Reviews: Dragon Valley review

Introduction

Some time ago I got Dragon Valley (standard edition). I love the world and as always I try to make a nice review. I also bought the Renaissance Faire to go with Dragon Valley. I will be showing Dragon Valley in this review, and the Duke of Bows Renaissance Faire in another review. I planned to combine them in one review at first, but both became too long so I had to split them into two parts.

The Sims 3: Dragon Valley is a celtic meets medieval themed world. It's definitely inspired by Ireland, and I think it's also inspired a little by Scotland. Just look at the family names! Also, a lot of green plains are present in this world.

The world has rivals in it. Two families trying to gain and keep control. And new in this world are the elves. They aren't a new creature, but they are presented as one. They look quite different from normal Sims! You can easily recognize elves in this world.

So this is my Sim, as usual it's Rosie. Rosie will be showing Dragon Valley to you!

 

Create-a-Sim

I love all the new outfits and hairs, take a look below.

Female Clothing

There are 2 new tops and 4 new dresses. These are all the styles included:

 

Female Hairs

Male Clothing

For men there is one full outfit, two tops and one bottom piece (kilt):

 

 

Buy Mode

I had hoped Dragon Valley would have more buy mode stuff, but the items that the Sims team made are definitely cool and suit the world nicely:

Chamber Pot

 

Flowing Fixture

 

Step Right Up Pedestral Sink

 

Great Hall Dining Chair

 

Great Hall Dining Table

 

 

Bonded Tapestry, comes with 4 prints!

 

Outdoor Lamplight (Sky Version), Outdoor Lamplight, and Knotted Torch

 

Dragon Slayer Heroine Statue

 

Well of Wisdom

 

Post Box

 

Rugged Receptacle

 

Ornate Roof End

 

Simple Roof End

 

Lofty Roof Lantern

 

Dragon's Ridge Roof Decor

 

Dragon's Ridge Roof Extender

 

Dragon Egg

 

Ascending Wisteria, Wandering Wisteria, Scaling Wisteria, Rising Wisteria, Root of Wisteria.

 

Build Mode

Check out the new build items:

Ornate Door

 

Ornate Arch

 

Sun Window and Slatted Sun Window

 

Barrier Entryway Gate

 

Stonework Fence

 

Amber Elm Tree

 

Ombre Umbrella

 

Ancient Oak Tree

 

Heather Shrub

 

Fantasy Column - 3 sizes

 

Celtic Branches

 

Airy Arches

 

Celtic Embossed

 

Columns On Walls

 

Feathery Flora

 

 

Households

Meet the families in Dragon Valley. And pay close attention. Because some of them are parodies of characters of stories and movies in real life!

Eames Household

Wisteria House - 2BR/2.5BA

58 Sailor Bend

Martin Eames

Gender: Male
Age: Adult
Career: Criminal - 2 - Cutpurse

Maeve Eames

Pregnant

Gender: Female
Age: Adult
​Career: Criminal - 2 - Cutpurse

Liam Eames

Gender: Male
Age: Toddler

 

 

Finnigan Household

Limerick House - 1BR/1.5BA

82 Claddagh Court

Aaron Finnigan

Gender: Male
Age: Young Adult
​Career: Business - 7 - Vice President

 

Flanagan Household

Sturdy Home - 2BR/1.5BA

15 Clover Drive

Quinn Flanagan

Gender: Male
Age: Young Adult
​Career: Journalism - 6 - Investigative Reporter

 

McCann Household

Landing Place - 1BR/1BA

37 Aibell Avenue

Lorna McCann

Gender: Female
Age: Elder
​Career: Medical - 9 - Neurosurgeon

Gender: Male
Age: Child

 

Sackholme Household

Defended Domicile - 2BR/1.5BA

75 Shillelagh Street

Mason Sackholme

Gender: Male
Age: Young Adult
​Career: Law Enforcement - 1 - Snitch

Susie Sackholme

Gender: Female
Age: Young Adult
​Career: Culinary - 2 - Spice Runner

 

Murphy Household

Small Steady Home - 1BR/1.5BA

74 Shillelagh Street

Siobahn Murphy

Gender: Female
Age: Young Adult
​Career: Music - 8 - Lead Guitarist

 

