Oneiro Reviews

This game is really fun, both to play and to watch. There's several ways to build a run from what I've seen, and the duplicator eliminates the problems that come with many roguelikes. The developer is responsive and bugs are frequently ironed out. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys games in the same genre.

As a game designer, I often hunt Steam for replayable systemic games. Finding Oneiro was a joy, and I deeply appreciate its mechanics. It's inspiring to see it come from a solo indie dev. Excellent work!

Best roguelike I've ever played. Seeing is a skill you develop. Learn more, be smarter, faster, safer. It took me so long to beat it but I finally did it. I can't recommend this enough and it is my go-to example, right alongside Pseudoregalia, of why $70+ games are a scam, and fancy graphics are always bad. The game looks just fine, the ost is awesome, and seriously, one of my favorite games of all time. In my top 10 for sure. People talk about how soulslikes feel good to beat, but really, beating this might be the best I've ever felt about beating a game.

Really fun game with cool item, enemy, and weapon design. got a great gameplay loop I'd say, go into labyrinth get items/weapons fight boss with each different arena's and style of fights only getting further by getting better/not being a reckless dipshit like I always am lol. Story isn't bad either even though it isn't the focus of the game it is still real cool to learn about the peeps on the island and their fears. all in all its a fun game and for 5 bucks it is 100% worth it imo.

I got this game because a friend told me they thought I'd like it, and they were spot-on; I'm really enjoying this game! No two runs are the same, I feel compelled to explore different strategies every time I enter the Labyrinth, which seems great for keeping me engaged. The Labyrinth randomizes every run in structure and enemies, and you start each run with the same thing every time (your bare fists, with a satisfying knuckle crack); but as you play you can collect different weapons, power-ups, and consumable items, that make each run unique. I especially love that the power-ups stack seemingly infinitely. In one of my runs, I stockpiled 13 of the "Midair Lamp" power-ups that grant you an extra jump each; so in that run I was basically flying around the place, it was FUN. But there are loads of different power-ups and combinations to try out, and if you're enjoying a particular power-up, the Duplicator item is fairly common and lets you choose a power-up you have to get an additional copy of it, helping ensure that the game is more than just luck of the draw. The game strikes an amazing balance of letting you feel powerful while still posing a real challenge. Once you get a grasp of the controls (which you can customize in the settings on the title screen), you can pretty comfortably take out any one enemy you come across and feel good doing it (though I do still struggle with Golems); however, it's not uncommon for enemies to spawn in groups that make it harder to take them out...plus the Labyrinth itself tries to kill you with spike traps and pitfalls and such. Getting to know the different enemy behaviors, weapons, etc. and building your strategy around that becomes essential quite quickly (and I love it when a plan comes together). There are lots of cool weapons/fighting styles to enjoy. I was thrilled enough when I could fight with my fists (I love a good first-person brawler experience), but I was pleasantly surprised when I found out I could simply pick up a torch off the wall and wield that as my weapon, inflicting burn damage on different enemies. I could even just hold it out at arms length and set fire to enemies on the run. Not every torch can be wielded as a weapon though; from what I've seen, you can only wield the larger torches, the smaller ones remain attached to the wall (my only complaint about the game so far is that it's hard to tell them apart from a distance, apart from the size they look the same). Also I'm a nerd so I love the in-game statistics (not just amount of time or number of runs, but also things like total number of enemies slain, walls destroyed, damage given and damage taken, etc.). Solid game, especially for the price tag. You can definitely tell this game was a labor of love and the developer took their time to make a great experience. Five out of five, would definitely recommend. You will not regret this purchase. F*** Francis, though. You'll understand what I mean when you play.

A nice breath of fresh air, challenging experience and great fun. Definitely worth the full five dollars, with an interesting concept and neat mechanics. You can feel the love put into this game and see the developer is showing how much they care about their own product, getting direct insight from Discord and their friends about bugs and suggestions. I recommend playing this, five dollars isn't enough to repay the joy from this amazing game.

