Juna - The Dreamwalker

[b]My Playtime:[/b] 25.3h (100% achievement, finished the game) [b]Grindy Achievement(s):[/b] Yes (~2 achievements). [b]Optional Achievement(s):[/b] Yes (10 achievements). [b]Difficult Achievement(s):[/b] No. [h1]Intro[/h1] [b]Juna - The Dreamwalker[/b] is an action-adventure game that focuses on exploration and puzzles. You are armed with a wand that can morph you into anything, both monster and object, and use their ability. It's a game that tests your creative thinking skills, figuring out what you can do with the abilities to clear the area. [b]Pros:[/b] - 16+2 dungeons - Unique bosses that require the use of a specific ability to beat - Huge area to explore [b]Cons:[/b] - Sometimes it's hard to figure out where to go next with the numerous backtracking - It's easy to get soft-locked - Bombs' area and damage are too big [b]Specs[/b] Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 [h1]Should you buy this game?[/h1] [b]Yes.[/b] [i]If you enjoy playing Zelda-likes and want one that doesn't have the same ability as other similar games, this game is for you.[/i] [hr][/hr] [h1]In-Depth Review[/h1] [h3]Visuals[/h3] [b]Juna - The Dreamwalker[/b] offers 2 kinds of display: 16-bit and 32-bit color. The 16-bit looks simpler and has a low pixel density, while the 32-bit one doesn't look pixelated at all. Both displays can take some time to get used to, but I ended up getting more comfortable with the 32-bit one. However, there is no way to switch the visuals in the game. You can only do so through the main menu. [h3]Story[/h3] The story serves more as a way to progress the game. There isn't much depth and the dialogues are boring. Luckily, the game is quite straightforward, and there is a quest log that you can use to figure out where to go next. Sadly, the same quest log was bugged during my playthrough and showed me quests from the next few objectives in the future. [h3]The Game[/h3] [b]Gameplay[/b] Aside from the classic sword and shield, you are armed with a wand that can morph you into anything, both objects and monsters alike. There isn't much use in morphing into objects, but morphing into monsters will grant you their ability. Some are useless, some are especially important for your progression. The game is highly explorable. There are just a lot of areas to explore and there are some areas that can be locked and meant to be progressed later. And this gives me a challenge; I would try to figure out how to reach some of the areas and it turns out that I could reach most of them this way, even if it took a long time to move the monster to the required area. And this brings us to the next problem. [b]The Softlock[/b] It's easy to get softlocked. Some locked areas are reachable by using monsters' abilities, even though you are not supposed to go there yet. These areas were supposed to be unlocked after you got a certain item, which was only available after you progressed with the game. Since you access the area with monster abilities, you won't be able to find a way back if you undo your transformation. I got stuck a lot this way, although luckily, the dev is quick enough to fix them after you report them. You can get softlocked in dungeons too, though. Sometimes the game has a bug that either prevents you from progressing or locks you in one place. The occurrence for these ones is more random and can be resolved by resetting the game. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3297524254 [b]Abilities[/b] I like the monster's abilities. They are unique, and they don't look similar to the ones introduced in other games. Other Zelda-like games feel easy to beat since the key items are similar, but not in this one. Although there are still some items that are similar to other games like a bow and bombs, you won't use them that often. You'll have to use the unusual monster abilities and items that have a similar function to progress. That being said, since you need to learn how to use them, it's easy to get stuck if you are not creative enough. Bombs give some issues to me. They have a huge range and deal high damage. I had to be very careful to disarm them in a way that wouldn't harm me, and getting hit by it depleted so much of my HP. I think I got damage more often to these rather than the enemies' attacks. That being said, I like how big the sword range is. It can cover almost everything in front of you, making it easy to clear grass or hit the monsters. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3297525152 [b]Dungeons[/b] The game requires a lot of backtracking, and you need to remember where they are to progress. This is especially true in dungeons. You will be forced to backtrack a lot, to the point that you might even have explored the whole dungeon several times by the time you finish it. I don't have any issues with it in the first few dungeons due to the small length, but some of the later dungeons can be a chore and confusing. Bosses are varied. The early ones can be cheesed and very easy to beat. There is a difficulty spike starting from the middle half on the bosses, making them twice as tough and hit harder. They all have different weaknesses, which you need to figure out. Although the early bosses are straightforward, the latter ones aren't, forcing you to use more than one item in a certain order to damage them. And you need to be patient since the damage will be minimal. I prefer the boss fights this way since you need to be creative and think about how to use your items, although the drawback will be that you might not be able to figure out how to beat some of them if you have no idea what you are doing. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3297523614 [b]Length and Difficulty[/b] I finished the game in 24h. The rest of my playtime was spent getting the achievements. There is a lot of content in the game, and although some bosses are challenging, they are still not at the level that is hard to beat. [h1]Conclusion[/h1] [b]Juna - The Dreamwalker[/b] is a game with a unique concept. I like how you can morph into enemies and use their abilities, and how unique the abilities are compared to other games. With a lot of Zelda-like games, it felt as if I was playing the same game, but this game doesn't have that same feeling. Progression might not be obvious because of this, although it was not something that I have an issue with. If you like Zelda-like games, you'll definitely like this one. [quote]This game was reviewed with a key provided by the developer for free through Curator Connect.[/quote] [quote]Follow our curator page: [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/]IndieGems[/url] if you like and want to see more reviews like this one.

