On the surface, Disney Dreamlight Valley is a peaceful life/farming/crafting simulation game that has drawn comparisons to the likes of Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Players can create their own custom character and work to restore the Valley alongside iconic Disney characters such as The Little Mermaid's Ariel and Frozen's Elsa. However, some Disney Dreamlight Valley players have noticed that the behavior of classic characters Goofy and Mickey Mouse have lent an unsettling air to the otherwise peaceful and relaxing game.
As players progress through Disney Dreamlight Valley, they will unlock new characters by completing quests and building homes for them in the Valley. When these characters aren't accompanying the player as Companions on tasks such as fishing and gardening, they wander around the Valley, hang out in their homes, visit Scrooge's Store, and sometimes even hum songs from their home films. However, Mickey and Goofy's programmed behavior frequently results in them following the player around, standing far too close, appearing out of nowhere, and making bizarre sounds. This creepy behavior quickly became a source of memes among Dreamlight Valley players.
Mickey Mouse Has Some Abandonment Issues
Mickey's plot in Dreamlight Valley is a tragic one - his love Minnie Mouse spends much of the early game as a "ghost" trapped in an alternate realm. Once she returns, she finds herself suffering from amnesia and cannot remember Mickey until the player helps her recover her memories by completing her quest line. However, Mickey's response to this admittedly sad situation seems to be developing an unhealthy attachment to the player. He is frequently seen following immediately behind the player character, standing right next to them when they perform a stationary activity such as fishing, or even spontaneously appearing in the player's house.
Players have been quick to turn this behavior into a meme, referring to Mickey as "creepy" and a "stalker." He has even received the nickname "Mickey Myers," referring to Michael Myers, the iconic villain of the Halloween franchise of horror films. He has also been compared to "Creepy Watson," a version of John Watson in a classic Sherlock Holmes game who appeared to teleport around the game's map. Videos of Mickey following the player around and appearing inside their house have appeared on Twitter with the caption "Dreamlight Valley is secretly a horror game," sometimes referencing other games with surprisingly horrifying twists such as Undertale or Doki Doki Literature Club.
Goofy's Noises Make Players Uncomfortable
Goofy is one of the first characters players will unlock in Disney Dreamlight Valley, as he is met during one of the game's opening quests. Goofy is also the one to gift players their Fishing Rod and explain how fishing works in the Valley. Given that Goofy is such a fan of fishing, it's not surprising that he spends most of his free time doing so. However, players have been quick to notice that the noises Goofy makes when fishing are quite unpleasant to listen to. His frequently occurring noises have been compared to the sounds of yodeling, choking, vomiting, gargling salt water, and even more inappropriate activities. Goofy's Dreamlight Valley noises became popular on video sharing app TikTok, where players begged developer Gameloft to make the noises optional or remove them entirely.
A major content update for Disney Dreamlight Valley is scheduled to release on October 19, 2022. It will address a number of known bugs and issue quality-of-life fixes as well as adding a new character, Scar from The Lion King, to the game. However, it remains to be seen whether the update will do anything to correct the "creepy" behavior and frequent noise-making of Mickey and Goofy, or whether the characters will continue to "stalk" the player, fish loudly, and appear in the player's house even after future updates have been implemented.
Disney Dreamlight Valley is currently available in early access for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.