I never thought I could die so many times playing a video game in just a matter of minutes; but even with the amount of times I died I found myself driven to continue my journey in Dream Alone by Fat Dog Games in the early stages. AI progressed throughout the game dieing 1000 times on level became more and more frustrating. It is a game that will always test your patience during a very dark journey.
Dream Alone is a game of memorization and trial and error. Each death makes you pause and think “how the hell am I supposed to get through this”. And hopefully by the 10th-15th death you have finally figured out the trick to progress. Unfortunately in my case some obstacles blew my mind and I felt like I had died 100 times before finally figuring out what to do. Then my overwhelming sense of excitement normally ended quickly when I fell on top of a spider right after completing the puzzle that I was stuck on for long length of time.
Though the game is quite difficult it is also hauntingly pretty. Each level has its own feel, but the problem with the pretty art style is that it’s all so very dark. Though that is the point for some levels I felt it was sometimes harder to navigate than it needed to be. The music for each level helped bring each level to life and brought the creepy atmosphere to life.
Dream alone is also more than just running and jumping to avoid obstacles. You also get power ups throughout the game that are needed to progress. Powers like a time warp( which brings you into a creepy alternate reality), a clone that you can leave to hold switches for you so a trap doesn’t fall on top of you, and even light that makes environments a little easier to navigate with how dark the whole game is.
If you are the type of gamer who loves high difficulty platforming that is quite spooky then this game is a no brainer for you. If you can’t handle the frustrations of lots of trial and error then I would not recommend Dream Alone. This is one of the toughest platformers I have ever had the luxury to play.
~El Sanchino
