As Disney Dreamlight Valley continues its constant character addition, players and Gameloft should remember that Disney’s animated output has a limit. With this in mind, there will likely be a day when Disney Dreamlight Valley may have to turn to other properties outside of Walt Disney Animation and Pixar Studios when it comes to new characters in the game. Rather than turning to popular live-action moneymakers like Star Wars or the MCU, sticking closer to the original Disney brand through a franchise like Descendants could be the right choice for Disney Dreamlight Valley.
Disney Channel Original Movies (DCOMS) and other Disney Channel animated properties are excellent content that would be easily recognizable by Disney Dreamlight Valley’s playerbase. Both DCOMs and animated Disney Channel shows feature fantastical elements or are part of the fantasy genre, which would be better options for Disney Dreamlight Valley than a live-action non-fantastical show like Hannah Montana. As one of the most profitable DCOM franchises ever, Descendants is the perfect candidate out of Disney Dreamlight Valley’s DCOM options.
One Disney Dreamlight Valley Character Adaptation Is Still Unmatched, And It Isn’t Who You’d Think
Taste is subjective, but what is arguably the best Disney Dreamlight Valley character adaptation is surprising and highlights the game's success.
Disney Dreamlight Valley Has a Soft Spot for Villains
Descendants follows the children of iconic Disney characters, with its main protagonists being the children of villains Maleficent (daughter Mal), the Evil Queen (daughter Evie), Jafar (son Jay), and Cruella DeVille (son Carlos). Separated from society at birth on the Isle of the Lost, Prince Ben, the son of Belle and her Beast, invites the children of four villains to be integrated into the mainland through Auradon’s premiere school, Auradon Prep. Mal and her friends are encouraged by their parents to remain villainous, but throughout the first film, they turn to the side of good. The franchise has three mainline films with a prequel, Descendants: The Rise of Red, released in Summer 2024 direct to Disney+.
Players familiar with Disney Dreamlight Valley can see the redemption of Mal and her friends and easily compare it to the hit simulation. Like the Descendants franchise, Disney Dreamlight Valley places heavy emphasis on redeeming villains. However, players ultimately have the choice if they want to redeem the villainous villagers. This theme is yet another reason why Descendants should be chosen specifically, as it reinforces this key theme of the game.
How Disney Dreamlight Valley Could Add in The Descendants
Some players may be hesitant to embrace a live-action property or a property related to different versions of characters already present in Disney Dreamlight Valley into the game. These are understandable concerns, but Descendants skirts these issues in some key ways. Firstly, Descendants: Wicked World could serve as the basis of the Descendants characters’ designs as this short-form series is animated. Disney Dreamlight Valley has had a history of distorted character designs based on their animated characters in the past. Adapting a live-action property without an animated reference could make these Disney Dreamlight Valley character designs even worse. This makes Wicked World a surprisingly important aspect of Descendants that Disney Dreamlight Valley should review before adapting the property.
Currently, two of the four children from the Isle of the Lost have parents who are present, or expected, to join Disney Dreamlight Valley. Jafar was added to the game through the A Rift in Time Expansion Pass and Maleficent will join the game this summer in the second chapter of the Storybook Vale expansion. These versions of the characters are based on their source material, not the Descendants franchise. Adding a Descendants Realm to show a clear separation from preexisting characters in the game could be the perfect distinction.
Disney Dreamlight Valley’s lore also acts as a way to wave away multiple versions of characters. Though D isney Dreamlight Valley may not be pulling outside of Walt Disney Animation and Pixar Studios anytime soon, the case for the Descendants franchise being added to Disney Dreamlight Valley is solid.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 75 /100 Critics Rec: 77%
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- unity
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op
- Cross-Platform Play
- All platforms
- Cross Save
- All platforms (requires purchasing the game separately on each platform)
- Franchise
- Disney
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Verified
- Genre(s)
- Life Simulation, Casual
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PC, iOS
- How Long To Beat
- 33 Hours
- X|S Optimized
- yes
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
