Disney Dreamlight Valley: Dapper Delights & Treasures of Time Review (Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch & PC)

Scoot aside, Remy — there’s a new fishy chef in town. Well, actually, there’s a new frog in town. That’s right, The Princess and the Frog has officially made its red carpet debut in the whimsical life simulation game, Disney Dreamlight Valley, and it’s bringing several flavorful lashings of brand-new Friendship Quests, featuring none other than Princess Tiana herself. And that’s not all: the cozy quarters of DDV are also opening the doors to another kind of cuisine, too—a dessert that just so happens to be the final delicacy in the A Rift in Time expansion pack. Suffice it to say, there’s a lot happening in the sprightly Clubhouse at the moment, and so, if you are looking to onboard all of the latest offerings in Gameloft’s ever-expanding world, chances are the arrival of both Dapper Delights and Treasures of Time will be enough to scratch that itch of yours.

Of course, DDV isn’t a new game, per se; it actually came off the press back in 2022 as an Early Access title. Even still, for the sake of keeping up with the times, we thought we’d make a second plunge into the Night Thorn-infested shores of the dreamlike village, if only to see what else has changed since we last visited the locals and scraped Scrooge McDuck’s annoyingly long manifesto squeaky clean. With that, the question that we wanted to find the answer to was all rather simple: has Dreamlight Valley changed for the better, or did its heart officially stop beating during the preliminary phases of its A Rift in Time expansion? Eh — let’s get into a little more detail.

Remy & Friends

It’s the closing quarter of the season, which means only one thing: Dapper Delights—a free update that effectively introduces a slew of new Friendship Quests, buildings, cuisines, and characters—and Treasures of Time—the closing chapter to the beloved A Rift in Time three-piece saga—have made their formal debut in the ever-evolving sandbox sim. As for the base game itself—a world that has been constantly expanding since its inception back in 2022—there isn’t a huge amount of fresh content. Well, I say that, when really there have been numerous quality-of-life upgrades and seasonal events come to pass since A Rift in Time came to fruition. But, we’re not here to talk about that; we’re here to discuss two things: Dapper Delights, and Treasures of Time. Not what you were looking for? Don’t sweat it — you can find our original review here.

To start out, there’s Dapper Delights. In a nutshell, the free update sees in the arrival of Princess Tiana—the prolific cook who, in a bid to capitalize on her fame as a restaurant entrepreneur, enters the Valley to formulate the structural design for Tiana’s Palace. However, as with any character who seeks to plant roots in the harmonic world, such ambition comes with a price: the cookbook of mouth-watering recipes has disappeared, and it is up to you, Tiana, and Remy, to locate these missing pages and, with any luck, transform the vacant patch of grass over yonder into a bustling hub for foodies and other aspiring chefs alike. And that’s barely scratching the surface; Dapper Delights also features several new 1920s-themed decor, cosmetics, and other accessories to unlock and enhance, too. So, it’s not too shabby for a free update.

You’re Gonna Go Jafar, Kid

Of course, the heart and soul of the latest spool of content drops isn’t so much in the crags and crevices of the Dapper Delights update, but rather, embedded in the final portion of the A Rift in Time storyline—a three-piece series that has since undergone several revisions, all of which have collectively introduced fresh biomes to the Valley, characters to the fold, and an entire heap of quests to explore. The latest episode, aptly titled Treasures of Time, features the final batch of story-driven quests pertaining to Jafar—the unruly sorcerer who, up until this moment in time, has been channeling energy into splitting Eternity Isle into three distinct biomes in a bid to amass unspeakable power. In other words, if you’ve yet to explore the first two chapters in the expansion — none of this will make a lick of sense to you.

The good news is, upon unlocking the final sections of the A Rift in Time storyline, the morally bankrupt sorcerer does in fact become available as yet another character for you to befriend and quest with. Granted, this isn’t a new thing, unlocking villains to essentially communicate and embark on ludicrously drawn-out Friendship Quests with—Ursula, Scar, and Mother Gothel immediately spring to mind here—but the fact that there is an incentive, albeit a small one, that awaits you at the end of the road does make the process of hacking through A Rift in Time seem all the more worthwhile. Does Jafar add a huge amount to the experience? No. Having said that, by including the malicious foe in the roster, the game does feel far more balanced than it did before — and that counts for something.

Same Old Dreamlight

As far as general improvements and technical fixes go, Dapper Delights and Treasures of Time don’t really stretch much beyond the basic hotfixes that we’ve seen implemented in earlier versions. Aside from the one or two tweaks, the game is, more or less, the same old lovable sandbox that launched back in 2022, only with a few new additions and, rather gracefully, a Star Path for you to peruse and chase across the Eternity Isle and beyond. And that’s fine, truly, because at the end of the day, there isn’t a huge amount that’s really needed to elevate the bones of the core experience. The fact that the devs are still working tirelessly to generate more content two years after its inception speaks volumes, more so given that the fan base’s desire to consume more of it has only grown more and more infectious with each passing update.

I’ll stand by my word and say DDV is still just as good as it was before it latched onto A Rift in Time. Concept-wise, it still doesn’t deviate all that far from the generic blueprint that we’ve caught wind of in numerous farming iterations, though that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s without its own brand of identity and merit. There’s still a tremendous amount to love about DDV, and honestly, more quests and lore to chew through than the bog-standard sim, too, thus making it one of the best of its kind, period. Simply put, Dapper Delights and Treasures of Time are mere cherries atop an otherwise perfect cake. I can’t complain about that.

Verdict

It isn’t exactly uncommon for sandbox sims to fizzle out and lose their value after a few short weeks of being released, but in the case of DDV, it seems that there’s still a whole lot of life left in the old girl yet. Sure, A Rift in Time doesn’t necessarily elevate the overall quality of the original blueprint, but the fact that it continues to source new content and keep old habits oddly satisfying to explore certainly speaks volumes about its longevity and potential as an otherwise generic life and farming simulation game. As for whether or not DDV can take the project one step further in future iterations is another question, and one that, quite frankly, will likely be answered as the vast majority of its frequent users begin to lose interest in the roaring twenties and just about everything else that Dapper Delights has to offer.

A Rift in Time may be over, but clearly DDV has yet to scratch the surface of Disney-Pixar’s enormous catalog of characters and themed worlds. Suffice it to say, there’s a treasure trove of possibilities that have yet to be discovered, and if DDV can maintain its current form and continue to evolve as a platform, then chances are it’ll roll out to dozens—hundreds of add-ons, even. So, for what it’s worth — yes, you should take the time to soak up the swathes of quests and updates that Dapper Delights and Treasures of Time have to give, if not for their newly implemented character arcs, then for the countless cosmetics and thematic set pieces that tie in with them. The point is, the magic is still alive and kicking, and the folks over at Gameloft have done a rather splendid job of proving it. Well played, Mickey.