Balthazar's Dream Reviews

Really fun platformer about a boy named Dustin and his best friend Balthazar. Dusting fell in coma after he got crashed by and ice cream truck. His best friend Balthazar sleeps by his side, and in his dream, he tries to find a way to wake Dustin up as he doesn´t have much time left and is almost about to die. The Ending: [spoiler] After defeating Evil Presence, Dustin is dead. But he eventually comes back to life, and Dustin wakes up with ability to talk with Balthazar and also understand him. [/spoiler] I give this game 8,5/10. There were some spots where you get a little FPS drop, but still not that bad. The game is actually well-made and fun to play, but I find music a little bit repetetive and boring. Bosses are all easy [spoiler] Linux (Furcat) is still the hardest of them all in my opinion [/spoiler]. I find that part after [spoiler] talking to Laika the space dog that flying around some obstacles and trying not to die [/spoiler]. One huge con is in 10th chapter. If you manage to complete the stopping part, the main boss is coming up. And if you say that you need a break, you´ll have to go through the stopping part again. Another con is the cutscene at the beggining. You can´t skip it, so everytime you start the game you are forced to watch it over and over again.

到了太空那里就过不去了，尝试了2个多小时，作者你真的玩过这游戏吗，有bug为什么不修复呀

I wanted to like this game, but right out of the gate it controls very very poorly. The timing is bad, and while graphics and sotry felt great, I couldn't get over how small feedback you are getting from this game while playing. The "smart" bar idea is just bad design, it just artificially limits your basic abilitis like rope climbing resulting in a lot of dumb deaths. Feel like early platformers that hadn't nailed down the controls and game feel yet. I don't recommed it to anyone who is looking for a good platformer.

I could not understand or get the hang of the game mechanics at all. Something about using fear and depleting smart bars or whatever. The 6-7 checkpoints I made was through sheer luck. It only took me 200 attempts to beat the first vaccum cleaner. The part with the ball is where I decided to stop trying after another 500 attempts. Very disappointed with this game.

I'll start off with the cons, because that's how the game starts: the very first chapter (out of ten) is undoubtedly the worst. Even though the story, music and pixel art are already great from the very beginning, the gameplay feels unfinished and almost unbearable. Luckily, there are many checkpoints and infinite immediate respawns. But still, I almost gave up on the game (like many did, if you check the negative reviews). But I'm glad I didn't, because it does gets better in both gameplay and story - and the later sections and ending are surely worth the while. To my own surprise, I actually ended up finishing the whole game in one sitting (which took me around 3 hours). The game is weirdly divided into 10 so-called "chapters" of varying lenght, but there are actually around 4 "levels". I'll try not to spoil them, because the third one is especially great (both gameplay and storywise). But it goes like this: 1- HOUSE LEVEL: the very first, supposed to be a tutorial of sorts but actually the hardest and worst of them all. Some good ideas but badly executed. It feels like the game is going to be a mess and it takes way too long. Luckily, it does eventually end and the real game begins. 2- FOREST LEVEL: the second level feels like the first true level of a proper story-driven plarforming game, and there's a little twist in the story that makes it even better. There are still bad sections with weird difficulty spikes, but there are also great moments that got me immersed and felt properly manageable. I stopped dying for weird, unfair reasons, and it finally felt like it dependend on my own skill. The ending for that level is pretty great. 3- UNEXPECTED LEVEL: after the fast-paced finale of the previous level, there's a gameplay twist that come just in time to slow things down a little. It's still challenging, but it still feels a little like resting after what came before. Later on, there's another gameplay twist and things get fast again. It's just nice game design. However, I gotta say the fast-paced finale of this level may take a little too long and is not as cool as the previous one. But it's not bad either. Also, at that point, the story has changed from its darker dreamy tone to something a little more fun and lighthearted. 4- FINAL LEVEL: the final level has a few different sections and a few nice epilogue-style moments. It's also refreshing in terms of story and environment. However, gameplay is a little uninspiring at first. But it does get better and the ending of the story is just great. It's not as serious as I imagined at first (that forest level is kind of gloomy), but it manages to be both emotional and funny. The whole thing is just a nice payoff for the adventure. (P.S.: the final challenges may be a little too easy compared to the struggles in the early game, but I actually liked it better that way - I was engaged in the story conclusion, but not really willing to have a super final challenge at that point) All in all, its surely an indie project that could use some polishing, but it did have many nice things to keep me going after the bad start. I'd say the core of the game is in the second level (the challenges of the dreamy forest etc.), but it was a nice surprise to see the changes in tone and gameplay towards the end. By the time I finished the game, I had good taste in my mouth. I can't believe I'm saying this after almost giving up in the beginning, but I actually kinda miss the game already. I don't think it should be any longer (it could actually be a little shorter), but I'd surely play a sequel to those dreamy doggo adventures. It was a nice experiece overwall and I do recommend it for those who like indies and dogs, which is surely my case.

