disney dreamlight valley – Trekking with Dennis

Switch 2: Five Games Nintendo Should Learn From

Now that we have a bit more information about the Nintendo Switch 2, I thought it could be interesting to look ahead. My first-ever home console was a Super Nintendo, and I’ve also owned an N64, Wii, 3DS, Switch – and I was even one of about seven people who owned a Wii U ten or so years ago. So I like to think I have a tiny bit of a track record when it comes to Nintendo!

I gotta admit that I’m surprised about the Switch 2. Nintendo are the kings of innovation in gaming, with each of the company’s consoles having something different to entice players. The Switch 2 will be the first console in several generations (since either the GameCube or the Super Nintendo, depending on how we think about it) to play it so exceptionally safe. If I were being deliberately unkind, I might even suggest that the Switch 2 looks underwhelming and repetitive.

Still frame from the Nintendo Switch 2 trailer. — The Switch 2 in docked mode.

Until we’ve got a better look at the internals of the Switch 2, though, we won’t know for sure how different the machine really is and what its capabilities will be. I’m hoping to put a Switch 2 on my list of things to buy this year (or in 2026, if it won’t be launching in time for Christmas) but that will depend to a great degree on what games the console launches with – and how much better they might look compared to the current iteration of the Switch.

The Switch has some great games, that isn’t even a remotely controversial statement! And I’ve definitely been surprised to see that some very big, demanding games have survived being ported to the platform in a playable state. I’m thinking of titles like Hogwarts Legacy and The Witcher 3 in particular, but I’m sure there are others.

When it comes to Nintendo’s first-party titles, the Switch has excelled, too. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Mario Odyssey, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons ought to be in anyone’s top ten, with all three games taking established series and putting a new spin on them.

And it’s games I’d like to talk about today.

For all the innovation and advances that Nintendo has made, there are other companies in the gaming space that have gone beyond what Nintendo and the Switch have been capable of. As technology has improved, I don’t think it’s unfair to say that the Switch has, in some respects, held back Nintendo’s developers. Over the past few years, there have been quite a few games released in genres that Nintendo used to dominate… titles that have gone above and beyond the company’s recent output.

The Switch 2 will be Nintendo’s first console since 2017.

Today, we’re going to look at five games from the last few years that Nintendo needs to learn from in order to make their games on the Switch 2 the best they can be. Some fans will always be satisfied with more of the same – and that’s great! If you’re in that camp, that’s okay and I don’t intend any of this as some kind of attack. Speaking for myself, though, I’ve played several games in recent years (and watched gameplay from other titles, too) that genuinely eclipse anything Nintendo has created. Partly that might be down to the limitations of the Switch – but it’s also down to the inescapable fact that other companies and developers are innovating and pushing the boundaries in a way that Nintendo hasn’t been.

If Nintendo is to make the Switch 2 a success, then the company will need to read the room! Player expectations are always changing, and Nintendo can’t afford to remain stagnant and try to coast on past successes. A new console – with new, more powerful hardware at its heart – is an opportunity to catch up on a decade-plus of evolution and enhancements in game development, bringing at least some of Nintendo’s flagship series and franchises into the 2020s for the first time.

So let’s take a look at five games that I think Nintendo can learn from.

As always, a couple of caveats. Firstly, please keep in mind that all of this is the subjective opinion of just one person. If I make a point you disagree with, highlight a game you hate, or recommend a change that you think doesn’t need to be made… that’s okay! Nintendo fans are a passionate bunch, but there ought to be enough room in the fan community for civil discussion and polite disagreement.

I’ve also tried to be realistic in my selections. I’m not going to try and argue that Nintendo should turn the next Mario game into a gritty Red Dead Redemption II open-world, or that the next Animal Crossing ought to be an L.A. Noire-style murder mystery. I’ve chosen titles in either the same genre or a similar space that I believe Nintendo can learn from as the first few Switch 2 games are being worked on.

With all of that out of the way, let’s take a look at the list!

Game #1:
Palworld
Pokémon franchise

Promo screenshot of Palworld showing a yellow monster with a large gun. — A gun-toting monster from *Palworld.*

This is the game that really inspired me to put this list together! Last year, Palworld was a surprise hit. It took the monster-battling sub-genre and put its own spin on it, bringing in huge numbers of players in the process. I know several die-hard Pokémon fans who absolutely adore Palworld, and even looking in from the outside, I can see many ways in which the game goes beyond anything the Pokémon series has ever done.

Recent Pokémon titles have been pretty stale and stagnant – if they even worked at all. Sure, they might add new monsters to the roster or be set in a different region of the franchise’s world, but Pokémon’s basic gameplay hasn’t changed in years. The series needs a good shake-up, and Palworld’s success should be the kick in the backside that Nintendo, Game Freak, and the Pokémon Company need.

Promo screenshot of Pokemon Scarlet or Pokemon Violet showing the three starter Pokemon. — The starter Pokémon from *Pokémon Scarlet/Violet.*

Unfortunately, things aren’t looking great on this front. Nintendo has inexplicably chosen to try to sue Palworld and its developer out of existence with a frivolous lawsuit, something that shames Furukawa, Miyamoto, and all of the other cowardly executives. As I wrote last year: the history of gaming is one of piecemeal innovation, with companies from all across the industry seeing what works and building on it. Pokémon wouldn’t exist without the role-playing games, deck-building games, and top-down fantasy titles that came before it, and Nintendo doesn’t have the right to claim ownership of an entire genre.

So I hope, once the dust settles and the lawsuit is inevitably dismissed, Nintendo can do what it should’ve done from day one: learn what worked in Palworld and what players liked, and apply those findings to the next Pokémon game. That doesn’t mean copy Palworld beat-for-beat, but taking the best bits and the things players loved the most and using that knowledge to make Pokémon better.

Game #2:
Sonic Mania
2D Mario

Promo screenshot of Sonic Mania. — Sonic and Tails.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder has been very well-received by Nintendo fans – and that’s great! Ever since 2D Mario games returned from a decade-long hiatus almost twenty years ago, though, they’ve more or less retained the same art style. Wonder definitely added a lot of new things to the mix, and there have been new power-ups and levels with different settings… but maybe it’s time to take a step back and really go back to Mario’s roots.

Sonic Mania is a fantastic title that has a really interesting development history. It was originally a fan project, but Sega saw the potential in the game and swooped in, licensing it as an official entry in the Sonic series. And I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that Sonic Mania is one of the best Sonic games since the Mega Drive days.

Promo screenshot of Super Mario Bros. Wonder. — Mario in *Super Mario Bros. Wonder*.

I’d love to see Nintendo really lean into the NES or SNES visual style with their next 2D Mario game. It could be a side-project rather than a full mainline game, and I wouldn’t necessarily expect an “old-school” 2D Mario as the Switch 2’s big launch title. But as a love letter to fans in Super Mario’s 40th anniversary year… what could be better?

Sonic Mania genuinely feels like a 16-bit Mega Drive game, bringing back not only the visual and art style of that era, but gameplay mechanics, too. After all the talk of doing better and pushing the boat out, maybe this seems like a bit of an oddity – and I fully accept that. But as someone who really got into gaming in the early 1990s, I would love nothing more than to return to that style of 2D platformer. Sonic Mania could be the template for how to do that – and do it right.

Game #3:
Disney Dreamlight Valley
Animal Crossing series

Promo screenshot of Disney Dreamlight Valley showing the furniture placement screen and a custom character. — A player showing off their home in *Disney Dreamlight Valley*.

If you read my review of Disney Dreamlight Valley a couple of years ago, you might remember me saying that the game took basically all of my complaints about Animal Crossing: New Horizons and fixed them, while also adding in compelling characters and story missions to boot. I’m not sure that the next Animal Crossing needs a “main quest” of sorts… but there are so many other things that Dreamlight Valley does well.

