Disney Dreamlight Valley – Showcase Overview and Thoughts

I initially planned to write something under my last post, but I figured I’d just make a new post to fully talk about each thing. There’s still some time before it starts today (I’ll be writing as I watch) so before that, I want to talk about some of the things that got announced leading up to this.

I know I did talk about the initial announcement so I’ll mainly be talking about things after that and before the showcase.

The first thing that was announced were the hosts– I kind of expected it’d be the community managers of the game so I was surprised to see it’d be Kit and Krysta who you may remember from hosting Nintendo Minute. They’ve since gone on to have their own Youtube channel and Consulting Company. I didn’t know they played Dreamlight Valley, but honestly, it’ll be nice to see them hosting something again. I do watch their new videos from time to time, but still surprised Nintendo ended Nintendo Minute (though, Kit and Krysta left Nintendo anyway but).

Second, there will be codes given for three new items: A Balloon Arch, 2 Balloon Pillars, and Mickey Ears. These are mainly just color variations, but based off the Backpack (we’ll get to that), I’m guessing this is the ‘Celebration’ set.

Third, they confirmed what would be included in the ‘A Rift in Time’ expansion:

  • New Friends
  • New Biomes
  • A Whole new adventure

This does confirm there will be characters exclusive to the Biome, though, it still doesn’t necessarily confirm which ones just yet. I don’t want to assume that the characters shown in the key art are linked to this (Despite ‘A Rift in Time’ literally being on it), but the wording does make me wonder if maybe the Expansion won’t be as optional after all story-wise.

That said, the main game’s story IS complete. It had the credits roll. The Forgotten storyline was resolved for the most part (There’s still the Treehouse looking the way it is and Skull Rock which has been being led up to…). The main things missing are some of the Milestone gifts such as the Partner Statue and Community Designed Animal Companion.

But the cliffhanger says there is more to the story. Both with Skull Rock as hinted through the Forgotten’s Questline after finishing the main story and the Jafar teaser after the credits. Even outside that, there’s a lot of loose ends with all the Atlantean stuff and the Sunlit Plateau Mines. I’m also really wondering what will be included and if any will end up part of this Expansion after all.

It’s not like I haven’t paid for expansions before– that’s not really the issue, it’s more teasing something directly in the main game and then saying it’s an optional expansion puts a bad taste in my mouth. That said, we still don’t know if this will be the case and well, we should find out more details soon enough.

It was confirmed that the 2024 Roadmap will be shared during this (and hopefully more on what to expect for the rest of this year beyond the full release) and alongside various statistics, we received a new code: DDVBPACK which gives us the Celebration Backpack:


(As an aside, there was also a Halloween code released before all these announcements: HALLOWEENBUNDLE. I still add new codes as they release on my helpful tips page)

The final reason/announcement we received before Showcase day was a confirmation that we would be learning about the next free update as well which seems to include Jack Skellington at the least. I’m curious if it’ll be a new Realm or if he’ll just have his own way of showing up. There’s also the ice skating rink. Both were shown in the initial trailer about the showcase, but still nice for the confirmation they will be free. Of course, that lends even more to Rapunzel, Eve, and Gaston being part of the Expansion after all.

Regardless, it is officially Showcase Day and it’s finally starting, so here we go.

The stream was kicked off with the initial teaser trailer plus out first code: DDVBALLOON – Balloon Arch and Pillars.

We got a preview of Jack Skellington, though, no other Nightmare Before Christmas characters were shown or hinted to, plus confirmation that the next Star Path would be “Winter-themed” with some of the items available being Belle’s Winter outfit and an Ice skating rink. My Frosted Heights is pretty packed at this point, but I’ll definitely try and make some room. Belle’s Winter outfit is also one of my favorites of hers so it may be the first time there’s a costume I’m genuinely excited about. I do wish the hood was down instead of up though.

We then got to see the Road Map:

Essentially, with the full game launch out of early access, we’ll be getting Jack Skellington and Multiplayer (So, December 5th)
Late Winter: Monsters Inc. Realm. Mike and Sulley were confirmed even though only Mike was shown. I wonder if we’ll see Boo too.
Early Spring 2024: “vibrant new Villager”– maybe Daisy considering the picture?
Late Spring 2024: Mulan realm.
Summer 2024: Tiana + new recipes
Every new update will bring a new Star Path which isn’t really surprising as that’s kind of how it’s worked anyway.

Multiplayer:
Besides touring around each other’s valleys, you can:
-Give/exchange materials
-Visit each other’s Scrooge’s shop.

Hopefully this can help me knock out the items I’m missing. It does mean you can’t give items though which stinks as I would love to give people copies of older items they may have missed out on. I’m also looking forward to helping friends out with my material hoards.

We then got to hear more about the DLC– Eternity Isle is made up of three biomes: Ancient’s Landing (where you’ll meet Eve), Glittering Dunes (where you’ll meet Gaston), and Wild Tangle (where you’ll meet Rapunzel). The map is similar in size to the original Valley map, you can decorate the biomes the same way you would in the main valley (and the island has an entirely separate point counter).

The Biomes will contain new plants and ingredients (which we can take back to our valley to place as well). The biome Critters will be Capybaras, Monkeys, and Cobra Snakes. Some of the new ingredients are Strawberries, Cinnamon, and Fantasy Figs.

I don’t really have a complaint with the Biome sizes or anything. That’s honestly a lot (and I was expecting $10-$15 for one new biome). I am still kind of bothered with the characters they’re tying to this due to one being teased very early on, and another being heavily tied to a character in the main game, but Realms are still free and plenty of great characters are still coming to the main game for free as well. I’m assuming they are tied heavily to the story and it’s why it needed to be these characters, but I really hope we’ll get Flynn/Eugene much sooner than it took us to finally get Rapunzel.

Eternity Isle will apparently be made of three chapters with the first (Welcome to Eternity Isle) launching December 5th. The second part will be launched in Spring 2024 (The Spark of Imagination), with the final part (Treasure of Time) launching in Summer 2024.

