Why Disney Dreamlight Valley is superior to Animal Crossing

The original Animal Crossing was released on Apr. 14, 2001 on the GameCube, but many installments have reached other Nintendo products over the years, eventually leading up to the newest system in 2017: the Nintendo Switch. Despite the relatively older age of the game, it has developed over the years more characters, more map choices, and even more crafting options. When I first got a Nintendo Switch, I was hyper-fixated on the game to a point where I logged 600 hours of gameplay over the summer. I loved the concept of crafting, creating, and even engaging sarcastically with various villagers in the game.

The aspect I found less enjoyable with the game was the difficulty to get items when you needed a lot of them, or the speed with which your tools would break if you couldn’t obtain more materials, etc. It also stresses island building more than anything and I was more into the side quests and the quests to better the town over that.

Despite Animal Crossing’s originality, it started garnering a competitor, Disney Dreamlight Valley, which was released on Sept. 6, 2022. Disney was my entire childhood, and when I found out there was a version similar to Animal Crossing but with Disney, I was ecstatic. Then it became my new hyper fixation to collect all the possible Disney characters like the originals—Merlin, Goofy, Mickey, Minnie, and Donald Duck—and to the newer characters like Simba and Nala from the Lion King. 

Disney Dreamlight Valley takes Animal Crossing’s idea of world building, crafting, and engagement with iconic characters and turns them into recognizable characters who are loved and adored by kids, and even adults.

The only problem with the game would have to be not having access to more characters in quicker time spans; however, there are plenty of rewards that allow for character-based motifs, items, and clothing. Along with the inability to “time travel” or make your game go further in time, to finish some quests requires a couple days of playing. When instances of “time travel” happen, you tend to be unable to collect spices and mine, forage, etc.

Currently, Dreamlight Valley is at 25 characters and with each update they add an average of two additional characters. With many characters to come, and more biomes to unlock, it is a game of never-ending trivia, engaging with characters as well as skills which each character can use to help you get more items, whether gardening, mining, fishing, digging, foraging.

Overall, if you are looking for a game to encourage yourself and you love Disney, this would be a great one.

Thumbnail Photo via Wikimedia Commons