• Base Game: $39.99 USD (currently on sale for $29.99 until December 3rd)
• Each DLC by itself: $29.99
• Enchanted Edition with base game and both DLC: $79.99 – includes baby Pegasus companion. 🦄
• The Storybook Vale Bundle with base game and TSV DLC: $59.99 – Do NOT mistake for the versions with baby Pegasus (above or below)
• The Storybook Vale: Magical Edition: $49.99 DLC on its own. Includes baby Pegasus companion. 🦄

Disney Dreamlight Valley is my most played game on Switch. I’ve spent hundreds of hours exploring the valley and unlocking new content. With the addition of The Storybook Vale DLC, that time is sure to skyrocket.

The base game is pretty fantastic on its own, and they continue to add new content updates for free, with Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas arriving in a week. If you haven’t checked it out already, I do recommend it.

The Switch version does admittedly have a smaller decoration limit, a removed video clip recording option, and some stuttering here and there. But as someone who only owns a Switch, I’m still happy with the game overall. (See above mentioned play time.)

I enjoyed the first round of DLC; I loved the new characters, critters, furniture, clothing, and mechanics. The plot was okay for me. I was more excited when they announced the characters who would appear in The Storybook Vale DLC, and the story looked a lot better to me, with Maleficent and Hades feuding over control of the valley.

The addition of Merida and Flynn is nice, but I’ve gotta say that I’m more here for the villains this time around. 😅 Maleficent has to be my favorite villain in the Disney universe. The aesthetic, her manner of speaking, the dragon transformation – excellent! Hades is certainly a jerk, but I won’t deny that I find him entertaining, too.

So on the release date I went with the more expensive Magical Edition for the precious baby Pegasus companion. (My family is already tired of me bringing him up. 🤣) Then it was off to the Storybook Vale! A week after its release, I’m here to give my opinion on the DLC so far.

🎶 Honestly, I Wanna See You Be “Brave” 🎶

So Merida is the first character we encounter in the DLC. Her gestures and expressions are pretty hilarious. She introduces us to the Storybook Vale and its Lorekeeper, who says the Vale is “the place in your heart where your favorite stories live.”

While it’s “a world sewn together from fables and myths,” the Vale is coming apart at its “seams” due to Maleficent and Hades’ spat. You have to remove a bunch of ink from the environment and catch story Snippets – little paper creatures – to restore some of the Lorekeeper’s power.

Once you’ve brought a certain amount of Snippets to the Lorekeeper, you can also restore the stories of our favorite Disney characters. I actually really like this feature, as it’s not too difficult and we earn awesome new clothing and furniture. Wait until you see what you get for the Encanto puzzle!

(Tip: you can redo the puzzles for the tasks that require them to earn Storybook Magic, the equivalent of Dreamlight and Mist in this DLC.)

I think that it can be a little grindy to earn enough Storybook Magic to unlock each area. We also need to use some to craft Snippet-related machines and any furniture unlocked through puzzles. Thankfully, they released a post-launch update that allows us to convert Snippets to Storybook Magic!

Speaking of furniture, we do get some more furniture and clothing items, and now Scrooge’s shop has a different selection in the Valley, Eternity Isle, and Storybook Vale every day. This is slightly disappointing though, as I still own about 95% of everything he offers. I do wish they would’ve added a lot more options.

I’m happy to say that they fixed the bugs I noticed just after its release!

I found the dialogue very entertaining. If you’ve played the first DLC, you might remember the fun dialogue options that throw shade at Gaston. Disney Dreamlight Valley is a mostly positive game, so it’s amusing to see characters get their shots in here and there. So far I remember seeing some good zingers sent Hades and Flynn’s way. I also like the mythology references with Hades!

Although I haven’t finished every quest in the DLC yet, I think I’ve seen enough to say that I like what they’ve done here. The Merida-Flynn interactions are pretty great, and I got some laughs from Hades’ “Yes, Your Lugubriousness” quest, too. (Learned a new word!)

The puzzles in the Trials, which unlock access to key areas in the DLC storyline, are interesting but not too difficult. Since I don’t tend to be very good at more complex puzzles, I was very happy about this.

The new critter companions have brought me a lot of joy as well. Look at them! They’re adorable, and probably one of the best additions to the game, in my opinion. The other critter options are great in the base game and first DLC (I’m not as enthused about the squirrels and snakes), but the dragons and baby Pegasi take things to another level.

At first I thought that both Eternity Isle and Storybook Vale were a little “bare bones” without the main Valley characters…until I realized that I had to turn on access for each of them in both regions. 😳 Now the Isle and Vale feel a lot more alive between the Valley characters and critters!

I’m quite satisfied with my time in Storybook Vale, and can’t wait to see the conclusion to its current arc. With the story hinting at Princess Aurora making her debut (and hopefully the fairies), I’m really looking forward to what happens next.