Firstly, Dreamlight Valley has much more freedom in terms of decorating – both inside and out. With a simple button press, everything from small items of furniture to houses and trees can be moved, placed, and deleted, and there’s a near-unlimited amount of free choice in where things are placed and how many things can be placed. New Horizons, thanks to the Switch’s limited processing power, is notoriously laggy when too many items are placed outdoors – but the next game in the series should, at least, not suffer from that limitation.

Still frame from the Animal Crossing: New Horizons expansion pack trailer. — Even with its expansion pack, *New Horizons* wasn’t all it could’ve been.

Dreamlight Valley’s characters also feel more compelling and unique. Partly that’s because everyone gets a quest or series of quests, but it’s also because each character has a distinct personality – reflected not only in their choice of outfit and decoration, but dialogue, too. One of my biggest criticisms of New Horizons was how awfully repetitive the dialogue got after only a short amount of time – and without mini-games or other events to spice things up, as well as such a small number of villager “types” – I found I was getting the exact same line of dialogue over and over and over again from different characters.

In terms of design, customisation, character interactions, and more, Dreamlight Valley not only eclipses Animal Crossing… it blows it out of the water. There are pitfalls to be avoided, sure – Dreamlight Valley is too heavily-monetised for my taste – but it should be seen as a template for how to improve the Animal Crossing formula.

Game #4:
Doom Eternal
Metroid Prime series

Promo screenshot of Doom Eternal showing a first-person viewpoint. — *Doom Eternal* is fast-paced and fun.

With Metroid Prime 4 due for release on the Switch this year – presumably before the Switch 2 launches – there’s limited room for serious improvements. But if the Metroid Prime series continues and will get a new entry in the years ahead, the fast-paced combat of Doom Eternal should be the high bar that the series aims for.

I haven’t played a Metroid Prime game since the GameCube days, so maybe I’m not the best person to offer advice on this series! But I know what I look for in a single-player first-person shooter, and of all the games in that genre I’ve played over the years, none felt as energetic and exciting as Doom Eternal. With the Switch 2 offering the chance for a serious upgrade, the next Metroid Prime game could have more enemies on screen at the same time, a wider range of enemy types, more weapons, and so on.

Promo screenshot of Metroid Prime 4 showing the HUD, a weapon, and several enemies. — *Metroid Prime 4* is due for release this year on the Switch.

Doom Eternal’s grappling hook mechanic also worked exceptionally well, and something like that could be a fine addition to the Metroid Prime series, too. Adding in some platforming and puzzle-solving elements along with fast-paced combat could be a ton of fun.

I’d also be remiss not to mention the fantastic soundtrack that the modern Doom titles have had. A hard rock/heavy metal soundtrack was pitch-perfect for those games, and added so much to the wild action and thrill of gunning down hordes of demons. Metroid Prime doesn’t need to go down the heavy metal route, of course, but a soundtrack that helps bring the game to life and fits with its design philosophy will be essential.

Game #5:
Astro Bot
3D Mario

Promo artwork for Astro Bot. — *Astro Bot* is everything a 3D platformer should aim to be in 2025.

A moment ago, we talked about the next 2D Mario game and how I’d like to see the series go back to its roots – both in terms of gameplay and visual style. But 3D Mario should really aim to go above and beyond, pushing the Switch 2’s hardware to its limits while retaining the charm of titles like Super Mario 64 and Odyssey. PlayStation’s Astro Bot – which was in the running for game of the year on many publications’ lists in 2024 – is exactly the kind of game Nintendo should be paying attention to.

I have to admit that I haven’t played Astro Bot for myself; I don’t own a PS5 and, as much as I might want to, I can’t justify the expense of buying one just to play one game! But I’ve seen a lot of gameplay online, and Astro Bot looks like the kind of game that knows what it’s trying to be… and absolutely nails it.

Screenshot of Super Mario 64 showing Mario in the castle lobby. — *Super Mario 64* is still one of my favourite games.

Many critics have noted – quite correctly – that Astro Bot is drawing inspiration from Nintendo’s 3D platformers. But graphically and in terms of level design, it seems to go beyond them, too. Super Mario Odyssey, arguably the best and certainly the biggest 3D Mario game, is now almost eight years old, so fans are absolutely right to expect to see significant improvements when the next entry in the series is ready. Astro Bot shows how beautiful a 3D platformer can look with modern hardware, and it’s also a masterclass in level design.

I’m pretty sure that Nintendo will be hard at work on the next 3D Mario already. We’ve caught a glimpse of a new Mario Kart in the recent Switch 2 teaser, so that could well be the console’s big launch title. But a new 3D Mario is unlikely to be far behind. I hope some of the developers and producers have played Astro Bot to get a feel for how that game works and to see what it does well.

So that’s it!

We’ve taken a look at five games that I think Nintendo needs to examine closely and learn from as the Switch 2 and its games are in development.

The Switch 2 is definitely on my wishlist – if for no other reason than a brand-new Mario Kart game is always gonna be something I’ll want to play! But I’m curious to see how much more powerful the console can be, and whether Nintendo (and other third-party developers, too) are going to be able to fully take advantage of that. Better graphics and shinier-looking games should be a guarantee – but I’d love to see Nintendo also paying attention to the improvements and evolution in some of these genres. Although there’s been less of that in the last ten years than there was from, say, 1995 to 2005, there are still plenty of areas where Nintendo can improve.

When we learn more about the Switch 2 in April, I’ll definitely be sharing my thoughts on how the console is shaping up. I’ll be keeping my ear to the ground for news on launch titles, too! So when we have more news about Nintendo and the Switch 2, I hope you’ll join me here on the website. Until then, I hope this has been a fun and interesting look ahead.

The Nintendo Switch 2 will be officially shown off in April and will launch in 2025 or early 2026. All titles discussed above are the copyright of their respective publisher, developer, studio, and/or corporation. Some promotional art and images courtesy of Nintendo and IGDB. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Some Great Holiday Sale Deals For PC Gamers

Sat 21.12.24Dennis

A spoiler warning graphic (with Father Christmas!)

Spoiler Warning: Beware of minor spoilers for some of the entries on this list.

Every year, I like to share a few of my recommendations when PC games go on sale. With only a few days left until Christmas, Steam, GOG, and Epic Games have all kick-started their annual holiday sales – and there are some great games available at a discount.

These sales are great for gamers – and they help make up for the fact that PC gaming can be more expensive to get started with when compared with a home console. Or at least, that feels like a good rationalisation when buying expensive PC components! The fact that many titles can be discounted even within just a few months of release makes PC gaming feel like a good deal – and the best platform for enjoying interactive media!

A stock photo of the inside of a gaming PC, with spinning fans, a graphics card, and a motherboard all visible. — Some powerful hardware!

So as I do every year, I’m going to pull out a few games that I think are worth your attention now that they’re discounted. If you missed any of these titles when they were new, or if you’ve been hanging around hoping they’d go on sale, now could be a great time to pick them up – either as an early Christmas treat for yourself or as a gift for someone else.

Now for the important bit! All prices below were correct at time of writing and are in pounds sterling as I’m based in the UK. Prices may vary by region and/or currency, and will no longer be accurate as of January when the sales end. It’s up to you to check with the store and make sure you’re happy with the price as well as any other terms and conditions that may apply; I’m just a random person on the internet making a list of games!

Title card of the Star Trek episode The Ultimate Computer, with the USS Enterprise visible. — Ready to play some games on… the ultimate computer?

