8.0
After more than a year since its original debut, Disney Dreamlight Valley is still pretty great, with cartoonish and colorful areas to explore and loads of charming characters to meet. Hanging out with a growing roster of Disney icons is a remarkably good time, and some of the recent additions, like Gaston, made my return to the valley an even more worthwhile venture. But a lot of the shortcomings from the Early Access days haven’t necessarily improved much either, including its habit of leaving stories on a cliffhanger ending, a monstrous grind that just don’t quit, and bugs that continue to plague an otherwise good time. Still, there’s something undeniably riveting about chilling with the goofy oddballs and loveable toons from Disney’s impressive catalog, and returning to this zen-like simulator washed my troubles away like few cozy games can.
