Since Disney Dreamlight Valley’s early access version hit the market, various aspects of the game have undergone numerous changes, including the Star Path events. What started as a somewhat fun way to earn a few new items among the limited available story content has since become one of the most frustrating aspects of the game.
Recent Star Paths have received mixed reactions for a while now. Some players have been upset by the choice of theme, while others have flat-out given up on them due to the stress that completing a Star Path introduces into what is meant to be a cozy game. If Disney Dreamlight Valley doesn’t refine this feature soon, the game could end up driving some of its community away.
Recent Star Paths Have Been Hit Or Miss
Themes and Rewards Are Just The Start Of Concerns With Star Paths
While the initial Star Paths were generally well-received as a fun way to add to the content of the game, the same cannot be said for the most recent ones. Star Paths typically run for a couple of months and, for this reason, they’ve often fallen in theme with the season they’re centered around. For example, the first winter one centered around Christmas and other winter holidays, while the summer one centered around the Walt Disney World Theme Park.
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After being short on a certain material, one Disney Dreamlight Valley fan has made sure they’ll never run out again by stocking up to an extreme.
This worked for a while, but to avoid rewards that feel too similar, Disney Dreamlight Valley hasn’t repeated these Star Path themes too closely. Unfortunately, this has led to some mixed reactions when developers choose to take a unique approach to Star Paths. The biggest example of this was Fall 2024, when the Rock’N Roll-themed The Night Show Star Path landed in a period when another spooky theme might have felt more fitting.
The theme selection and available items naturally ended up being disappointing for many, leading to mixed participation in the event and sparking a slight disconnect among the community between players who were happy with the theme and those who were upset by it. This was only further soured by the Frost & Fairies winter Star Path, which featured a compelling and appropriate theme but proved to be one of the most tedious Star Paths to date.
Burnout Is Driving Players Away
Tedious Tasks Designed To Stretch Out The Star Path Are Ruining The Game
The recently concluded Frost & Fairies Star Path also introduced a few new aspects to Star Paths. Not only was it the longest-running one, expanding from the usual month and a half runtime to a full two months, but it also featured the most rewards with a new bonus tier. This bonus tier was exclusive to premium players and featured what resembled a mini Star Path that only became available after completing the main Star Path.
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What kind of Star Path would you like to see next in Disney Dreamlight Valley?
Disney Dreamlight Valley’s “The Frost & Fairies Star Path” is now over, which means that players should be getting a new one in the next week or so. I really liked the latest Star Path because I had a real lack of decorative items for the Frosted Heights, and I hope GameLoft follows this trend going forward. I’d love some items that could work for biomes in the expansion passes, although I understand that Star Paths are aimed mainly at base game players, which is fair.
While this was a great way to stretch out the Star Path content for those who typically speed through it, the tasks that are required to earn Star Path tokens and redeem rewards felt unnecessarily punishing. After prolonging the Star Path with a bonus tier and extending the time to complete it, there was no reason for the Star Path duties to further slow down player progress as significantly as they did, preventing some from even completing it at all.
The majority of tasks required a minimum of two to three days for completion with no way to speed them along, like completing Daisy’s fashion challenges, which are only available once a day, or gifting a villager four gifts, which are limited to three a day. In addition to these forced multi-day tasks, the remaining tasks often required an incredulous amount of grinding to complete, and, since you only have three available duties at a time, six if premium, this could slow things down further if stuck on them.
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I’m Concerned Disney Dreamlight Valley Has Forgotten About The Forgotten
Disney Dreamlight Valley’s original story campaign focused heavily on The Forgotten, love, and redemption, but now it feels a bit forgotten… again.
The amount of materials that needed to be mined, foraged, or harvested often required hours of repetitive tasks. Specific gems are not guaranteed by an ore deposit, and each deposit has a designated respawn rate, meaning players could spend days trying to complete a task that will only reward them with enough tokens for a single reward, if that. Overall, the endless amount of lengthy tasks resulted in non-stop grinding gameplay that made burnout all too likely.
Furthermore, time-consuming Star Paths are creating a disconnect between players who manage to finish the event on time and those who cannot, as the latter miss out on customization or decor items that they might then only be able to purchase from the Disney Dreamlight Valley premium shop later on. If the items are available in the shop, the price will be higher compared to the cost of the event, and the randomized shop rotation means nothing is guaranteed.
Disney Dreamlight Valley May Be Losing Its Cozy Gameplay
With An Overwhelming Amount Of Stuff To Do, DDLV Doesn’t Have The Same Cozy Feel It Used To
When it launched in early access, Disney Dreamlight Valley‘s main story wasn’t yet complete, there were only a few villagers to befriend, and it was fairly easy to complete everything and patiently wait for new content or engage in limited-time events. However, with the addition of around 30 new characters already and more on the way, as well as two full expansion passes, there’s more content than ever to spend time on now.
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While this is great news for those who stay regularly caught up, it’s made limited-time events a nightmare. Given Disney Dreamlight Valley‘s steady update schedule over the years, players regularly have new characters or quests to complete, but now they’re being forced to choose between falling behind or potentially losing out on event items. When an event requires hours of gameplay to complete on every login, there’s no time left for just playing the game.
While too much to do isn’t a bad thing on the surface, it does change the nature of Disney Dreamlight Valley.
Many players will either fall behind in story content, which can then result in spoilers and an overwhelming number of open quests, or be forced to accept that they simply won’t complete the Star Path. Making this choice destroys the cozy gameplay that Disney Dreamlight Valley originally presented. Instead of enjoying a few easygoing daily tasks, celebrating new events, and casually enjoying new content, DDLV players are left to participate in what feels like a constant game of catch-up.
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While too much to do isn’t a bad thing on the surface, it does change the nature of Disney Dreamlight Valley. With games like Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley defining the genre of cozy gaming, it’s hard to put DDLV in that group when it’s starting to feel so far removed in its design. As a game with frequent large updates, Disney Dreamlight Valley has to find a better way to balance Star Paths and other limited-time events with the base gameplay.
Rethinking the schedule and demands of Star Paths could lessen burnout and provide more time to enjoy everything else the game has to offer, including the rewards that require so much grinding. While more content is always appreciated, the rate of new content, combined with the brutal requirements of limited-time Star Path, makes Disney Dreamlight Valley feel overwhelming at best and exhausting at worst. If not fixed, this imbalance might result in some Disney Dreamlight Valley players turning off their game for good.
- Released
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December 5, 2023
- Developer(s)
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Gameloft
- Publisher(s)
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Gameloft
- Multiplayer
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Online Multiplayer
- Engine
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unity
- ESRB
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E For Everyone
- How Long To Beat
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27 Hours
- X|S Optimized
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yes
- Steam Deck Compatibility
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not supported
- OpenCritic Rating
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Strong
- Cross Save
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Apple Arcade subscribers can carry their game progress over to any of their Apple devices within the Apple Arcade ecosystem – iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Mac – via cross-save
- Cross-Platform Play
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supports crossplay between all platforms except for PlayStation players