This is definitely a minority opinion, but I would’ve preferred the expansion not happen until Summer 2024 then have things split up like this. I really don’t care for the split-up situation and considering this isn’t even going to be in Early Access anymore, it doesn’t feel like there is a good reason to do this either beyond drawing out the story and playtime.

The other kind of off-putting part for me is that Jafar and the new tool were already hinted at before the Expansion announcement and it just feels weird to have Jafar tied to an expansion then instead of part of the main game story. I’m in no way saying the Expansion doesn’t look like it’s worth the price or anything, but just that the content itself being tied to it feels a bit questionable to me I guess. The tool, for those who may have forgotten, was teased on one of the early roadmaps as well so this has clearly been in the works for some time, but it just… shouldn’t have been there if it’d be a paid DLC thing I guess.

The tool looks really neat and I’m excited to see all the ways it can work with puzzles and am already wondering how it ties into places in our existing valley (which again, makes it being a paid expansion still feel kind of surprising to me) such as the interesting door in the Forgotten’s Castle…

We’ll also be getting special machines we can craft that can automate stuff such as Watering and Cooking and, kind of like with Ursula’s transformation in her dream bundle, really feel like stuff that shouldn’t be tied to a paid DLC concept.

Other miscellaneous new features were the confirmation of more cooking recipes (finally) with some confirmed to be Poutine, Latkes, Biryani, and Arepas. Also, a Strategy board game you can play with villagers? Player with the most coins wins. I’m pretty terrible with these, but at least it seems like it’ll just be for fun.

Plus, the other code: DDVHEADBAND. It wasn’t working until like… several minutes after the Stream ended, but seems to be working now at least.

Finally, the game is coming to Apple Arcade, which I guess is as close to ‘free-to-play’ as you can get considering it’s just thrown into the Apple Arcade subscription. It’ll apparently include both the base game and the new expansion– A Rift in Time. No Star Paths or Premium Shop will be in the game (so will you just have the items in Scrooge’s Shop?).

And can I just say how much I hate that they can do versions like that for Apple Arcade, but still have to do microtransaction-y stuff for everything else? Apple Arcade is not that much and even in the long run, they will likely finish the game and be able to get everything for much cheaper than those stuck with the microtransaction-mess that games are lately and it just… why.

I think right now the big thing is that there’s not really a good excuse for the Premium Shop and/or the Star Path when we’ll be having more full expansions (thus in the $30 range) and the game will continue to cost money. The Premium Shop is still awful with the rotation system (just make everything always show up…) and the Star Path brings way too many limited items into the fold.

Personally, I’d rather see both gone and Moonstones just be able to be used for old Star Path/Founder’s Pack/Event items and stuff. Including like… the 1-week Crocodile and other code stuff too. Other options are just the ability to get certain things sooner, but still being able to earn them in-game.

Despite my concerns, I really do think the Expansion looks great. I just wish everything felt more balanced.

Happy Halloween! Let’s talk about the Ghost Town Pumpkin Festival

For those who have not heard of it before, it’s a free to play game where you can carve Pumpkins and roam around as a Ghost. It’s been going for a few years now and this version even brought along a Supporter’s Version which you can pay $2 to also have cute hats to put on your Ghost.

I’ve been participating every year, but this is the first year I’ve gotten to play with friends in addition to my usual solo adventures and it was a lot of fun.

This year also added in new activities such as the Haunted Hayride and a Maze and it was just genuinely a lot of fun. It’s still going for about a week, but since today is Halloween there is a Skeleton Dance Party.

Honestly though, every year it’s just such a blast and it’s so cool seeing how creative everyone is. I’d highly recommend checking it out and I can’t wait until next year. Below you can find some of my other photos through the years (and some pictures of my pumpkins!). Most of the group photos were taken by Diggeh or other random players in the game.

At some point, maybe I’ll set up a general overview page with the photos and all the Pumpkins I’ve done over the years :)

The Achievement Situation is still a Problem

I last wrote about the Achievement situation over 8 years ago and while I’d love to say I’m surprised it’s still as bad as it is, I’m unfortunately not. Just disappointed.

The short version of this is that Gameplay shouldn’t be locked by Achievement progress. If you have a mode that is unattainable or near impossible without getting all the things, it’s especially frustrating. Similarly, if a large part of your content is a customization-related thing (whether it be a wearable or decorative cosmetic), then those also shouldn’t be link to achievements. Most people who want to do these things do so for the difficulty/sense of achievement itself or score-based reasons– I just want to be able to access all the main gameplay for a game I paid for in the first place.

Achievements can exist on a page or be a little title or whatever, but I’m… so tired of getting so close and falling short because of things being locked and not even getting a chance to try.

I was really excited when it seemed like Super Mario Bros. Wonder had made it so the coins and flag poles this time were just tied to the stage pages and a little medal number next to your name. Only to find out there are two levels locked to getting all those done. Again.

I don’t care about all the score-based collectibles– I’m much more a trinket person, but I really wanted to get all the badges, Wonder Seeds, and do all the levels and it sucks to end up hitting a hard stop on that goal because it’s something I know I won’t be able to do.

It took me so long to complete certain levels, just trying over and over in hopes that maybe one time I’d finally get the timing right, but my hands are too small to easily hit all the buttons I need and I ended up really hurting my hand by the time I finally got it with just one second left. It’s not a fun or satisfying feeling, all I felt was pain and relief it was over, but I didn’t feel successful or good about it because I don’t get any joy out of playing solely for a challenge. I just want to experience all parts of a game/story, but stuff that feels really hard for no reason doesn’t really do it for me.

And they add in things like the ghosts to help you or Yoshi and Nabbit who can be invincible (unless it’s poison/lava/etc. because too bad then otherwise it’d sure help a lot), yet still end up cutting game content off to silly arbitrary trophies.

It just sucks to have put so much time and many attempts in, even to the point of pain, and be told “No, you still don’t get to try all the courses because you didn’t get this extra coin” or “You fell too short on the pole, too bad”. I’m not sure if I’ll try again, but it ended up making a game I had been enjoying a lot, despite some frustrating levels, finish with a bitter taste in my mouth. Like why I even bothered if it was just going to mean I once again fell short.

