The Dream Machine: Chapter 5 DLC

Chapter 5 starts off poorly, with frustrating timed trial and error puzzles in a featureless setting. Once you get past that bit, it's awesome. (If you're stuck remember that you can press the spacebar to see hotspots, and you can leave a dream if there's no more to do). The bulk of chapter 5 is in a sort of creepy fantasy villiage setting, a bit fairy tale and a bit Wicker Man. The model crafting is spectacular in this chapter, and even the pre-dream puzzles are fun. They really nailed the difficulty level of the village stuff too, though some of gating is a bit arbitrary. So force yourself through the crap bit at the beginning until you reach the village -- use a walkthrough if you have to. It's worth it.

With each chapter better than the last, this is easily my favorite point & click adventure game since Grim Fandango! Awesome storytelling, excellent atmosphere and satisfying puzzles. Note that the as yet unreleased Chapter 6 appears to be the last, so you might want to hold off playing until then, for the "complete experience." I actually had no idea I was going to be left hanging when this one ended, but since the next installment promises to be even more surreal, I really can't complain... From the devs: "The player is approaching the center of dreams. Things are about to get trippy and weird." :)

greatest ending in a video game. the final level is so mind bending and beautiful looking. perfect ending for the best point and click adventure game of all time.

I enjoyed the original dream ideas the most in this chapter, they really blew my mind and I had fun, altough I experienced one crashing bug (a white screen with an exclamation mark) and I became frustrated a couple of times with some puzzle related choices. With the help of a guide I enjoyed the experience more, as it took out the frustration and let me enjoy the story.

It's a really big chapter. Is it better? For me, not really. This is where I had to use a walk through at many points due to the tedious nature of the puzzles, the amount of constant backtracking and the larger amount of areas to search for items/dialogue. I felt like I finished this chapter more out of spite than anything (having already invested and completed the previous chapters).

The Dream Machine has an eerily dark yet childlike quality akin to Fran Bow in its themes and art. While I'm not the biggest fan of this particular style of claymation, The Dream Machine is beautiful and raw in the craft involved in the creation of this game as we are transported into the characters' intricately crafted dreams. We're able to gaze into what each characters' daily slice of life and then, in turn, gaze deeper into their dreams. In doing so, we gaze into our protagonist, Victor Neff's, mind (and all versions of him) as he traverses these dreamscapes, while simultaneously we gaze more deeply at our own reflection in the psychological dreamland abyss and philosophical void while playing. 8.5/10 Chapter 5: These are the best chapters of the game mechanically really pushing the bounds of the dream realms and developing world-building surrounding the mapping of the dream world and how interconnected our (sleeping) lives are. 9/10

If you hate thinking about things this is not the game for you. If you DO like to use your brain however, this is the perfect game. The dream machine grabs hold from the first scene and draws you into a world of deceit, strangeness and wonder. Its easy to get stuck sometimes, but once you get past the hard parts its very rewarding. The storyline is original and borrows small pieces from other fantastic games. The key word to describe "The Dream Machine" is mystery. You are engulfed by it. It peaks your curiosity and draws you in. You play as the main character Victor and need to find out what is going on in your apartment building. Your pregnant wife is settling in, but as you start to discover odd things about your new life your curiousity to your surrounding grows. Who are these neighbours around you? Who is this mr. Morton who takes care of the building? ...Why are dreams no longer private?

This is the chapter where the game falls apart. The gameplay becomes infuriatingly tedious and the story becomes predictable at best and disappointing at worst (really? we're doing this "I need an ultimate body" schtick?). Also, up to this chapter pretty much every location has been weird and unique. Now it's a forest and a cube.

This game is highly recommended if you are an adult and appreciate art. The game is highly not recommended if you are a child (story is hard to follow, scary and gruesome atmosphere at times, no action whatsoever, you'll be bored most likely). I'm finishing the chapter 5 now, and I must say I'm very impressed with the whole game. I experienced a number of freezes and encountered a few bugs during the gameplay, but it was easily fixed with the game restart. All those minor inconveniences look really small and insignificant comparing to the greatness of this masterpiece. Visuals. This is a stop motion cartoon style game, not CGI. There is no way to rate the graphics, you either like it or not. Story. I've read lots of books, and watched lots of movies, so my head is filled with tons of stories and it's really hard for me to get impressed by new ones. This one really did the job of surprising me. Although the core story is pretty simple (shut down the dream machine), the twists and turns of this surreal adventure are unique and unpredictable. Puzzles. I'm not fan of puzzle games, titles like Portal bore me to death. Puzzles in here are different in their nature. Cues are hidden in notes, books, conversations, etc. Took me long time to figure some of them out. I can't say I enjoyed them very much but I wasn't bored. Thank god there are walkthroughs available on youtube, otherwise i would probably get stuck permanently. Bravo, creators! You are true artists!

I wish I could explain why I love this chapter, but that'd spoil it. The environments are both so different but perfectly fit. The forest... My god do I love the forest with the little town. Everything is so gorgeous and detailed. Thank you for putting in all your hard work.