Nintendo has provided me with an advance copy of Disney Magical World, which comes out on April 11th for Nintendo 3DS. It has some gameplay similarities to Animal Crossing, while also featuring over 60 Disney characters. I'll be writing about the game and providing regular updates as I progress through the game. Please share this blog with other Disney fans or anyone else who may be interested.

Day 1: First Impressions

As the game starts out, players are asked to create a character or select an existing Mii. I just chose to use my Mii. I then found myself flying on a hot-air balloon and landing in the magical world of Castleton, which looks like Disneyland. A few characters there greeted me.

When I went up to the castle, Mickey and Minnie themselves came out to see me!

They told me I'm now a resident here! Mickey gave me a Mickey posh hat as a welcome gift. Throughout the game, you will acquire different hats, shirts, and other items you can wear. Much like Animal Crossing, you can choose how to dress your character. After putting on the hat, I had to explore to find four of Mickey's friends. A map, which is shown on the touch screen, shows their locations. So I went around to meet each of them: Goofy, Daisy Duck, Pluto, and Donald Duck. Donald's voice cracks me up.

Finding these characters gives you a chance to become familiar with the layout of Castleton. When I returned to Mickey, I got a sticker for completing the task. Stickers are the way the game marks your progress. The more stickers you get, the more places you unlock. This first sticker lets me go shopping at McDuck's with Minnie Mouse.

McDuck's is a fancy department store, but the top floor is a resale shop where you can sell unwanted items to Scrooge McDuck. Huey, Duey, and Louie run the different departments. Huey is in charge of fashion, Dewey is in charge of furniture, and Louie handles everything else. Minnie offered to buy me something, so I tried to get her to buy me this table.

But it was too expensive for her, so I chose a hat instead. After she bought it for me, I got another sticker for shopping with Minnie.

My new hat apparently matched my clothes, so I was told to walk around and get five people to say my outfit was nice. Haha, this game has some weird objectives so far. By the way, pressing R makes your character do a fabulous spinning jump move; it made me feel like I was skating in Disney on Ice. Once I got my five "likes," I earned my third sticker. Goofy then taught me how to pick vegetables and any other sparkly items I can find around Castleton.

After finding a purple cosmos for Daisy Duck, she was able to open up her tailor shop. You have to give her the raw materials, which you may find around town or receive by doing favors. And then she can make shirts, pants, shoes, and other accessories for you to wear.

Castleton has a variety of attractions: A fishing hole, a place to watch nightly fireworks, and many other things I have not unlocked yet. There's much to do, and I've only just begun my adventure.

The game certainly has some similiarities to Animal Crossing. It runs on a real-time clock, you can dress your character however you want, you can go fishing, you can perform tasks for animals (in this case, Disney characters), and so on. You can even run your own cafe! But so far, it doesn't really feel like an Animal Crossing game; it has its own style. I'm still in the prologue section of the game, which seems to be a tutorial or training area of sorts. The gameplay seemx quite linear so far, as you move from one task to the next. But I expect to have much more freedom once I complete the prologue. I'm looking forward to that, so keep checking back for future updates in the coming days and weeks!

For the latest entries (or to comment or ask a question), visit the main Disney Magical World Blog page.

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