Nature and Nurture

It’s been an exhausting week, and I find solace in tending to my village of Dreamlight Valley. I am also starting to also consider how I will review this game since I often do not review games like these, I just either don’t write anything or share updates on what I’m up to, but since this game has a story to it, it may not be as complicated as I imagine.

After restoring the Glade of Trust, I’ve been grinding at growing crops every day, even on the days/nights that I work. I started to open the way for the other biomes and will find a way to decorate them later. One thing that I have noticed with quests in this game is that most of them involve gathering ingredients to craft something, so I will often gather the stuff and it takes up a lot of space in my inventory until I can expand.

I brought Stitch, Elsa and Ariel to the valley recently and now the only character that’s missing until the next update is Eric. I’m sure he’ll turn up at some point, just like Minnie and Ariel will be grateful for me helping her bring him to the village.

I like how she asks me how much I know about her and I ace the quiz every time since she is my favourite Disney Princess after all!

I got a better hairdo once Elsa arrived and I am really enjoying her quest to find out the secrets of the ice cavern, I can’t wait to see what’s in there, it’s like watching Frozen II all over again! And while I do that, I have been putting my coins into whatever pops into my head that needs to be fixed next and then I’m close to accessing the Forgotten Lands where the most expensive crops are. Pumpkins are worth a lot when you sell them and I also want to grow potatoes since I’m just a big potato lover. I like them mashed, baked and made into french fries! I’m almost there, so close…

Then, I met Scar in his lair in the corner of the Sunlit Plateau and he thinks he is the king of this village. He’s just as sassy as ever in this game and it makes me want to watch The Lion King again. It took a few days for me to restore the pillar since I had to grow it like the crops in my garden but it was worth the effort and he was grateful.

Now if I could just clear those piles of bones, maybe Scar will help me with it if I can gain his friendship. He now accepts me as the ruler (sort of) but declares himself king of the plateau, well I hope you don’t mind sharing your land because I already put Stitch’s house there!

Then I was able to clear all those pesky poisonous mushrooms with Merlin’s help and the larger ice rocks with Elsa’s aid. For some reason, I have an extra vial from the latter’s quest that I can’t get rid of, either that’s a bug or I will need it for later.

It was also exciting to bring over Woody and Buzz from their realm too. I’m not caught up with the Toy Story films but as soon as Buzz came to the village, he was already looking to establish a place of operations for space ranger duties! I love how once I get his friendship to max level, he’ll give me my own set of wings from the armour space rangers wear! If only I could actually fly with them! Woody on the other hand, I found a memory suggesting what he could do for the village since he was struggling to find a way to lend a hand.

So now I’m pretty much caught up until the new update which will introduce Mirabel and Olaf. Later on, Gameloft said they have plans to bring Simba and Nala in another update as well so Scar might be displeased to hear that!

Ah well, c’est la vie, I’d rather have him give me fashion advice than start a war! One thing I just noticed is after I restored the plateau, Merlin didn’t have anything for me about which pillar was next, but I guess that’s because the devs haven’t sorted that our part so I’ll just have to be patient since the story is still developing. In the meantime, I’ll keep growing crops, decorating, and befriending characters since this game has been a great escape for me in busy times.

I can’t wait to see what’s next, in fact, I’m already brainstorming where to put Mirabel’s house!

👽Emily