Dread Delusion

Disclaimer: It took me a while to play this game, even though I bought it close to release. Playing it made me dizzy, but after hearing some friends lionize it, I tried again and took a look at the video options. I turned off Wobbly Textures, Wobbly 3D, and Retro Resolution. This worked for me. And god, I'm glad I figured that out. I had such an incredible experience playing this game. It's very simple in its systems, but it excels in story and exploration. While I don't want to say too much about story because I think it's best experienced blind, I do want to share the exploration moment that made me realize how special this game is. I received a quest in which I had to travel to a mushroom forest in the southwest and look for the largest mushroom. I took out my compass, something you actually have to hold in your hand, to find the southwest, and kept my eyes peeled for a large mushroom. And I had to pause here as I realized that this is the feeling I've been missing from so many recent games. Rather than keeping my eyes on a quest marker or HUD pip, I was engaging with the world to find my way. There's so much to discover in Dread Delusion's world and story. I can't recommend this game enough.

I'd probably say this game is a 7.5/10. The story is good, and the exploration is MOSTLY enjoyable. Nice side quests as well, and the universe is very cool. It is also not very glitchy, I had very few bugs during gameplay, and it ran very stable the entire time. The negatives are quite glaring though, and while I'm quite patient so they didn't bother me specifically I would like to write these out for people who should avoid buying. This game is a story game. Despite there being combat, and rpg systems. These are completely trivial and mostly pointless. There is practically 0 challenge fighting anything in the entire game, and the majority of the game I moved so fast I just simply ignored combat as you get no exp, almost no item drops worth noting, and no unique gear or quests are actually linked to killing things 99% of the game. The exploration has some glaring flaws. 1. Illusionary walls - exactly what it sounds like. You can drink potions to see them, and some are alluded to by landmarks or npc dialogue, but not all. This leads you to spend a lot of time making potions to walk around looking at walls, or like me, anywhere I go I am literally grinding my face into the side of anything that could have a door. 2. Most areas you adventure have loot, but the vast majority of said loot, is entirely worthless. Sometimes completing a multi-step puzzle to obtain something akin to a low tier consumable quite consistently. 3. The game gives you problems you cannot solve on your first encounter, making you go back to previous areas to re-search/finish them. This is not fun, it is boring. It could be fun if the combat was enjoyable but it isn't. The second main gripe, is the "rpg" systems. These are, in fact, a complete ♥♥♥♥ show. You have like 4 stats, I can't be bothered to remember the actual names but it's something like this. Might - Required to break doors for areas that have no other way to enter, never checked in quests. Guile - Is used to scale lockpicking, but lockpicking is RNG and has no actual hard requirement. Useless. Intelligence - Used for lore checks, which are impassable otherwise like Might. Charisma - Used for charm, which is required for good outcomes to quests. Required since story game. So basically, Guile is a dump stat, completely useless. Charisma NEEDS to be max practically, and then Intelligence for lore checks. After that, you need to start upping Might so you can open up areas for resources. Might is the least important of the three, but it does allow you to get resources/money that otherwise you are barred from obtaining. Guile gives you lockpick for traps/doors but its a literal single dice roll. So this is how it works. Roll a 1d6 Difficulty is based on lock, so with no guile you get 6 requirement locks but it cannot be harder than 1/6. Two items in the game ruin this, lockpicking tool makes it so if you roll 1 under you get the pick back. Bug makes it so the difficulty is lowered, this usually means you can at max have a 2/6 chance. This means that as long as you roll a 4-6 you will open the lock or get the pick back, which means you never run out of picks making the stat entirely useless. This isn't even late game or hard to reach. This all sounds very negative, but I am purposely leaving these for people who this would ruin the game completely for, other than this stuff, the game is very good. I wish there was more game left for me to play. Highly recommend if those things listed are not complete deal breakers. I look forward to playing the next game from the devs.

First ever "not recommend". My first 6 hours of this game were really enjoyable and I really want to play more - but the latest patches have broken the game on steam deck. You are regularly soft locked into dialogue without the option to choose an answer - the only way get out is to force exit the game.. Seeing as there is a lot of dialogue in this game, it is unplayable right now, unfortunately.

