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So What Exactly Is Disney Magical World?

by Kimberly Keller - April 7, 2014, 8:44 am EDT
Total comments: 1

It’s coming next week, and it’s still as confusing as ever.

Have you ever found yourself searching through Animal Crossing for the magical hijinks of the Genie, or considered trying out the Rune Factory series, only to find disappointment in the lack of a deranged tea party? Look no further than April 11, because that’s when you move into town with none other than Mickey Mouse to learn fishing, gardening, shop keeping, and oh yeah, battling demonic ghosts. Welcome to Disney Magical World, your new Disney-fied guilty pleasure.

It’s no secret that I enjoy Disney. In fact, I may obsess over it from time to time and it doesn’t help that I live so close to the west coast Disney Parks. However, even I was skeptical when I first heard about Disney Magical World only a few short months ago in January. In Japan it’s known by the almost absurd run-on sentence, “Disney Magic Castle: My Happy Life” so it already wasn’t off to a good start. The trailer showed a mismatch of activities sprinkled with quick cameos eagle-eyed viewers speculated about, and not much was known outside of customization features and character challenges.

But then sales figures for Japan was announced. This is a game that stayed at number one for weeks and sold half a million copies last year, so I can see why it’s now coming to the country that actually created the brand. Nintendo and Disney are pulling out all the stops for Magical World, including a special Mickey-themed 3DS XL, a family event at Rockefeller Plaza on launch day, and videos featuring Disney Channels stars playing the game around Downtown Disney. So what’s all the hype over (besides a multi-billion dollar company releasing a game)?

Disney Magical World is, quite literally, Kingdom Hearts merged with Rune Factory, minus an over-arching story. You can do whatever you want, as there’s no linear path you’re forced to take. The more you play, the more stickers you earn, which in turn unlocks new areas and items. Ever wanted to start a garden with Rabbit? Good for you – go spend some time with some talking stuffed animals! Are you determined to get an invitation to a mad tea party? Then strap on some battle gear and go kill some ghosts while you find those tea leaves. Do you enjoy waving enthusiastically at strangers? Well good golly gosh there’s an insane multitude of greetings for you to choose from, so go chase down some characters and force them to be your friends.

Open world games have been popular for a while now, and it only makes sense that Disney would get in on the action. However, Magical World isn’t something quickly hashed out to make a profit. Battling quickly becomes a challenge, quests can be intertwined with other skills, and twice a day new options open up, creating a fairly time-consuming game. I mean this in one of the more dangerous ways, where you don’t even realize how long you’ve been playing because with just one more plant, just one more café customer, or just one more battle, another coveted sticker can be earned and with it, new possibilities.

I am definitely looking forward to this game’s American release. Its cute exterior will scare away more serious gamers, and probably an entire gender, but there really seems to be something for everyone to be had here, and it’s always fun to revisit favorite memories from your childhood (or now, let’s be honest) and this looks like the perfect game to do just that.

Talkback

StratosApril 07, 2014

I am growing more and more interested in this game as I learn more about it.

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Disney Magical World Box Art

Genre Simulation
Developer Namco Bandai

Worldwide Releases

na: Disney Magical World
Release Apr 11, 2014
PublisherNintendo
RatingEveryone
jpn: Disney Magic Castle: My Happy Life
Release Aug 01, 2013
PublisherNamco Bandai
RatingAll Ages
eu: Disney Magical World
Release Oct 24, 2014
PublisherNintendo
Rating7+

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