Disney Magical World 2: Enchanted Edition

Ok, I’ll admit it. Even though it’s a little controversial to call yourself one these days, I think I would consider myself a Disney Adult. The thought of spending all day at Disneyland or Disney World makes my heart flutter. Waiting in long lines to ride your favorite ride, eating unhealthy junk food around Magic Kingdom, or drinking around the world in Epcot is probably a 25-year-old Disney Adult’s dream right now. Oh, and let’s not forget those meet and greets with Mickey and pals, the mouse ears to match your Disney attire for the day, and buying all the Disney merch your poor wallet can handle. That is a day that almost every Disney Adult wishes they could live every day for the rest of their life. Disney Magical World 2: Enchanted Edition for the Nintendo Switch helps satisfy that craving and fulfill that dream… everything except the amazing alcoholic drinks at Epcot of course.

When I heard that Disney Magical World 2 was getting an enhanced version on the Nintendo Switch, I wasn’t too interested at first. Besides, I had never even played the first game of the series. The only quality Disney game series I could think of was Kingdom Hearts, which of course happens to be my favorite series of all time. What excites me about this game is that Magical World 2 shares the same creators as those who made the Nintendo DS Kingdom Hearts games, H.a.n.d, and is published by Bandai Namco. Originally published on the Nintendo 3DS, Magical World 2was something I had always wanted to play but never convinced myself that it was worth playing. I had imagined that it was for younger kids and that I should stick with Kingdom Hearts. But, after playing through an embarrassingly large amount of Disney Magical World 2: Enchanted Edition I can argue that it is probably the second-best third-party Disney game I have ever played. I believe that this game can be enjoyed by casual Disney lovers of all ages and is extremely underrated.

Your Magical Adventure Awaits!

The best way to describe my journey through Disney Magical World 2: Enchanted Edition is that it feels like I am a VIP at Disneyland for a day without paying the VIP Disney price. The game opens with you being able to customize your character. You can either use your Mii or use in-game customization to design yourself. Next, you are introduced to the world of Castleton which is home to Mickey and his friends. Greeted by Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Daisy, they show you everything there is to do in Castleton, and trust me when I say there is a ton to do.

Mickey helps you get settled in your new home and your wish of getting to be neighbors with the famous mouse comes true. Daisy runs a Boutique and with materials you can make an uncountable amount of outfits and accessories. Chip and Dale help you create new furniture with their furniture shop. Clothes and furniture you are not able to make can be found at Scrooge McDuck’s store where you can recycle items to help get more money in your pockets and buy rare items. Lastly, the three little pigs help you customize the exterior of your house.

The King of Castleton also helps you express yourself with different reactions and if you react to the locals you gain points which can also be used to buy exclusive items at the Magician’s shop. If that’s still not enough items and clothes for you, you can use online features to be sent special clothes and items from the creators of the game.

One of the biggest features is customizing and profiting off of the Cafe. You have the chance to own a Cafe, theme it the way you want, and invite different Disney characters to come and entertain guests while serving them different types of food. I believe that this is Disney Magical World’s strongest feature and is what kept me playing for so long. The Cafe is also the easiest way to make money to buy the things you need.

With so many features available there is a type of system that everything is locked behind and that would be stickers. Everything is locked behind stickers. From continuing in the stories of each world to getting new recipes for clothes and items, if you don’t have stickers you won’t be going very far. The only way to get stickers is by completing achievements in the game and believe it or not they’re not very hard to get even later on in the game. In my playthrough, I managed to collect around 50 stickers. For every 5 stickers you collect you can make new outfits and furniture for the Cafe, your house, and self.

The last biggest feature is exploring different Disney worlds and experiencing original stories. My favorite happened to be Lilo and Stitch which was the first world I got to explore. Ghosts are attacking Hawaii and Lilo and Stitch are trying to enter a Hula contest and they need your help to get rid of the Ghosts and win the contest. I thought that the original story was entertaining and fun. On the side you could even play a mini game where you could surf and ride waves. Each world has what can be described as dungeons and you have to fight Ghosts that are terrorizing Disney characters. With these dungeons you will also have to collect items for certain characters and you will be rewarded extra materials and money at the end of the levels. There are even opportunities for you to go fishing and catch fish that can only be found in these certain dungeons.

Overall, there are plenty of positives with Disney Magical World 2 and so much to do. I constantly found myself changing outfits to match the worlds I was visiting and changing the theme to my Cafe to unlock achievements and to fit the mood I was in. I loved the original stories and the small activities you could do in each world. Exploring the dungeons also kept me very busy and entertained and almost reminded me of Kingdom Hearts. It was all very enjoyable but of course not everything was a magical experience.

Sometimes A Not So Magical Experience!

There are so many positives to this game that I didn’t think was possible. But, of course, not everything was perfect. Going back to the beginning of my play though I actually had chosen to be my Mii I had customized all the way back on the Wii and transferred onto the Nintendo Switch. But, I noticed that there were a ton of visual glitches with creating your character. For starters, the skin color of my Mii’s head did not match my body, which was a little off putting. Some character models like Flynn Rider from Rapunzel or Anna from Frozen just didn’t look right at all. They honestly looked like people were wearing them from the inside. Almost like it was costumes and you were doing meet and greets like at Disney World. But, main characters like Elsa and Rapunzel looked really good. There were even glitches that caused characters to not even stand fully on the ground and they would just hover in the air. Sometimes while fishing I would also notice that I wouldn’t even have a fishing pole in my hand or if I was carrying a fancy accessory to match my outfit it wouldn’t even appear in my hands. These visual glitches would definitely dim my bright and magical experience from time to time. This was the game’s biggest flaw and with a patch I believe that it would make it a much more enjoyable experience. But, it’s such a big issue in the game and that’s why I had to lower the overall score of the game.

The other problem with the game was that there were not too many challenges. Just when I thought that I was going to be introduced to a mini game, it would turn into a photo op where you just take pictures of you dancing with Mickey and other Disney Characters. If you ever needed money all you would have to do is fish a couple of times or just collect money at your Cafe. With fighting Ghosts, sometimes there would actually be a challenge, especially fighting the World Boss Ghosts if you didn’t have the right equipment. But, they dropped so many health and magic recovery items that I never really needed to worry about losing.

I also expected to hear more original Disney songs, but unfortunately it was the same repetitive original songs from the game. This repetitiveness continues with some of the level designs too and with some of the story. Although the customization options of the game were super strong, the story and everything needed to progress through the game felt like I was doing the same thing over and over again when it came time to do dungeons.

The online was also a bit lacking as well. I thought that online would mean you would be able to interact in real time with other players, but it was actually just connecting with other people and them standing around Castleton. I just wish there was a nicer way to interact with players, maybe similar to how players interact in Animal Crossing. It would have been cool to play mini games with other players or even do photo shoots. Regardless, the downsides to Magical World aren’t too drastic to hurt the gameplay and experience overall.

Conclusion

Disney Magical World 2: Enchanted Edition is a magical experience for all casual Disney lovers and feels like you are on a digital Disney World vacation without paying the Disney price and fees! With so many things to do like customizing yourself, cafe, and house the amount of time you will be spending in this game is more than you think. Exploring worlds based on Lilo and Stitch, Winnie the Pooh, Aladdin, and getting to battle, fish, and collect materials kept me very busy! Although there are a couple issues with visual glitches and there aren’t too many challenges, this game is still worth playing if you’re just a Disney fan looking for an Animal Crossing and or Harvest Moon Disney type game! It’s definitely worth trying out!