This is one of those games that really makes you wish for a neutral or a "not for everyone" option. At the time of this review, I have completed a playthrough entirely, finished all side quests except a 10 minute timer fetch quest, and have done pretty much all there is to do. Having said that, the core point of a review is "did I have fun" and "would I recommend this game to other people". The tl;dr is a little bit but maybe ~3 of those 24 hours were enjoyable, and mostly in the early game. And I wouldn't recommend this game to anyone who hasn't already spent the money on it. I really wanted to like this game, the aesthetic is interesting, but the best analogy I can give is its like 15 foot-long hot pocket with no filling. Every facet of the game is painfully shallow to the point that every skill & interaction feels roughly pointless. I bypass failed checks by swapping out hats, I can rob stores in plain view because there's no actual crime or guard AI to speak of, you get weapon and spell slots just to spend 90% of the game with only a sword and a return-to-checkpoint spell. Most quests devolve into "run to this place, run back here". This game is abysmally lacking in actual substance when it comes to the actual gameplay, and one thing it does a LOT is only give you things that would've been useful when the game is functionally already over. Maybe the writing is good enough to salvage this mess? Honestly no, the initial premise is intriguing; a post-apocalyptic world set shortly after a massive war to purge the world of 'gods'. Most conflicts boil down to "side with a god" or "purge the god", and this could've been a unique dynamic if it was written by someone more adept than a 5-year old. Legitimately infuriating how blatantly the game expects you to choose the "correct" choice, and tries so hard to railroad you into bootlicking despicable characters and factions because "Muh fee fees". Case in point: There is a country of undying zombie people, haunted by the memory of killing and consuming their loved ones, they lock themselves away in mausolems and crypts, praying for actual death. Did I mention they waged crusades to hunt the living which the game tells you killed tens of thousands? You have the opportunity to destroy this land, preventing such horrors from ever happening again, and the game throws a tantrum and calls you a monster. Whoever wrote this garbage is a whiny toddler who thinks "wets all be fwens :3" is deep. Every time the game shames me for a choice, it has already shown dozens of times over that playing with powers beyond your control ends HORRIBLY, dooming entire towns to become sacrifices or worse; just to treat you like a monster for not blindly repeating the same thing. All in all, this game is genuinely baffling. Every good thing it does (like the aesthetics) is overshadowed by how shallow it all is. The gameplay barely exists beyond a checklist with zero depth beyond the barest implementation (we have player homes! *theres literally no reason to ever use them*), the writing is so tonally inconsistent and hypocritical, and the game overstays its welcome by so so long. I already spent the money, so I wanted to finish it, but unless you really really like the idea of a preachy shallow art piece, save yourself the money.

Cool art direction, mid story, awful gameplay.

[keep in mind: haven't beaten yet] Just such an awesome game, so well crafted, incredibly creative. Incredible aesthetic that I easily find myself marveling in. Good sound design. Easy gameplay. Good characters. Amazing worldbuilding, it's so captivating!

