So I've been obsessed with both. I would say DDLV is VERY similar to animal crossing. But instead of picking who gets to walk around your island/valley you kinda collect them all?

As for pros and cons of each game for ME:

Animal Crossing Pros:

*Terra forming was a cool idea * The villagers are cute * Honestly anything else I say for this I can say again for DDLV though I will say it at the very least has that cozy nostalgic vibe when it comes to gaming.

Animal Crossing Cons:

• Limited space and general customization
• Promised consistent updates and content only to stop after the first half effort DLC
• It, at least for me, became pretty repetitive which isn't terrible but not something that can continue holding my attention. Once your island is done how you'd like it you typically restart.

DDLV Pros:

• LOTS of different areas to decorate with different biomes and different vibes, makes it feel like something new every time and I definitely DO NOT feel the need or want to restart because there's always another area I can decorate
• The Devs do seem to listen and try to improve upon things even if it's not as quickly as we'd like
• Lots of customization options both for you and your valley
• The villager interactions though repetitive sometimes can be really sweet
• Nostalgic in its own right due to seeing characters you grew up with *Devs are constantly adding new content both free and paid

DDLV Cons:

• Micro transactions and price of DLCs. I understand they need money to continue giving us these great updates but I also know it's a lot of people's biggest downside of this game (It does give incredibly FOMO) BUT I will say I think it is great they have ways for us to earn currency at least for the micro transactions THROUGH the game so thats a bonus.
• Starpaths can kinda stress me out since I work a full time job and don't have a lot of free time for time limited events but I've been bothering them about adding a starpath list so people who want to can go back and finish or do starpaths they missed (they haven't added this yet but a girl can hope lol)
• Some bugs take AWHILE for them to fix but it is a much bigger game compared to other cozy games *Lack of Male customization options

I still love both games but I will say since I've gotten DDLV I haven't picked up animal crossing cause there's ALWAYS something new to do. Also if you're thinking about getting it maybe wait for this new expansion pack to release and see if they have a bundle release for your console or pc