Dread Delusion

мама факап дед нига

I enjoyed this game. It is a dark fantasy rpg that dips a little into the grimdark without fully fully committing, this is my opinion reflected in the good ending which kinda felt a little out of place since everything worked out ok. Besides that I had a good 25 hours of enjoyment out of this game (I did most if not all of the side quests). The one thing to consider if you do decided to play as a mage is there is no natural mane regeneration, you will need to use potions to regain it. The only exception is a ring that is found in the second to last area in the game that gives you a mana regen based on your recovery stat. In my personal opinion it should have showed up far far earlier in the game. Also the three tier five ores are never really explained, you don't really get told where to find them so I had to look it up. I did get the one I wanted, but it felt like it should have had a quest where one of the weapon merchants tells you they know of a few places you could fully upgrade your weapon.

Visuals, sounds, locations, and overall atmosphere are impossible to forget. While most of the Islands' main stories aren't anything extraordinary, all are at least enjoyable. However, CLOCKWORK KINGDOM is ciphered into my brain permanently. From the uneasy, eerie feeling that something is very wrong with this place, through slow reveals and experiencing citizen's suffering to the final understand of what was created and the consequences of adeptus mechanicus blindness and regime. The sight of the fallen city on clockwork kingdom's island and the written records left by the victims stayed with me. I think it's an understatement to say the game is VERY immersive. Also sleep extracts side-story is an extremly cool concept and in very short time shows potential, risks and sad reality of how this technology would be treated. I also loved how nearly all of the choices don't have an easy objectively good choice and every time it's a struggle between bad and worse. I only whish the game had an actual combat, the enemies look and feel unique, but all fight the same and sadly are not a threat 99% of the time. TLDR: Dread delusion is well worth playing if you're looking for a stylistically unique and memorable game that focuses on atmosphere, morally challenging storytelling, and creative ideas presented in distinctive ways. Just don't expect deep or challenging combat.

Cool ah vibe

One of the most visually interesting games I have played in my entire life! The writers took a risk on developing a very unique, dreamlike setting and they absolutely pulled it off. Delightful characters, fascinating locales, and a phenomal conclusion to wrap everything up. Play this game!

Dread Delusions weaves such a great story anchored in such a fantastic world, that I can almost forgive that as a game it is rather simple and janky. The world of DD is genuinely stunning. It seems that the writer(s) thought of some pretty out-there “what-ifs” and brought them to their (il)logical conclusions, all painted into this alien, weird-fantasy canvas covered in magenta-colored light from the orbiting neuron star. You will walk on floating, moving sky-isles that are connected by a variety of more-or-less stable looking bridges, hanging over the surface of the world devastated by some ancient cataclysm. You will meet undead Eternals that are truly ancient and immortal, feeling each part of their body even if hacked to pieces. You will sleep in an inn room located in a skull of a dead god, slain during the God Wars several decades ago. Not to mention, the characters met in-game are beautifully written, each of them having a unique personality and set of quirks, and each of them are also believable in the setting, no matter if they are parts of the main plot or just a side quest. Mechanically, however, I felt a little let down by Dread Delusions. The combat felt floaty and spammy, with the enemies rarely having anything unique about their fighting style to make the encounters any difficult or satisfying. The RPG mechanics felt tacked on in places, with the reputation system barely mattering in my playthrough, and Charm, Lore and Lockpick skill-checks being easily overcome by buffs from changing of hats or drinking Elixirs of Luck. The map gimmick of having to fill it in yourself based on the interesting landmarks was cool in concept, but got annoying quite quickly, and even with the compass adding your current location to the map, it was super easy to get lost in this world. And while I loved the abundance of secrets and hidden features, the way of unlocking them (find 3+ objects that you can click in the nearby area) became really obvious and less magical pretty early on. And a potentially controversial annoyance – the PS1 aesthetic really didn’t do it for me. I did appreciate the low-poly models and textures, as there was still enough details and charm in them, but the very game-y features like the items floating and spinning in mid-air kind of made me lose the feeling of verisimilitude. Overall, I loved Dread Delusions, its world, lore and cast of characters all felt refreshingly bizarre and delightfully charming, and they were the magnet that kept me sticking with the game. If you are like me, and can excuse some mechanical shortcomings for a fantastic, well-written adventure, pick up Dread Delusions and have a great time. However, if mechanical moment-to-moment gameplay is something you value more than world-building, or if you just don’t want to read that much in your video games, I would suggest skipping DD, as much as it pains me to say it.

Really compelling world and setting, had a great time exploring it!