Review – Dreamed Away – Gamerview

When Dreamed Away was revealed in 2023, including a demo on Steam, I was immediately excited about the potential of this RPG. Not only for being inspired by one of my favorite games, Earthbound (SNES), but also for mixing the genre with psychological horror and having its own identity. In 2024, one was opened and the game was financed with an amount above the target, reaching 160%. Three years after development began, Dreamed Away is finally out on PC, Switch, and Xbox.

Produced almost entirely by a single person, Nicolas Petton, and using the open source engine, this game exudes whimsy in several aspects. In fact, don’t let the cute pixel art fool you: Dreamed Away presents a dense journey, which weaves reality with fantasy in a very dark and unexpected way.

Daydreaming

Set in France in the 90s, in the city of Brittany, the story tells the journey of Théo in search of his sister Louise. She and her parents mysteriously disappeared during a rainy night. Your house, once cozy, turns into a dark space with the appearance of… ghosts? The mirror stops reflecting your image, the phone doesn’t work, the clock spins like crazy and everything seems to be wrong. It is in this fearful situation that the player begins his journey through the city and surrounding areas.

Exploration allows you to interact with a lot of things, although there is a linearity in favor of the story. The game’s pixel art is beautiful, lavishing care in the smallest details such as lighting effects, particles and parallax that increase immersion. There is a good variety of scenarios, leaving the expected obviousness and going, for example, under the sea – including exploration using a diving suit and managing oxygen. In this regard, the game is very similar to Mother 3 (GBA), but always presenting its own ideas. It could be called a spiritual successor, if it weren’t for the story being darker and with really disturbing parts – like being chased by a figure that resembles death.

The story, very well told, does not deliver any explanation on a platter. You spend hours not knowing what’s really going on, even with new NPCs being introduced to reveal some context. In fact, the characters have peculiar personalities, promoting dialogues that balance terror with humor. One example is the Korrigan, gnomes who keep messing up throughout the game but giving valuable rewards. An effective way to make Théo (and the player) calmer, since whenever he finds his sister he loses sight of her due to force majeure.

Sparse but fun combat

Dreamed Away’s combat is inspired by Undertale, with the player executing two different mechanics to defend themselves from enemy attacks: hitting a rhythmic sequence of arrows or dodging projectiles across the screen. To attack, you need to hit the center of a bar. The further away from the center, the weaker your blow comes out. By hitting the center perfectly, you can perform another attack and thus create a combo, which progressively increases according to your equipment. Théo can equip different items such as weapons, defense and utility. The latter gives a bonus in battle, such as throwing a stone that deals extra damage at the end of your turn.

Just like in Earthbound, you see the enemy coming towards you and, if your back is turned, the battle starts at a disadvantage. In general, the difficulty lies in landing the combo of blows and dodging attacks, regardless of your current level and the enemy’s HP. As it is a solo adventure, without parties with other characters, Théo will always face one enemy at a time. No more accumulating enemies coming your way.

Because of this game design decision, combat is infrequent. The focus is really on the story, although Dreamed Away doesn’t stop you from grinding. It has the elements, like changing your equipment and special abilities when it suits you, it’s just not the most important thing in the game. Such a decision can tire the player due to the lack of action in many sections. The variety of enemies is also relatively small, but that doesn’t take away from the fun of combat. Because each enemy is unique and has a variety of attacks that can even trigger a negative effect on Théo, such as shaking.

Diverse puzzles

The game offers very intelligent puzzles, creating an extra challenge to alternate between exploration and combat. They are well balanced, fortunately nothing super complex to keep the player purposely stuck in some part and prolong the game’s duration. They are presented at the right moments and without breaking the rhythm of the journey. There is even a puzzle arcade with stages, this one quite challenging. Another strong point is the soundtrack, which is extremely effective in the game’s atmosphere. A mix of cozy songs with others of pure tension.

My only criticisms of the game are some collision problems, such as in a section where you sail a boat and access islets, some translation errors in Brazilian Portuguese, and the lack of distinction in the soundtrack when Théo levels up after finishing the combat. Details that can be easily corrected in future updates.

The affection invested in Dreamed Away is evident. A game with soul, charisma and an excellent story. And even though it draws heavily on Earthbound and Undertale, it manages to deliver a distinct game with its own qualities. A highly recommended RPG for anyone looking for something different to play on the Steam Deck or Nintendo Switch.