MacAnna Household

Solidly Built Home - 2BR/2BA

76 Shillelagh Street

Teagan MacAnna

Gender: Female
Age: Young Adult
​Career: Criminal - 5 - Bagwoman

Shannon MacAnna

Gender: Female
Age: Young Adult
​Career: Law Enforcement - 5 - Lieutenant

 

MacGrath Household

The Cottage - 1BR/1.5BA

77 Shillelagh Street

Bradan MacGrath

Gender: Male
Age: Adult
​Career: Professional Sports - 8 - League MVP

 

O'Shea Household

The Gables - 2BR/2.5BA

85 Deidre Drive

Breandan O'Shea

Gender: Male
Age: Young Adult
​Career: Law Enforcement - 4 - Patrol Officer

Kearney O'Shea

Gender: Male
Age: Young Adult
​Career: Military - 4 - Squad Leader

 

O'Connell Household

The Big House - 3BR/3.5BA

100 O'Connell Heights

Seamus O'Connell

Gender: Male
Age: Adult
​Career: Political - 6 - Local Representitive

Shauna O'Connell

Gender: Female
Age: Adult
​Career: Science - 4 - Fertilizer Analyst

That's one Brave girl

Morida O'Connell

Gender: Female
Age: Young Adult
​Career: Professional Sports - 5 - Rookie

Brien O'Connell

Gender: Male
Age: Child

Aiden O'Connell

Gender: Male
Age: Child

 

Ordhen Household

Humble House - 1BR/1BA

90 Dagda Drive

Daric Ordhen

Gender: Male
Age: Adult
​Career: Varies per game. Level one of any career or unemployed!

 

Delaney Household

Sun Home - 2BR/2BA

92 Dagda Drive

Emma Delaney

Gender: Female
Age: Adult
​Career: Professional Sports - 4 - Minor Leaguer

Dorren Delaney

Gender: Male
Age: Elder
​Career: Varies per game. Usually working in the sports career or pensioned!

 

Cromos Household

Carrigbeg - 2BR/1BA

33 Lugh Lane

Riley Cromos

Gender: Male
Age: Adult
​Career: Culinary - 6 - Pastry Chef

Zoe Cromos

Gender: Female
Age: Child

 

Burb Household

Sweet Shelter - 1BR/1BA

34 Lugh Lane

John Burb

Gender: Male
Age: Young Adult
​Career: Varies per game. Level one of any career or unemployed!

Jennifer Pleasant

Gender: Female
Age: Young Adult
​Career: Varies per game. Level one of any career or unemployed!

 

Lochlan Household

Loch House - 1BR/1.5BA

30 Clover Drive

Nessie Lochlan

I always imagined The Monster of Loch Ness to look different.

Gender: Female
Age: Adult
​Career: Journalism - 3 - Freelance Writer

 

Hooley Household

Dara Cottage - 1BR/1.5BA

26 Clover Drive

Robin Hooley

Robin Hood, anyone?

Gender: Male
Age: Adult
​Career: Criminal - 6 - Con Artist

Marian Hooley

Gender: Female
Age: Young Adult
​Career: Military - 4 - Squad Leader

 

Dolan Household

Hefty Home - 3BR/1.5BA

24 Clover Drive

Finn Dolan

Gender: Male
Age: Adult
​Career: Science - 6 - Aquatic Ecosystem Tweaker

Sarah Dolan

Gender: Female
Age: Adult
​Career: Business - 3 - Report Processor

Wynn Byrne

Gender: Female
Age: Elder
​Career: Varies per game. Usually something on level one of any career or pensioned!

 

Grey Household

Vantage Point - 1BR/1BA

70 Oak Grove

Hugh Grey

Gender: Male
Age: Adult
​Career: Varies per game. Level one of any career or unemployed!

