izigame.me

TLDR: not worth it for the price. I enjoyed it (sometimes) but the fact that you have to pay $100+ just for full access in a game that has more bugs than the bottom of a log in a swamp is absurd. Stardew Valley didn't do this to us. Devs are very greedy.
Ugh where do I even begin...I guess I'll start off by saying I don't actually completely this game. I have beef with it. In theory it's a super cute game and I love the customization and all that. The gameplay is fun and the graphics are as well. It's always fun running around with your favorite Disney character following you around! The music is cute and nostalgic. And the lore is actually pretty dope. It had a lot of potential.
But. The game has issues. Namely the pay-wall. Originally, it was released early-access so that you could pay to play the game before it was fully out and you got a few in-game goodies if you did that. I heard that eventually, it would be free to play. I don't know if that was actually true or just a rumor. But that still hasn't happened, it's still expensive as all hell. Now before you judge me for complaining about the price, hear me out. $40 would be a reasonable enough price for a game of this size and rendering as long as you're getting, you know, full access to the entire game and updates. But of coure, that $40 doesn't include all of the extra fees that they don't advertise. It's actually a whopping $70 if you get the gold edition. It's already absurd that $40 doesn't even get you access to the full game but when you realize what you're actually missing out by not getting the gold edition, you would laugh. The gold edition makes the game twice as expensive all for three completely unnecessary bonus items. That is INSANE. Like hello??? Oh but that's not all! There's also now a paid DLC!! $30 more bucks for the DLC!!! That is literally the price of the base game and from my understanding, all you get are like three more characters and a very mediocre storyline. And more stuff to spend irl money on. If you get everything, that adds up to $100. Disgustingly expensive for a glorified life/"farming" sim. (nevermind the fact that farming is barely even an important feature in this game but I digress). BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!! One of the in-game currencies called Moonstones used to be easy to get. It was a little more rare than the other main currencies but was still very possible and not too much of a burden. Like just challenging enough to get that it was a fun challenge. And the best part? It was completely free. But no longer! Because despite being in the market for it, Disney hates fun. Now Moonstones are hella rare and limited. They have made it so that if you want any of the items that require Moonstones, you have to pay irl money for it because it's practically impossible to get enough Moonstones within the time frame that the items are available. In fact, if you want access to even some quests, you have to buy Moonstones with real money. And it is NOT cheap either. It's actually ridiculous and frankly pretty gross that the game is swarming with microtransactions despite it being a full-priced game. Like if it were a free to play game, I'd still be bothered by it, but I would understand. Truthfully, it was only a matter of time until a Disney ran game started up with the microtransactions. But it is still heartily disappointing and frustrating. May I just remind you that Stardew Valley has been out since 2016, has frequent FREE minor and major updates TO THIS DAY, and the base game only costs you $15 TOTAL. And is still profitable. And he's doing that while working on a completely new game. That's how you make a game. That's how you do it. But Disney Dreamlight Valley costs a crap ton for such little gain. OH and that reminds me, I haven't even mentioned the bugs I've encountered yet.
Cost aside, there are actually other issues in the game too. There is a quest that I have been stuck on for over a YEAR (yes really, over a year) because the item I'm supposed to retrieve simply will not spawn. It doesn't exist. And yes, I am 100% sure that I didn't just miss it. I looked it up a million times, I asked other players, I tried to contact support (they never got back to me), I even stayed up late and woke up early to see if the time of day aspect of it was just being hyper sensitive. All to no avail. I literally cannot progress in the game without this quest, all because there is a bug. Ugh.
I've also heard from several people that the game crashes really badly for them. For me, it doesn't crash too much on Steam although on the Switch, it is just awful. Like, almost unplayable awful. I'm really grateful that I got the Switch version as a gift from my friend because no way in hell do I recommend buying this game more than once. It's not worth it. If you're considering getting this game on the Switch, DO NOT. It is nice that it has cross-platform compatibility and that you can play the same save file on any platform. But the Switch version is sooooooo buggy and glitchy. It's seriously so so so bad.
Oh also not gonna lie, it is kiiiinda weird being homies with the villains. Like are we gonna just skip over the fact that Gaston was a womanizer and the fact that Mother Gothel was a narcissistic abuser and the fact that Scar is, well... Scar? I could keep going. I don't remember if they've added Jafar or Hans yet but if they do and they expect me to be friends with those assholes, then I would like to have a little ~ Chat™ ~ with them. It is pretty hilarious to call Scar a kitty cat and feed him fish though.
So yeah, that's my review. Overall, I do enjoy the game and I have an insane amount of hours in it for someone that complains about it so much. I enjoy and hate it in the way that many fans of The Sims do with their game. It's a love-hate relationship, leaning heavily towards hate. This game is no longer worth it for the price. Just another classic Disney robbing everyone for absolutely no reason situation. Like come on man, you are a multibillion-dollar company, do you really need my money?? Money that I don't even have?? Get out of here. I'm all for supporting the artists but something tells me that most of this money probably doesn't even go to them, much like with everything else Disney related.