dreamlight valley – Trekking with Dennis

Some Great Holiday Sale Deals For PC Gamers

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.

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.