Disney’s Dreamlight Valley, released in early September 2022, is a captivating adventure game with life simulation elements. The game follows players as they fall asleep at night and enter a dream world. As the story progresses, players may experience a strange sense of déjà vu. Once Upon a Time, a Disney-owned ABC show that aired from 2011 to 2018, also has an eerily similar plot. Was this a complete oversight by the game’s developers, or was it a way for the developers to recycle an old idea and call it something new?

At the beginning of Dreamlight Valley, the player leaves the town and enters a wooded area, where the narrator suggests that the player has been there before. The player spreads out a blanket and falls asleep. They then encounter Merlin, who explains that the only way to enter Dreamlight Valley is to walk through a dream, and that the player himself must have magic. Merlin explains that the player must be the one the valley has been waiting for, that it must be him who will save Dreamlight Valley and end Oblivion.

Dreamlight Valley was once a carefree and happy place where all the characters lived in harmony and everyone was happy. Merlin tells the player that all the magic and friendship in the valley came from the ruler, and that it was this ruler who protected the valley from dark magic. When this nameless ruler left Dreamlight Valley, the inhabitants began to forget all about themselves, the landscape became dark, and thorny bushes grew everywhere. The once glorious valley now lies desolate and gloomy, with its inhabitants having no memory of their former lives or friendships.

As players progress through the game’s plot, they will gradually restore all of the memories of the various characters and return Dreamlight Valley to its former glory. The land will once again be colorful, and players can unlock different areas by playing challenges and puzzles in these areas. For anyone who has seen the ABC series “Once Upon a Time,” the story will sound strangely familiar. The main character, Emma Swan, is a bail bondsman in the real world. She is approached by a 10-year-old boy named Henry, who claims to be his adopted son. He takes her to Storybrooke, Maine, and shows her a storybook he reads, believing it to be about her.

Henry tells Emma that Storybrooke is full of fairy-tale characters who are cursed to live in the real world, none of whom remember their true identities. He convinces Emma that she is the long-lost child of Snow White and Prince Charming, the one they have been waiting for to save Storybrooke and all of its inhabitants from the Evil Queen’s curse. The longer Emma spends in Storybrooke, the more she realizes the truth about her destiny.

It’s odd that both Dreamlight Valley and Once Upon a Time feature a savior who must save fairy-tale characters from dark magic. The similarities are obvious here. But is this just an oversight on Disney’s part, or the product of sloppy writing they hoped no one would notice?