There Was A Dream

Quickie Review Game with an interesting idea, but the game is poorly optimized, causing constant low framerates and I swear near crashes at times. Gameplay feels really fetchquesty at times, and quest markers are not obvious. Plus, sidequests don't even have markers at all, causing me to get lost at times when trying to not only do the sidequest, but also returning to the quest giver so I could finish. Also I know the game's in Early Access still, but the game still feels very buggy in places that shouldn't be buggy, like the tutorial which I had to skip since it didn't detect me doing the tutorial. I was interested in this game, but came out pretty disappointed with the product I got. Maybe a future patch can fix these issues, but right now, I'm no longer interested

I played this game in alpha on itch.io and LOVED it even in its very unpolished state. (I still remember the black, soulless eyes of all the characters had, including mine. Lol) Just having bought it here on Steam, I see how very committed the two-person developer team has been in getting this game ready. There have been SO many wonderful changes, including character customization, and YES, they now have eyes!! Lol. I don't want to go into all the changes, but just know that in the short time between when I first played (back in late March) and now, there has been SO MUCH put into this game that you would think that dozens of people have worked on it. That being said, yes, there are some bugs...it is in Early Access after all, and I'm grateful I get to play it at all, even with the bugs. The devs are VERY responsive when posting about bugs in their Discord server regarding bugs. They fixed one I reported in less than 24 hours!! I've never EVER seen this kind of response time in a game before now! :D There are other bugs and glitches I still need to report, but they aren't truly game breaking. I love the cartoon-ish art style of the game; almost like an old coloring book come to life. Being a dream world, everything has a uniqueness that lends itself to the game; things you would only find in dreams - but I won't spoil that for you. It's very "Alice in Wonderland", but...still much more than that. It's very easy to get sidetracked by the things you see. As to that last point, I would like to see the world filled up with a lot more detail as the game develops...more trees, grass, bushes, animals, people scattered around the world, etc. I want more funny things to look at!! Currently it feels like there is a lot of empty space between points of interest. I rather enjoy the new quests, which really help steer the game forward, and FINALLY explained the Dream vs Nightmare mode after I played for over 2 hours wondering why, over the course of my game play, all the trees were catching fire all over the place! For my last point, the mechanics are very easy. Typical WASD and mouse camera control. No controller support yet, but maybe one day. The beginning of the game has a great tutorial that explains controls and pop-ups are available throughout the game whenever something is available to interact with along with the appropriate key to use. Press F for this, or I for that, etc. I highly recommend this game, even for Early Access. It's not a game that's so super-involved that you'll "never be able to stop playing", (at least not yet), but there is enough there to keep you busy for a while.

If you were a lucid dreamer in full control of your dreams and suddenly other dreamers party crashed, what would you do? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2qDG7Cd1wA If you want to see There Was a Dream in action for yourself, watch my first impressions of gameplay in the video above. The premise is fascinating: an apparently evil being gives the power to inflict nightmares on others and conquer through dreams. A seemingly good alien race works against this being. You're smack in the middle and have to decide who you trust. Do you battle one, the other, or just spend your time exploring this open-world? There is a completely charming world to explore. Oh, and did I mention that there's a button to control your cat? At this time, most mechanics are fairly shallow, but there is a variety of things to do. Smack trees to make them drop resources. Craft resources into items. Use items. Rinse. Repeat. Use an effective super soaker blaster and water balloons against wildlife and enemies alike. I may have killed Bambi early on, but apparently Thumper was immune to damage. The dream vs nightmare mechanic is a little unclear: talking to NPCs once will improve the dream, but subsequently talking to them pushes it towards a nightmare? And while the cat's commands are clearly labeled, there's never an explanation of how they're meant to be used. Like most Early Access games, there are areas that will need work. The long introduction is offset by a too-short tutorial about game mechanics, leaving a lot to be discovered on one's own. How do you avoid the sudden lightning storm? (Or was that just bad luck when I started?) Where are Quests to improve your skills? How do I restore the charge of vehicles? (Hover cars and hover boards are wonderful.) When will I be ready for the boss fight that is almost immediately accessible? Some will appreciate this open world freedom. But a little more direction or reference material in the Help Guide would go far in the official release. As a personal gripe, the color selection is surprisingly disappointing. They also don't match what ends up being used, and it's a fairly scant selection that all just kind of looks bad despite the game's overall aesthetic appeal. It's bizarre, having a game that looks good but whose customization options somehow fall short. If this is resolved by the time of release, colors and clothing and customization options are going to add even more charm to what's already here. Should you pick up There Was a Dream? Despite its charm, it's definitely in a rough Early Access state right now. If you're ready to join the community and provide feedback, jump right in. But if you're not, keep it on your Wishlist and watch as the game develops towards release. There's certainly potential here.

I'm only two hours into this game at the time of writing this review, but I can already tell I'll be sinking more hours into playing. Yes, there are a few bugs here and there but I haven't found anything too game-breaking yet! Well, besides being amused by my cat randomly spinning and accidentally using all my candies - oop. I managed to get lost within 30 minutes and fell out of the tutorial area before realizing I had to get back to it as I got out via rocks. It was hilarious once I realized because I got distracted how pretty everything this! I'm not even that deep into the game yet. Can I recommend this game in it's current state? Honestly, yes. There are people who have written better reviews and the game is still in early-access, there is so much that can be done! I look forward to how the game processes.

This game is an open world/ Sandbox type game. It was really fun to play and all of the things there is to do really makes you get lost and emerged into it. I spent my time doing a few missions and just exploring the world that they created. The tutorial needs to be a bit in depth because I didn't even know you can switch to the cat and go find buried treasure. Overall I had a good time playing the game and some people in y steam were interested in trying it out as well.

Game seems to have an Interesting premise, too bad I can't play it at all. The Game is beyond Glitchy, Falling through the map the second you control your character, Movements need to be reworked, feels like you are controlling a static piece of wood. Actions a poorly implemented at this point as well. Graphics settings return to potato mode every time it loads a new area. The text tends to glitch so it becomes unreadable, and the tutorial text will not go away, even if you complete the tasks.

very interesting little game .

I got this game first when it was on early alpha through itch.io. The game at this point was very different and was very un-optimised. As i had almost no time to play those last 2 years i was discontinued from the game and never received my steam key. This was solved fast by the developer as soon as i reached out. I really like how this game has evolved through the last couple of years. I really like the style and the concept behind this game. The atmosphere is amazing the game play is decent. The landscape is truly amazing and fitting for a dream/nightmare. Pros: Very nice atmosphere Very nice landscapes Very nice story / idea Cons: Not the best optimisation out there Sometimes the world feels a little bit empty ( i would like to see more npcs at different locations) I highly recommend the game if you would like to have a nice experience and dedicate a couple of hours here and there. I have not yet checked the game after it came out of early access so this review might change at a later date.