"Ambitious" is the word I'd most ascribe to *Dread Delusion*. It really promises a lot, given the small team that developed it: an open-world, in-depth RPG with plenty of factions and side quests with decisions to make and tons of interesting pieces of equipment and spells to find. And I think it delivers on all of those things, albeit inconsistently. If there was ever a game that I wished had a AAA team and budget behind it to truly expand on the concepts already present and shore up its weaknesses, it would be Dread Delusion. To begin with the best parts: the world and narrative. The Oneiric Isles, and the world of Dread Delusion at large, is absolutely fascinating. I'm personally not one for stories where there's an Inquisition that's cracking down on some magical group of people or what-have-you, so despite that being one of the very first things in the game I was told about and promptly rolled my eyes at, I still found myself intrigued by all the mysteries that the spaces in this game had to offer (it probably helped that one of the first people you talk to is a woman eternally bound and tortured in a walking Iron Maiden, beaten down into believing that her agony is what's best for her). Though Pwyll and Hallowshire, the first two areas you have freedom in, can be weak in some regards, the game really shines in the Endless Realm and the Clockwork Kingdom with its fresh ideas. How gods work in this world, the frighteningly powerful Clockwork King, and the blood-steeped history of the Endless were all concepts that really had me invested and let me push past the game's faults. Narratively, Dread Delusion is constructed quite well! The main story is, initially, pretty whatever. So, you spend your time investigating side quests, turning over corners of the world to see what dilemmas wait for you. And there are a lot! Dread Delusion is frequently placing you in moral quandaries that are genuinely quite difficult. Most of them could be summed up as, "Do you risk something for the chance at a brighter future? Or do you play it safe, preserve the status quo, and hope that we can get out of this problem eventually, in a safer way?" It might seem easy to choose the former option, but as the ante keeps being upped and the stakes keep getting higher, how many times are you willing to gamble on the lives of others? Are the upsides worth the potential disastrous consequences? This is a post-apocalyptic world, after all. Perhaps it's best to try and discover something greater, no matter the cost. But there is also still love and humanity to be had in these lands. Perhaps it's not worth it to chance destroying what remains. I found some of these questions to be remarkably interesting and worthy of great consideration before I acted. And with the New Vegas-style slideshow epilogue, you *do* get to see how your choices play out, and how they interact with each other in some cases. All that praise being said, there is a reason I mentioned that the world and narrative is what kept me propelled through the full run-time. Many other aspects of the game were found lacking, though not foundationally — just in scope or exact execution. The combat is standard for this PS1-style game: charging your attacks while backstepping enemy attacks, and sometimes you cast a spell that's only a little better than just hitting the enemy. In Dread Delusion's case, it's perfectly serviceable. There *are* a handful of spells that could be used to spice combat up, but the only ones I ever found were simple ranged attacks with little flair or flavor. And given that Stamina (used to make physical attacks) regenerates while Mana doesn't, I was often hesitant to use them (until I found a ring that regenerated stamina... in the last two hours of the game). The music is fine and atmospheric, but there aren't a ton of tracks. That means you'll get very familiar with only a handful of songs that are decent, though not hours-on-end listenable, which is the amount of time you'll be spending with them. I got very tired of the theme that plays during the opening section and all throughout Pwyll, what especially sucks cause it is a very relaxing, flowing theme. I distinctly remember feeling sleepy at points, which I have to imagine is not a good emotion to evoke in a player during a game's opening hours. The exploration of the world is... a mixed bag. There are little goodies around literally every corner (seriously, if you think there might be something there, 99% of the time there will be, even if it's just a few gold), and sometimes you'll stumble upon something interesting like a fun piece of equipment or a spell. Other times, however, you'll find some ores, and once you buy a house, it becomes apparent that probably half of the things you find in the world are meant to be poured into the money and material sink that is player housing, only one of which (Thornwood Manor) is worth it. And then there's the skyship! Once I got it, I genuinely felt as if the game were a few points higher on a scale, it was *that* fun to have that freedom, especially with the interesting new areas it unlocked. Only, you only get it in the endgame. In my ~30 hour playthrough, I only got to enjoy the very cool skyship for 3 hours, and then the game was over. Last, the RPG mechanics. Collecting new armor and weapons was initially entertaining, but it eventually became apparent that they all worked pretty similarly. I would toss on and off hats and rings that gave static stat boosts so I could lockpick easier, buy items for less, and pass Charm checks. And with these stat boosts being so massive, plus the temporary buffs you can get from friendly factions in Hallowshire or Thornwood Manor or your skyship, it began to feel as those the character building choices I made didn't matter. Choosing to invest in Might and Wisdom less than the other attributes didn't impact the game, because I could throw on my hat that gave me 30 Lore and work around it with ease. I was also disappointed to see that all checks in dialogue were Charm. It would have been more engaging if the player could use their high Lore to make an educated argument, or their high Attack to intimidate someone into submission. Instead, I would put on my Charm hat before engaging in any important dialogues, maybe sip some tea in case I ever thought I might fail (I never did), and that was that. Plus, any of the less important dialogues allow the player to back out of the conversation, put on the Charm hat, then go back in to then make the check, so even if I talked to someone without it on, it was trivial and welcomed by the game to fix that. It isn't all bad, though. There are interesting rings and accessories that can impact the game beyond stat increases. Though whether you'll actually find them... there are a lot of little discoveries in this game, and not all of them are winners. (And one last smaller thing: despite the simple graphics, I experienced a lot of pop-in when entering areas. It was especially noticeable when NPCs would appear bald and then suddenly have hair once I got within a few feet of them, or a tree would suddenly spring up in my face. For a game that allows the player to reach really high speeds, I expected it to account for that more. However, that was only ever a minor nuisance.) Wow that was a lot. tldr, I *would* recommend you play Dread Delusion if you vibe with the graphical style and find yourself intrigued by the world and narrative. It certainly has flaws, but I ultimately found the experience enjoyable, enough to likely go back and complete a playthrough on hard mode while choosing all the opposite outcomes.

