Disney Dreamlight Valley: Honeyglow Woods Review (Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Switch & PC)

Winnie the Pooh, the beloved honey-hogging optimist with a heart of gold, has finally joined the magical boroughs of Dreamlight Valley as a brand-new poster child in the ever-expanding gargantuan life simulation game from Gameloft. Courtesy of Honeyglow Woods—an expansion that introduces all things honeycomb and acre wood-related—the DLC paves the cloisters of glitter and bramble with just about everything that you could want from an ode to Milne and Disney. And yes, it does feature Pooh Sticks.

Lo and behold, the Valley continues to slip and slide through turbulent waters as a thorn-addled village of forgetful friends and peculiar dilemmas. Pooh, along with Piglet and Eeyore, have mistakenly found themselves between a rock and a hard place, between a swampy hollow and a honeycomb labyrinth. The 100 Acre Wood troupe are rightly perplexed, and you, at the heart of it all, must now rebuild a few bridges in order to restore their memories and, with any luck, learn how to foster beehives and play Pooh Sticks.

Unlike your previous Dreamlight DLC, Honeyglow Woods doesn’t introduce a cast of mischievous villains to the realm with a grand plot for you to quell. Rather, it presents you with a dilemma involving a great tree, an annoyingly lovable bear, and a depressed donkey who happens to enjoy the melancholic beauty of the forgotten quarters. With it, you have fresh quest lines to unpack, honey-soaked recipes to master, themed decorations to experiment with, and of course, a new mini-game to dabble in. Again, check the Pooh Sticks reference.

Think of Honeyglow Woods as an ideal entry point for newcomers to Dreamlight Valley. While evidently lighter in quest threads and villainous schemes, the DLC packs a pudgy punch with a lot of great content for both fans and apprentice thorn squashers to enjoy. Pooh Sticks aside, you have four new biomes to unveil and explore, which includes Drowsybloom Acre, Braveheart Grove, Gloommeadow, and Nectar Apiary. At the heart of all of these richly crafted boroughs you have The Everoak Tree—a prominent beacon that simply oozes intrigue and mystery. And of course, it’s your job to unravel said mystery and weave the world back together, thorn by thorn, honey pot by honey pot.

For a DLC that is significantly shorter than previous packs, Honeyglow Woods delivers all of the same charm and lovable qualities that make Dreamlight Valley an absolute delight to work through. While considered a bite-sized “mini adventure” in the eye of the earlier world-altering packs, the honey-drizzled expansion certainly leans into its sweet tooth to give you a short, albeit memorable side quest to explore alongside the overarching narrative. And that’s all that this is: a small compliment to a complex life simulation game.

With fresh Friendship Quests to embark on, themed decorations to unlock, as well as four sub-biomes to unravel and embellish, Honeyglow Woods delivers a good banquet of activities for your to-do list. Again, it might lack the drawn-out storyline, and it might fall short on all of the usual frills and padding that other expansions have released in the past. Still, you have a well-rounded collection to prod at here, with honey, beekeeping, and Pooh Sticks formulating a wholesome add-on that serves as more than mere filler.

Although it won’t take you much longer than four or five hours to comb through all of the nectar in this palm-sized hive, the memories, the mini-games, and the honeycomb set pieces will follow you to the next pitstop on your Valley-wide journey. Like the DLC that has come before, you’ll receive new villagers for your homestead, and with them, new opportunities to expand your community and latch onto all sorts of creative possibilities, both in the woods and out in the other boroughs across the Valley.

Provided that you can turn a blind eye to the fact that the DLC has a few missing pieces of the puzzle—a greater roster of characters and a loftier narrative arc, for example—then you should be able to find enough here to justify the price tag. Even without the weight of the Valley on its shoulders, it makes for a genuinely beautiful self-contained adventure that, true to the point of the game, harbors enough secrets, recipes, and activities to keep you coming back for a second, third, or fourth stroll around the block. Frankly, you don’t need a lot more than that.

Above all, Honeyglow Woods proves that there are still numerous ways for Dreamlight Valley to broaden its horizons. It also opens up the door for vast swaths of characters and other franchising opportunities, too, with the newfound space available to adopt larger biomes and fresh Friendship Quests in future updates. But of course, as for where the Valley will head next is another question. Personally, I wouldn’t turn my nose up on a fully-fledged Nightmare Before Christmas expansion. If anyone deserves a little extra love and attention, it’s the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town. For now, though, we’ll have to settle for Pooh Sticks.

Verdict

Disney Dreamlight Valley: Honeyglow Woods bodes well with the majestic landscape of the Valley as a perfectly compact “miniature adventure” that, while still shorter than most expansions, crams enough of that sweet, sweet nectar into the fibers of the beloved life simulation game. It might not boast the greatest of features or Star Paths, but where it lacks in content and depth, it makes up for in wholesome commodities and simple yet engaging pastimes that credit the source material in the best possible way.

If you’re new to Dreamlight Valley, then consider this as an invitation to whet your appetite and learn the ropes in a positive light. With no threats, roadblocks or villainous schemes to quell, what you essentially have here is a picnic in the woods with a few familiar friends. It might not appeal to the die-hard fans of the sandbox sim, but for those who want to take a break from the thorn-coated clusters of the Valley, it ought to feel like a welcome distraction.