Like any other Disney fan, I have loved it Disney Dreamlight Valley. Between having a wide variety of beloved characters to meet and befriend, creating an iconic Disney-style avatar, and the rich stories to follow, I really couldn’t ask for more. The game recently received a second round of DLC content, which I, along with many others, immediately downloaded. These DLCs are definitely worth it for anyone who is a fan of Disney Dreamlight Valley, introducing new content and characters that players may have missed in the base game, as well as several other gameplay features.
The game launched in December 2023 alongside its first expansion pass. Almost a year later, the second Expansion Pass – The Vale storybook – has arrived, introducing lots of new content and areas to explore. However, this land is in crisis after Maleficent and Hades wreaked havoc on it, destroying it – the new story in this DLC involves this narrative, including many fan favorites from various Disney titles. With this new story comes a character known as The Lorekeeper, and a feature I’m completely obsessed with – Snippets.
What’s new in DDV after Storybook Vale update
New biomes, more characters and more creatures
The Vale storybook DLC introduces new areas to explore, bringing three expansive biomes – The Bind, Everafter and Mythopia. Luckily, I was able to purchase the DLC before November 30th, so I was also pleasantly surprised with a new costume for purchasing it early – as a more artsy person, I’m very thankful for the new costumes, decorations, and other collectibles. Character customization is generally my favorite part of most games I play – while it doesn’t affect gameplay too much, it’s always great when I feel like I can put my personal flair into something.
I was particularly fascinated by the new storyline surrounding the Lorekeeper, as I always enjoy the addition of new characters, especially one so unique – the concept of the character helping the player to be a sentient book is perfectly “Disney” to me and reminds me of old classic Disney films as Snow White and Cinderella It all started with the iconic opening storybook motif. Speaking of new characters, three more familiar faces have joined the game: Merida de BraveFlynn Rider Tangledand Hades of Hercules. These characters unlock new friendship quests and exclusive items.
Other features include new animal companions with many unique variations, an updated product inventory in Scrooge McDuck’s Shop, and visual updates for Scrooge McDuck’s Shop and Chez Remy. Although I could complain about the inaccuracies of the Hercules movie forever, I can’t complain about the adorable addition of Pegasus – with most of the animals in Disney Dreamlight Valley Not being taken from mythology, I think he’s currently the coolest animal friend in the game. The expansion also adds new decorations, outfits, collectibles, crafting recipes, and cooking recipes, giving players more ways to customize their Valley of the Light of Dreams experience.
Excerpts are so much fun at Disney Dreamlight Valley
Snippets are fun to chase and unlock puzzles
Excerpts are the result of Maleficent and Hades interfering with the Lorekeeper, manifesting as capricious origami-like creatures imbued with magic and drifting through the Vale. Resembling book pages, they are literally “fragments” of certain storiesand are used to put them back together. These magical creatures come in a variety of patterns, and collecting them will unlock new puzzles tied to the history of the Valley and illustrations inspired by classic Disney and Pixar films. These puzzles deepen the surrounding narrative and offer more context about the Vale, and I highly recommend checking them out.
Equipping the new Royal Net unlocks a new pose in Photo Mode.
To restore the Lorekeeper’s stories, players will need to capture these elusive creatures using a real new tool: the Royal Net. Players may not be able to unlock the Royal Grid immediately as they need to go through the Petrified Forest in the same room as the Knowledge Keeper. I’ve been having a lot of fun just running around the map and catching them, but players can set traps to lure them in. There are nine types of traps, three for each of the new biomes, and it is important to use the correct trap for each area.
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Biome |
Trap types |
|---|---|
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The bond |
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Mythopia |
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Forever |
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Merida’s first mission after recruiting her revolves around capturing these fragments. All of these snippet-related traps can be upgraded and start at a “basic” level. The functions of the traps are pretty self-explanatory, although the repellent is probably what adds the most to quality of lifeas players can keep Snippets out of areas that have already exhausted, although personally I have used them to keep Snippets out of Dreamsnaps backgrounds. I’ve found that in later biomes, creatures will become immensely harder to capture with Royal Net alone, so creating slow traps should be a huge priority.
Why DDV’s new puzzle minigame is so fun
A way to relax while training your brain
The Lorekeeper offers the player a variety of puzzles to complete – each completed puzzle reveals snippets of Vale lore and beautifully illustrated comic book-style scenes inspired by iconic Disney and Pixar stories. To unlock these stories, players need to collect certain quantities of different types of the origami pieces mentioned above. They are rated in difficulty on a scale of one to five stars, and completed puzzles come with different rewards, such as new decorative options for players to customize their in-game spaces. Puzzle pieces usually correspond to their origin – for example, the Moana puzzle has pieces that resemble waves.
The main thing that made me completely obsessed with completing these puzzles is how surprisingly easy they are – they are definitely higher in my rankings compared to Scramblecoin. Capturing Snippets was also amazing, so I didn’t have any major discouragement when it came to unlocking them. They are a fun and relaxing activity and are not that different from physical puzzles plus the fact that the pieces come in a fun variety of shapes. None of them proved particularly difficult, as long as I followed traditional puzzle tips, like placing the edges first.
Where I was unable to gather enough fragments, puzzles that have already been unlocked and completed can be replayed at any time. They’re easy enough to not be frustrating, but challenging enough to exercise my brain a little. It’s great to be rewarded for having fun and completing simple tasks. I look forward to completing all the puzzles in Disney Dreamlight Valley: Storybook Valleyand I love how the game pays homage to a wide variety of stories, not just the most well-known titles.
Source: Disney Dreamlight Valley/YouTube