As always, everything we’re gonna talk about is the wholly subjective opinion of just one person – so if you hate all of my recommendations or I exclude one of your personal favourites… that’s okay. There’s plenty of room in the community for differences of opinion and disagreements. I share this list in the spirit of the holiday season, and to hopefully draw your attention to a game or two that you may not have considered.

Let’s jump into the deals!

Deal #1:
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Steam: 75% discount, £14.99

Screenshot of Jedi: Survivor showing Cal posing with his lightsaber (and a handsome moustache).

Truth be told, I didn’t enjoy Jedi: Survivor anywhere near as much as its predecessor. Jedi: Fallen Order was fantastic – and its sequel didn’t do enough, for me anyway, to live up to that. However, with the game being so heavily discounted, it’s an easy recommendation for either Star Wars fans, fans of the first game, or just players who enjoy a single-player action/adventure title.

There are still bugs left over from a rocky launch, but your mileage may vary with the game’s narrative – and if you enjoy Cal’s adventure more than I did, you might look back at this one as being a steal! With a sequel in the works, it’s worth sticking with Jedi: Survivor… if only in the hopes that a better continuation of the story is right around the corner.

Deal #2:
The Plucky Squire
Steam: 25% discount, £18.74

Promotional screenshot of The Plucky Squire.

Spoiler alert for later this month, but The Plucky Squire is one of my favourite games of 2024. I adore the art style, the cute characters, and the incredibly fun and creative approach to gameplay. There’s a lot going on in this relatively short experience, and this is the type of game you can play through in an afternoon or two – it’s not something that requires a huge time commitment.

Considering it only released in September, and it’s been getting rave reviews, a 25% discount at this stage feels generous! If you missed The Plucky Squire this autumn, though, I really do think you’ll enjoy it if you give it a shot. There’s a lot to love here.

Deal #3:
Ghost of Tsushima
Steam: 20% discount, £39.99

Promotional screenshot of Ghost of Tsushima showing Jin looking out over a landscape.

Ghost of Tsushima had been on my radar for a while, and I’m glad to have finally picked it up. The game is, by all accounts, one of the best open-world action games of the last few years, and the samurai/ninja warrior game we all used to fantasise about when we were kids! There’s a beautiful, realistic open world set on the Japanese island of Tsushima to explore, and the Mongolian horde to defeat.

I’d been looking forward to the PC port of Ghost of Tsushima for a while, so I’m glad to finally have the chance to jump in. There are so many glowing reviews out there that it’s impossible not to recommend Ghost of Tsushima while it’s on sale.

Deal #4:
Alan Wake 2
Epic Games: 50% discount, £19.99

Promo image of Alan Wake 2 with an FBI Agent standing in the middle of a road.

I played and adored Remedy Entertainment’s Control a few years ago, and although I didn’t know it at the time, there were some subtle story connections to their earlier title Alan Wake. Alan Wake 2 came out just over a year ago, and was well-received by critics – though with many noting that the game’s tone has shifted in more of a survival horror direction.

I’m not usually a horror fan, but I enjoy the mysterious worlds that Remedy have been able to create. There’s something otherworldly about their stories, but at the same time, having everyday people with understandable motivations at the centre helps keep things grounded. At half price, who could say no? And while you’re at it, the remastered version of the original game is less than £7.

Deal #5:
Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force
GOG: 25% discount, £6.29

Screenshot of Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force showing a first-person viewpoint.

Elite Force is one of the rare Star Trek games to have genuinely crossed over and picked up players outside of the Trekkie community! Shortly after its release (which is now almost a quarter of a century ago; I’m ancient) the game’s multiplayer scene was buzzing. In the days of LAN parties and the beginning of online multiplayer titles, Elite Force put in a creditable showing.

There’s also a fun and engaging single-player campaign that Trekkies will appreciate. It’s true that the game’s graphics look outdated by today’s standards, but most of the Voyager cast reprise their roles in voiceover, and there’s a strong story for players and Trekkies able to look past the game’s visual presentation. Elite Force feels like playing through an extended episode of the series.

Deal #6:
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition
Steam: 92% discount, £3.99

Screenshot of Mass Effect 3 showing Commander Shepard crouching behind an obstacle.

You basically have no excuse not to pick this up. I mean, three of the best single-player sci-fi action-RPGs ever made for the price of a coffee? How could anyone pass that up? Jokes aside, while I have some major gripes with the laziness of BioWare’s “remaster” of the Mass Effect trilogy, getting all three games and all of their DLC in one package is a great way to either get the games for the first time or re-acquire them on PC… and for such a low price it seems like a fantastic opportunity.

The world of Mass Effect is rich and detailed, and the story the trilogy tells is intense, action-packed, and emotional. Anyone who missed the games during the Xbox 360 era should definitely give them a shot, and while Legendary Edition isn’t all it could be, it’s by far the best way to get started with Mass Effect.

Deal #7:
Baldur’s Gate 3
Steam/GOG: 20% discount, £39.99

Screenshot of Baldur's Gate 3 showing the character creator - and a custom halfling character with green skin.

I think I’m going to be recommending Baldur’s Gate 3 to everyone I meet for as long as I live! The game is an absolute masterpiece in every sense of the word; a role-playing game with genuine roles to play that are distinct and different from one another. In many games, it doesn’t really make much difference what class or background you choose when making your character – but in Baldur’s Gate 3 it can impact everything from gameplay to character interactions and more.

There are so many ways to play Baldur’s Gate 3 that the game feels like a completely different experience on a second or third playthrough. There are incredibly in-depth systems for magic spells, combat, persuasion, and more – and the ever-present dice rolls help spice things up, too! It’s one of the best games I’ve ever played – and if that’s not a good enough endorsement, then I don’t know what’ll convince you to check this out!

Deal #8:
Little Kitty, Big City
Steam: 30% discount, £14.69

Screenshot of Little Kitty, Big City showing the player character - a black cat.

Another spoiler alert, but Little Kitty, Big City is another of my favourite titles of 2024! I absolutely adored roaming the streets of a Japanese city as an adorable black cat, meeting other animal critters, and generally causing mischief. I’m a cat lover, so a game like this was always going to be fun for me, but I was genuinely impressed at how well-built Little Kitty, Big City was.

I know it sounds silly, but I actually felt like a cat while playing this game. The scale of the world compared to the small cat, the jumping and pouncing abilities that had such cute animation work… the whole thing came together to really hit me with that sensation in a way I wasn’t expecting. It’s an adorable game, a cute, sweet, and fun experience – and one I cannot recommend highly enough!

Deal #9:
Manor Lords
Steam/Epic: 30% discount, £24.49

Promo image of Manor Lords showing a medieval village in the snow.

I haven’t played as much of Manor Lords as I should’ve this year… but the game is fantastic. If you’re familiar with the likes of Banished (which is a game I also recommend, especially when it’s on sale for £7.49) then you’ll know the basics of Manor Lords. But this game goes beyond Banished, with a region map of areas that can be colonised, more types of crops, buildings, and professions, and other additions, too.

Manor Lords feels like a game that might take a little while to get the hang of – but when you know what you’re doing and get started, there’s a huge variety of options for your little medieval settlement! Balancing villagers’ needs isn’t easy, nor is acquiring and storing all of the resources you’ll need to get through the winter. But there’s a ton of fun to be had here, so if building and simulation are your thing, don’t sleep on Manor Lords… even though it’s technically still in early access!

Deal #10:
Disney Dreamlight Valley
Steam: 25% discount, £25.11

Promo image of Disney Dreamlight Valley showing a player character, Rapunzel, and a capybara.

Be careful with Disney Dreamlight Valley – my earlier recommendation of the game from a couple of years ago now comes with the caveat that there’s a lot more monetisation in play. But if you can look past that, there’s a really cute and fun Animal Crossing-esque experience here. In fact, I’d argue that Disney Dreamlight Valley has completely eclipsed the Animal Crossing series – and should give Nintendo a serious kick up the backside!