Great pixel art and what looked to be a touching story about the relationship between a dog and his boy initially drew me to Balthazar's Dream. It being an indie title with a lot of heart put into it by a small team also made me want to show support. The game as it is, unfortunately, is a clunky, average platformer lasting a brief 100 minutes; its touching story is ham-fisted and poorly-written; the level design and mechanics range from solid (bouncing around, general platforming) to nearly broken (throwing items, using 'instinct' to long jump). I think the story was the biggest letdown. It starts off well enough, if a bit predictable a scenario -- you're playing this for easy tears, right? Your master, a young boy named Dustin, is hit by a car during a game of fetch. You -- Balthazar, his dog -- stay with him in the hospital as he slowly passes, keeping him company on his journey via a shared dream. For the most part, it's told in a barebones and surreal fashion, but then the ending just gets lost in itself as it pulls an Interstellar, using the -- **spoilers** -- 'Power of Love' to save Dustin's spirit from a monster literally called Guilt Incarnate. After having the Power of Love spelled out to the player repeatedly in a short timeframe, we get a closing text epilogue that smears in complete nonsense, each addition more absurd and poorly-written than the last: "Not only was Dustin alive and kicking -- he woke up with an amazing ability to understand and talk to Balthazar. Needless to say both led happy lives and had loads of fun." "Using Balthazar's oneiric superpower they woke 3182 coma patients. They retired after 30 years of therapeutic work (longevity miracle drug for dogs was invented)...To a serene farm in Oregon." "...In fact, Balthazar's grandgrandgrandson Salazar was the first cyber dog on a Mars colony in 2343. He was instrumental in the famous search and rescue mission of the DSS Pupperprize." None of this adds *anything* to the story, and each sentence is somehow more insane and poorly-written than the last. The pixel art is Balthazar's Dream's best asset. The dog breeds you can play as have plenty of character and detail -- the Australian Shepard also looks spot-on like my dog! -- as do the world's forests and enemies.The music, while good, is primarily composed of short, 10-second loops that quickly grow tiring. The 10 levels range from unusually brief to painfully long (e.g.., the first level is something like 20 minutes, and the second or third only 2; levels 8 and 9 are two overlong, boring shmup levels that play the exact same and probably shouldn't be back-to-back), and the level design itself is all over the place. Bouncing off of mushrooms and beds makes for great platforming, but trying to make a floating table fall on top of your doggy for cover, or throw a stick at just the right spot on a wall to provide a platform almost comes down to random luck, making for tedious segments in an otherwise enjoyable game. Balthazar's Dream is a forgettable platformer with occasional charm in its artstyle. It's not worth playing, but I feel like the devs are worth paying attention to if they continue to refine their skills over the next 150 years (human lifespans will evolve to 180+ years by 2038 and everyone will live happy lives and have lots of fun).

Short game, but has a nice story. My only slight criticism is the fact sometimes the controls has input delays. Aside from that, great game.

I know the creators from their involvement in a facebook group, and for the />/ Asked for this Easter Egg (found it first try). I also love dogs and any game about dogs. any attempt to make an unbiased review would be futile. the game is very fun as a platformer and its story is quite adorable. I advocate you support these devs and try this game out if you enjoy dogs, platformers or cute stories.

A game that feels like it was made with a lot of love and very little skill. A platformer that has a lot of small challenges that it presents to you to overcome to keep it fun. The problems arises when in the technical execution of the levels and the challenges. Things like, when you are afraid you can jump farther to make it over large gaps. But the problem is you stop being afraid if you get far enough away, such as, halfway across the gap when you suddenly fall like a rock. It also has a habit of pilling on multiple small challenges together to create a larger challenge that requires you to put full trust in the game while also repeatedly proving why you should never trust the game. Overall, I want to love it, but it's a very flawed execution.

This game almost got a thumbs up...BUT.... The main core mechanic, which is ..well..platforming...sucks. The controls feel floaty and annoying and just generally induce rage. Also theres this weird 'fear' mechanic which just sends you running off into pits of doom. Feels like early broken alpha release. Everything just floats around the screen, feels like they smeared the physics engine with butter. A real shame since I really do like the premise, pixelart and music It has charm but sadly its not enough. It shows the developers put alot of effort into this, but I have to judge this game based on how enjoyable it is to play and not just for development efforts. The game is just A$$ to play. I think this would have worked a whole lot better as an adventure game instead.