This zelda-like is incredible. It invokes a feeling in me I didn't even know I could still feel. Its like links awakening mixed with minish cap and it somehow works incredible well. The mechanics are very unique as well (you can become literally anything using a magic rod). It has 8 regular dungeons and 8 "dream" areas and even a large zelda "field". This game is worth it easily at full price and I cannot recommend it enough (even with some of the crashing issues).

If you like Links Awakening, you must play this game. Dev. is very responsive and has made numerous tweaks, usually same day, based on user feedback. I also feel this game would be great for speedrunning as there are some fun sequence breaks possible. It has the look and feel of a good Amiga game but much more responsive and fast paced. You can transform into almost any other object or creature in the game and there are loads of hidden mechanics and interesting physics puzzles, much more so than Links Awakening. The game is big, and depending on your problem solving abilities could easily take 50 hours or more for a first completionist playthru.

Action adventure with a neat but time-consuming ability of turning into anything you want. The game begins by telling what happened several years ago. There once existed a portal through which horrible monsters emerged. Fortunately, a group of priests stopped them before they could get a foothold, shattering the portal into multiple pieces. To prevent this from happening again, each priest took a piece and kept it locked inside their temple. That clearly did not succeed, as creatures reappeared a few years later, when the game takes place. There is no one to stop them, so they soon spread throughout the land. This is when you enter because you are attacked by one creature and flee to a nearby village. There, you learn that some sort of sleeping magic has taken over the priests, so you naturally decide to do something about it. The art is quite decent. Although the game was originally designed in a 16-bit retro manner, it eventually received an update with 32-bit visuals. The old style has its appeal, but the new version is just superior in every way because it adds a lot of nuances to the world, making it more alive. Gameplay is a classic Zelda-like experience. You control the main protagonist from the top down while killing foes, overcoming obstacles, and completing dungeons. Your primary tools are the sword and shield you obtain in the first dungeon, and they are highly effective. While a shield can deflect most threats, a sword has a wide range of attacks, eliminating the need for precision. As is common in these games, your initial target is the ever-present grass and bushes. They can be a hindrance, but they are primarily an easy way to obtain cash and candies that restore health. These are also dropped by foes, albeit at a low rate overall. Enemies include slimes, bats, skeletons, and other enemies. Enemies, like other destructible items, respawn when you switch screens in the outside world. The world is made out of different environments, but you can’t go anywhere you want. Freedom is limited because borders, impediments, and other assets stand in your way. Although you can push smaller rocks and blocks, you will need specific tools to remove more difficult blockades. Because there are only three spaces, you may have to remove your shield or sword to fit some of them. Or you can switch between them by setting them up in the inventory menu. Money is utilized to purchase various tools and health from several villages. That is also where you can speak with the villagers, but they do not have much to say. The overworld map is available and will open as you explore. What is even more handy is that you may see a flashing area of the map indicating your next goal. Another neat feature is that the game saves automatically when you perform an important task, such as entering a door or solving a problem. Progress is kept, but your spawn point will be reset to the beginning of a chamber or screen. The primary challenges are dungeons. If you have played a similar game previously, you know what to anticipate. The purpose is to explore rooms and open doors by solving puzzles, defeating opponents, and searching for keys. Of course, there’s a boss at the end. They are very tricky because they force you to use the game’s mechanics to deal any damage. However, the entire process is far more difficult due to backtracking and the special staff that allows you to transform into any object or creature. The mechanic is limited because you must shoot a beam at a monster and cannot save your transformation. By turning into something, you also get their abilities. Most objects, such as statues, chests, and grass, are almost worthless and can be neglected. The biggest issue is that they are unable to move. Monsters, on the other hand, are the only way to solve certain puzzles. For example, you can transform into a bat to fly across a chasm or a slime to crawl through tight spaces. These transformations work even when you switch screens, and they are frequently employed in the real world to discover secrets. You can instantaneously transform back to human form, but this also means you lose the monster ability. The hassle is that you often have to move several screens back to find the right monster. The game's objective is to collect all of the fragments in large dungeons and save people from nightmares. These are smaller dungeons that appear in people's dreams. If you want to explore everything, you can look for marked ground where you can dig for treasure or destroy crystals.