This kind of thing just constantly blows my mind because there seems to be such a disconnect on casual vs hardcore games and it’s not that black & white. I love collecting all the things, I love doing all the levels and stuff, but I don’t care about a lot of the ‘extra’ stuff like bonus coins or hitting certain timers at the end. But I also want to have fun and not have to practically break my hand smashing buttons to get the exact height and speed I need to complete these things.

To full completionists, I’d be a casual gamer. To casual games, I’d be a completionist/hardcore gamer. I don’t fit into either box really. But more and more, I miss when achievements were just a silly little pop-up or an extra bonus to your score and didn’t really matter in the grand scheme of thing. They were for those players who wanted more of a challenge without sacrificing/locking gameplay for those who maybe struggle a bit more.

And I hate that not only does it keep happening, but that people rarely see the problem in the first place.

Disney Dreamlight Valley – Interlude and Recent News Thoughts

So… quite a lot of news dropped today. I think most people are happy from what I’ve seen thus far, but I definitely can see some people being upset too.

For those who haven’t read the article yet, the short version is:

  • Game leaves early access December 5th. Free-to-Play will not be happening just yet despite the leave of Early Access.
  • A full expansion happening. Costs $30.
  • When Early Access ends, so will Founder’s Packs. Replaced with the Standard Version of the game + 5K Moonstones ($40), the Cozy Edition (only physical option, $50, comes with some exclusive pets and taunts me so), Gold Edition ($70)– Comes with 15,000 Moonstones, 3 Exclusive items (A Capybara pet, special house, and some outfits), and includes the DLC, and the expansion pass itself is $30 (So if you’re new and want the game and expansion pass in one, it’s essentially the price of each + bonuses).
    • Anyone who owns a Founder’s Pack will receive the Gold Edition exclusives for free in addition to 2,500 Moonstones. This applies to anyone who buys one by December 4th as well– essentially whether you already have one or buy it before December 5th, you will get these.
  • Special Livestream going into more detail about the Expansion and what is to come on November 1st, 1PM Eastern Time.

I think the biggest bit of discussion is the fact that Free-to-Play is being pushed back to who knows when. The game will be remaining a paid game for the “foreseeable future”. In all honesty though, I don’t actually think that’s necessarily a bad thing. I do feel bad for people who had been holding off on the game for it to be Free-to-Play and now knowing this may never even happen (or at least not for a very long time), but the number of games I’ve seen go Free-to-Play and take a turn for the worse is immense at this point and considering how much better Moonstones have been to earn since the edition of Dream Snaps, I can understand why this choice may have been made. Personally though, I’d love to see the Star Path or Premium Shop go away if they are going to keep it a pay for game and have the expansions.

I know some people are upset because there is still the Premium Shop and everything, but microtransactions have long since stopped being exclusive to Free-to-Play games and they are still purely cosmetic. There are MMOs that require money to buy the game, have full-priced expansions, and microtransactions paired with a subscription and for me, I’m just thankful Dreamlight Valley does not have a subscription tied to it. I would say the worst stand out to me is the Star Path/Mission Pass more-so than anything else.

As for the Expansions, they said from the start that there would eventually be paid for expansions that added biomes. Again, this isn’t new and while maybe people felt better about those if the game was free-to-play, paid for expansions for a game you bought is certainly not new in any way so… again, doesn’t feel too odd. Of course, whether it’s worth the price tag will depend on what we learn from the livestream.

I do have mixed feelings on story content being locked to expansions though (even the smaller ones and as I brought up before, I still think Ursula’s is especially bad as you have to buy this Moonstone Expansion/Dream Bundle in order to turn her into a fully usable character which DOES have an effect on gameplay). New biomes is one thing, but even if it’s not the main story, I feel like story and quest content is part of what makes Dreamlight Valley so unique in the first place.

I would say my biggest concern though is with the characters shown on the Key Art.

Rapunzel has been teased since the start and initial trailers. Eve has been constantly brought up by WALL-E. Neither one of them should be stuck to a optional Biome Expansion in my opinion. Gaston, fine, but in general, I don’t really care for characters being tied to expansions. But I guess it’d be a hard sell just for new biomes. I’m hoping I don’t get too tempted by a new biome because moving everything out of the meadow may kill me, but so many waterfalls.

There’s a lot of familiar things in the key art and one stand-out is Agrabah. While I do not think it’ll necessarily be tied to the expansion due to the teaser at the end of the main story and the fact that main story content is supposed to always be free/included in the main game, but it does mean that not everything in the Key Art may necessarily be tied to the Expansions.

I’m also excited for new Critters– it seems Snakes, Monkeys, and Capybaras will be options for the new biomes. Along with various other stuff too.

Moving on, as mentioned above in my short summary, Global Launch will have new versions of the game available to buy and Founder’s Packs will be retired (I still think the items should stick around as DLC bundles, personally). I really wish we could buy the Cozy Edition Exclusives as well. I just have no reason really to buy the game again. And I’m so paranoid of screwing up the Cloud Save or something. But I really want the Raccoon Companions :(

That said, I’ve seen people upset that new players can buy a bundle that includes the Expansion that costs the same price as the Ultimate Edition. And I mean, we got… a lot more items in edition to 20,000 Moonstones. And it still technically costs them more for the game itself which will now be priced at $40 versus the $30 it currently is (The extra $40 we spent was essentially the Moonstones and then all the cosmetics and furniture from the other two Founder’s Sets in addition to more cosmetics just for the Ultimate bundle that were really just extra bonuses as the value was all int he Moonstones).

And we are getting those Cosmetics from the Gold Edition along with some Moonstones just for having a Founder’s Pack, so… And the expansion itself also comes with 5,000 Moonstones.

Anyway, the livestream is November 1st and I’ll wait to say much more until we see all the details. I’ll likely edit this post and put my thoughts at the bottom unless I feel I have tons more to say.

Overall though, I would say right now it sounds okay. I just want to be able to get the Cozy Edition Cosmetics too and I hope not too much of what was advertised previously is exclusive to an expansion.

