Disney Magical World 2: Enchanted Edition Review
If Disney and Animal Crossing had a baby, Disney Magical World would be the product. As a sequel, Disney Magical World 2 can be played as its own game so you don’t have to play the first one to know what to do. Teaching you from the very basics to letting you find your own path, the game is not only easy to figure out but everything makes sense – if anything, sometimes it feels over-explained especially if it’s not your first time attempting a simulation adventure game. With a mix of decorating, making money, completing missions, fighting ghosts, and planting vegetables, Disney Magical World 2 is a mix of many genres that feature many familiar Disney characters in one game.
Set in Castleton, you are the newest member to join this small and happy town. Everyone is relaxed and friendly, and who wouldn’t be when your neighbour is Mickey Mouse and your everyday life consists of helping each other out and collecting medals and stickers? Ruled by the cutest-looking king and with the city bustling with activity and new people to meet, Disney Magical World 2 is a relaxing game where you get to buy clothes and rearrange Disney-themed furniture while you run around assisting your favorite Disney characters with their requests. It is quite slow-paced but more exciting than I had expected, and is a nice experience that I wholeheartedly welcome into my hectic life.
A Disneybounder’s Dream Come True
The introduction is very long and can take a while to get through. There is a lot of material to cover and the game doesn’t skimp on instructions, which makes it very easy to learn but if you’ve played simulation games before, this would feel tedious. No worries though – after one hour of wandering around and doing the required quests, you will be introduced to many other characters and other worlds of Disney, including Atlantica, Hawaii, and Arendelle. Even unlocking new furniture and themed-clothing can be exciting to see, making all my virtual Disneybounding dreams come true as I don the outfit of Vanellope while running a Rapunzel-themed cafe.
Adding to this slow and quiet lifestyle is your magical ability to battle ghosts. I know, it seems a little random, but this extra side story brings more excitement to your everyday life. You have magical powers that help you see and fight ghosts, and therefore you are given many quests to help villagers and other Disney characters. Certain items can only be found when you fight ghosts, so you are more than welcome to revisit the same dungeon twice. The time spent on each request shouldn’t take more than five minutes, and the rewards received are acceptable for the amount of effort spent.
Besides ghost-busting and helping people with random quests, you also run a side business as a cafe manager in Castleton. This is a great way to make passive income, and is also very fun to manage as you can decorate with whatever theme you please, uncover new recipes to serve the guests, and even host parties and invite your favorite Disney characters to dance on stage with you. If you ever run out of ingredients to make food and drinks, there is a helpful quick-travel option to Hundred Acre Wood, where Rabbit allows you to use his garden to grow and harvest flowers and vegetables for your cafe.
As strange as this may sound, being a Disney fanatic I didn’t care for the fanservice moments which involved acid-trippy dream sequences you can have with the Disney characters; nor did I care about taking screenshots of myself and Winnie the Pooh and saving them onto my SD card. It was already enough to make me squeal when Olaf showed up on my beach, but I didn’t find it an absolute necessity to have lucid dreams with the rest of the cast. Maybe for children these are awesome moments and a lot of fun to dress up and dance with Rapunzel, but for me I didn’t find much value in this.
There is a lot of content contained in this little game that makes it really hard to put down. You can have a quiet evening and gather items to make new outfits, fish at the lake to collect bubbles, or change your hairdo at Minnie’s salon. Or you can opt to have a productive evening by mining with the Seven Dwarves, warding off ghosts in Hawaii, or ensuring your cafe is fully stocked with food and beverages at all times. Regardless of your mood and what you want to achieve, Disney Magical World 2 was able to satiate my cravings for a good simulation game mixed with some ghost busting and a little bit of side hustling. It can take a while to get to the good and creative parts, but it is definitely worth the wait.
*** A Switch review code provided by the publisher ***
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