Disney Dreamlight Valleyshares a lot of DNA with theAnimal Crossingseries, particularly 2020’sAnimal Crossing: New Horizons.This Disney-themed life simulator sees players growing crops, catching fish, building furniture, and bonding with familiar faces ranging from Disney mascot Mickey Mouse toEncanto’sMirabel Madrigal. However, there is one area whereAnimal Crossingcould instead learn fromDisney Dreamlight Valley:a mechanic that allows characters to follow the player around and complete various tasks.
Disney Dreamlight Valleylets players “hang out” with most of the game’s characters, and the character will follow the player around until dismissed. They can also help with certain tasks. Once a player reaches Friendship Level 2 with this character, they can choose one of five specialties: Foraging, Mining, Fishing, Gardening, or Digging. Initially, these roles could not be changed, but an update added craftableTraining Manuals toDisney Dreamlight Valleythat can teach new roles to the characters.
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This Could Give Players' Favorite Animal Crossing Villagers More To Do
Animal Crossing: New Horizonshas several hundred possible villagers who can live on the player’s island, far more thanDisney Dreamlight Valley’scurrent dozen or so. Because the villagers are so numerous, finding a specific one and inviting them to the island can be quite a daunting task. In the case of certain popular villagers, such asRaymond the cat, it could be several months before anAnimal Crossingplayer finally encounters them. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a thriving “black market” popped up online as valuable villagers were sold and traded between players. S
Addingcompanion roles likeDisney Dreamlight ValleytoNew Horizonsor futureAnimal Crossinggames could help this often difficult search have more of a payoff. With this system, players could spend time hanging out with their favorite villagers, instead of merely visiting them in their houses or sometimes talking to them when wandering around the island. Certain villagers could even be more suited to specific roles than others, like Athletic villagers using their strength to easily pick up large numbers of items.
Companion Roles Can Decrease The Animal Crossing Grind
BothAnimal Crossing: New HorizonsandDisney Dreamlight Valley—and others in thegenre such asStardew ValleyorStory of Seasons—are fairly “grind-heavy” games. Players must perform various tasks repeatedly for long periods of time if they wish to find enough building materials or catalog every fish and bug that can be found. The grind is especially notable during events, such asAnimal Crossing: New Horizons’Egg Festival, where players must hunt down dozens of eggs hidden around the island.
Companion roles decrease the “grindy” nature ofDisney Dreamlight Valleyin a major way. The more time a player spends with a character, the better they get at their assigned role. ADisney Dreamlight Valleycharacter with a friendship level of 10will producedozensof extra fish, crops, gemstones, or other materials each time they accompany a player. This is especially notable as it can help players “get rich quick” by rapidly farming items with high resell value such as Pumpkins.
Animal Crossingcould easily reuse some ofDisney Dreamlight Valley’sspecialties, such as Digging and Fishing, but could add someNew Horizons-focused roles like bug catching or shooting down present-bearing balloons. The Training Manual “re-classing” system could be recreated viaBlathers, the knowledgeable owl who runs the island’s museumand would certainly want to help players find fish and bugs as quickly as possible. Perhaps players could turn in items to Blathers in exchange for changing villagers' companion roles, or perform tasks around the museum in exchange for “lessons” from the owl.
Unfortunately,Animal Crossing: New Horizonsis unlikely to add a major content update that would introduce something likeDreamlight Valley’scompanion roles, but it is definitely something that could feature in afutureAnimal Crossingtitle.
Disney Dreamlight Valleyis currently available for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
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