Disney Dreamlight Valley: Tales of Agrabah Review (Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, Switch & PC)

It has been a long time coming, Aladdin and Jasmine introducing themselves as a full-fledged marital duo to the whimsical world of Disney Dreamlight Valley. It has been a speck of sand in the hourglass for years now, mind you, with the long-awaited arrival of the staple characters constantly moving higher up the bottleneck in favor of other prestigious Disney-Pixar figures. Alas, the enigmatic sorcerer Jafar has finally peppered the groundwork for the latest installment in the life and farming simulation game, with A Rift in Time being the guiding force behind the inception of the Tales of Agrabah patch. Conceptually, Dreamlight Valley is still the same, but with the recent addition of several fresh biomes, Friendship Quests, Star Paths, and products in Scrooge McDuck’s emporium, it is, shall we say, bigger and more magical than ever.

To answer the question that’s been floating around since its initial peekaboo phase — yes, both Aladdin and Jasmine are available as adoptable villagers in the latest update. But that’s not all Tales of Agrabah brings to the table; oh no, it also contains the Aladdin Realm in the Dream Castle, the Oasis Star Path, which includes a boatload of staple memorabilia to collect, more Friendship Quests to farm, Gem Stalls to erect, seasonal events to participate in, and an entire swathe of quality-of-life improvements to the UI, cooking and home refurbishment systems. And even with all of this in the book, I’m still probably missing out on several of the smaller molecules in the framework. But we’ll talk more about those things in a bit.

If you’re planning on returning to the titular Valley for another swing at the latest Star Path, then be sure to onboard these details before coercing the magic carpet into your home for a spot of supper.

A Whole New World

Well, it isn’t really a whole new world — but one could quite easily argue that the addition of a new Realm in the Dream Castle is, to some extent, a new world. Like the Realms that came before it, the portal to Agrabah is teeming with more content for fledgling farmers and Night Thorn banishers to shovel through—a trove that just so happens to include a myriad of Friendship Quests for both Aladdin and Jasmine, thematic set pieces to bolt onto your village borders, a spring event that involves the collection of clovers, and a plethora of bug fixes and overhauls to the basic infrastructure of the game’s UI and mechanics. To that end, Tales of Agrabah is, in layman’s terms, a souped-up version of the original sandbox, only with a few more Aladdin-based features.

I’m relieved, in ways, that the latest patch isn’t just a textbook case of “if you build it, they will come”; the fact that Gameloft has actually made the effort to not only build upon the previous version of the vanilla copy, but also made enough notable improvements to expand the game’s borders and enhance its overall appeal, speaks volumes about its commitment to delivering the best possible adaptation of its magical sandbox.

It’s the beginning of a new year for the Valley, and so, realistically speaking, the devs have little choice but to pull something truly spectacular out of the bag to ensure its continued growth. And to be fair to them, the team has definitely come up trumps with Tales of Agrabah, as it does in fact feature an excellent array of original story arcs, items, and other tailorable bits and bobs. And that’s not even breaking into the story, either. Simply put, Tales of Agrabah is absolutely brimming with fresh goodies.

I Can Show You the World

Something that caught my eye in the latest update: the magic carpet companion. Oh, companions aren’t necessarily a new addition to the game, but the fact that players can now unlock the iconic rug man in the wake of their millennia of dwelling in the Cave of Wonders is another great reason for frequent crafters to return to the Valley. If you also add the fact that the game has introduced a series of stellar changes to the cooking system—search bars can now be enabled to help you navigate through various cookbooks and techniques—and the Slow Cooker option, which allows you to produce large quantities of food in exchange for the in-game currency — and you’ve got a great couple of QoL upgrades to take into account.

In addition to the above features, the newest patch also includes four new Floating Islands: Peaceful Meadow, Dazzle Beach, Glade of Trust, and Forgotten Land. Like before, these vacant biomes act as unique layers below the Valley, which you can tailor to suit your creative desires. Again, each of these separate islands don’t sprout any natural resources, but they do, on the other hand, produce a blank canvas for you to fill in any way you see fit. And that’s a lot of fresh space to fill, too; four massive layers are enough to keep you busy for dozens, if not hundreds of hours. So, combine those layers with the additional Realm Quests, Friendship Quests, and seasonal activities, and you have quite the handful of work on your hands. And that’s great; it means that there’s still a lot of life left in the old girl yet.

Verdict

Disney Dreamlight Valley has once again proven its worth as a beautifully eloquent and wholesome place for its visitors to wipe their feet for a while. It’s a shame, really, that Aladdin and Jasmine have taken this long to find their ways into the palms of the village’s inner circle, but then, I can’t exactly blame Gameloft for that; it’s not like they haven’t got their hands full with other notable IPs and prospective Disney-Pixar poster children. Still, it looks like the game is off to a fantastic start with its latest bout of updates here, which leads me to believe that the next update, whatever it may be, will surely bring just as much excitement to the mix — if not more.

If you’ve been out of the Valley for a fair while and have yet to rediscover its enchanting beauty and the mouthwatering deposit of Quests and activities that it holds dear, then I assure you, you have every reason to believe that the game is still churning out a great amount of quality content even after two long and taxing years of coughing up DLC and seasonal fixes. And if you’re new to the world, then I can honestly say that you’re in for a real treat with this one. Is there a lot to take in? Absolutely. But, let me tell you this: you will love just about everything about the procedure. It doesn’t matter if you’re a die-hard Disney fan or not, because quite frankly, you don’t need to be an expert to appreciate a good farming simulation game. And if Disney Dreamlight Valley is anything — it’s that.