So, trying something different, again I like to use Editorials and other non-review type blogs to just kind of talk about things on my mind. Maybe that's an old SpikeTV show, maybe it's why I don't really put a lot of stock into the Academy Awards, or maybe it's a video game I have been playing a lot recently, and with 40 hours put in within the span of less than a month, I think it is safe to say this game has been on my mind as of late. I want to put this 39 hours into perspective, one of my favourite childhood games, Stronghold, is available on Steam, I've put 9.3 hours into since I bought it. One of my favourite releases this year was The Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe, which I have put 7.1 Hours total into. I've put 4.4 total hours into DuckTales Remastered, 5 hours total into the original DOOM, and as for three of my all time favourite video fames, BioShock, Portal 2 and Saints Row The Third, 14.4 Hours, 9.9 Hours and 29 hours respectively. The games I put more hours into a Garry's Mod at 211 Hours, Tabletop Simulator at 160.8 Hours, and Viscera Cleanup Detail at 533.4 Hours, and those three are really just mindless time wasters I like to play while I have a YouTube video on in the background. However, just because I put a lot of hours into a game doesn't mean I love it, and while I do enjoy this game, there are some flaws.
So what is the main plot of this game? Well, your character enters Dreamlight Valley, what was originally a beautiful paradise where all your favourite Disney characters roam free, like Scrooge McDuck, Wall-E, Belle... whom I haven't come across yet, Cinderella... no she isn't in the game... Yeah, we'll get to that. Anyway, you are tasked by Merlin to tidy up the area and restore the valley to it's natural state, think something along the lines of the plot of Stardew Valley, except the characters aren't dealing with all varieties of mental illnesses, well not explicitly anyway. The main idea is that this is another, albeit more fleshed out attempt at for Disney to make a massive crossover video game.
On principle, I do not have any issue with Disney's massive crossover games, I mean as a Disney nerd, I am quite fond of the idea. I mean, Disney Heroes: Battle Mode is a fantastic idea, but a mediocre at best game. Disney Princess: Enchanted Journey is absolutely insufferable, and Disney Mirrorverse... I dunno, I never actually played it. The main issue is, no studio seems to really know what to do with the massive collection of characters from the Walt Disney Corporation. Let's put them in a mobile RPG where they have very little interaction, let's put them in a fantasy RPG where they interact only within their own worlds, let's have a life-sim/errand runner where we only have a handful of Disney characters.
Yeah, that is my first issue with the game, I do get the idea that you might not want to use ALL of the Disney characters, you gotta think about story, quests and of course whether or not you are allowed to use the I.P., but at the same time, you're making a game with all manner of Disney characters and you decide that you aren't going to represent movies like The Nightmare Before Christmas, Treasure Planet or even Cinderella, and the characters they do have to represent some movies... I mean why have the only Tangled character be Mother Gothel? Why is the only Lion King character in this game Scar? Despite it being an even worse game, Disney Heroes: Battle Mode still has this game beat by having representation for multiple Disney properties.
On top of that, the majority of the game is literally just running errands for the characters. A lot of people would compare this game to Animal Crossing, and I have even compared it to Stardew Valley, but the game this really reminds me of is Disneyland Adventures, a game where you wander around Disneyland, do busy work for the characters and occasionally play a mini-game. It's like that, except there are no mini-games, and just like Disneyland Adventures, I found myself way more engaged with wandering around the world finding collectables that I was actually playing the game. Unfortunately, finding collectibles is nowhere near as fun in this game since there are no hidden mickeys to take pictures of, no special objects to interact with, no autograph books or photo albums to fill.
On top of all of that, I noticed a few bugs and glitches and small things that annoyed me. For instance, once I was in my house, and as I was about to leave I noticed a whole lot of foliage in the black void.
I've also caught plates floating a foot above the tables at Chez Remy, I have had digging spots spawn where I can't dig (Three behind Scrooge's shop), and I also have a coin land right underneath a tree in the Forgotten Lands that I couldn't reach until I just removed the tree entirely.
Plus, so much of the game is gated off, and I am not talking about needing Dreamlight magic to open new areas, I'm talking about not being able to access the second half of the Glade of Trust until you have your watering can enchanted enough, or the back of the Frosted Heights without getting a high enough friendship level with Elsa, can't even unblock the bridge on Dazzle Beach without, I'm assuming sucking up to Maui for a bit. This just gives us more busy work to do, and it's not even that much fun. So then, why do I put so many hours into this game?
Easy answer is that I am just a sucker for Disney crossovers and I want to enjoy what I can. However, I feel like that is only a part of a larger answer. We've all imagined the perfect Disney crossover haven't we? Or like any major crossover with many of our favourite characters. Well, honestly, I'm still kind of waiting for my perfect Disney crossover, and yes I can write fanfiction, but it's not the same. Somewhere amongst the Kingdom Hearts games, the Disney Heroes: Battle Mode game and this, there lies the perfect crossover, but I'm not holding my breath for it. It's amusing, Nickelodeon had plenty of crossovers, most notably the NickToons Unite titles, and aside form them being absolutely awful games... actually Battle for Volcano Island isn't that bad, but despite most of them being absolutely awful games, there really is not much of an issue with those games. Maybe Disney needs something like their own LEGO style game, or their own Smash Bros style game, something where we can have a whole bunch of characters and where we get more interactions with them.
As for this game, I am enjoying it, but if this game has anything in common with Animal Crossing, it's that I'll play it daily for a good long while, and then forget about it and move on.
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