Early Access Review: Disney Dreamlight Valley

destructoid.com:

Back in 2016, I spent more time than I would like to admit on my phone playing Disney Magic Kingdoms. Developed by Gameloft, Magic Kingdoms is a free-to-play city builder along the lines of Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow and Ice Age Village. I should have been able to resist the urge to download the game as I am not a fan of this particular offshoot of the city simulation genre. And yet, that Disney “charm” roped me in and had me fussing endlessly about proper placement for all my attractions.

Over the past few days, I’ve found myself fussing endlessly again with Disney Dreamlight Valley, another Gameloft product that hit Early Access this week. Like Magic Kingdoms, the goal of the game is to shape and expand your town while building relationships with familiar Disney characters. A lot of people out there are comparing the game to Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley because they share a lot of similar gameplay elements and name-dropping those titles likely helps with the SEO. But to me, it’s more akin to Disney Magic Kingdoms, just more fleshed-out and fully realized.

Disney Dreamlight Valley (PC, PS4, PS5 [reviewed], Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S]Developer: GameloftPublisher: GameloftReleased: September 6, 2022MSRP: $29.99 (Standard Founder’s Pack, Part of Xbox Game Pass)

It’s almost embarrassing how quickly I lost track of time playing Disney Dreamlight Valley. Literal hours melted into the background as my beautiful Black princess planted carrots, baked pies, mined for gems, and ran errands for a small slathering of iconic Disney characters. Like with any well-developed free-to-play game, which Disney Dreamlight Valley will be once it leaves Early Access, it’s able to sink its hooks in quickly with enough content to