I'm not too far in, just kinda getting my grip around the edges of the gameplay at the moment. There is a nice balance being struck with the gameplay systems, Each time you re-enter the dream the combat becomes a little more clearer, and you're ability to read telegraphed attacks from the enemies broadens. As well as this i'd like to mention the duplication system, A truly awesome videogame mechanic, subtly implemented into the gameplay allowing you to duplicate any item you want. This allows you to stack abilities like the double jump, essentially letting you jump all about the place like 'Jumping Flash' So yeah don't be fooled by this games simple art style, as there is a deceptively deep title here with plenty for any fan of the roguelite genre to enjoy.

Disclaimer: My actual play time is about 15 hours and I have only seen half the game. Yes it’s difficult but in a great way. Oneiro is perhaps the very definition of "greater than the sum of its parts." On the surface, it may look like something you've seen or played before, but underneath... Ah... Underneath... There is something beautiful to the "nightmare" of the labyrinth: a transcendent quality to the game wherein its dimensions coalesce into something more. You might say, "What TF is this dude on?" Well sit down and let me tell it to ya mostly straight because this game hooked my apathetic @ss like a grappling hook in a flying spear. What you get with Oneiro is a lovely old-school, "crunchy" experience with newer features as well, all encased in a design philosophy that respects player learning (no metaprogression) and player freedom. It has solid melee combat with different weapons for different playstyles. The weapons also have variants by tier which sometimes changes their combos (not just a re-skin as far as I can tell). Unarmed is my favorite as the combos feel so satisfying. It brings me back to games like TES: Oblivion in the best way possible. Want to make unarmed viable for the longer term? Duplicate a lot of gauntlets (and some health regen, maybe?). I am not the best player, so don’t quote me! But one thing I DO know: Oneiro presents its beauty through player freedom. Duplicating items or gear impacts your run significantly, and usable items are more useful than they seem. I would LOVE to see even more gear/items. Enemy variety is relatively basic, not unlike Spelunky. You learn how to deal with slimes, wisps, spiders, golems, etc. This is not a bad thing in my opinion. The experience is tight and straightforward. It almost needs to be with everything going on at once in the game (falling is always a threat in multi-enemy combat). Of course, there are new enemies (and a new boss) for each of the 4 layers, but I’ve only seen 2 layers so far. There is a certain "zen" to dodging slime projectiles in this game; it is less difficult than it looks, but still difficult, and getting it "down" feels great. Hopefully I continue to learn and get better with the second layer! XD Like any good roguelite, you make cost-benefit analyses constantly. Your 30-minute run timer prompts player decisions such as how long you will spend in the first floor, whether or not to find more duplicators to power you up, determining a plan for weapon/item/gear to make boss fights more manageable, ascertaining if and how you can make a jump, etc. The timer synergizes well with the threat of the labyrinth below, as you need to keep a decent pace while avoiding rushing recklessly, lest you fall to your instant demise (unless you have a grappling hook or some other item, ha...). If you fall into the center of the abyss, there is a boss arena. Since you can see through the glass ceilings and floors, this makes for an interesting task of staying semi-aware of your position relative to center. It also lets you see chests and determine if the risk to acquire them is worthwhile (usually, yes, but look out!). The physics of the walls and ceilings also make squishing enemies satisfying, as well as making traversal atop the labyrinth possible. This may sound like a lot, but moment to moment if feels very manageable and engaging. I truly enjoy the walls’ physics and this feature takes the game from great to excellent. As for the negatives, I'd say they are limited and vary by the type of player you are. First and foremost, fast deaths can happen from falling into the abyss without a grappling hook (or another item I won't spoil) and from spike traps. Most spike traps are fair, but the ones while climbing ladders can be a pain, especially because there is minimal time to either go back down or jump backwards to avoid 20 damage. The black trap holes on brown walls in the first layer make spike traps tough to see which compounds this problem. Secondly, a major quality of life feature the game needs is the ability to use items from your inventory screen. In the current iteration, if you don't use the item on the ground, you must equip your usable item (such as duplicators) from the inventory screen, then use them in-game, then choose in the inventory screen what you want to dupe. It's a bit like you're fighting with the menus/features in a game where small real-time distractions can end your life. Hopefully the dev adds the ability to use items from your inventory. Third, I am not completely sold on the boss fights. The second one seemed cool but ended my god run rather swiftly. Maybe I am bad at melee combat with bosses, but I feel like I need some OP combo to take them out. Of course, part of the game is planning and working with your gear/items, but I wish first boss was more doable with just a weapon and a smart upgrade or two. This is the case for games like Binding of Isaac. While the dev already nerfed the first boss, I still struggle in straight melee engagements with it, even when fleeing during charge attacks. Maybe I need to learn more. My final criticism is torches on walls. The dev has made it clear they are part of the difficulty, but I find myself touching them and taking 15 damage more often than I'd like. The torches and narrow corridors seem a little at odds with melee combat that encourages strafing and attacking. Just my two cents. PROS: - Weapons have unique playstyles - Melee, although basic, is very satisfying - Walls have physics leading to dynamic kills, deaths, and possibilities - Gears and items are random but RNG is mitigated by duplicators; you shape the run - Gear and items are very impactful CONS: - Spike traps on ladders and blazing torches seem overly punitive to player HP - Deaths can be quick and a little random from floors breaking (but this is also part of the fun) - Items currently not usable directly from inventory (must equip to use) - Boss fights are quite difficult without collecting a good number of upgrades - Frame rate / game speed seems to change very slightly during play This is one of those hardcore roguelites that deserves your time. For the price of a cup of coffee, it’s well worth it even if you only play for an hour or two, but you may get hooked and play for far longer. If you’re into niche roguelikes, Oneiro is a must-buy, and I’ll be keeping an eye on this dev who has proven their capabilities.