Moving on, what I’ve been up to in DDLV in the meantime. In all honesty, not much… Mainly it’s been back to just checking Scrooge’s Shop each day and taking care of Dream Snap stuff every Wednesday.

My latest Dream Snap entries:

I also managed to get some new items I’ve been pretty excited about and have been doing my best to decorate with. I’ve also been excited for the new HALLOWEENBUNDLE code as it let me get the Pumpkin assortment I was still missing too.


Anyway, I don’t expect much to really be happening until we get the next content update which I’m guessing we’ll hear news on during the livestream. Just 5 days to go…

Disney Dreamlight Valley – Continuing to help the Forgotten and Decorating

I had initially planned to just add onto my last post, but with all the hints to Skull Rock and continuing storyline, I decided to keep the rest of it together for a new post.

Before we get to it, I will say once again, I really just do not care much for intentionally dragging things out by walling :( One part per week isn’t much fun and considering it’s exact hours, knowing my progression is also pushed back due to the bugginess of the whole giving flowers to Mickey means my entire progress is pushed back until the evening and it just… really stinks.

To start, we had the Forgotten wanting to make up for not fulfilling Mickey’s and Goofy’s favors originally. I didn’t really screenshot much of this for various reasons, but I’m glad we finally made up for that because that scene made me feel awful playing through the memories.

Unfortunately, the quest can get a bit buggy where the Forgotten can go MIA when they need to give the flowers to Mickey. It took me ages to get it to finally work and then things got even more frustrating when blue bubbles, which are the main way to get Shrimp (they can show up in white bubbles randomly, but blue bubbles are their usual spawn), would not spawn for me at all :|

This meant I ended up finishing the quest fairly late in the day which also meant I essentially have the entire questline pushed back to evening now and it’s just… I hate walling so much. Just let me do it all!! All the Skull Rock hints especially are taunting me so much. I know some people get bored if they don’t have things to check in, but I personally like getting things out of the way and then being able to just relax and/or save up for future stuff.

Regardless, another week passed and as I waited for the Forgotten to prompt the next quest, I decided to work on some other things. First, I got this new item and I’m really happy that I’ve been finally seeing new items in Scrooge’s Shop in general.

Second, I ended up finally decorating the Forgotten Lands. I’m honestly pretty happy with it, despite going into it with little idea of what I wanted to do.


I think this officially makes the Glade of Trust the least decorated now, but I just have no real ideas for what to put there just yet. The area itself is an odd mishmash of fantasy, swamp, and Atlantean and so I can’t think of much that really meshes too well.

That evening, the Forgotten’s questline finally popped and so I was able to continue. The goal this time was helping them with a new poem that required us to ask the Villains for help and give the final line ourselves.

The Forgotten then asked for us to make a poetry corner for them to share their poem and I’m assuming because Ursula’s transformation is DLC (and… doesn’t register even if you have it for this I guess), Merlin is here instead for some reason.

This was honestly kind of cute so I’m debating trying to remake it to some extent to put back here. I wish we had the Bundle of Scrolls…

With that done, I ended up continuing to work on getting new items from Scrooge and also ended up doing a few more adjustments to the Forgotten Lands. Now there is a path to where you can head down to Sunlit Plateau.


And then we finally got to another week passing, but it seems there was no more Forgotten quests. I guess the build-up to Skull Rock is for whatever the next update is then.

I did end up doing one thing with Wednesday’s update though and I picked up the Frosty Fortress. I knew the change to place houses separately would end up getting me. I might pick up Prince Eric’s boat the next time it shows up now too…

It really fits into Frosted Heights perfectly, but I’m super bummed you can’t actually go up the stairs.

Besides decorating and everything with the Forgotten, I have been continuing to enter the Dreamsnaps. It’s genuinely the best way to try and make any Moonstones, especially as I am awful at finding my daily chest even if I’m checking every day.

Tokyo Game Show VR returns for 2023!

You may remember me talking about TGS VR 2021 and 2022 in my post from last year. When they mentioned that TGSVR would be returning for 2023 with “Sky Islands” along with quest and magic systems, I was thrilled. I had tons of fun in 2021 and 2022 was such a huge upgrade in so many ways, even if it was also a bit overwhelming. There was a story and a boss fight and just… it was genuinely really cool.

Unfortunately, while I am still happy TGS VR happened this year (I’d prefer that over it no longer happening at all), it did end up feeling like a bit of a downgrade to say the least.

The customization didn’t feel as fun or unique (maybe if we got to create an avatar like last year and got to pick hats/new hairstyles/outfits/magic type separately), there’s a lot less to do, everything is smaller in general (though, still very pretty), and the end area for finishing everything felt small.

There are no rides, no quizzes (at best, one quest per area requires you to take a photo of the right answer for one of the NPCs), the only interactive thing, besides obviously the magic and some quests, is some NPCs in areas and watching a bike race. You can’t ride along. You can’t actually race yourself. The magic is also linked to whatever costume you’re wearing and only so many even have anything unique.

There are 24 total quests which is down from the 84 Fragments of 2021 and 72 Quests from 2022 (Plus… no cutscenes or rides).

It’s still very pretty and I did enjoy the quest system versus just clicking random objects– I just wish there was more to it, better customization, and more things to interact with. I’ve always really loved the rides.

Anyway, you can check out my playthrough here:

And here are the many photos I took from around the areas, including the Theater which isn’t in the video above.


Edit: September 23rd, my friend Diggeh streamed going through it and I was part of it. Here are some more fun photos from playing together! I’ll also be uploading my PoV soon…

Disney Dreamlight Valley – Ursula’s Daily Deals and the Forgotten

It’s officially been a week now since my last DDLV post which means the Forgotten Questline can be continued! But before we do that, I’ll talk a bit more about Ursula’s Dream Bundle. As I mentioned in my last post, it had felt a bit short, but apparently there were daily quests which are… fine I guess. I feel like WALL-E’s was still more interesting, but maybe because I like the character and what you got from it more.