All of your favourite Disney characters are here, living together in a beautiful little valley. Each character has their own house, and there are character quests and a main quest to get stuck into – uncovering the mysteries of the valley! There are also many different cosmetic items and pieces of furniture to both dress up your character and decorate their home. New content is added all the time – though some of it is either wholly or partially paywalled. I still love Disney Dreamlight Valley, but just remember to turn on parental controls if you have little ones!

Deal #11:
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Steam/GOG: 60% discount, £5.19

One of Morrowind's loading screens showing artwork of a Netch.

If you’re burned out on Bethesda’s latest game – Starfield – but still craving something similar to play, why not step back to Morrowind? Most people have played Skyrim by now, but Morrowind – which was released on PC and Xbox back in 2002 – may have been too early for some of you young’ins! With some modern graphics mods, though, the game doesn’t need to look like a twenty-year-old title.

Here’s why Morrowind remains, for me, Bethesda’s high-water mark and the title to which I compare all of their subsequent games: there’s so much to do. There are literally quests in Morrowind that I haven’t played twenty years later. There are more weapon types, magical spells, and characters to interact with than in either Oblivion or Skyrim, and the game has a world that’s so rich, so detailed, and so different and alien in the way parts of it feel that it really is possible to get lost there, or just spend hours walking around, soaking it all in.

Deal #12:
The Last Of Us Part 1
Steam/Epic: 50% discount, £24.99

Promo screenshot for The Last Of Us Part 1 showing Ellie and a herd of giraffes.

The Last Of Us Part 2 is coming to PC next year – so it could be a great time to catch up on or re-play the first entry in the series. A mushroom apocalypse might sound weird at first, but the game is beautifully-written and incredibly well-paced, with intense moments of action as Joel and Ellie navigate a road-trip across a post-apocalyptic United States.

I adored The Last Of Us on the PlayStation 3, and while I don’t think it needed a remaster or a remake – and it certainly didn’t need two – there’s no denying that the game looks fantastic on PC when you crank the settings up! There’s some great gameplay here, but what makes The Last Of Us truly special are its story and characters.

So that’s it!

Black-and-white photo of a person holding a video game controller. — Let’s play some games!

We’ve picked out a few deals from the various sales that are going on in the PC gaming space at this time of year. For 2024, I seem to have almost entirely chosen third-person, single-player action/adventure games and RPGs… that wasn’t intentional, but those are just the kinds of games I’ve enjoyed playing, I guess!

Do keep in mind that not every game is on sale (or given the same discount) in every digital shop; several examples just on this list are discounted in one place but not in another, so it’s always worth double-checking to make sure you’re getting the best discount and the best deal.

If I’ve helped even one person find one new game to play this holiday season, I reckon I’ve done a good job!

All titles listed above are the copyright of their respective studio, developer, and/or publisher. Some screenshots and promotional artwork courtesy of IGDB. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Disney Dreamlight Valley: Buyer Beware?

Thu 16.11.23Dennis

Although it’s been playable for well over a year, Disney Dreamlight Valley still hasn’t been officially “released.” We should talk more one day about big corporations and publishers abusing the early access model, but that will have to wait. I want to ask an unfortunate question today: has Disney Dreamlight Valley been ruined even before its release day?

For some context, I played and adored Disney Dreamlight Valley last year. The game was my surprise pick for “game of the year” when I dished out my annual awards, it was my most-played game of 2022, and I’ve continued to play it this year as well. So I’m not approaching this subject as any kind of dyed-in-the-wool “hater;” I genuinely wanted to see Disney Dreamlight Valley succeed.

Promotional screenshot of *Disney Dreamlight Valley*.

I can summarise the fundamental problem with Disney Dreamlight Valley in a single word: greed. Between developer/publisher Gameloft and the Walt Disney Corporation itself, greed has quickly crept into what seemed to be a fun game with a lot of potential. I praised Disney Dreamlight Valley last year for being “Animal Crossing without the downsides;” an adorable life-sim game with many of the Disney characters that long-time fans know and love. It felt as if Gameloft had taken the Animal Crossing formula and honed it to near perfection, adding much-needed features and quality-of-life improvements, and updating that style of gameplay for a new generation of players.

That was the game I sunk over 150 hours into in 2022 – and have continued to play on and off through 2023 as well – and that was the game that gave me some genuinely fun and sweet experiences. As an early adopter of the game, I knew that Disney Dreamlight Valley was going to change as development continued and its official launch approached – but I hoped that those changes would be more positive than negative.

A recent update to *Disney Dreamlight Valley* added Halloween-themed content.

The original plan for Disney Dreamlight Valley was that the game would be free-to-play when it officially launched. Knowing that that was the plan, the fact that the game sold microtransactions and a “season pass” didn’t seem too bad, although I felt it was questionable to sell Moonstones – Disney Dreamlight Valley’s in-game currency – during its paid early access period. But I could at least understand why it was happening, and I even gave credit to Gameloft early on for rebalancing the rate at which Moonstones were generated in-game to be more generous.

However, Gameloft recently announced that Disney Dreamlight Valley will not be free-to-play, as had been the original intention. The timing of this announcement feels a bit sketchy in and of itself; it seems that Gameloft and Disney came to this decision a long time ago and deliberately kept fans and players in the dark until the last possible moment. But that’s almost beside the point, because what’s far worse – and will be far more noticeable to players – is the free-to-play economy that remains in the game. An in-game currency, a “season pass” for cosmetic items, and microtransactions are all part of Disney Dreamlight Valley, even though the game will no longer be free-to-play.

Different versions of *Disney Dreamlight Valley* – and their associated price tags.

It seems as if Disney and Gameloft want to have all of the money-making tools that modern games employ. They want to sell the game up-front, they want to sell large DLC packs, and they want the in-game currency and “season pass” that are the hallmarks of free-to-play titles. Most games pick one of those, or two at the very most, but Disney Dreamlight Valley is going all-in on monetisation, taking the total cost of the game easily above £100 – and that’s just to get started.

I guess we shouldn’t be shocked. I mean, this is Disney we’re talking about – a corporation that charges guests to park their cars at its hotels and sells bags of popcorn at Walt Disney World for like $15. And I know that modern games are almost never intended to be complete experiences when they launch, but rather ongoing projects with updates being rolled out over the span of months or years – with a steady stream of income all the while. But even with those caveats and that knowledge… this still feels hugely disappointing, and Disney Dreamlight Valley feels like a particularly egregious example of a greedy corporation trying to wring as much money as possible out of players.

Promo art for the first DLC pack – featuring at least one character who was originally implied to be part of the base game.

If Disney Dreamlight Valley isn’t going to go free-to-play – which is an understandable decision in some ways – then the in-game currency and microtransactions have to be stripped out. It isn’t fair to charge players up-front, charge more for expensive DLC add-ons, and still expect to get away with including all of the microtransactions that come with a free-to-play experience. That just shouldn’t be acceptable to anyone. It’s one business model or the other – not both.

I have no doubt that the content Gameloft and Disney plan to roll out in the months ahead will be enjoyable. Practically every update to the game thus far has added new characters and content that I’ve enjoyed… but the updates so far have come at no additional charge. It already seems as if Gameloft plans to paywall new areas of the map and new characters, and that’s before we get into paywalled “season pass” content and cosmetics. When all’s said and done, the full cost of the Disney Dreamlight Valley experience – to get all of the characters, levels, missions, and cosmetic content – will be massive.

The cost of Moonstones (*Disney Dreamlight Valley’*s in-game currency) on Steam in November 2023.

