Dreamwalker Reviews

Well, this is rather compelling. [i]Dreamwalker[/i] is a visual novel with a highly original storyline, multiple endings, interesting characters and a well balanced number of player choices which have significant impact upon developments. The reader takes the part of a male protagonist, although as he is never seen, one could quite reasonably and without stretching the context of the narrative too far, read it through as whichever gender is preferred. The story begins with our MC drifting off to sleep after a typical working day as a software engineer at an IT company, but for the first time, experiencing an odd dream set in a mysterious, creepy labyrinthine maze, complete with an overwhelming fear of dread, and punctured only by a hidden voice calling out to him. The following night sees a return to the same location, only for the voice to be revealed as a real person also able to access this otherworldly place during sleep. This new acquaintance creates a business card within the shared dream and offers it to the MC, who is subsequently shocked to discover that he has the ability to bring it back into the real world with him when he wakes up – which in turn allows real life contact with the person he met in his dreams. From here, we get to meet more people who have the same ability to visit this other reality, and learn of its tragic past … and its very dangerous future, unless the newly assembled group are able to navigate the challenges ahead without making a potentially fatal misstep for any one of them; or perhaps even mankind as a whole? [h1]Positives[/h1] The solo creator of this game confesses to being a professional coder in an introductory page within the main menu options, [i]and it shows[/i]. • All of the regular options you'd expect to find in any good Ren'py-created visual novel are present during gameplay. • When looking back at it, all sequence-of-choices made do make perfect sense with respect to the conclusion you attain. • Graphics are spectacularly good, whether in a more photographic style or a painted style, as can be seen below: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3547689833 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3547690015 • Character sprites are also good looking, so whichever gender preference you may have, you're still going to be treated to some eye candy, even though this isn't a romantically charged story. • English isn't the native language of the writer. You could have fooled me. Outstanding effort to have the whole script reading fluently and almost 100% perfect. [h1]Negatives[/h1] It would be very easy to dismiss this heading as unnecessary, but in the interests of balance: • The game does not feature a gallery. Considering the quality of the backdrop graphics, this would have been a nice feature to be able to view them separately. There are also no CGs, but when you're reading the story, this really isn't an omission that you're likely to notice. • The chosen standard text font is rather fancy and looks like it's in italics, which could be difficult to read for people with sight challenges. It's not terminal in this game, as the accessibility menu (SHIFT/A) is present, but it's going to be necessary for some. • The in-play function buttons are a very small type text list along the very bottom of the visible screen. If your toolbar sits along the bottom, expect to have a few instances of failure to position the cursor accurately enough to prevent Windows tooltips getting in the way. [h1]Experience[/h1] I was intrigued by the immediate presence of this “other world” as soon as the game started, and hooked very shortly afterwards. The story may be comparatively brief – a dedicated single run through without going back to change a decision will probably take less than two hours – but in this time, the scripting is sharp and vacant of padding. There is no time for interest to wane once you've started. I found it difficult not to keep playing when I really should have been away from my laptop, this doesn't happen often with VNs and says a lot about the quality of the product herein. There are plentiful save slots to assist with replays, and those are certainly something you will want to do. Upon successful completion of the story, we receive summaries of the continued lives of the primary characters from that point on – and these alter dependent upon your interactions with them and how things turned out. [h1]Verdict[/h1] As will be very apparent, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this one. I normally prefer a more gentle, romantically-biased story for my entertainment, so for me to get a kick from a novel with a dark and threatening undertone speaks volumes here. That said, if you still want romance in your story but not as the leading theme, then you'll find that here, too – with two possibilities available; although if you want to find the best ending, you had better be prepared to go for that romance option with unwavering dedication right from the off. This is the second visual novel I have played in the last couple of months which is clearly [u]wildly underpriced[/u]. At £2.49, it feels like stealing it from the developer. There is easily sufficient high quality material here to justify double this at a minimum. I find it a complete travesty that this game has gone under the VN community's radar since its release in 2023, and hope that this review will prompt a deserved renewal of interest in it. It's worth noting that after completing the base game, there is a new option in the menu labelled “Side stories”. At time of playing, this leads to a very brief, text only introduction to a rather disturbing story which is related to the “world between” reality and dreams, with notes afterwards that it would be expanded and illustrated IF the interest was there. That, then, is another reason to take a look at [i]Dreamwalker[/i]. Show a deserving developer some love. [quote]Please follow our curator page, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/4680120/]Otome Lovers[/url], if you'd like to see more reviews like this one! [/quote]