 

Walsh Household

Thatched Cottage - 1BR/1BA

45 Brea Bend

Aislin Walsh

Gender: Female
Age: Adult
​Career: Culinary - 5 - Line Cook

 

O'Reilly Household

Home for the Gentry - 3BR/2.5BA

61 Ardmore Avenue

Conor O'Reilly

Gender: Male
Age: Adult
Career: Science - 5 - Carnivorous Plant Tender

Chloe O'Reilly

pregnant

Gender: Female
Age: Adult
​Career: Journalism - 4 - Professional Blogger

Morrigan O'Reilly

Gender: Female
Age: Teen

Chloe O'Reilly

Gender: Female
Age: Child

 

 

Empty Houses

There are a lot of empty houses available in Dragon Valley:

Rustic Home - 1BR/1BA

63 Oak Grove

§37.491

25x25

 

Cozy & Content - 1BR/1BA

21 Clover Drive

§13.340

20x20

 

Humble Home - 1BR/1.5BA

81 Claddagh Court

§16.361

30x30

 

Meek Manor - 1BR/1BA

52 Brighid Bend

§15.560

20x40

 

Glen House - 2BR/2BA

5 Mithrilen Manor

§59.250

30x30

 

Carrigbeg - 2BR/1.5BA

3 Mithrilen Manor

§150.990

40x40

 

Dormer House - 3BR/3BA

73 Shillelagh Street

§101.453

20x30

 

Very Comfortable House - 2BR/1BA

78 Shillelagh Street

§43.933

30x20

 

Cozy Cottage - 1BR/1.5BA

91 Dagda Drive

§71.747

50x25

 

Simple Shack - 2BR/1.5BA

87 Deidre Drive

§15.923

20x30

 

 

Empty Lots

Here is a list of all the empty lots in Dragon Valley. Of course you can always create more empty lots by using the in-game world editor. Dragon Valley has plenty of room for more lots if you need more lots!

14 Clover Drive
§800
20x20

16 Clover Drive
§1.250
25x25

17 Clover Drive
§1.800
30x30

19 Clover Drive
§2.400
30x40

20 Clover Drive
§2.600
40x40

2 Mithrilen Manor
§1.800
30x30

4 Mithrilen Manor
§1.200
30x20

8 Mithrilen Manor
§1.200
20x30

9 Mithrilen Manor
§1.200
20x30

64 Oak Grove
§8.192
64x64

66 Oak Grove
§1.800
30x30

35 Aibell Avenue
§1.800
30x30

38 Aibell Avenue
§8.192
64x64

47 Aine Avenue
§2.600
40x40

60 Abbey Alley
§800
20x20

32 Lugh Lane
§8.192
64x64

71 Shillelagh Street
§1.200
20x30

80 Shillelagh Street
§1.800
30x30

56 Morrigan Mews
§1.800
30x30

86 Deidre Drive
§1.200
30x20

88 Deidre Drive
§3.200
40x40

81 Claddagh Court
§8.192
64x64

 

Community Lots

I love the rabbit holes and other community lots in Dragon Valley. Take a look below:

Cladach Beach

68 Oak Grove

 

Dragon Tavern

23 Clover Drive

 

World's Theatre

13 Clover Drive

 

Swimmer's Society Practice Pool

11 Clover Drive

 

Ubiquitous Unity Day Spa

10 Clover Drive

 

The Local Grocer

Grocery store and Diner

50 Elm Grove

 

Like Minded Individuals, Inc.

Business and Journalism careers

46 Elm Grove

 

Playful Park

83 Claddagh Court

 

City Cairn Memorial Lot

Graveyard

84 Claddagh Court

 

Garda Police and Military

44 Elm Grove

 

Freedom Books

Library

43 Elm Grove

 

Practice Pit Gymnasium

41 Elm Grove

 

Tome Traders

Bookstore

57 Ardmore Avenue

 

City Hall

55 Ardmore Avenue

 

Sláinte Chugat Harmoney Hospital

53 Ardmore Avenue

 

Feudal Fishing Spot

7 Mithrilen Manor

 

Myth, Legend, Lore, and Fact Facility

Science career

40 Elm Grove

 

Heart and History Art Gallery

42 Elm Grove

 

McCafferty's Pub

72 Shillelagh Street

 

Tourney Tent of Novices

Stadium

49 Aine Avenue

 

Miser McCann's Restaurant

59 Ardmore Avenue

 

Community Garden

51 Elm Grove

 

Crios Pond

40 Cian Road

 

Mithrilen's Madmen Hideaway

Criminal career

28 Clover Drive

 

Mol Beach

25 Clover Drive

 

Traigh Mhor Beach

69 Oak Grove

 

Drake School of Life and Learning

101 O'Connell Heights

 

 

Neighborhood

 

What do you think of the world? I think it's beautiful! And look at the sunset:

 

 

Renaissance Faire

The Duke of Bows Renaissance Faire is a new venue which you can buy in The Sims 3 Store. It adds two new skills among other things. The new skills are the Violin and Archery. You can practice both at home and at the venue. I will explain the skills more thorougly in the separate Duke of Bows Renaissance Faire review, go here to read it!

