels. I've moved things around a bit for the last few houses I've had to add, but you do that too many times and the region loses its uniqueness. And there's a couple of regions that simply don't seem well suited to habitation beyond those who already live there. The "Glade of Trust" as an unassuming name for a gloomy, muddy, boggy land that you could technically put a house on—the game will let you—but feels ill-advised on a practical level. Then the Forgotten Lands is a miserable tangle of dark, clustered forest populated by green fire pits everywhere. Tough to navigate as-is, let alone if you'd start trying to shift things for house placement. All that to say that while we could just see this be total sum of real estate, especially since we've hit all the teased regions (as far as I'm aware; the original map is now filled), there's quickly going to be a distinct tradeoff to increasing the number of characters in the game unless more regions are added.
That said, I'm not necessarily in favor of adding more regions. Now, this may boil down to my particular play style, but my intention every day when I launch the game is start off by gathering resources in each region. What was initially a fun and breezy way to begin playing back when I had three or four regions started to feel more cumbersome and annoying by the time I hit five or six regions. Now with eight regions it typically takes two gaming sessions to accomplish. If they'd decide to add more regions I'd probably have to change my play philosophy from "full clear each day" to "full clear half one day, full clear half the next" or something like that. Arguably, I should be considering that now, as between full clearing and going to Scrooge's store to spend my new full-clear funds I rarely have time to actually do missions.
I mean, the missions kind of complete themselves. The main thing that differentiates them from aimless resource gathering is the dialogue with whatever character is giving you the mission. That and the frequent need to craft (or cook) stuff. Anyway, even though the core of missions is the same gathering that you'd do on a full clear, there is this sense of needing to run around as missions often require checking in with other characters, assembling stuff at crafting stations to advance to the next part of the mission. Essentially, it's focused busywork instead of the mindless busywork of full clearing. Even though the story will lend some missions a sense of urgency, there's no timers at play so they can be completed whenever. For the sake of immersion I do like to obey that urgency when dictated, but there's no negative consequences to dallying (unless you count the mission-giver saying "We need to talk" every time you walk by them).
While I wouldn't want to suggest that the stories throughout Dreamlight Valley are inconsequential, they aren't (in my mind) a compelling reason to pick up the controller. They're cute, they're fine, some are forgettable (ha) and a few have some nice beats to them. But there is a bit of a sad undercurrent to the overarching story. (The rest of this paragraph will be a bit spoilery. Skip to the next paragraph if that's something you care about in this kind of game.) The game opens with your character leaving the big city and its responsibilities (either college or job related, given the presumed age of the character) to the place you grew up. Returning home has a way of shaking the cobwebs off long forgotten things and, after falling asleep in the lawn, you wake up in Dreamlight Valley. Later you learn that you used to spend a lot of time in Dreamlight Valley in a time before the Forgetting, when you were just a kid. These characters were your companions and friends. Together you all made the valley a wonderful, fruitful place. But after your unexpected departure (perhaps growing too old for imaginary worlds, or maybe your brain got overloaded with academics and real life friends, or maybe you moved away, whatever), things at Dreamlight Valley slid into disrepair, partially because you weren't there to do your tasks, and partly because the Forgetting did its best to take over the land. But you're back! Running around, doing all the things you did before, doing your best to thwart the Forgetting (which seems to be a part of yourself that was left behind and become twisted by isolation and time). It's all neat and tidy from a story structure standpoint, but when you think about it, like, it's essentially a story about a grown up so beaten by real life that they retreat into their childhood imaginative games as a coping mechanism. It's kinda depressing if you think about it. Like, is there any sort of happily-ever-after here? Either Dreamlight Valley exists without our character when they return to real life, once again forgotten, or they stay in Dreamlight Valley forever, day after day running around, gathering resources and otherwise completely avoidant of real life. In my mind that's kind of a downer. Maybe they've found out a narrative workaround—assuming there is an end (either now or forthcoming)—or maybe they'll just retcon that entire thing by never mentioning that opening bit of character development ever again. Or maybe it's supposed to be some kind of meta commentary on the state of adults who play video games, themselves a form of imaginative retreat from real life.
All that said, it's really, really hard to give too much weight to any of my above complaints considering how much time I've put into the game, faithfully full clearing every day for the last two months. Slowly—but significantly!—advancing quests. It's been nice to not have to think, to just put on some music and mechanically move through the various regions of Dreamlight Valley to hoard resources and sell resources and buy new outfits for my character or new furniture for my character's house. (Frankly, while the town building element isn't really my bag, I think the game's tools—ie, the ability to move or remove practically everything on the map, to craft things like roads and lamps and whatnot, to micromanage basically every element of how things appear—are strong enough that players who focus on that side might find Dreamlight Valley even more compelling than I do; I like hoarding that stuff, but not so much the using thereof.)
Anyway, if resource gathering games (and a certain fondness for Disney animated films and TV series) is in your wheelhouse, I think Dreamlight Valley is absolutely worth checking out. Whether or not you want to spend the money for early access or wait for free-to-play? That is on you.