When Disney Dreamlight Valley was an early access title with a free-to-play future, I thought I knew what I was getting into. The microtransactions were still irritating in the early access phase, but at least I felt like I understood why they existed and what the plan was. Although it was hard to get enough Moonstones through general play, it was at least possible to acquire a certain amount; enough to get some of the cosmetics on offer. But now? Knowing the game will charge up-front, charge more for DLC, keep its in-game currency, keep its “season pass,” and continue to sell other microtransactions and cosmetic content? It feels excessive.

Gone are the days when a corporation like Disney would develop and release a complete game. Disney Dreamlight Valley has that live service component; it’s intended to be an ongoing experience with content being developed post-launch. But there has got to be a way to balance the cost of that development with an enjoyable and reasonably-priced player experience, and right now, the pendulum has swung way too far in the monetisation direction.

If you’ve been awaiting the release of Disney Dreamlight Valley – and especially if you saw my review last year and are still considering picking it up – it’s worth being aware of this change to how the game will operate. Last year, shortly after launch, the level of in-game monetisation felt acceptable. But with the game’s official launch approaching, it no longer does. That definitely affects my ability to recommend the game – especially to parents considering picking it up for younger kids. At the very least you need to be aware of this in-game currency issue and make sure you have some kind of parental control on in-app purchases on whatever system you’re using.

I still enjoy what Disney Dreamlight Valley has to offer… but that enjoyment is now tainted. It feels as if Disney and Gameloft haven’t been up-front with the game’s biggest supporters about these changes. And the game now feels like it’s going to be overly-monetised when it launches. That’s a real shame, and it takes a lot of the shine off of what has been a fun experience.

My recommendation of Disney Dreamlight Valley now comes with a huge caveat: beware of in-game monetisation and Gameloft’s shifting priorities.

Disney Dreamlight Valley is out now – in early access – for PC, Mac, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch, and will be officially released on the 5th of December 2023. Disney Dreamlight Valley is the copyright of Gameloft and the Walt Disney Company. Some screenshots used above are courtesy of Gameloft. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

End-of-Year Awards 2022

Fri 30.12.22Sat 31.12.22Dennis

Spoiler Warning: Minor spoilers may be present for some of these titles.

As we enter the final hours of 2022, it’s time to look back at the entertainment experiences that we’ve enjoyed – as well as a few that we didn’t enjoy all that much! I’ve cobbled together a few categories from the world of television, film, and video games, and today I’m going to hand out some highly-coveted Trekking with Dennis Awards to some of my favourites!

You’ll find a couple of titles from the tail end of 2021 on this list; I reckon anything released in December is fair game as those titles often get the short end of the stick when it comes to lists like these. Some outlets put together their “best of” lists way back at the start of December, which is far too early in my opinion! But we’re drifting off-topic already!

It’s time to hand out my End-of-Year Awards!

There are plenty of titles that, for one reason or another, I didn’t get around to this year – so for reasons that I hope are obvious they can’t be included. I’m only one person and I don’t have every minute of the day to devote to these pursuits, so the exclusion from this list of certain big titles shouldn’t be interpreted as any kind of deliberate snub!

And as always, a caveat before we begin: all of this is the subjective opinion of one person. I may give an award to a production you vehemently hate, or talk negatively about something you enjoyed, but at the end of the day this is supposed to be a bit of fun. Feel free to disagree with any or all of my picks – but there’s no need to take any of it too seriously!

With all of that out of the way, let’s get started!

Best Television Miniseries/Limited Series:

🥈 Runner-Up🥈
Five Days At Memorial

Five Days At Memorial had the challenging task of dramatising a real-world event – and a gruelling one at that. I remember the harrowing news reports in 2005 showing the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and I could absolutely understand why some folks might feel it’s too soon to make a programme like this. But for my money, Five Days At Memorial did a good job at adapting the events at Memorial Hospital as delicately as possible, staying true to what happened while still making the story engrossing and understandable for viewers.

The fact that Five Days At Memorial shows what happened at Memorial Hospital from two very different angles felt a bit strange at first, but by doing so the series lends the events the challenging ambiguity that they continue to have. By refusing to come down on one side or another – to condemn as guilty or exonerate Dr Pou – Five Days At Memorial strikes the right balance. There was some choppy editing in some sequences that meant the miniseries didn’t feel as smooth as it could’ve, but other than that it was a very interesting look at a very difficult moment in the recent past.

🏆 Winner 🏆
1899

Netflix original 1899 is taking the crown in this category this year. The show goes on a wild and unpredictable ride, blending themes of mental health that resonated strongly with me with mystery and psychological horror. The multilingual series is, in my view, best enjoyed without being dubbed, as the different characters and the language barriers between them are key elements in the story at several crucial junctures.

I was first attracted to 1899 because of its setting – both in time, at the end of the 19th Century, and on a boat making a transatlantic voyage. But what I found when I got started was one of the most unique and different television productions that I’ve seen in a long time. 1899 may not be to everyone’s taste, but I found it absolutely riveting all the way through.

Worst Television Series:

🏆 “Winner” 🏆
Obi-Wan Kenobi

After I’d enjoyed what The Book of Boba Fett brought to the table, I felt a pang of hope that Obi-Wan Kenobi might at least be passable. But it wasn’t to be, and the series was a horrible slog through the absolute worst kind of tacked-on story that used increasingly desperate nostalgia plays to try to recreate some of the magic that, frankly, Star Wars hasn’t had since the ’80s.

Say it with me, folks: it’s time for Star Wars to move on! The vast sandbox that is the Star Wars galaxy has trillions of inhabitants, millions of star systems, thousands of planets, and hundreds of factions and organisations – and tens of thousands of years of history that could explore any of them. For more than forty years, Star Wars has been laser-focused on the same handful of characters and the same tiny sliver of this wonderful setting, but it’s over. If Star Wars is to survive, something’s gotta change. Obi-Wan Kenobi proved that.

Best Television Series:

🥈 Runner-Up🥈
Halo

Halo wasn’t spectacular, but as the first real attempt to bring the long-running video game franchise into a new medium, it got a lot right. The story it told was a riff on the familiar story that fans will remember from the games, but there were important differences which not only kept the mystery going, but also gave genuine characterisation to the Master Chief.

In terms of cinematography, I liked the way that Halo incorporated some first-person sequences into its action-heavy moments. This could have easily felt like a gimmick, but the way it was done – and crucially, not overdone – made it feel like a throwback to the series’ source material while also mixing things up in the television space. Halo used a fairly standard format that would be familiar to anyone who’s seen a made-for-streaming television show in the past few years, with a slowly unfolding mystery, multiple storylines, and characters who grow and change over the course of the series. It wasn’t anything groundbreaking, and I certainly get the argument that it wasn’t as action-packed as some fans might’ve wanted. But it was, all in all, a decent bit of sci-fi.

🏆 Winner 🏆
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

The Rings of Power had a lot of work to do to impress me. It had to live up to the legacy of the trilogy of films from a few years ago. It had to show that it could go toe-to-toe with the likes of Game of Thrones, The Witcher, and other big-budget productions in the fantasy space. And, to be blunt, it had to justify its billion-dollar price tag.

Whether The Rings of Power managed to accomplish all of those goals in its first season is still arguably an open question. But it certainly laid the groundwork for what should be a television spectacular, and it was, on balance, probably the best show I’ve seen this year. When I was at a low ebb in the autumn and didn’t have the energy or headspace for watching many new things, The Rings of Power was the one show that I made time for. Sure, there were big battles and other CGI spectaculars, but there were also some genuinely wonderful performances that brought to life some incredible character-focused storytelling. I can’t wait for Season 2!

