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Tainted By Gameloft Greed

Tl;dr
⛧ DDV has enough content for the entry fee, but at what cost?
⛧ Gameloft has gone back on their word to make DDV F2P, and it's now a paid game. IMO, their business model has been altered in an unhealthy + bad faith manner.
⛧ I only purchased this game as it was eventually going F2P this year.
⛧ I would NOT have purchased it at all had I known they would go back on their word.
⛧ Unless you're a die-hard Disney fan, it's nothing special that you can't find many more trustworthy devs who make better games in the genre just without a fancy franchise.

Disclaimer: My rating is negative because DDV stated they’d have a F2P model upon launch that they’ve since gone back on. The only defining reason I bought this game in EA was its F2P model. I wanted to support the development, and people who otherwise couldn't afford to purchase it early. If I knew that it would not be F2P, I would not have purchased it. At the time, I felt the base game offered more than enough “free” content for DLCs or additional purchase options not to be an issue, which is no longer the case as they’re not going F2P. I won’t be playing this game past getting achievements. It’s ruined the experience for me, and broken trust that wasn’t earned but still given, and I don’t recommend it to any of my friends. I simply cannot trust a company that can go back on its word, especially when it’s so close to the “promised” launch date. Transparency is imperative to gamers, especially on Steam.
The review below isn’t finished at my preferred quality, as I don’t think Gameloft deserves more than the time I’ve already spent on this. So it’ll look like a jot-down of notes, but with all relevant details (just not my signature fancy schmancy polish). My original review below was going to end with a positive rating. I’m only posting it to reflect the state of the game outside of the drama surrounding it.
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DDV Reminds me of: Mat farming in Rust, Runescape chill, Genshin Impact minus combat, Animal Crossing: New Leaf & Pocket Camp gameplay loop, Torchlight fishing vibes.
Done Well:
In a nutshell: Genshin Impact with no combat.
Many Animal Crossing OG elements.
It activates the pleasure centres of my brain with the tailored nostalgic soundtrack per companion.
Done Poorly:
- Painfully timegated. If you have a job or a life, you won't be able to make certain time slots in this game without changing your system clock. It's a strange mechanic to have in 2023.
- Poor camera movement in general. Obnoxious transition camera movement.
- Causes mild simulation sickness leading to nausea or dizziness that I didn't get used to over time.
- You bump into everything and get stuck on everything and certain things like trees/rocks have invisible walls etc. It doesn't help with the nausea.
Fix: This is what helped me. Play on smaller Windowed mode. Reduce mouse/controller sensitivity completely in game settings. Reduce mouse sensitivity further through my mouse's software (or PC settings). Remove all the trees and foliage possible in all biomes after you've enjoyed it a bit.
Even then this game's camera movement is really poorly designed for a AAA third person game. All the clutter in each biome in the game is painful. It looks nice initially but causes eye strain and nausea. Your eyes will spin, and spin and you'll feel sick. Imagine being at a theme park and being there for hours on end, the sensory overstimulation is exactly what it feels to play DDV.
- EA related: A - Frequent crashes. I had to force close my game more than 5 times just within my first 35 hours. That means for me, every day that I played for about 4-5 hours I would ALWAYS get one or more game freezes where I'd have to force close. I haven't had any substantial issues with my saves at this point, but this many crashes is definitely an issue. B - Desync issues. At times you don't have correct visual indicators, parts of your crops teleport and stay that way. Clearly early access state, but not in a way that gets in the way of enjoyment. C - Buggy item spawns. Nothing game breaking yet, but you will lose things under other objects, get things stuck eternally etc.
- Needless Movement Momentum: When you run in DDV and change directions abruptly, it slows the character model down in an animation that is annoying and redundant in a non-action genre game. It’s commonly seen in genres like platformers and punish or aid the player to utilise physics in the game and make it look like natural momentum/movement. In an action game it would be understandable as precision movement is the whole point. In a casual farming sim, I don't understand why there is punishment for moving and changing direction fast. My only thought is this is linked to what visually looks the best or makes sense aesthetically. As someone who plays games at a relatively fast pace and am used to a lot of quick, efficient movement regardless of genre, it is confusing that players have to work around this in DDV of all games. It also adds to the myriad of poor design choices the game has made that causes simulation sickness or worsens it.
You start by squealing at the Disney bunnies and squirrels, but realise the best is when you notice two completely random Disney characters having a nice chat on a bench. Sometimes I'll just fast-travel and see a random turtle plod plod swimming away in the far ocean that I have to squint and make out and it's the cutest thing. The random genuine grins and smiles I got playing this game make it worth it. Once I found Wall-E (my fav in DDV) staring out at the ocean and then having a ridonculous chat with Ariel about which human thingamajigs might do what.
DDV is relaxing to play in different ways, whether you 1) reveal new biomes 2) meet new characters/worlds 3) finish Quests or 4) acquire Dreamlight and 5) participate in Events. You can just roam around and enjoy the Disney of it all. Have fun taking photos or screenshots.
There's a lot you can do, but the UI and gameplay loops make everything easy and clear to understand and stay interested in. I have a very short attention span and get very overwhelmed by details easily. But I've also been gaming for decades so I need something intriguing, fun and addicting. DDV delivers the MMORPG minus MMO that I'd been craving for years. That being said, no MP/co-op is saddening because I would've gotten all my friends on this game if I could've. All that being said, at the 160 hr point I am deathly tired of the game and just want to 100% it and be done.
Overall, this game is incredibly well made. I wanted a chill time waster and I know this will be it for the next +600 hours (Edit at 164 hrs: +600 turned out to be incorrect and I’m now bored). There are too many properly done things in this game from features to sensory immersion that it's hard to list them constructively without simply saying it has everything you need, the accessibility you take for granted, and the happy feel-good world you've been craving. The devs have thought of everything and covered everything. I purchased this at full price standard though I knew it was going to F2P. I rarely do this. (Edit: Hilarious in hindsight as a lot of my enjoyment in DDV heightened by my knowledge of this going F2P.)
- Achievements tip
This game has several "currencies" as is usual these days. Dreamlight is one that is used to open up different areas and access characters. There is a Dreamlight menu when you press "esc." Whatever mini quests you complete in Dreamlight Duties and anything in that Dreamlight tab is what counts to your Steam achievements counter. Nothing else is counted. So don't worry about achievements, don't proactively do anything, just focus on your Dreamlight Duties as you play naturally. And especially for Dreamlight Duties, collect them immediately so you can get the next one in line available.