Dreams (2020)

The title says it all. You're given some tools and materials to go create or if you're not the creative type but are curious about what others create you can surf the 'dreamverse'. People have created games, music videos, visual art, sculptures almost anything you'd imagine, ready for you to peruse.

I've spent a fair amount in this category and I've been blown away by what some people have been able to create in this toolset. I don't know if I'll make the full transition to a creator but I'm going to give it a shot before I put the game away for the time being.

With the new Playstation coming out I wonder where this will leave the community in the medium to long term. I can't really gauge whether it's considered a success but I hope they get a chance at a sequel.

They definitely got some things very right about actual dreams: The visuals are always kinda fuzzy and the controls are floaty as hell.

It's a hard one to judge because your mileage will vary wildly depending on how you approach this thing. I can say confidently that I will never make something worthwhile in Dreams and neither will the average person. It's a surprisingly deep game development software that extremely talented people can use to create amazing, fun little games. Dreams is at it's best when used as a sort of roulette jukebox. Pop into some random thing and see how much entertainment you can wring out of it. There are absolutely some diamonds in the rough but after some time, the novelty of playing random stuff does wear thin. You start to grow tired of the fact that everything looks like it's made of muppet skin and just... controls.... abysmally. That being said, It's a ton of fun to see what people have created and it will only grow from here.

HOT TAKE: Art's Dream, the main single player "campaign" experience is impressive but ultimately toothless. I find Media Molecule's style and tone of storytelling to be a little safe. Maybe a bit too sincere?

I did finally get to play Silent Hills. Worth the wait!

I don't really know how to talk about Dreams because it feels like reviewing an Adobe product, or the entire Newgrounds platform. The tool is very powerful, so there's that, but I'm finding it very difficult to learn (as hard as just using a real game design tool), which feels like it defeats the purpose on some way. I've enjoyed a lot of the things I've tried, but anything that's good is kind of done in a few minutes.

So I'm in a weird place where the games aren't good enough for me to want to sit down and play community projects and the tool isn't easy enough that it feels like a good alternative to just.... learning game design software. I don't know. If it was on PC and I had better control than Six Axis motion controls on a PS4 controller, I might be more into it. I just find it very impressive but not fun to play or use.

I've already said it, but I have to say it again: You won't install this game and start creating a masterpiece in five minutes. Dreams requires dedication. A LOT OF DEDICATION. You have to pay attention to the tutorials, watch videos, get used to the initially complicated controls and try things again and again until yo do it OK

Even finding good games created by other people requires some effort. The curation Media Molecule is doing has been great, but it's still too easy to find low-effort and troll creations on the main menu.

Yes, Dreams is amazing. Is something like you've never seen (probably), but it requires you to put the will to make it like that.

You can find my full review in spanish here.

Keep on dreamin'

This is a little overwhelming.

If you expect to install this game and then inmediatly start working on your dream project, you're not. This is a powerful tool, but it takes time and patience to learn how to use it.

Also, the dreamiverse is full of things I can only describe as 'shovelware' right now. It still needs a little curation because there are real masterpieces out there.