Best Web Series:

🥈 Runner-Up🥈
How To Cake It

After a hiatus of more than a year, YouTube show How To Cake It made a welcome return this year. This time, there’s less of a focus on the kind of attention-grabbing, visually spectacular cakes that look like rocket ships or Princess Elsa or a completely different food, and I think that’s actually been a positive thing! Host Yolanda Gampp has branched out, doing much more of a variety when it comes to baking. Some highlights include flavoured cookies, baklava, and even popcorn.

As often happens when a web series takes an extended break, recent episodes of How To Cake It haven’t been doing the same numbers as the series used to get. But I hope that, as time goes by, it will pick up some of those wayward viewers – and perhaps bring on board a whole host of new ones, too. This new version of How To Cake It seems to be making more down-to-earth recipes that you or I might feel brave enough to attempt, rather than showing off impressive designs that only a master baker could create. For me at least, that’s a great thing, and I hope to see much more from Yolanda and the team in the new year.

🏆 Winner 🏆
Anti-Chef

If How To Cake It shows a master at work, Anti-Chef – as the name suggests – is the complete opposite! The show is a lot of fun, and Jamie, the host, isn’t shy about sharing his failures in the kitchen as he works his way through some very complicated recipes. Though he’s not a total newbie any more, many of the techniques in the recipes he challenges himself to try are very advanced, and the personal, relatable style makes me feel like I’m right there in the kitchen.

I love a good cooking show, and as much fun as it can be to see an experienced chef at work, it can be even more entertaining to see an inexperienced home cook tackling some of these recipes. Anti-Chef has given me a lot of laughs this year – but also some cooking tips and inspiration, too.

The Worst of Star Trek:

🏆 “Winner” 🏆
Most of Picard Season 2

I thought long and hard about whether I wanted to call out Picard Season 2, but I think it’s earned a place on this list. The first episode of Season 2 was absolutely fantastic, and if the rest of the season had been anywhere close to that level, we’d be talking about Picard as the best show of the year. But unfortunately things took a pretty sharp nose-dive after the second episode of the season, with Picard and his crew wandering aimlessly for much of the season in a present-day setting that didn’t feel inspiring or enjoyable in the least.

By the time the action returned to the 25th Century in the second half of the season finale, the damage had been done, and despite Farewell pulling out a decent ending, this disconnected, disjointed, overly-long story has to go down as one of Star Trek’s big misses – perhaps even one of the biggest missteps in the franchise’s history. There were individual elements in most episodes that I can honestly say that I enjoyed… but Picard Season 2 overall feels like a massive disappointment.

Star Trek’s Biggest Surprises:

🥈 Runner-Up🥈
Kobayashi
Star Trek: Prodigy

We ought to talk more about Prodigy here on the website – and I hope we will next year! But for now, the episode Kobayashi came out of nowhere in January to be one of the biggest surprises in the show’s first season. The Kobayashi Maru training programme famously tests would-be captains in a “no-win scenario,” and you wouldn’t think that premise would lead to such a genuinely heartwarming and wholesome episode – but as a longstanding fan, I really appreciated what Kobayashi brought to the table.

Without giving too much away, the Kobayashi Maru scenario plays out on the holodeck, and a cast of fan-favourite Star Trek characters all join in on the action. It’s a nostalgic treat – but it doesn’t overplay its hand, keeping a tight focus on the new characters introduced in Prodigy.

🏆 Winner 🏆
All Those Who Wander
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Strange New Worlds had an incredible first season, showing off a varied, episodic approach in which it wasn’t shy about trying out many different genres. All Those Who Wander draws inspiration from the likes of The Thing and Alien to create a tense, claustrophobic sense of horror aboard a crashed starship.

It’s hard to say too much more without getting into spoiler territory – and of all the episodes in Season 1, All Those Who Wander has to be the most important to go into un-spoiled! Suffice to say that the episode takes the horror angle right up to the edge of my personal comfort zone, but never crosses that line. It’s an intense experience, and one that shows just how incredible Star Trek can be when it throws itself into another genre.

The Best of Star Trek:

🥈 Runner-Up🥈
Coming Home
Star Trek: Discovery

Discovery’s fourth season plodded along, in places, and definitely teased us with mysterious factions and characters that ultimately turned out to be brand-new. But by the time the season finale rolled around, most of that was already settled. What we got was an incredibly emotional episode that saw Captain Burnham and the crew racing against time to reach an unknown, uncontacted alien race.

There were resolutions to disagreements between characters, several incredibly dramatic moments, and a storyline involving Admiral Vance at Federation HQ that showed off Starfleet and the Federation at their very best. Coming Home is, without a doubt, one of Discovery’s very best episodes.

🏆 Winner 🏆
A Quality of Mercy
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Captain Pike gets a visit from “the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come” in A Quality of Mercy – and the episode is incredible. In Discovery Season 2, when it became apparent that Captain Pike knew in advance that he was going to suffer a debilitating accident, an obvious question would be “why didn’t he try to prevent it?” And A Quality of Mercy takes that idea and runs with it.

In addition to a very emotional story involving Captain Pike – one that I, as a disabled person, found incredibly relatable – there’s also a wonderful callback to an episode of The Original Series, and moments for all of the main characters to get a chance to shine. Ethan Peck puts in a spectacular performance as Spock, and there was even time at the very end of the episode for one final twist as the curtain fell on one of the best seasons of Star Trek ever put to screen.

Best Animated Film:

🥈 Runner-Up🥈
Minions: The Rise of Gru

The Despicable Me franchise is usually good for some fun escapism, and so it proved again with The Rise of Gru. There isn’t anything completely groundbreaking here; you know how the titular Minions behave by now. But stepping back in time to a ’70s setting allowed for some fun jokes, and the over-the-top villains that Gru encountered were a ton of fun.

There was still heart and emotion in The Rise of Gru thanks to Gru’s relationship with the villainous Wild Knuckles, and that did enough to ground what was otherwise a pretty wacky adventure. There were plenty of references and callbacks to other franchises for nerds like us to enjoy, and on the whole, I had a good time with the film. I’m not in a desperate rush to re-watch it, but it was good fun for what it was.

🏆 Winner 🏆
Encanto

After several years in which Disney has focused on live-action adaptations and sequels, Encanto came along like a breath of fresh air! It’s one of the best Disney films of the current era without a doubt, with a deeply engrossing and frequently emotional story that has an uplifting message. And thanks to a wonderful soundtrack by the phenomenally talented Lin-Manuel Miranda, there are some incredible songs too!

A setting inspired by Colombia was also something different for a major Disney production, and the company has done well at diversifying the peoples and places it depicts in its major releases. But that would have been meaningless had Encanto not been such a wonderful, well-told story – and I’m so very pleased that it was.

Best Live-Action Film:

🥈 Runner-Up🥈
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

With the caveat that I didn’t see that many films this year, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is definitely up there as one of the better ones! I genuinely couldn’t believe that this film existed when I first heard of its premise – Nicolas Cage playing a fictionalised version of himself and going on a wacky adventure. But you know what? I’m very glad that it does!

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent could have ended up as a bargain-bin B-movie – or worse, it could’ve tried to take itself far too seriously. But instead it leans into a kind of self-deprecating humour as well as tropes of the action genre, coming across as light-hearted and just plain fun. Nicolas Cage is a good sport for taking part, and The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is definitely worth a watch if you haven’t seen it already.

🏆 Winner 🏆
All Quiet on the Western Front

Netflix’s reimagining of this classic German war film is absolutely brutal. If any film has ever come close to accurately depicting the true horrors of the First World War, this is it. The story follows a young conscript from Germany as he joins the army and is dispatched to the front line, and then jumps ahead to the closing days of the war.