 

 

Festival Lot

View and download the Dragon Valley Festival Lot!

 

Dragons

In buy mode you can buy a green Dragon Egg. Don't worry about the colour though, I will explain more about that in a bit. If you have The Sims 3: Seasons as well, you can replace the Playful Park with the custom festival lot that was created for Dragon Valley. My Sim was on the festival lot during Spring. While there, she was able to collect Dragon Eggs instead of regular Easter Eggs. Beware though if you collect more than 4 eggs, since each Sim can only keep one dragon of each colour!

Initially I thought (when buying the eggs from the buy mode catalog) that your Sim had to talk to the dragon eggs in order for the eggs to hatch. But she collected about 5 eggs on the festival lot and they all started to hatch after a couple of hours. I think it's roughly 6 hours? This was an issue since a Sim can only have one dragon of each colour in their inventory. And if you have one of a particular colour, you can't pick up a dragon with the same colour! It's best to be at home before the eggs hatch. Because when you are out in public and one (or all of) the eggs starts to hatch, other Sims can steal the dragon, or just as bad, the dragon can fly away. You can prevent this by giving a name to your dragon. But you can only do this if you don't already have a dragon of the same colour. I've had it happen to me that another Sim from Dragon Valley stole the dragon before I could at least sell it. I punished her for sure. My red dragon set her on fire muhahahaha!

You can talk to a dragon egg, and this can influence what kind of dragon will hatch. Here are all the interactions for a dragon egg:

• Brag about Physical Prowess
• Gossip about Love of Fire
• Talk about Job
• Talk about the Weather
• Talk about Friends
• Discuss the Egg Paradox
• Plot against Enemies
• Converse about Existentialism

Now you can influence which colour dragon will hatch, but only slightly. So it might not work. But if you try to "converse about existentialism" you might get the black dragon (only with DV gold or the combination of Dragon Valley and the Renaissance Faire), if you "talk about friends" you'll increase the chances of getting a purple dragon. If you "talk about the weather" you might get the green dragon. And finally, if you "gossip about love of fire" the chances for a red dragon are increased!

 

Here some more screens of Rosie playing around in the house I created. She was waiting for the eggs to hatch:

 

Every type of dragon can be named, renamed, fed, played with and they all can fly. You need quite a bit of land to let it fly! Playing with the dragons can result in being bitten. Besides a moodlet I haven't seen any negative effects come from this.

The Red Dragon

Interactions

• Name Dragon
• Rename Dragon
• Fly
• Feed Dragon
• Play With Dragon
• Talk to Dragon about Athletic
• Shoot Fireball At...
• Cast Fiery Torment On...
• Put Dragon Down
• Put Dragon In Inventory

 

Red Dragon hatching

 

Here is the red dragon being idle, spitting fire every now and then:

Cute right? Took me some time playing with the dragons to find out they can fall sleep hahaha!

 

Fiery red dragon

 

Shoot Fireball At...

This does exactly what you would think. The red dragon will shoot a fireball on another Sim. This will hurt the relationship!

 

Cast Fiery Torment On...

This makes sure a Sim is on fire. Again, not good for the relationship between Sims!

 

Talk About Athletic

With each dragon you can talk about a particular subject. With the red dragon it's athletic, and this will increase your athletic skill.

