In the busy sphere of cozy games, it feels like Disney Dreamlight Valley has been keeping its head down and quietly fine-tuning its magical world. Now its latest expansion, Wishblossom Ranch, has arrived to add a whole new dimension of gameplay…while reminding players of some of its persistent foibles.
Since launching in early access in the summer of 2022, Disney Dreamlight Valley has welcomed players to an Animal Crossing-style sandbox where they maintain their very own slice of Disney fandom heaven. Familiar faces from across the company’s century of storytelling have trickled into the game through two main expansions and a smaller host of free updates, but there hasn’t been much added to the core experience beyond new tools and minigame diversions.
Wishblossom Ranch bucks that trend (pun absolutely intended) by introducing rideable Mounts—or more specifically, in this case, horses. A new area is unlocked where players discover more friends lost to the effects of the Forgetting, and in restoring balance to the region through the storyline, they also gain access to incredibly useful new equine allies and get to rebuild the ranch as they wish.
There are seven Mounts available from the expansion’s launch: up to 4 customizable horses, plus Maximus from Tangled, Khan from Mulan, Pegasus from Hercules, and (for Deluxe Edition owners) Sven from Frozen. Completing Wishblossom Ranch‘s main questline will grant the three non-Deluxe character Mounts, as well as the first “generic” horse, and players will have to form bonds with them to unlock the true potential of each Mount’s abilities.
“I don’t think I can go back to trekking around Dreamlight Valley on foot after Wishblossom Ranch.”
Luckily, summoning and swapping between horses is as easy as pressing Up on the D-Pad, and can even be done while riding one horse already. Riding doesn’t consume stamina, while performing tasks does. By building your rapport with each creature, you can choose additional boons for them, such as being able to water crops by simply walking over them, mining, digging, and more.
These four-legged allies are an absolute timesaver. If nothing else, it’s a miracle to be able to simply ride a Mount and cross the game area at something faster than the character’s default jog. Mounts function the way Gliders should have—just summon one and move faster, no need to overclock your Energy meter by eating extra food just to run faster temporarily. I don’t think I can go back to trekking around Dreamlight Valley on foot after Wishblossom Ranch.
The new characters this time around are another odd batch: Snow White, Cruella De Vil, Tigger, and Tinker Bell. While both previous expansions were a mixed bag for my tastes, this time I’ve never had any particular interest in these characters… and yet, Wishblossom Ranch‘s storyline might just be the tightest and interesting campaign in the game yet.
There are also three main new areas that make up the Wishblossom Mountains area: the Wishing Alps, where the ranch itself is; Glamour Gulch, a moody moor suited to Cruella; and Pixie Acres, a cross between fairy tale woods and the Hundred-Acre Wood from Winnie the Pooh. This biome is huge, to properly accommodate the scale of moving on horseback, and again, exploring it was one of the most satisfying experiences I’ve had in Dreamlight Valley since launch.
This may be due to a wise decision on Gameloft Montreal’s part: not weighing the game down by adding another batch of farmable currency. The core game had Night Thorns for players to erase each day, which were reskinned into “Splinters of Fate” and “Inkies” for each of the expansions; they functioned the same way, but weren’t interchangeable, becoming a separate resource only usable in their individual areas.
Wishblossom Ranch, however, abandoned this tradition. There are still unique weed obstacles to erase each day, but there’s no Wishblossom Mountain-specific currency, aside from the Pixie Dust item, which is used in crafting instead, and Dreamlight can be earned from completing tasks as usual. It’s a nice bit of relief from the grind, and there are still unique (and eclectic) items to be harvested in each biome.
However, it’s not all upsides, and in making a good move for game balance with one hand, Disney Dreamlight Valley holds on to a grindy element with the other hand. There are still a handful of arbitrary progress gates throughout the campaign, mostly focused on making a deep bond with the latest Mount you’ve unlocked. I get why these roadblocks are there, but it doesn’t make them any less frustrating.
Increasing bonds with Mounts revolves around doing three tasks daily: petting, brushing, and giving their three favourite foods each day. They also gain a fraction of affection from leaping objects and just trotting around. If you’re leaning into the “cozy” side, this is fine, but Wishblossom Ranch springs these sudden friendship retreats on you while implying the region’s survival hinges upon your fast action—so it’s a bit of anxiety-inducing cognitive dissonance.
On top of the quest line, there’s a bounty of new items to buy or craft, and the Wishblossom Mountains make for a great sandbox to keep Dreamlight Valley‘s faithful busy. Gameloft’s take on Disney magic remains a top contender for my favourite cozy game, and Wishblossom Ranch is a cherry on top of a great year, which saw some much-needed quality-of-life improvements. Mounts alone will help keep my interest for quite a while, especially if they keep adding new options down the line.
Unfortunately, a handful of strange decisions continues to be a fly in the game’s ointment for me. At the time of publication, there were a handful of bugs that probably should’ve been swatted before launch, like one of the new recipes being unattainable (while also being a favourite item for one of the horses). Most notably, other Villagers do not understand how to do their job when following you around on horseback. While mining, I literally watched Aladdin run behind a building at the farthest edge of the area before chucking a bonus ore at me. Riding a horse with two Companion creatures while hanging out with a villager with a companion of their own? That’s a dangerous game.
Further, the in-game economy is still a pain, and you’ll have to have some full pockets to finish unlocking the new villagers’ homes and upgrading buildings. The best of Mounts, Sven, is locked behind the Wishblossom Ranch Deluxe Edition, which can’t be purchased or upgraded to after the fact—and naturally, since it’s a live-service game, some of the best items have to be Moonstones-exclusive, requiring real-world money or a lot of in-game hustling to purchase. These moves are regrettable, yet acceptable, in an odd way.
All told, the additions and overall design of Wishblossom Ranch do prove to be a net positive for Disney Dreamlight Valley, even if they don’t necessarily squash the overall game’s persistent, long-running quibbles. I’d even say that now is a great time to give the Valley another try if you bounced off it previously, or haven’t dipped a toe in before. Dreamlight is truly living up to the moniker of “cozy game,” and any Disney fan (or parent of a young Disney fan) can surely find something to vibe with by now.
(Now, if we could finally get Wreck-It Ralph and Baymax as villagers, and Abu as a Companion, I’d be willing to look the other way a little bit…)
