Developer: Crimson Tales
Publisher: Shoreline Games
Genre: Multi-genre, Party Games
Price: $17.99
Release Date: Oct 23, 2025
Where to buy: Steam
Onirism is a wild, genre-bending action-adventure game that feels like a forgotten classic from the early 2000s, splashed with a vibrant, modern coat of paint. Playing as Carol, a young girl in pink pajamas on a quest to rescue her beloved plushie, Bunbun, from a shadowy thief, the game thrusts players into the surreal, imaginative world of Crearia, a dream-like multiverse that never adheres to expectations. It’s a game that is messy, chaotic, and occasionally overwhelming, but ultimately rewards curiosity and a willingness to embrace its sheer, unadulterated creativity.
A Buffet of Gameplay and Imagination
The core strength of Onirism lies in its bold hybridization of gameplay styles. It’s primarily a third-person shooter and 3D platformer, but it constantly throws puzzles, exploration, and vehicle sections into the mix. One level might demand precise platforming, while the next devolves into Serious Sam-style combat mayhem against hundreds of wildly designed enemies. This constant shifting of focus prevents the experience from ever becoming stale, ensuring that each of the game’s 20+ levels feels like a fresh challenge.
The arsenal available to Carol is one of the game’s biggest draws, with over 300 unique weapons and gadgets ranging from functional blasters to bubble guns and hairdryers. This staggering quantity allows for immense experimentation, making combat a joyful sandbox where players can constantly discover new, ridiculous ways to “put their enemies to sleep.” Furthermore, the sheer volume of costumes, hidden rooms, and secrets reinforces the game’s theme of childhood imagination, making exploration a rewarding endeavor where the player is constantly finding bizarre in-jokes and clever shortcuts.
Visuals, Atmosphere, and Character
The game’s presentation is drenched in color and contributes significantly to its whimsical, dream-like atmosphere. Environments like candy forests, ancient deserts, and alien moon bases are all gorgeously realized, feeling both inviting and unsettling. The designs of the 300+ enemy types are equally imaginative, straddling the line between goofy, grotesque, and fun.
Carol herself is a fantastic protagonist—a small child packed with sass and attitude who can somehow switch between slapping enemies with an umbrella and unleashing a Duke Nukem-style kick. This contrast, coupled with her simple, personal motivation (rescuing her plushie), grounds the massive, bizarre adventure in a relatable childhood urgency. The game also offers an extensive co-op and multiplayer experience, ensuring that the fun of its chaotic systems can be shared, further bolstering its high replayability.
The Dream’s Imperfections
While the dream world of Onirism is vast and memorable, it’s not without its flaws. The sheer volume of content—weapons, gadgets, and costumes—can sometimes feel overwhelming to manage. More critically, the lack of clear direction in the large, maze-like levels, coupled with the absence of robust objective markers, often forces players to rely heavily on the in-game map, occasionally resulting in frustrating, pointless running around rather than focused progression. Technical hiccups, such as occasional clunky combat physics or minor bugs, are present but are generally small trade-offs for the ambitious scope of the title.
Conclusion
Onirism is a labor of love that feels more concerned with delivering unbridled fun and creativity than with adhering to polished, rigid systems. It’s an energetic, massive undertaking that successfully captures the pure, messy joy of a child’s imagination. It might not be a perfectly polished AAA title, but its ambition, colorful atmosphere, and ceaseless supply of content make it an easy recommendation for anyone craving a unique, unpredictable action-adventure experience.
