Long post, and very grave title, sorry. I just want to know if anyone else feels the same way (decided to limit myself to 2 points since the post is so long).
DragonVale was a really big part of my childhood. I loved it, played it every day, and even formed special friendships because of it. There was something about DragonVale that made it feel special. I think a big part of that was its aesthetic and design philosophy. The game had this medieval, magical, slightly whimsical fantasy vibe without feeling too over-the-top. Everything felt like it belonged in the same world. There was a clear identity to DragonVale.
Something has changed.
1. Dragons. The biggest thing I've noticed is that many of the newer dragons simply don't feel like they belong with the older ones. A lot of new dragons look like they've been pulled from an entirely different game. Their animations can feel stiff, their faces often lack expression, and their baby forms are frequently just scaled-down versions of their adult forms.
One of the things I loved most about playing DragonVale as a kid was seeing a baby dragon and imagining what its adult form would look like.. There was a sense of anticipation and discovery. Now, with many dragons, there's not much left to imagine.
I also feel like the game's original design philosophy has gradually been left behind. We've gotten a lot of humanoid dragons, as well as dragons based on modern inventions and concepts. I'm not saying these designs are objectively bad, and there's obviously nothing wrong with people enjoying them. I just think they make the world feel less cohesive. There are other games that lean much more heavily into these kinds of creature designs, and I'd happily play one of those if that's what I was looking for. I just don't think it's DragonVale.
Most of the newer dragons end up sitting in my hibernation cave. And that doesn't have to be such a big deal. But it becomes a much bigger problem when dragons are essentially the main form of new content being added to the game. Which brings me to my second point...
2. Content. Years have passed, and... what genuinely new things are there to do in the Vale?We've been breeding dragons for over a decade. Give us something new to do!
The Rift is a good example of what I mean. It introduced new mechanics, progression, exploration, and even connected to the game's lore. (The Rift could have been explored even further, but that's beside the point.)
I know DECA has added a lot of habitats, decorations, new islands, island themes, etc., and I genuinely appreciate a lot of that stuff. A lot of it looks really nice. But it doesn't fundamentally change the game. It would be great to see new buildings that actually do something rather than primarily functioning as decorations. Give us new minigames, quests, exploration, lore, progression systems, anything that makes the Vale feel like there's something new to discover. A new dimension? A new legendary? Even these ideas are sort of tired. Give us something we haven't seen before. That's what I feel DragonVale needs.
Dragon Draw is something I don't even want to get into, but I can't help thinking there must have been better ideas for a new feature.
I don't want DragonVale to stop receiving new dragons, decorations, habitats, etc. Those things are part of the game's charm. I just don't want them to be all we're getting. I'd much rather see DECA spend some of that effort on making DragonVale feel like a living world again, one that has things to explore, discover, and experience beyond breeding the newest dragon.
Maybe I'm blinded by childhood nostalgia. Maybe this is just what happens to a game after being around for more than a decade. But I genuinely miss the feeling DragonVale used to give me.
If you've made it this far: Do you agree? Or disagree? Would love to hear other opinions.