So, I've played through Dread Delusion in its entirety and seen both endings. I was initially very intrigued and invested in its surreal, mildly psychedelic world, but ultimately rebounded hard. To be clear, I found the PS1-era graphics and stale gameplay just fine; it could be a visual novel for all I care. I also did a no-kills playthrough for the hell of it, and it was both easy and satisfying. However, the longer I reflect on the themes and the writing, the more I realize how much of a nothingburger they are. Pros: [+++] Uniqueness. You drop into a bizarre alien world without much context and get to find out most details as you go. The background lore is good and consistent, the setting gets gradually explained, the story doesn't leave many loose ends. [++] Writing for some quests. You will be facing difficult dilemmas at every turn. Even after committing to a choice, you will find yourself looking back and asking whether you did the right thing. More often than not, you will be left worrying for the state of the world and the fates of its inhabitants. That's a sign of strong writing in my book. [+] Gameplay. Some will surely disagree, but I personally don't mind the game being way too easy (it is). It just means fewer distractions on your way through the narrative. At times, I was reminded of old-school adventure games like The Longest Journey or Syberia. Dread Delusion may lack the latter's sophistication in writing or mechanics, but has some evocative set pieces and atmospheric music. When in doubt, invest in Agility and run past obstacles at supersonic speeds. Ditch tedious combat and abysmal stealth - there's no obstacle you cannot overcome with enough running speed on your character. [+] Atmosphere. Dread, melancholy, longing, otherworldness, static surreality. The Skyrealms, where the story takes place, are a meditative experience. Some compare this game to Morrowind, but aside from a handful visual parallels, the two have nothing in common. Dread Delusion is its own thing. If anything, the graphics and grating, low-resolution sounds remind me of Daggerfall. [+] Perfect for a blind playthrough. Nothing is too difficult to figure out on your own. Runs well with not-too-many unfixed bugs as of August 2026. Cons: [-] Static world and NPCs. Very few characters have anything at all to say after a quest is completed. When they do, it's often a dismissive "case closed, moving on". You are left with a personal responsibility to feel invested in the world, because the world itself often doesn't try hard enough to get you invested. Considering that you decide the fates of humans and gods, that's a shame. [--] Sameness. Swapping out items to pass skill checks gets old after a while. New mechanics don't get introduced, novelty trickles out, the illusion of beauty wears off. If it happens, feel free to press forward to the ending; you won't be finding much of interest in most grindy side locations. Especially since the variety is lacking, too. Too few music tracks, repetitive 3D assets, generic dungeon designs, lazy copy-pasted NPCs, I can go on. [--] Endings. If you do decide to give it a try, at least don't spoiler yourself on the endings. Play and get whichever one, then load a save and get the other. It's not that they are terrible, just a far cry from what you'd be liable to expect after investing so much time. Hard to elaborate without spoilers. Let's just say the rest of the game holds up better narratively. [---] Most writing was done by a she/her person, and IT SHOWS. For the record, I loved how LGBTQ+ representation was handled in BG3, CP2077, E33 and Hades, among other narratively solid games. Dread Delusion literally feels normalcy-exclusive in comparison. There's plenty of main story gay stuff, main story trans stuff and main story lesbian stuff, but not a single traditional family to meet in person in the entire game world. The setting doesn't focus on families, anyway, so it's not a major gripe, but it sticks out how every time love is depicted, it's explicitly shown to be not your kind of love. Not to rain on anyone's parade, but be sure to keep a bharv bag at hand if you don't prefer your games Taash-scented. In the end, most of the depth I suspected this game of having when I just began playing turned out not to be there. One of the biggest narrrative points fell flat in the end, invalidaitng my understanding of the world. And while the juvenile modern writing was mostly tolerable throughout, it's added up to a point when it began to be an irritating factor. As is, Dread Delusion is a rough gem with a few memorable quests and ideas mired in a disappointing sea of style-over-substance. But hey, if you like the style, by all means, give it a try.

long story short, this game is a waste of time. proponents of this game will emphasize vibes, exploration, and narrative. they will not attempt to defend any other elements. uncontroversially, the basic/combat mechanics are filler, even on hard mode. the crafting has nothing in it to care about, except that you can combine two knives to make a shuriken, which is amusing. making a crafting system interesting is a pretty tall order, imo, and normally i wouldn't even mention it, but there's not much else to mention. if you die, you respawn to little apparent effect. why the dark souls diegetic respawn if you don't lose or want to reclaim anything from your death? i do not know. you just have to do more walking. even if the rest of the game really lived up to the hype, you would still be spending most of your time doing those boring things that don't matter. unfortunately the rest of the game is pretty dull as well. the exploration is full of those filler elements, and also lot of empty space. the interesting [i]premise[/i] for environments does not actually translate into environments that are interesting to be in or move through. the interesting [i]elements[/i] for vibes and setting are made dull by being in this game, made dull by the ways you can interact with them. the narrative branches, yes, but not compellingly. the writing is passable. i'm a little tired of the "we killed our gods cuz they sucked, now we're heavy metal and we like blooooood, and we're way worse than they ever were, but maybe we're also a liberal democracy?" thing. i see it a lot of places. it doesn't amount to much. the game makes you walk a lot, pretty slowly, through pretty big, empty areas. i can tolerate that, especially if the rest of a game is worth it. this one isn't. to add insult to injury, the game gives you a sprint function. it uses stamina. when you use stamina, it degrades your maximum stamina until you drink a potion or rest. the game punishes you for using the spring to move through its big, empty levels any faster than a slow amble. irritating. this game should have been either massively condensed, so that the dull, repetitive mechanics don't start to wear on you too much, or greatly elaborated, so the big environments have enough engaging things for you to do that moving through them isn't boring. if you wanted to focus on vibes and narrative, cut the other stuff that's just there to soak up time. the exploration part is just hopeless, give up on that.