Juna The Dreamwalker is a game that wears it's inspiration clearly on it's sleeve. If you enjoy the 2D Zelda formula then you'll enjoy what's on display here. It's not a masterpiece by any means but it's good enough to keep most players satisfied. I wish there was a rating between recommend and not recommend as there were enough issues here to hinder my enjoyment by quite a bit. For my full video review please see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Yl0kxr0w6I

How about a modern "Links Awakening" with some "Alundra" thrown in? Another reviewer stated this and it fits nicely. It seems like this is a "custom-everything" Gamemaker project. The love and detail on display shines through despite the game's faults (are these subjective? I can never tell anymore...) The music is orchestral and uplifting though I can't decipher if it's Gamemaker stock or not... doesn't matter as long as it sounds great! In the World of Juna, the quantum foundation of existence is clearly skittles. This can be seen in the tasty rainbow scatter that rips apart your foes. As to whether or not Juna is herself made of skittles I cannot determine... perhaps it is only the force she is opposing? I'll confess that I started out loving this game and gushing over its aesthetic, visuals, charm, creativity and puzzle-logic. I greatly enjoyed at least half of what I played. By the time I threw in the towel I was cursing it. This doesn't mean the game is bad but rather that it needs more time to be perfected. I think the potential here is enormous and the developer's forthright responses to bugs is very appreciated. Whats more, they are working on a higher resolution version of the game with redrawn graphics throughout. Bugs and crashes are numerous and I encountered one that corrupted my save file. Many of these have been fixed as of writing this. I would caution those playing to make save backups in a separate folder with dates or whatnot in the event of a corruption. Performance suffers major slowdown on certain screens despite the pixel graphics. Perhaps this is a Gamemaker engine problem, or it may be my bogged down 2017 laptop (which chugged on these frequent screens). These aren't exactly modern graphics so I suspect that something is handled very inefficiently in Gamemaker (this is not a criticism of the deliberate graphics). Without spoiling anything: In one particular dream sequence there is a jumping mechanic that is required to progress. This jumping mechanic is "speedrun-glitch-skip" logic in my opinion so I consider it unreasonable to expect the player to do this. This same mechanic is used in a later dungeon in any even more frustrating way. I made it to the seventh dungeon and had to call it quits. I could have consulted the developers walkthrough again but I am stubborn about these things on principle (to a fault) and don't consider progress worth it if a walkthrough has to be consulted more than a few times to continue... guess I won't ever be playing the La Mulana games then! ;) For those more flexible regarding guides and who are more patient than I, there is a lot of creativity and ingenuity on display in this game! It is clearly a labor of love from the developer and I think it is worth ironing out whats here... I just hope they consider making the game a little bit more accessible with its cryptic sections. Perhaps portions of the walkt-hrough could be incorporated into the game as collectible pages that keep pace with whichever part of the game the player is in? Go try it out if you are like me and are craving more Zelda-Likes on steam. This game needs more attention, it could become one of the best with some ironing (just my opinion). Thanks!

I've been playing this on my stream and it's definitely a lot of fun. As others have said, it reminds me of the original Link's Awakening. There are times when it's confusing, but there's a guide available for if you get stuck. It's the Zelda game I've been looking for for years! I definitely recommend it. I did initially get frustrated when dying because Continue sent me back to the start of the game, but if you choose Load instead then you'll get sent back to the last checkpoint. I feel like they should be "Continue from House" or "Continue from Last Checkpoint" for clarity, but that's it.

Lütfen oyunlarınıza bi tutorial bi yönlendirme ekleyin. Kasabaya geldim, kasabayı gezdim, oyunu kapadım çünkü başka bir şey yapılmıyor ya da yapılamıyor.

I played a lot of The Legend of Zelda clones and this one nails it the most. While it is pretty unknown, it captures what made the 2D Zelda games great. Clever puzzles, fluid gameplay, a lot of different items to play around and a great open world. My only nitpick would be, that I'd like to play with the analog stick instead of d-pad, but that's fine.

Very similar game in vibes to Alundra from PSX. It is good - I love Alundra. Exploration is similar, vibes are similar, dreamwalking is similar but slightly less detailed. BUT The game is hard. Not in a combat meaning. But the puzzles and exploration is hard. In Alundra, exploration was like: "Do something. Now, walk around and talk with everybody, until you find new dialogue. Then do something, then walk and talk some more." Here - exploration is similar, but also - gimmick with changing form opens a lot of ways to solve puzzles and often I don't know if I don't have some kind of new power to move forward and have to keep exploring, or I don't see a way to solve my position with changing form. Like - to move super heavy crystal pillar, you have to be a raccoon. In Alundra, there was a story teller, where you could spend some coins and get some tip of where you should go. I think, it would be great if something like this would appear in this game. Right now - I love it, but for now - I'm just in dungeon 2 after 2 hours of playing, and I was already checking solution for about 5 times to move forward.