Every version of All Quiet on the Western Front – and there have now been three adaptations of the original novel – have shown just how senseless and meaningless war can be, taking a very individualist, human look at warfare. This version hammers that home, and can be uncomfortable viewing. But it’s an incredibly powerful film – one that absolutely deserves to be in contention for some of the top awards.

The “I-didn’t-play-this-game-but-you-probably-should” Award:

🏆 Winner 🏆
Elden Ring

I wish I could say I was interested in Elden Ring… but I’m just not. The “difficult for the sake of it” style of gameplay that has come to be known as the “Souls-like” genre just isn’t my cup of tea, but by all accounts Elden Ring is one of the best examples of this type of game, and one of the best games of the year – if not the generation.

Taking the Dark Souls format into an expansive open-world setting, Elden Ring has won almost universal acclaim from critics and players alike, becoming one of the most talked-about releases of the year. For a single-player title in a gaming landscape increasingly dominated by the online multiplayer scene, I think that’s a fantastic thing, and even though Elden Ring isn’t for me, I still think it’s worth noting it as one of the most important releases of the year.

Best Browser Game:

🏆 Winner 🏆
Wordle

I wouldn’t usually dedicate much time to browser games on a list like this, but since I first played Wordle back in February or March, I don’t think I’ve missed a single day. The format is fun, with a single word each day to guess and only six chances to get it right. Wordle was snapped up by the New York Times and has since spawned dozens or perhaps even hundreds of clones – including variants that have multiple words to guess, and variants based on specific topics or franchises. There’s even a Star Trek-themed one!

Wordle blew up to become an internet phenomenon in 2022, and for a while it seemed like you couldn’t move for people showing off their Wordle results on social media. It’s become part of my daily routine – and my current streak is 77 wins in a row, going all the way back to the middle of October!

The “buggy piece of crap” Award:

🏆 “Winner” 🏆
Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection (PC version)

The PC port of Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection is the worst I’ve come across in recent years. I’d thought that the days of amateurish PC ports were finally over, but PlayStation Studios, Naughty Dog, and Iron Galaxy Studios showed me that I was wrong about that. In short, Uncharted is incredibly poorly-optimised for PC, with a piss-poor frame rate and weird visual and texture bugs that were incredibly offputting. The screenshot above shows off one such glitch.

It’s such a shame because the Uncharted series has always been a blast. The Indiana Jones-inspired games still feel like something different in the action-adventure space, even with the likes of Tomb Raider being reimagined for a new generation. The stories present here are great – but if I have to spend as much time battling bugs as I do enemies, I’m going to have a bad time. Other PlayStation titles – like Spider-Man and God of War – don’t have these issues, so I don’t understand how Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection managed to launch on PC in such a bad state.

Best Expansion Pack/DLC:

🏆 Winner 🏆
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass

The Booster Course Pass has given Mario Kart 8 Deluxe a new lease on life – even if it’s not as transformative as a new entry in the series would’ve been. I was disappointed as the year went by and it became clear that there would be no Mario Kart 9, but the Booster Course Pass has definitely convinced me to dust off my Nintendo Switch and pick up Mario Kart 8 Deluxe again.

The “wave” approach to the DLC has been fun, too, keeping the game feeling fresher for longer when compared to dumping all 48 new racetracks at once. Don’t get me wrong, the longevity of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is still an issue, and I now have the additional concern that there will be fewer racetracks left to adapt whenever Mario Kart 9 eventually comes along. But in the short-term, the Booster Course Pass is proving to be great fun.

Game of the Year:

🥈 Runner-Up🥈
Stray

Stray is absolutely adorable: a game in which you get to play as a kitty cat! I was sold on that premise alone, but what I found when I got stuck in was a genuinely enjoyable, well-paced, well-structured indie title. Stray has great graphics, with the movement of the main cat character in particular being incredibly realistic. There’s some wonderful art design in both the environments and the robotic non-player characters, too.

Stray is further proof that there’s plenty of life in the narrative, linear, single-player space, and that not every game needs to be forced into the open-world mould. But at the same time, it’s something very different. Not only is the idea of playing as an animal unique, but the game’s slow pace and focus on peaceful interaction with the environment instead of combat and quick-time events all make for a relaxing, yet deeply engrossing experience.

🏆 Winner 🏆
Disney Dreamlight Valley

If you’d told me a few months ago that my favourite game of 2022 would be an early access Disney title, I wouldn’t have believed it! But I’ve sunk well over 150 hours into Disney Dreamlight Valley since its launch at the end of August, and I’ve been having an incredible time. The game basically took all of my criticisms of Animal Crossing: New Horizons and fixed them, then threw in dozens of new features I didn’t even know I wanted – and some fun Disney-centric stories with a diverse cast of characters for good measure.

Disney Dreamlight Valley is so much fun and has so much to offer, even in this early access form, that it’s hard to know where to begin. There’s an interesting main quest, dozens of character-focused missions, the kind of home-building and design gameplay that players loved about titles like The Sims, and all of the fun of living another life in a fantasy land as you’d expect from an Animal Crossing game. There’s so much to love about Disney Dreamlight Valley, and I’m happy to crown it my favourite game of the year.

So that’s it!

At the first Academy Awards in 1929, Joseph Farnham receives his award from Douglas Fairbanks.
*Image Credit: oscars.org*

We’ve dished out awards to some of my favourite entertainment experiences of the year. The countdown is on to 2023 – there are just hours left until the sun will rise on a whole new year! Stay tuned in the days ahead because I plan to take a look at some of the things I’m most looking forward to between now and Christmas. Is that the earliest you’ve seen someone mention Christmas 2023?

I hope that this was a bit of fun. There were plenty of enjoyable films, television shows, and video games this year – despite the delays that still hang over the entertainment industry. Though I wouldn’t say that 2022 is likely to go down in history as one of the best-ever years for entertainment, I think we still got a wide variety of experiences, many of which were enjoyable.

So I suppose all that’s left to say is this: Happy New Year! Whatever you plan to do, I hope you have a wonderful time!

See you next year!

All titles listed above are the copyright of their respective owner, company, studio, broadcaster, developer, distributor, publisher, etc. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Check out reviews or articles featuring some of the films, games, and TV shows mentioned on this list by clicking or tapping the links below:

The Halo TV Series

Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

Strange New Worlds Season 1

Star Trek: Discovery 4×13: Coming Home

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass

Disney Dreamlight Valley

Disney Dreamlight Valley: early access review

Sun 13.11.22Dennis

Spoiler Warning: There are minor spoilers ahead for Disney Dreamlight Valley.

I don’t usually go for “early access” titles. Some developers and publishers really take advantage of early access, pushing out incomplete games and getting players to effectively pay full price to do the work of a quality assurance team, and just in general, I’d rather wait until a game is ready for prime-time before sinking my energy and money into it. A title has to be something truly exceptional to attract my attention while it’s still in early access. Enter Disney Dreamlight Valley.

At time of writing in November 2022, Disney Dreamlight Valley still has some of the issues that make early access titles so offputting – major missing features, an incomplete story, and some bugs, glitches, and areas where more development time is needed to give the game some polish. But despite that, I’ve sunk more than 100 hours into the game since it launched in early access back in August, and I’ve been having a whale of a time!

The title screen as of the most recent update.

Disney Dreamlight Valley blends the customisation and design gameplay of titles like The Sims with the casual life-sim gameplay of the likes of Animal Crossing, combines those with some simple but fun nonviolent puzzle-solving gameplay, and then also throws in character-focused storytelling that can absolutely compete with any narrative game on the market – at least if you’re a Disney fan! The game’s characters, all of whom are lifted directly from Disney’s extensive back catalogue of blockbuster films, feel real and feel fun to engage with, and the game has so much to offer to kids and adults alike as a result.

