Disney Dreamlight Valley Preview – Everything you need to know about Disney’s new life simulation adventure game

Each year, millions of people around the world flock to Disney theme parks for the experience of seeing beloved characters and enjoying the aesthetic and rides that let them relive their favorite movies. your favorite movies. The surprise and excitement of stepping into a world conveyed by Disney is unmatched – a rite of passage from childhood and a way for adults to regain a part of their childhood selves.

Gameloft wants to bring that feeling into the gaming world with it was announced recently Disney Dreamlight Valley free game. The life simulation adventure game that lets you create your own avatar and design your own world where you’ll interact with iconic characters and give a nod to the classics of Disney and Pixar in the widgets and structures around you. I recently watched a demo for Dreamlight Valley and chatted with the team behind it, and it has a lot of potential. Here’s what you need to know about the experience, coming sometime in 2023 for all major consoles, PC and Mac.

It is divided into an adventure and life game Sim

You can think of Disney Dreamlight as a hybrid experience. You have the main narrative path where you discover why the world fell into darkness and its inhabitants lost their memories. Each goal you complete provides a picture as a cue to guide you in piecing together what happened. This also includes discovering why you are the one chosen to take this world from a state of ruin into a landscape of prosperity.

“We have an all-encompassing, aggregate narrative where players are discovering their purpose and saving the valley,” explains senior product marketing manager Claire Llewellyn. “They also have a plot that revolves around building friendships with the characters in the story line. And third, they also have a whole plot to explore – the adventure side they’re taking on.”

While engaging with the main story, you can expect it to play like an adventure game, with mysteries and puzzles to solve. Gameloft compared it to LucasArts games like Monkey Island and Indiana Jones. From what we’ve seen, multiple portals to the Disney and Pixar worlds exist and you’ll have quests to complete in these portals to restore the characters’ memories and bring them back to the world. . For example, we had to locate some hidden items and move junk piles to get goods to repair Wall-E. As we do this, not only are we unlocking new story clues, but Wall-E is brought back into our world as a character living their own life in it.

The other part of the game is the life simulation aspect. Think a cross between The Sims and Stardew Valley or Harvest Moon. You’re cleaning up this world a lot and unlocking different biomes, such as grasslands and beaches, that will expand the main story. Gameloft says it will take between 40 and 60 hours just to unlock all of these areas in the game.

In addition, you are also making your own mark by designing it as your location. You have your own avatar, which you can customize, and a house you can also decorate. Activities that litter the world for you to participate in, such as harvesting crops, mining materials, fishing, taming animals, and even designing your own clothes. Recipes and crafts are varied, so you are always aiming to create something new to give as a gift or to use to decorate the world.

Every Disney character has a unique part of the story

Gameloft inspired the game by challenging its team to think, “What would it be like to live next to Disney characters?” In addition to the main story, the team has crafted unique stories for countless big-name characters who will stumble across your world as you unlock them through the main story. Talking to characters every day brings you new dialogues, and they all have their own AI schedules and behaviors. A bonus point? Gameloft is also working with Disney’s voiceover team, so the voiced dialogue gives the characters a real feel.

Inspired by RPGs, each character also has a friendship level to show off your relationship and progress in their individual backstory. In my demo, Goofy asked for help finding his lost fishing rod, a nod to the character’s love of the activity. Once we found it in the world, our friendship improved with the dog personality.

Each new friendship level you gain with a character gives you perks, such as new items or decorations. You can build your friendships faster by giving your character gifts, so crafting items or cooking dishes for them is to your advantage – just keep in mind that everyone has their own preferences. likes and dislikes separately. When you reach certain friendship levels, you’ll have extra unique stories that Gameloft created for the character.

Custom stock available

Part of the obvious experience is expressing yourself and showing your uniqueness to the world. You are always developing the landscape, taking it from a dark desert to a vibrant populous area. Watching different Disney and Pixar characters move into your world is a big hit, but all the new items you can unlock and craft embody the Disney spirit.

So far, the game has had 1,000 decorative items, allowing you to create everything from a Monster Inc-themed living room to a Mermaid-centric bathroom. Part of creating your own avatar is creating your own personality with your clothes. Gameloft wants players to present themselves as Disney fans like you see people at the park with their costumes. You can design or buy your own outfits, focusing on unique hats, masks, glasses, etc. In my demo, I saw everything from Buzz Lightyear winter coats to colored Frozen capes. Elsa’s iconic blue.

Photo mode allows you to share your interesting creations and experiences with others, but the game is still under development, so time will tell if Gameloft adds a feature for you to visit the world. by other friends, or download their designs.

Game manager Manea Castet said: “We have a lot of plans for multiplayer interaction, but when we launch Early Access we won’t have this type of interaction.

Monetization is still happening but more information about cosmetics

As with any free game, this is always a burning question, and it’s something Gameloft is still figuring out. However, the team is adamant that microtransactions will focus more on cosmetics.

“We make sure the monetization aspect of the game is building into Early Access with our players to make sure they enjoy it,” said Castet. “The strategy now is to make sure it’s all custom. We’ll have a system in place to unlock new skins and new decorations that you can speed up with real money if you want. There’s no way. to speed up your gameplay, speed up your progress or unlock a new area by spending real money.”

During the game you will earn money by doing different things in the world and reaching certain milestones but you cannot spend real money to unlock. This currency can then be used to do things like increase inventory space and buy new decorations.

Early Access Shapes the Game

With all the Disney worlds and characters, Gameloft has plenty of content to draw from and treats the game as a long tail. Early access will be just the beginning of what’s in store.

“With Early Access, we’ll have four doors [to Disney and Pixar realms] unlocked,” Llewellyn confirmed. We will unlock additional doors for free for players. Much more to come and many more IPs from Disney and Pixar that we will be adding in the coming months and years. “

Those who want an early experience can play in Early Access this summer. Here, Gameloft will monitor community feedback and learn more about what you want from the game when building the final version of the game. You can join Early Access by purchasing a Founders Pack or becoming an Xbox Game Pass member. As an early user, you’ll earn exclusive in-game rewards, which will carry over when the full game releases in 2023.

For more information, visit official website.