For the most part, the quests were very simple. Goofy’s was the most involved (needing to gather up some seaweed and red algae which I’ve been hoarding materials so wasn’t really any issue for me) while Moana’s required just gathering some coconuts to take to WALL-E, and Donald’s was mostly just chatting and going to a couple of different places and interacting with some things. Anna’s was also another simple one, though, required you to go at some new ice blocks with a pickaxe for ice shards in addition to snowballs.

We also got some nice character development for Ursula which again makes this feel like it shouldn’t be an extra DLC. Silly side stuff is fine, but the whole making her function like the other characters and character development just doesn’t feel optional to me.

The final quest with Olaf was probably my favorite one. The item reward is neat too.

Besides taking care of Ursula’s new quest and checking the shop, I haven’t really been doing much. There were new memories to grab in Donald’s and Elsa’s houses though.

I also finished the Star Path. I may put some items in the Forgotten Lands, but I’m still kind of undecided on how I want to decorate there. Maybe going through the Forgotten’s Quest will help or if we can do more with the treehouse at some point. I did use some of the pirate items near Donald’s Boat though:

And as you can probably guess by this post going up, a week finally passed which meant we had the Forgotten’s Quest! Which… didn’t take particularly long. I don’t know if there is a follow-up to it. There is more brought up about the Skull Cave, but whether we’ll have anything this update or not, I’m not entirely sure. I’m leaning towards no due to how it’s worded, but maybe there will be more to this questline. I guess we’ll just have to see next week (and I’ll edit this if so).

The quest essentially had you helping the Forgotten still find beauty in ‘ordinary’ things. They ask to see “one yellow flower in the Forgotten Lands”, a “really neat bird with dark feathers”, and the “giant skull near Dazzle Beach”. Simple enough– for anyone having issues with the first two, the only yellow flower that grows in the Forgotten Lands is the Yellow Nastrutium and the bird is specifically the Classic Raven which is the completely black one– no other Raven will count.

The Classic Raven is only available Monday, Thursday, and Saturday so if you don’t have it befriended, you may need to wait until a different day to take a photo of it.

Once that’s done, the Forgotten asks for us to make a room for them inside of our house which is… surprising. I really expected the Treehouse to get fixed up or something, but okay. I did my best to make a nice space at least. I have no idea what other rooms to put on the 3rd floor though… I’ll have to see if I get inspired.

Of course, the Forgotten’s Quest didn’t end up being the only thing waiting today. Olaf also had a follow-up quest about the 100 Sticks he asked for from the Fairy Godmother. It was… Something. I kind of wish it was a unique item over 10 Sturdy Chairs, but oh well.

Finally, I ended up working on the latest DreamSnaps. I actually really liked the outfit I made for it so I ended up adding another mannequin to the Sewing Room.

I also ended up getting one of the new bundles in the Premium shop since I like exploration-esque stuff (maybe that could be one of the rooms?) and if I see the word “fountain”, I kind of need it, but… the Fountain is kind of disappointing. You can’t use the stairs on the item so you can barely see beyond the dripping without playing around with the camera.

It’s also huge. I don’t know if I’ll keep it there, but it works for now.

Pokemon Violet – The Teal Mask DLC

It’s odd. I thought I had written a post about Pokemon Violet, but apparently, I never finished it and just ended up putting all the screenshots in a game summary page. So, before I get to the DLC, I guess I’ll talk a little about the game itself.

Overall, the short and simpleness of it is that I’ve mostly been mixed on it. I don’t dislike it and I do find it a less overwhelming than I found Arceus (even if most people prefer the latter), but I don’t like big changes in plot based off version and this Pokemon went a lot of… unique directions story-wise that were pretty depressing.

I like the cutscenes, but the lack of any voices makes them feel somewhat flat as even the music doesn’t really make up for it which at least Silent Pictures usually had. At the very least, I always appreciate when my character shows actual emotion during scenes and isn’t smiling the entire time.

The uniform system is so frustrating, and it blows my mind how one game can have a lot of options and the next can be a downgrade in some (or in this case, many) ways. I think I’d be less frustrated if there was at least a more feminine option? I hate that it’s all pants and shorts.

I’m also not one to shiny hunt or anything, but I’m not entirely sure why the whole… sparkle effect was made so mundane in this version.

Finally, it blows my mind that we have our own Dorm and can’t customize it at all, especially when we can visit our friends’ dorms and they are all decorated to some extent for them and it feels like a missed opportunity.

Overall, I still did have fun with the game. I like the picnic customization options we have (and we even can customize chairs now with the DLC) and I do find the characters interesting. I also really love the commemorative photos after each milestone.

Regardless, onto the DLC! There will be spoilers so if you don’t want any details of what to expect, maybe stop reading here.

It took me a while to figure out how to actually start it since I… uh… expected it to be our usual teacher and ran past the NPC by the entrance. Oops. In my defense, Jacq did call us so I expected to see him.

Anyway, there is a special field trip, but for whatever reason students are only chosen by raffle, only four were even chosen from your school (including yourself) and two from another school– Blueberry Academy from Unova and the other three going with you are three students you’ve never met before and are barely even named.

Regardless, we made it safely to Kitakami.

Unfortunately, Hat Kid ended up getting motion sickness from the bus ride and so we’re send into town where we run into the Blueberry Academy kids, Carmine and Kieran. In all honesty, I think I would’ve preferred sticking with our unnamed friends. Carmine rubbed me the wrong way from the start and while she gets better later, she’s still kind of a lot?

Kieran was a bit of the reverse being a lot more mellow and he just gets… weirder as the story goes on and that’s putting it lightly before his whatever kind of meltdown happens at the end leaving the story on a cliffhanger. Of course, we’re getting a bit ahead of ourselves so…

After battling Carmine, we finally get to head to where we’d be staying and met the Caretaker who went to check on poor carsick Hat boy.

It turns out that Carmine and Kieran are actually from here so instead of staying with everyone else, they’re going to be living at their Grandparents’ house for the trip instead. Despite the split, our big field trip activity is Orienteering– we need to find three signs in pairs of two and to get everyone better acquainted, we need to pair up with one of the Blueberry Academy students. We ended up getting paired up with Kieran who really likes us at the moment which I mean, if I had to pick at the time, I was going to pick him because Carmine has been kind of… rude to say the least.