As expected, recent titles like Frozen and Moana feature in a big way, but Disney Dreamlight Valley also happily incorporates characters from titles that are almost certainly less well-known nowadays (especially among younger players) like The Sword in the Stone. In fact, the very first character that players will meet upon starting a new game is Merlin – a storytelling decision that I find incredibly bold.

Mickey Mouse, a player character, and Merlin.

Unlike in games like Animal Crossing, where villagers can feel flat and repetitive after a while, the characters in Disney Dreamlight Valley feel much more complete. Partly, it must be said, that’s because they’re all familiar characters from films that most players will be familiar with, but a big part of the way they come across in the game is down to some creative quest design and some pretty good writing. Characters will also interact with one another, stopping for a casual chat that players can overhear while wandering around the valley or participating in other quests, and this small detail goes a long way to making Dreamlight Valley feel like a real place and its inhabitants like real people.

As an early access title, there are of course areas with room for improvement. But I have confidence that developers Gameloft will take player feedback on board and implement changes and fixes as they have done already. Improvements have already been made, for example, to the in-game photo mode, to the impact weather can have on the game world, to certain character interactions that players generally weren’t happy with, and much more besides. One of the advantages of early access is that developers have an opportunity to get feedback from real players – and Gameloft has certainly shown a willingness to change, adapt, and tone down different elements of the game in response.

Disney Dreamlight Valley feels like it’s also taken on board feedback and criticism of other titles in the casual life-sim genre, particularly 2020’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Complaints and criticisms about that game and how difficult it was to play long-term when compared to other Animal Crossing titles abounded, and while Disney Dreamlight Valley is still very much incomplete – multiplayer and cross-platform play have yet to be added, for example – other criticisms that I and others levelled at New Horizons simply don’t apply here. Crafting, for example, is so much easier and smoother in Disney Dreamlight Valley, and the simple fact that tools don’t need to be replaced every five minutes is fantastic!

Characters feel dynamic and respond in real-time to events in the game, and each character has their own series of quests to play through in addition to the main storyline. While there’s a case to be made that exhausting all of the quests should bring the game to an end, there are still “daily duties” – mini-quests that can involve some or all of the game’s roster of Disney characters. Moreover, when the main quests and character quests have all been completed, Disney Dreamlight Valley remains fun to play as an Animal Crossing-esque casual life-sim game; there’s still fun to be had. Racing through certain questlines is not how the game is intended to be played, and several quests have natural timers – plants that take time to grow, or objectives that can only be performed at certain times of day, for instance.

Although the in-game economy works relatively well at the moment, there are potentially things that could be reworked or rebalanced in future. The titular “dreamlight,” for example, that players accumulate as a reward for accomplishing tasks and finishing quests has a limited number of uses – and when all of the different areas of the map have been unlocked, I found myself simply accumulating dreamlight by the boatload with no way to use it or spend it.

Likewise, the in-game “coins”, while slow to acquire at first, soon build up, and I found that getting a moderately decent crop farm going soon racked me up over 2 million coins – and although there are things to spend those coins on, I’ve hardly made a dent in a money vault that even Scrooge McDuck would be envious of!

Scrooge McDuck in *Disney Dreamlight Valley*.

While we’re on the subject of currencies, it’s clear that when Disney Dreamlight Valley exits its early access phase and goes free-to-play that a significant focus for the game will be on recurring monetisation and in-game microtransactions. Gameloft and Disney have not promised that all characters and story content will take the form of free updates, either, so there’s a risk in the longer-term that Disney Dreamlight Valley will turn into one of those titles that can be quite a money-sink. For parents of younger kids, that can absolutely be an issue, and it’s worth being aware of at this stage. While Disney Dreamlight Valley is currently quite generous with its various in-game currencies, one in particular – “moonstones” – is clearly being readied to be sold.

Moonstones can be earned in-game at time of writing, and are used to purchase cosmetic items like furniture, clothing, and motifs that can be added to custom designs. Players are also required to spend a large cache of moonstones in order to unlock more items for purchase via a kind of “season pass” that, once again, feels like it will be the target for future monetisation. Free-to-play games and ongoing “live services” require a source of income, but again it’s worth being aware even at this early stage that this is the model Disney Dreamlight Valley plans to adopt.

In-game monetisation is planned in future.

Character customisation is fun in Disney Dreamlight Valley, and I feel that there are a decent range of options including different body types, hairstyles, and so on – with some extras that can be unlocked in-game that weren’t available right at the start. There’s also a huge range of different types of furniture – many pieces of which are lifted from or inspired by modern and classic Disney films. And while there are plenty of clothes to choose from, I think I’d like to see a few more outfits and costumes that allow players to dress up as their favourite Disney characters. Some of the clothes feel a little too “generic” to me, and some of the costumes and outfits are more “inspired by” the films rather than directly taken from them. So that’s an area that I’d like to see improved upon! To give one example that may be more relevant to some fans than others, while Disney Dreamlight Valley includes a decent approximation of Princess Anna’s dress from Frozen, there really isn’t a good facsimile of Elsa’s dress from the same film, despite it being one of the most iconic of modern Disney Princess costumes.

But for the creatives among you, Disney Dreamlight Valley offers a pretty extensive customiser, allowing budding designers to create their own Disney-inspired outfits. The game includes a range of blank clothes – tops, dresses, hoodies, and even Mickey Mouse ears – that can be customised with patterns, designs, and much more. These designs are unlockable through gameplay, so the more time players invest in Disney Dreamlight Valley, the more options there will be when it comes to making fun outfits. Although I have the imagination and creativity of a colour-blind slug, even I managed to create a few fun designs with an intuitive and easy-to-use customiser.

Customising a dress in *Disney Dreamlight Valley*.

So that’s all there is to say for now! I may take another look at Disney Dreamlight Valley in the months ahead, perhaps when it’s ready to leave early access and go free-to-play. If you have Game Pass either for PC or Xbox, Disney Dreamlight Valley is incredibly easy to recommend. At £35/$30, there’s more than enough content to justify the price in my view – and coming in at less than “full price” is fair for a game that is still in early access and has a few issues as a result. However, despite being in early access, I found my 100+ hours with Disney Dreamlight Valley to be remarkably smooth and free from major bugs; there have only been a couple of occasions on which the game crashed, and thanks to a frequent auto-save, I didn’t even lose any progress.

There are anecdotal reports from folks who play on Nintendo Switch having a worse time with more frequent crashes and finding the game to be a less stable experience, but as I’ve played it on PC I can’t speak to that – however, it’s worth being aware of that and checking out other reviews if you plan to play on Switch.

For my two cents, Disney Dreamlight Valley is probably the most fun gaming experience I’ve had in 2022. For anyone who’s a Disney fan there’s a lot to love – familiar and new friends to meet and hang out with in a game that blends both narrative storytelling and casual life-simulation. I haven’t seen some of the newer films from which some characters were taken (Remy from Ratatouille and the titular Wall-E were both new to me) but even with that limitation, I had a whale of a time.

Disney Dreamlight Valley is also one of the best early access games that I’ve played – speaking for the PC version, at least. Despite a persistent issue with cloud saving (which I’ve been repeatedly assured is being worked on) the game is largely bug-free on PC, runs smoothly and plays exceptionally well. Were it not for the incomplete story and some impassable doors, you’d hardly realise that the game was in fact still in early access!

So there we go. I’m happy to recommend Disney Dreamlight Valley at this time. Check back when the game leaves early access and I’ll try to share my updated thoughts!

Disney Dreamlight Valley is out now – in early access – for PC, Mac, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch. Disney Dreamlight Valley is the copyright of Gameloft and the Walt Disney Company. Some screenshots used above are courtesy of Gameloft. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.