Life simulationDisney Dreamlight Valleyalready featured a number of activities for players to do, including farming, fishing, and bonding with various Disney and Pixar characters. However, games likeDreamlight Valleyhave to be careful not to become too repetitive as they release more and more updates featuring fairly similar content.Disney Dreamlight Valleybucked this trend in its recent Storybook Vale expansion by adding the Story Restoration mechanic, a fun puzzle-centric feature that lets players get nostalgic about classic Disney and Pixar films.
Story Restoration Truly Feels Like Something New
Disney Dreamlight Valley’sprevious expansion, A Rift in Time, did add new mechanics in the form of Timebending - pulling artifacts from the past and future into the present using an hourglass - and the mini-gameScramblecoin. While Timebending was liked for the number of new decoration and furniture items it added to the game, it got very repetitive with its heavy reliance on button mashing. Scramblecoin, on the other hand, was found to be difficult, not contribute much to the main story, and require a large amount of grinding for points to earn rewards.
With Story Restoration, it feels like developer Gameloft has truly learned from player feedback following the introduction ofA Rift in Time’snew mechanics. The feature is deeply tied to the expansion’s story, appearing in many plot-related quests. It is also far more complex and less repetitive, featuring multiple steps and variations:
The Film-Based Puzzles Are Nostalgic, Challenging, And Fun
As of the launch of Part 1 of The Storybook Vale, there are around a dozen Disney and Pixar films that can be recreated using Story Restoration, ranging from classics likeCinderellato modern films such asFrozenandEncanto.Once a player has reconstructed a story, they will receive a unique furniture or clothing reward based on the film, and will also have the opportunity to frame the puzzle and display it in their House (after completing a Quest for Merida that teaches them how to construct said frames.)
The puzzles are extremely fun and well-crafted. Rather than using a standard jigsaw puzzle format, the shape of the pieces relate to the film being reconstructed. For example,Beauty and the Beast’spuzzle features rose-shaped pieces, whileMoana’sincludes waves, spirals, and oars. One of the trickiest puzzles current in the game,Frozen,requires players to place snowflake-shaped pieces on a primarily blue and white field. And, just like real snowflakes, no two are alike.
This mechanic is one ofDreamlight Valley’sbest, and there are plenty of opportunities for expanding it in the future - during the launch of The Storybook Vale Part 2 and beyond. More puzzles could be added based on films not currently represented, such asFantasia,Inside Out, Dumbo,and Disney’s various sequels -Frozen 2,the recently releasedMoana 2,and more. Players could even be challenged to reconstruct classic Steamboat Willie cartoons or scenes from other properties where Disney characters appear, likeEpic Mickeyor theKingdom Heartsfranchise.