My favorite part of this was getting the cute photo spots again. It’s also kind of fun seeing Kieran slowly warm up to us as we get each spot.

The big plot of the DLC is that Briar, the field trip organizer, is looking into information in regards to the mysterious legendary mentioned in the Violet Book which crosses over to the next DLC and specifically with this DLC is the story of the legendaries here: An ogre caused havoc to the town and the “loyal three” chased it off and took the masks it stole. Kieran sympathizes with the Ogre and feels bad for it, thinking maybe it wasn’t so bad.

One of the things I was really excited about were some of the new customization options introduced with the DLC such as changing certain menu screens based off your phone case and/or location and meeting this guy who let me customize my picnic table’s chairs.

The next sign was near the festival area and we even made our way to the Ogre’s home. Alas, they were not there.

It was then time for the Festival! Carmine and Kieran’s grandparents kindly gave us an outfit and did our hair which is… fine. I kind of wish we could’ve chosen a color. I also don’t know why this game has to have everything have pants. Let me have a skirt. Even if it’s over the pants.


I decided to keep the hair, but I just… I need to be in pink, okay? Regardless, this is also one of the few times you find out about Carmine being more considerate of you… Just not to your face.

Alas, you do not have a mask and the mask salesperson is MIA (also when you do get masks, you have to wear them on your face– you can’t wear them on the side of your head like Carmine and Kieran :( ).

Regardless, you still get to check out the festival and even play a new minigame.

I actually had some fun with the minigame for a point… until they added in Pokemon that will eat everything you gathered up when there is already a timer stressing me out and then it wasn’t fun for me anymore.

You then run off due to noticing a unique figure and Carmine ends up coming after you. Turns out you’ve run into the Ogre! And they’re adorable.

While running away, our poor Ogre friend runs off and drops their mask in the process.

Unfortunately, we are not able to return it :( We end up bringing it to Carmine and Kieran’s Grandpa in hopes he can repair the mask as it was damaged when it fell.

It is here we learn the truth– the Ogre’s real name is Ogrepon and it was actually the victim of the story. Ogrepon and a friend were initially not welcomed due to being seen as scary so they wore masks to blend in better and make friends. The “loyal three” stole the masks and Ogrepon got revenge due to the three hurting the friend. Carmine is very upset about this, but Grandpa says we shouldn’t tell anyone because it could cause an uproar.

To make matters worse, Carmine also doesn’t want us telling Kieran anything because she thinks he’ll get upset that we saw the Ogre without him. Kieran, who overhears things to some extent but us being sworn to secrecy just makes him feel left out anyway. I really wish we could’ve either told him the truth or at least explained why Carmine didn’t want us to and that he should ask her about it versus flat out lying to him.

Meanwhile, in my constant tendency to get side-tracked, I noticed Mr. Jacq followed us anyway. He invites us to a picnic and gives us an egg. (I hatched it eventually– I got a female Piplup)

It was then time to head to our final sign. Unsurprisingly, our pair finished first even with us taking a long break between the second and third signs.

We then meet back up with Carmine to try and find the crystal to prepare Ogrepon’s mask.

We then head to the Monument of the “Loyal Three” which Carmine is pretty upset about and then for whatever reason… The three come back to life, destroying the monument in the process.

With the Teal Mask fixed and out of concern for Ogrepon, we rush off to Ogrepon’s home and just look at her adorable face:

It was here when I noticed that Purrin was hanging out in town. I’m not sure how soon she gets there, but we were a little short of her requirements (need 150 in the Kitakami Pokedex) and still in the middle of the story so her quest would have to wait.

Regardless, going back to the main story, our next goal ended up being to get those masks back for Ogrepon as unfortunately, the Caretaker at the Shrine gave them back to the “Loyal Three” due to not knowing they’re the villains of this story. Kieran decided not to join us to re-get the masks so it was just Carmine, Ogrepon, and I doing our best as we took on the Evil Three to retrieve the masks.

While we were busy on mask retrieval duty, Kieran decided to tell everyone Ogrepon’s true tale despite his Grandpa’s worries. In the end, it all worked out thankfully.

It was then Ogrepon wanted to stay with us due to all the help which Kieran did not take well. After losing yet again, he was… not happy to say the least. But look at how cute Ogrepon is.

And after a bit more battles and things, our story was over… for now. After credits, we also see Kieran slowly going evil which feels like a lot to worry about, but nothing we can do about it now apparently.

Of course, there were still various post-game things to do. For one, we had to apparently earn a million pokedollars to rebuild the monument…

I then headed to catch the other three legendaries. 2/3 I managed to get with Quick Balls (even if I accidentally knocked one out multiple times) while one required loyal health and a lot of ball throwing attempts.

It was then off to meet back up with Perrin. She wants to try and find a special version of Ursaluna who… honestly, looks like they’ve gone through some stuff and need some hugs? I don’t know what happened, but Blood Moon Ursaluna is kind of terrifuing.

The photography was actually really fun and I’m kind of sad it ended up being a short one-time thing. I really would’ve preferred more of that than the other minigame.

With that done, my next goal was finishing up the Pokedex here.


Of course, that left one goal still undone… Finishing up the Monument Pokedollar raising. And that’s where Billy and O’Nare come in– an eccentric rich couple who refer to themselves as Glitterati and will end up giving you more than enough to rebuild the Monument and still have quite a bit left over.

You’ll have to find them various places across both maps, but it’s definitely an interesting side quest.

With that done, it was time to fix up the monument which uses the exact same assets was even rebuilt with all the pre-existing scratches and everything! What a dutiful job. I honestly was kind of bummed with this– I really would’ve liked to see it get upgraded and also add Ogrepon in :/

Anyway, you earn this for completing the monument and that’s it.

I’m really excited for the next DLC and to see everything left hanging in this one get resolved.

Disney Dreamlight Valley – Belle is finally here!!

