Tales of the Shirehas yet to officially launch, but the game’s previews and early footage have highlighted several of its gameplay features. In order to secure its place as a hit simulation game,Tales of the Shireshould take inspiration from other games in the genre.Disney Dreamlight Valleyspecifically features aspects similar toTales of the Shirethat would make it a particularly good source of inspiration.
Some fans might not be able to piece together the shared connections that Hobbits and iconic Walt Disney Animationand Pixar Studios characters share, but investigatingDisney Dreamlight Valley’s gameplay instantly makes the link obvious. With how much cookingDisney Dreamlight Valleyplayers must do, it wouldn’t be surprising to see similar cooking elements expanded even further inTales of the Shire.
Players Cook Up a Storm in Disney Dreamlight Valley
One of the core aspectsofDisney Dreamlight Valleyis cooking. Updates for the game not only feature new characters, clothing, and furniture items, but also new recipes. Cooked dishes, made at a cooking station, provide a higher amount of energy for players than consuming an ingredient by itself. In fact, by eating cooked meals, players can increase their energy beyond the typical blue energy bar to gain a Well Fed Bonus. Cooked meals can also be sold for Star Coins.
But the best aspect of cooking inDisney Dreamlight Valleyisn’t gathering ingredients or working at the cooking station with Remy, it’s the rewards that different cooked meals can provide players. Each recipe has its own energy and Star Coins value, which are displayed in the Meal Collections section of a player’s Collection menu. The higher the Star Level of a dish, the more energy or Star Coins it will provide to a player. Cooked meals can go for quite a bit of cash depending on their Star Level, withthe new Lightning Bolt recipeproviding a minimum of 5,000 energy and selling for a minimum of 5,038 Star Coins.
Demos forTales of the Shirehave proven that cooking is an important aspect of the game,like inDisney Dreamlight Valley. But as many reviews of the demo have explained, cooking inTales of the Shireis a bit monotonous and boring. Therefore, looking atDisney Dreamlight Valleyfor inspiration would be a smart idea for the new simulation game.
Tales of the Shire Needs to Provide a Useful Feast for Hobbits
As mentioned, the rewardsthat cooked meals provide inDisney Dreamlight Valleycan be quite staggering. Based on what those who have played the game have had to say, there needs to be more incentive to put work intoTales of the Shire. If rewards for cooking meals are high, players will be more likely to partake in cooking gameplay.
Tales of the Shirealso needs to have a wide variety of recipes for players to make. After all, the game itself claims that “No Hobbit’s day is complete without food.” With Hobbits notoriously indulging in seven meals a day, being able to explore a wide variety of meals is a necessity. Farming and fishing are also gameplay features inTales of the Shirewhich contribute to cooking. Increasing the number of meals players can make would likely also increase the different kinds of fish or plants players can find.
Though a significant amount of the food mentioned in the Shire seems to be inspired by the traditional homestyle food of the United Kingdom,Tales of the Shirehas the opportunity to diversify its recipe selection by including foods from other parts of Middle-earth.Lembas bread for the elves or dwarven cramcould be great references to other regions of Middle-earth.Disney Dreamlight Valleyhas a similar amount of diversity in its cookbook of recipes, oftentimes referencing different films from Walt Disney Animation and Pixar Studios.
Disney Dreamlight ValleyandTales of the Shiremay be competitors, butTales of the Shirecould certainly fill out its cookbook if it took inspiration from the hit Disney simulation game. Making sure players are rewarded with in-game boosts for their hand-made meals is another important thing that should be borrowed from the Gameloft title.
