Reviews

‘s maise Dragon Valley

Written by sww

I’ve been a huge fan of the Monte Vista world, Dragon Valley world now has shared first place. Dragon Valley is equally as gorgeous Monte Vista but where Monte Vista is very bright, Dragon Valley has a dark and medieval feel to it. Perfect for storytelling and for those people who love fantasy.

‘s maise Dragon Valley means Dragon Valley is beautiful in Gaelic! As this world was inspired by Ireland/Scotland we needed some Gaelic in this article!

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Dragons

Then there are baby dragons. Seriously, there are baby dragons. They bring great perks and my favourite is instantly harvesting all the plants that the green dragon does. The purple dragon is great for the charisma skill as it summons a new friend. Need 1 more friend to level up your charisma, no problem!

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The red dragon is more for the evil sims, as it likes to set Sims on fire, although it can also help with your athletic skill. While I don’t have the Armoured Black dragon myself it does seem to be a very mysterious dragon that can help your Sim against death.

Dragon ColorPerks
Green
  • Talk about Gardening (increase Gardening skill)
  • Harvest Plants
  • Summon Treasure
  • Mark of the Green Dragon (moodlet that boosts Hunger and Bladder motives)
Purple
  • Talk about Charisma (increase Charisma skill)
  • Summon a Friend
  • Summon Someone new (instantly becomes friends with the new Sim)
  • Be the Life of the Party
  • Cast Rune Charm on … (gives +20 moodlet to that Sim for 12h)
  • Mark of Purple Dragon (moodlet that boosts Fun and Social motives)
Red
  • Talk about Athletic (increase Athletic skill)
  • Shoot Fireball at …
  • Cast Fiery Torment on …
  • Mark of the Red Dragon (moodlet that boosts Energy and Hygeine motives)
Black
  • Talk about Logic (increase Logic skill)
  • Summon Ghost
  • Summon Death Flower (can be used to evade the Grim Reaper)
  • Cast Phantasmal Curse on … (turns them into a Zombie for 6h)

What is your favourite Dragon?

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The world

This world is very playable, while it is a big world to get to most of the rabbit holes you only have to travel to the center of town and that does not take a long time. As always though the world does not come with rabbit holes for the expansion packs, I really wish they would make equestrian centers and film studios work in other worlds.

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The world team always pick 1 rabbit hole to focus on, to make it extra special and beautiful. This time that was the School. Here are some shots of the school from every angle.

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But every other rabbit hole is just as gorgeous at the school, honestly the only difference in gorgeousness in the rabbit hole is that the school is bigger than the rest.

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Then there are many spots that your Sims can relax, even a swamp area. What I really like is all the secret spots that have ruins or graveyards.

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Familiar names and places

The creators love to add easter eggs and puns to the world, and here are a few we’ve discovered already:

Nessie Lochlan lives next to the lake, not a reference to the lochness monster at all!

 Screenshot-109abbywideThe real Loch Ness.

Then you have Morida, a feisty, athletic redhead, who is the  daughter of the mayor, Seamus O’Connell.  Hmm, why does she make me want to get the venue, to give her a bow and arrow?

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There’s an Elvish family called Mithrilen; in many fantasy world, mirthil is a silver-like material – think Frodo’s chain mail in Lord of the Rings.

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Robin Hooley (who is a thief) and his wife Marian live near Nessie Lochlan.

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Finally, there’s the Dolan family – Finn rescued his wife from a wolf attack, and now lives with her and her elderly grandma.  Sarah, his wife, is said to have an affinity for red hoods!

Screenshot-92Our returning family is the Burbs.  Well, they’re not quite the Burbs yet!  The story goes that Jennifer and John were on a world trip before the wedding, and ended up stranded in Dragon Valley.  Timewise, that places Dragon Valley somewhere after Sims 1, where they were children, and before Sims 2, where they were married and living in Pleasantview.  How their story turns out now though, is up to you.

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Don’t they look a bit out of place in the world?

Conclusion

In conclusion, I think this world is fantastic. Leaving the prettiness aside for a moment, the addition of Purple and Green Dragons truly takes away a few frustrating parts (charisma skill building and harvesting plants).  Those dragons alone make Dragon Valley worth buying even  if you rarely play in this world. Every game I play will most likely have dragons now, even when it does not fit in the storyline. Next to that I just love all the references to the faerie tales and stories I grew up with.

We want to thank The US, UK and NL Sims teams for providing us with review copies of Dragon Valley. Make sure to link their Facebook pages!

Contests!

Now we have a 3 Dragon Valley worlds to give away and will be doing this in 3 ways.

  1. Comment on this post and Sunday at 3PM CET (2 PM BST, 9am EST) we will pick one random winner! Done!
  2. Then tomorrow (June 1st) at 3 PM CET (2 PM BST, 9am EST) we will be hosting a spot the difference contest. Done!
  3. The final way will be on twitter, you will have to retweet a post, find the instructions on @platinumsimmers now! Done!

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