A Dream of Burning Sand

Full review at: https://thegamehoard.com/2021/04/08/a-dream-of-burning-sand-pc/ A Dream of Burning Sand’s simple story can balance emotion, world-building, and humor rather well, but its hard to remain invested in the tale of Nina and Amani when you only get bits of it between befuddling mazes and long periods of pointless walking. Areas are often far too large for how little you can do in them, their design makes it easy to get lost, and even when you’re running at full speed, just moving around a space takes far too much time. When you’re not running along a large barren stretch of land, struggling with dark dungeons, or trying to learn perplexing interior layouts, the fights still make things hard to stomach with how easy it is to get overwhelmed while barely having the means to fight back competently yourself. While the plot could have been appealing in a more condensed experience, A Dream of Burning Sand is unfortunately an experience dominated by tedium and frustration.

I think this 2D platforming RPG has flown under the radar, and deserves more attention. On first glance the graphics quality reminds me of Cave Story, a game I initially avoided due to its retro look. And like Cave Story's art, it grew on me. Music also grew on me. There are some songs that are kind of weird to my ears, in particular the London song. But, the various versions of each song that play at different times really warmed me up to the soundtrack. And by the end, I wanted a live remixed soundtrack with that skeleton or spider on the cover :D (Reference from the game!) Where this game really shines, in my opinion, is the writing. Technically very well written, and almost all of it is optional. So you can scour in-game books; talk to NPCs multiple times; even listen to the MCs thoughts, if you have the patience to stand still. And I wish there was even more dialogue. I believe the later stages have less dialogue, and not nearly as many MC idle thoughts. A shame. But, perhaps more importantly: there's the world. There is a whole lot of content to explore. Mazes of 2D caves, ruins, cities, and plains. And I do mean maze literally. There is a fairly complex 2D layout that requires your undivided attention to detail. (Or a pen and paper!) It is not that bad, but certainly the first time can be daunting. On the plus side, there is plenty to explore. And many secrets to uncover. Which has its own pros and cons. Pro being the joy of discovering new secrets. And the con of face planting every wall in the game, just in case there's a false wall. I just know there is a meme somewhere... As for the battle system, it's is a mixed bag. It's pretty simple, swing your sword carefully, dodge or block with a shield. And though the enemies are not bad at all, there are only a few major types. Definitely lacking some variety. And the bosses are very simple compared to many modern platformers. What else... In the end, this is the kind of game that doesn't hold your hand, and the more you put into it, the more you'll get out of it. Rather than funneling all the content to you, you have to seek and make the effort to find the content. Talk to NPCs multiple times. Search for secret areas. Do side-quests. Read books. Think outside of the box to solve problems. Play mini-games. Replay the game for different endings! There's a lot of content to be discovered, and I am quite sure not everyone is up to the task. That said, I loved my time spent with this game. I will note, I made a guide to address how I dealt with the movement speed against a vast world, where you may backtrack or check everywhere for secrets. There are times when the default speed is just too slow. And even though there are speed potions within the game, these only last for so long and use valuable currency. In the end, my solution helped me replay the game and eliminate most any complaint I might have for running great distances. Oh, and I did manually copy saves later on, because I already spent 80+ hours on the game, and the game will lock you into your choices, which can result in hours lost if you forget something and move on to the next chapter. (I don't recommend the level select debug menu btw. You'd be much better off making manual saves or risk running into unintended differences versus if you had actually played to that point.) Saves were in the Steam folder btw. I'll briefly say the world and setting were very interesting. Although there are isekai troupes and such, it does put an interesting spin upon it. The desert calls to me! I think that mostly covers it. I spent many hours on this game because there's so much content to uncover, and I wanted to find that perfect ending. I knew it was out there, and I reached the ending I hoped for by making the right actions. I feel like this game had potential to reach a wider audience, but I still am happy to recommend it for those who aren't scared away by indie titles. On the contrary, I find games like A Dream of Burning Sand to give me what big budget AAA games never do. Unafraid, unbound, maybe a little broken xD If you want to take a chance on it, then please support your indie devs ;D Btw check my fan trailer video if you're undecided. It isn't terribly accurate with the clips I've chosen, so it's misleading; but that should make it less spoilery, and let your imagination run wild! ============================================================ Original "review": Every day bunches of "All New Releases" are published on Steam and immediately drown in a sea of games. (Reminds me of Youtube and trying to make a name for yourself there these days. I used to find all sorts of interesting channels, but lately, I just let recommendations do its thing most of the time... neglecting so much hidden talent.) Anyway, I *tried* to keep up with "All New Releases" for a short period of time and "A Dream of Burning Sand," was one of the few that caught my attention. And I regret... not playing it sooner! It is a gem in the rough; but very rough, especially compared to modern expectations anyway. It reminds me of an older generation of games, maybe from the 90s? Where you had more time to explore every nook and cranny, and let your imagination go. Not being pushed on by the constant flood of EVERYTHING demanding our attention. A game that hasn't been streamlined for instant gratification, and yet, to me, doesn't waste your time compared to how so many money hungry mobile games do these days... A classic game from yesteryear. With interesting quirks and mechanics you probably won't find duplicated often. Let me be real: if you are still here, and think it looks interesting; then consider taking a chance. The over-saturation of games today, means you can always keep searching for more mainstream choices... but this feels to me like a passion project; a nicely crafted adventure, with a lot of little details, lost and buried under so many others... So, if you are still curious, then I have some practical advice: At the start, play the game normally till you get the hang of it, and if you decide to keep the game, download the CheatEngine tool in order to bind a button to Speedhack on demand. This will allow you to speed up time, easing the burden of backtracking later on, exploring and also for checking to hear the protagonist's idling thoughts (yes this is a thing!). That was the previous reviewer's central issue. And I agree, everything is overly lengthy. (Even the title screen... if you watch the full loop, it goes on for a while!) This may not be an ideal solution, but it is a practical solution. Maintaining the large scale of the maps, without wasting your time. As for critiquing the game... I'll do that after I finish. Still some more to go, and I think I want to restart now to see if I can change the outcome!