If you prefer videos, you can watch my playthrough of everything I mention here over on Youtube!

Today is going to be quite the packed day, but I’m so happy I’ll finally be able to have Belle in my Valley. To start, I did end up going over the Meadow with more paths last night:

I think the main difference for me is the rounded corners and here those just add a lot more than the sharp edges. Other places still look better with natural pathing. I may consider changing things up in Frosted Heights and maybe also the Forgotten Lands, but I think the natural look may be nicer more or less everywhere else. Or maybe at least parts of Sunlit Plateau.

Regardless, it is officially update day! Which also meant I was overwhelmed by many things. As much as I wanted to start everything with Beauty and the Beast first, I had hoped to focus on the Forgotten stuff to begin with incase of any gating.

Ursula’s quest I’d save for last, but hopefully I can get through things pretty quickly as I remember WALL-E’s quest having some specific times required and we have a lot to do today between the Beauty and the Beast realm, new friendship quests, the Forgotten, and Ursula’s whole thing.

That said, if you already have played today, you’d know that wasn’t actually possible as the Forgotten’s Quest won’t unlock until September 20th, 2023 at the earliest– it unlocks a week after you’ve finished the main story questline or if you finished it before this update, a week after the update launches… thus, not until the 20th. I expected some timegating, but not to even start it :(

With such a busy week ahead, I’m pretty bummed. It’s going to be hard balancing everything. I did check out some new stuff as well and did end up grabbing one thing I couldn’t resist from the Premium Shop… I’m sad the house isn’t actually usable though.

Regardless, with that plan unable to be started, it was time to get to the Beauty and the Beast realm.

The Castle was honestly so pretty. I adored it so much.



I wish my house could have this fancy kind of layout…

Unsurprisingly, Belle was found in the library. Oh, to have a giant library and a fireplace…

The entire questline was really fun and I loved the whole secret passage and figuring out riddles and stuff. I won’t spoil everything, but here are some nice screenshots:


And if you’re struggling with finding the pieces of the key: Dig up a hole in the garden, water the fireplace (shown above), and break the Lion with a pickaxe to get all the pieces. I felt awful doing that last one though and putting out the fire…

Belle moved into the Valley first, but it didn’t take long for Beast to arrive at all.


I will say the inside of their castle is kind of a let-down though. After seeing the Realm, I really expected something more grand… Or at least more than one room? Even Prince Eric’s castle is bigger…

Unsurprisingly, I had to move things around to make room for the castle, but I think it worked out more or less.

It was then time for the friendship grind and I started with Belle’s questline. Firstly, I have to say how much I love some of the new items. I haven’t quite figured out a place yet for where to put the new columns, but I did try and force this adorable reading nook somewhere:

I wish I had a reading nook…

I loved Belle’s questline a lot. There were a lot of neat mystery-esque stuff and knowing we essentially had our own mystery group together warmed my heart.

If you’re struggling with the Translation Machine answers, it’s:
-Phillipe
-During Chapter 3
-A Clock

Similarly, the symbols you can find for the chest– one is literally right next to the chest when at Ariel’s island, one is by the door in Frosted Heights, one in on a rock near the lake in Glade of Trust, and one is on a rock near the crystals in Forgotten Lands.


You can find these even if it isn’t night– just I’m guessing they glow at night which probably helps them stand out more.

In alignment with the mystery theme, the Star Path tasks are actually riddles in and of itself too which is interesting. I’ve found them pretty simple, but I’ve seen so many people asking that I’m not sure if this was really the right way to go about it. For those who need some help:
-Uproot the Forgetting = Remove Nightthorns
-Break some rocks = Mine the mining spots/rocks
-Spend time with some Classic Friends = Hang out with anyone from the Mickey & Friends group in Collection
-Better to give than receive = Give gifts
-Build Stuff = Craft items
-Goofy’s Favorite Pasttime = Fishing
-Pick the fruits that put Snow White to sleep = Apples
-Cook meals that would never make the cut at Chez Remy = Cook 1 Star Meals (which are served there so uh– this feels poorly done considering the star ranks are by ingredients, not meal quality)
-Make small talk = Daily Discussions
-Stuff your face with second-class meals = Eat 2 or higher star meals
-Very valuable rocks = Mine gems
-Sorcerer’s Apprentice = Mickey
-Impress a Wizard with something he loves = Give Merlin his favorite gifts
-Work a shift at the Restaurant/Serve up some delicious orders = Serve meals at Remy’s restaurant
-Catch a rainbow-y fish = Catch Rainbow Trout
-Pick red flowers that grow only in the Peaceful Meadow – Red Daisies
-Bond with your animal companions – Pet whatever Critter you have equipped
-A very speedy princess = Vanellope
-Engage in Scrooge McDuck’s Favorite Hobby, Increase your coin “collection”, Add to your Riches – Make Star Coins
-Lime-green Gem = Peridot
-Legendary Village of the Wind and Sea = Maui
-Exceptionally Unexceptional Villager = Mirabel
-Fish popular in Arendelle = Herring
-Villager that says “WAKKK” = Donald
-Villager who is the best dealmaker = Ursula
-Fish’s name that rhymes with Dream = Bream
-Finest Lute Player = Kristoff
-Perfectly Mediocre Meals = 3 Star Meals
-Olaf’s nose = Carrots
-Ice Queen = Elsa
-Blue stones with a watery name = Aquamarine
-Villainous side = Scar, Mother Gothel, Ursula, etc.
-Sea Witch = Ursula
-ALMOST perfect meal = 4 Star Meal
-Fish’s name that rhymes with Harp = Carp
-Shoreline Shellfish = Scallops, Mussels, and Clams (any you get from picking up on the Beach)
-Iron-rich leafy green = Spinach
-Woman from the Willow = Mother Gothel
-Cross some items off your regal to-do list = Dreamlight Duties
-Pint-sized Sheriff = Woody
-Grouchy Lion = Scar
-Fish for something with claws = Lobster
-Harvest something sweet = Sugarcane
-Gather what’s needed for Anna’s favorite treat (Chocolate) = Cocoa Beans
-Pint-sized Space Ranger = Buzz
-Special crystals underground = Vitalys Crystals
-Tiny chef = Remy
-Potion to boost your mining ability = Miracle Pickaxe Polish (you can do either one). If you don’t have this at your crafting bench, you need to finish more or Merlin’s quests and the story.
-Fish for something small in size and name = Shrimp
-Finest Chef Creations = 5 Star Meals
-A Very Hairy Prince = The Beast
-King of the Jungle = Simba
-Mine something shiny and green = Shiny Emeralds
-White Fish in a Chilly Biome = White Sturgeon
-Pick some blooms the color of a Citrus Fruit = Pick yellow or orange flowers
-Do some VERY fine dining = Eat 5 Star Meals
-Book-loving beauty = Belle
I’ve only listed tasks I’ve seen people ask about– if you’re curious about one not listed, feel free to ask!

