Obviously, Disney Dreamlight Valley and The Witcher aren’t properties one would expect to see in the same sentence. The former is one of the best cozy life sim games where players decorate the titular valley, complete quests for various Disney characters, and work on Dreamsnaps each week for a chance at some in-game currency. The latter is an expansive RPG with dialogue choices, tons of lore, and a fair bit of combat. However, as odd as it may seem, both of these games can be referred to when describing REKA, a title that’s set to leave Early Access soon.
Not only does REKA boast mostly positive recent reviews, but adding up all 1,893 user scores from throughout its Steam early access period reveals that an impressive 83% of gamers walked away with a positive opinion. While users can’t deny that developer Emberstorm Entertainment has some bugs to squash—a problem that will hopefully be mitigated with its 1.0 patch—there’s a good deal of praise for its story, use of folklore, visuals, and intuitive housebuilding mechanics.
Its quest design may be repetitive, like certain tasks in Disney Dreamlight Valley and Hello Kitty Island Adventure, but with said quests often being genuinely impactful and unafraid to tackle serious topics, that flaw can be more easily ignored. For players looking to build a super detailed home within a Witcher-like fantasy setting, and relax with some cozy mechanics in between that decorating, REKA has them covered.
REKA Enters Its 1.0 Release on October 26
REKA has been in Early Access since September 12, 2024. With the 1.0 launch set for October 26, it will have spent just over 2 years in Early Access.
- CREATE your own witch, customizing clothing, facial features like eyebrows, and more.
- BUILD the “chicken-legged” house of your dreams, with hundreds of decorative items to pack each room with.
- EXPLORE a semi-realistic and procedurally generated fantasy world full of forests, swamps, villages, tameable animals, and spirits.
- CHOOSE whether to help or hinder the inhabitants of each settlement.
Channel your inner witch! Build your cozy chicken-legged hut, practice witchcraft, and forage for ingredients in autumnal woodlands. Solve quests & uncover the great mysteries of the legendary witch Baba Jaga…
REKA’s Building, Exploration, and Character Customization Are All DDV-Coded
REKA’s first similarity to Disney Dreamlight Valley is a big one: players create their avatar instead of using one with an existing history. Said avatar will always be under the tutelage of the legendary witch Baba Jaga, but their appearance is up to the player, as is their eventual personality. A range of character creation tools will be available to REKA players, such as face shape, eye size, hairstyles, skin color, and clothing. With enough effort, gamers will be able to fully remake themselves or a fictional character of their choosing using this extensive creation suite.
One of the key components of REKA is creating one’s ideal witch hut, with maximalism encouraged due to the staggering amount of interior decoration items that can be collected. Players will build their ideal cottage up piece by piece, choosing whether it’s a single-story building or a multi-level mansion. Once players are satisfied with their exterior, they’ll be free to customize the interior at any time. Their home will also travel with them, as, just like in folklore, it boasts a giant pair of chicken legs to help witches get around—with the legs in question obscured whenever the house is placed in a resting position.
Balance the critic averages
Balance the critic averages
Easy (6)Medium (8)Hard (10)
When players are in search of more decorative items, or simply a change of pace, they can go out and explore a procedurally generated world full of hauntingly beautiful environments. Not only will spirits and new ingredients for the player character’s witchcraft be encountered when out in the wild, but so too will wild animals. Just like with Disney Dreamlight Valley’s pets, witches can work to tame these adorable critters, and once they like the player, they’ll follow them on their adventure and live at home with them. And once players are in the home of their dreams with the animals of their choosing, they can cook with their gathered ingredients, practice spells, or determine what approach to take with the nearby townsfolk.
REKA’s World and Decision-Making Adds a Sprinkle of The Witcher Series to the Mix
Given REKA’s premise, it’s hardly a surprise that the game doesn’t fully resemble Dosmey Dreamlight Valley. By focusing on a player-created witch that serves as an apprentice to the real Baba Jaga, and with certain quests that require a trigger warning before starting because of the subject matter they tackle, REKA is inherently a bit more mature than Gameloft’s popular cozy title. Its procedurally generated environments are slightly more realistic to match this tone, with the world consistently coming across as beautiful-yet-dark, much like how Velen was portrayed in The Witcher 3.
Additionally, while choices aren’t going to completely ruin an experience in REKA, they are present. Specifically, players will be free to be a selfish or kind witch, dooming or helping NPCs they stumble across in the game’s various settlements. While players shouldn’t expect Witcher-level decisions and consequences, the mere potential to be cruel or kind is nothing like Disney Dreamlight Valley, as in that game, players become good friends with heroes and villains alike. If gamers want to create their character, see the house customization in action, and doom (or help) towns of civilians prior to October 26 and the 1.0 launch, both a free demo and the early access version of the game are already available.