Oneiro is a first-person roguelike action RPG featuring rock-solid gameplay, dead-serious challenge, and a shocking amount of extremely clever and effective design decisions. It's honestly one of the best games I've played in years. If you love roguelikes, King's Field, Morrowind, or just good action games, at this price it's an absolute must-buy. Its core combat is fundamentally well-designed because all damage can be avoided through skill, although doing so is easier said than done. There are several weapon types, each of which features primary and alternate (usually charge-up) attacks. Special mention goes to the default fist weapon, which has several alternate attacks depending on when you right-click during your auto-combo. The traps, enemies, and bosses all do a phenomenal job of capturing the "look before you leap" gameplay that was so successful in CastleVania and Dark Souls. Namely, the best way to play Oneiro is to proceed carefully and keep your eyes and ears open. New players will quickly learn to examine their surroundings carefully after getting impaled by spikes for the dozenth time. Perhaps the main thing that sets Oneiro apart is its unique and engaging dungeon design. Most notably, both ceilings and floors are translucent, so instead of using a mini-map you just look up or down to find treasure rooms. You can destroy most floors and ceilings, and a certain item gives you a double-jump, so the amount of freedom of movement is insane and really elevates the gameplay. Skilled players will constantly be breaking walls and bouncing all over the place, grabbing all the treasure while staying relatively safe. If you love jumping around Morrowind, Oneiro really captures that gameplay but in a more focused, action-oriented way. Speaking of Morrowind, the RPG elements are a lot like that as well. Namely, effects stack forever into infinity, so if you play your cards right you can end the game with an insane attack skill or literally 10 double-jumps. After the dungeon design, Oneiro's most genius aspect is the Duplicator system. Basically, there's a fairly common item that will duplicate (almost) any item in your inventory, including those that grant passive stat boosts, so you can customize your build quite a bit by cleverly using Duplicators. As for the roguelike aspect, Oneiro hits a sweet spot of volatility to make every run interesting but just tame enough that skilled players can still succeed even if they suffer a few bad bounces. It wisely limits runs to 30 minutes, ensuring the player's ass is on fire and they're making their way through dungeons as aggressively as possible. Oneiro is one of the funnest and most interesting games I've played in recent memory. It's genuinely hard to stop playing once you start, and beating it was one of the most engaging and rewarding experiences I've had in some time. It's really fuckin' hard, though. Good luck.

Oneiro is a challenging rogue-like, similar - but different to - risk of rain 2, that gives you creative control over how you want to play. You can be a tank with lots of hp and health regen, or be a speedy boi with 10 mid-air mad hops. The thing that makes this game so incredible is the duplication mechanic; where you can pick up 'duplicators' and use them to create a copy of any item in your inventory, making you stronger. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that this game is very unforgiving (in a good way), so it's great for people that like lots of replay-ability, and those that like a challenge. I have sunk nearly 24 hours into this game at the time of writing, and this game has me hooked. This is a good game, with a cool developer, and I can't wait for future updates.