Continuing to switch things up, once I had Belle’s questline done, I decided to work on Ursula’s as I knew it had some timegating as well. I figured while a timegate was happening, I could work on Beast’s.

Honestly, was pretty excited about the necklace. Not sure if I’ll keep it or go back to the one I was wearing before. I guess let me know which you think looks nicer?

Going back and forth between the two went okay as both had some gating in the end. Ursula required 15 minutes and 1 hour at two different points. The Beast’s required waiting until evening (About 6PM Local time) in which you need to hope it’s not raining at all and then during one of his later quests, you need to wait about an hour? I came back after an hour and he had cooled off, but it may have been less than that. I’m not sure.


I will say I absolutely hated the outfit we had to wear in Ursula’s at one point v-v; But at least it wasn’t for long. I also found Ursula’s questline kind of short (edit: apparently there is more after rollover so I guess we continue) and I hated that there weren’t really other options to empathize with the Beast if you’re also an introvert :/

The final thing was setting up the Greenhouse for the Beast which essentially is a flower gathering thing similar to how WALL-E and Moana’s Garden and Boat work/ At the moment, it seems to be the only way to actually get roses. It has 8 upgrades and costs 360K total to upgrade.

With all that done, it’s time to build up on Roses and wait until I can finally do the Forgotten’s Quest…

Disney Dreamlight Valley – The Update is Upon Us

While I did expect to see a trailer or something, I kind of expected the update would be out tomorrow if not last Wednesday. As per usual, I want to talk about some last-minute stuff I’ve been up to along with the patch notes themselves.

Before we get to update stuff, I wanted to talk about my own current adventures lately. As per usual, I’ve been continuing with DreamSnap stuff. I was also really excited about the items included with the last results as they were actually all furniture I needed this time:

I actually ended up putting down all the items.


What I’ve been doing otherwise is slowly replacing some paths. I haven’t decided if I want to replace EVERY path or not yet, but I did replace everything in the Plaza now and some areas of the Meadow. I also added this little sitting area behind my house:

It’s hard to prepare too much in advance for future stuff now. I might do more pathing adjustments as I did MAKE more paths just incase I decided to, but I’m not sure yet. Guess I may work on that tonight.

With that out of the way, let’s talk about the patch notes!

I’ve been so excited for Belle to finally be added and the previews of the upcoming Realm already look super great so that is easily the thing I’m most excited about.

I’m also excited for the new quests with the Forgotten. I’m hoping maybe we can do something with the Treehouse or that area in general. I would say my only concern here is that they specifically outline “over the course of the update” which makes it sound like it’ll require a specific number of days in-between steps similar to how both unlocking Stitch and Buzz’s Alien quests worked which… aren’t fun?

The padding really isn’t needed, and it always blows my mind because if people want to split parts up into days, they will. I’m hoping I’m wrong, but I guess we’ll see soon enough.

I’m really happy to see ‘pouch exclusive’ items will finally be in Scrooge’s shop. I’ve had terrible luck with them and a lot of the items I’ve really wanted have been from them. Now if only there was a better option for memories besides frustrating RNG.

Also happy for anyone who missed out in the Halloween stuff last year that it’ll be returning, though, considering the announcement now, I guess we won’t really see anything new until November. There’s so much happening in November…

It’s nice to hear about the Crafting Productivity adjustments as well, but at the same time I literally just finished making so many paths and fences… My timing is so bad.

With the positive stuff out of the way though, now I have to talk about the negative side of things.

Get ready to stretch those legs! The optional Ursula’s Transformation Dream Bundle arrives in the Premium Shop, introducing a new Dream Style for Ursula that transforms her into her human form, and serves up exclusive quests, outfits, accessories and furniture.

This is pretty awful. I hope the price is at least better than WALL-E’s, but even if it is, Ursula’s transformation should not be tied to a Dream Bundle. I would assume this also means that she can be hung out with then as well and while Ursula isn’t really a character I care for, considering the way hanging out works and how many characters you can plus this genuinely making more options to get her friendship up if you haven’t maxed it yet, this feels awful to lock behind a premium bundle.

Do we have better ways to earn Star Coins now with DreamSnaps? Sure. Is there a chance the price is better than WALL-E’s? Yes. (Though, I feel it may be unlikely as why not just lower WALL-E’s and refund people then? I’m thinking it could unfortunately still be the same price)

But it just feels like too much of a gameplay feature to literally have that transformation locked behind a paywall, even if you can earn the currency in-game. At least the bundle is permanent? It just doesn’t feel right to me though.

The other thing that is kind of bumming me out is:

More optional items are coming to the Premium Shop for a limited time that are bound to fit your seasonal vibe, including an iconic hill, some Disneyland staples, and much more!

Even ignoring my usual point that games like this where customization is such a big part of it that locking items behind a premium shop, especially a weekly rotating one with limited selection, feels pretty frustrating, I just… You’re literally referring to items as iconic and staples and then saying how they’re just optional. People aren’t going to feel like they’re optional like that. Some of these items are likely ones people have been requesting for a long time.

For the most part, I would say I’m still excited for the update, but I am very nervous about upcoming Premium Shop stuff at this point. It really feels like any kind of positive ends up following up with a steep dive off a cliff sometimes and it makes me sad.