 

More red dragon screens

Just because it's so pretty:

 

The Green Dragon

Interactions

• Name Dragon
• Rename Dragon
• Fly
• Play With Dragon
• Talk To Dragon about Gardening
• Summon Treasure
• Harvest Plants
• Put Dragon Down
• Put Dragon In Inventory

 

Hatching the green dragon

 

Play With Dragon

Rosie is playing with Veggie, her green dragon:

 

Harvest Plants

This is such a time saver! Don't you just hate it that your gardening Sims spend HOURS harvesting their plants? If your Sims don't have enough time to do this, they can ask the green dragon to harvest the plants for them. The goods will then appear in your Sim's inventory.

 

Talk about Gardening

Need a gardening skill boost? Have a chat with the green dragon about gardening.

 

Summon Treasure

If you choose this interaction, the green dragon will summon a random treasure for your Sim. I tried it a couple of times and got a gem every time she tried.

The Purple Dragon

Interactions

• Name Dragon
• Rename Dragon
• Fly
• Feed Dragon
• Play With Dragon
• Talk To Dragon about Charisma
• Summon a Friend
• Summon Someone New
• Be the Life of the Party!
• Cast Rune Charm On...
• Put Dragon Down
• Put Dragon In Inventory

 

Hatching a purple dragon:

 

Pretty purple dragon

 

Talk about Charisma

 

Cast Rune Charm On...

 

Be the Life of the Party

Use this when you have a party. The interaction will happen with or without a party, but there won't be any effect without a party!

 

Summon Someone New

Need someone to talk to? Summon a random Sim. You can also choose to summon a friend, which will do the exact same, but it will summon a friend and not just any random Sim.

 

Play

Playing with a dragon can result in being bitten:

 

More screens from the purple dragon:

 

The Black Dragon

The black dragon only appears if you have both Dragon Valley and the Renaissance Faire! Read about the black dragon in The Duke of Bows Renaissance Faire review!

 

Celtic Lands

Unfortunately I don't have the gold version of Dragon Valley, and therefore can't take screenshots of the Celtic Lands set. But here is a store image so you can see what's in the set.

Go here to view the set in The Sims 3 Store. I hope they will release this set separately later on. The price would then be 800 SimPoints!

 

Review House

I usually create a custom house for the reviews I write. And with Dragon Valley and the Duke of Bows Renaissance Faire, I also wanted to create my own medieval house. If you like it, click here to view/download it!

 

Custom Clothing

Rosie had to be put in medieval clothing as well of course! If you like it, click the links below the images to view and download the custom outfits!

Rosie's Everyday outfit. The top requires Dragon Valley. The skirt requires the base game. The shoes require Supernatural. The hair is from the store.

 

Rosie's Formal outfit. The dress requires Dragon Valley.

 

Rosie's Outerwear outfit. The dress requires Dragon Valley.

 

Rosie's Sleep Outfit. This nightgown requires Master Suite Stuff.

 

Rosie's Athletic outfit. The top requires Dragon Valley. The pants require University Life!

 

Perfect Combination

If you like Dragon Valley and its medieval theme, do check out the following store sets as well. I feel they fit in perfectly in this world. And they make up for the lack of medieval themed objects!

Castle items

 

Tudor items

 

Magic items

 

Greenhouse

 

Fairy/Forest items

 

Modern Technology

As you can see you can try your best to make ye olde world. But the cars, ice cream van and mobile phones sure gave me a good laugh. Of course, Dragon Valley is not necessarily a medieval world. But it appears as one to me. For storytellers the world is awesome, and the modern technology can "ruin" screenshots a little. But I managed to make most of my screenshots without cars "ruining" it. Of course you can live this world in a modern day as well. It's The Sims, use your imagination!

 

Bonus screenshots

Here are some bonus screenshots of Morida (Brave parody). I changed her hair a little and found out that there isn't the perfect hair for her in any of the expansions, stuff packs or store sets. But I think she is really pretty haha. I might take her Sim and move her to a modern world, for a new storyline.

 

Conclusion

I think Dragon Valley is awesome. It has a Celtic/Medieval theme and it's great for storytelling. I am glad the dragons came with a new world. I don't know how I would fit them in, in my other worlds. I'm not saying it can't be done, but I think Dragon Valley is THE world for dragons to live in. I would like to thank EA for letting me review Dragon Valley! It's one of the worlds I will find myself playing in more often. And I hope my review gets more people excited for Dragon Valley!

View and download The Sims 3: Dragon Valley in The Sims 3 Store!