Dream Alone is a Sweet Dream and A Beautiful Nightmare

By: GeekyGamerGirl87

Disclaimer: Please be warned that the following trailer contains some images that may be disturbing to some as the following game does talk about disease and death. It should also be noted that the trailer maybe sensitive to viewing for those who may be prone to epileptic seizures. This also includes those who may not have had them in the past. If you experience anything such as disorientation, a staring spell, dizziness, tingling or twitching of limbs; I ask that you please stop viewing the trailer. Your safety comes first. Viewers Discretion is advised.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtL5lZ6xZj0

Developed by WarSaw Games and published by Fat Dog Games Dream Alone is a Dark Indie Puzzle Adventure, that really pulls you in with its unique art style. Before we begin the review; I am going to reiterate the disclaimer here for those who may not watch the trailer; but want to read the article. Please be warned that the following pictures in the article may be disturbing to some as the game does talk about disease and death, and some of these photos feature scenes of death. Reader’s discretion is advised. I would also like to say thank you to WarSaw Games and Fat Dog Games for giving me a free copy of the Steam version to play, so that I could write this review.

When I first started playing Dream Alone, I was really drawn to the atmosphere of the game. The game gives a little bit of a Limbo vibe, just with an upgrade on the graphics. The story for the game is that you are playing as a young boy (who reminded me of a little version of Gomez from Addams Family) who’s town has been overcome with death and disease. He is the sole survivor of this epidemic and is now going on a journey to find Lady Death to seek her help. Honestly, I don’t know what our little hero thinks that Lady Death will do, but I believe he thinks she will be able to put a stop to it.

I really enjoy the atmosphere of the game. The game starts off without background music and it is just ambience. As someone who appreciates the music in games, it took me back for a moment. However, it really did help set the tone and atmosphere to the game, as our young hero is running through a forest in the middle of the rain and thunderstorm in the start. Later, music has been added and it only intensifies the atmosphere. For me if a story is good and music is good; I can really get into the game. Another cool feature for the game is the game screen. When playing the game; it is made using an old film filter grain, so it looks like you’re watching an old projected film. The game doesn’t use a lot of colors, for the most part you are going to see black and white and when ever you switch into the other world you will see orange and black.

The game does borrow the element of switching between two different worlds. One world as black and white and the other as the world seen with death. I thought this was artistically beautiful. For me I interpreted that the artists were going for seeing the world as we want to see it, or as our young hero see’s it and then having to face the hard reality. With a child comes innocence so he see’s the world as black and white.  However, giving the ability to switch you are then hit  with the harsh reality of his grave situation. I thought this was unique. It’s like as some would say living in a bubble, or instead of dealing with the death and despair, our young hero chooses to see the world as black and white, and then deal with his reality in little increments at a time, as you can only be in the “alternative world” for so long. Another aspect I liked is when our young hero meets his demise in the game. When the hero parishes, his blood splatters all over the screen, but the way it’s design it makes it looks like it has splattered on the inside of the screen and it can’t go any further and I thought that was neat.

The game does feature puzzles that you must solve on your journey. I’ll admit some of the puzzles: I struggled with a little bit, but some of them are a little simple. Also, you cannot fight your way through the game, you can only run and jump. Again, you do get special abilities such as the abilities to alternate realities and cloning yourself just to name a few. However, for the most part it is just running and jumping and figuring out the puzzles.

When it came to the controls of the game you can use both keyboard or gamepad. I prefer playing the game with the gamepad, but the keyboard controls still hold up well. One of the things I will mention about the gamepad controls. Although, it says that it has full controller support, the game does not have full controller support. In the menu screens you are not able to use the controller to select anything. You must use the enter key on the keyboard to confirm your selection. At first, I thought that maybe my controller was bugged out, and so I unplug the controller and re-plugged it back in, and even after doing that I couldn’t use it to select anything. It moves up and down through the menu’s perfectly, but it just doesn’t let you select any of the options, nor does it let you pause or unpause the game. I’m pretty sure it was just a small issue that was overlooked, but other than that both sets of controls work very well with this game.

If you are one that enjoys collecting achievements, then you are in luck. Currently, Dream Alone has 19 different achievements for you to collect. However, if you are looking to collect the trading cards to the game, that feature has not been added to the game yet. I have seen in the past where games will add this feature later through an update if the demand for the trading cards are there.

Overall, I can honestly say that I do recommend Dream Alone, as it is a fun puzzle game with an interesting story with the artwork to match. I know that some would say the switching of the world’s have been done a lot, but this game if you look at it from an artistic perspective does a fantastic job of getting the story across, and keeping you entertained. Honestly, I could see Dream Alone possibly having a cult like following in the future. If you would like to experience this wonderful game for yourself; you can purchase it on Steam or Nintendo Switch for $9.99 USD.