Developer Afterburner Studios is finally ready to release Dreamscaper, an action roguelite title that has been in Steam Early Access for the last two years. Featuring an excellent combat system with plenty of customization and a surprisingly strong story to accompany the action, Dreamscaper looks to be one of the best indie games of 2020.
Action Roguelike, Or Relationship Simulator?
The game trailer shows that players will ꧃spend much of their time in combat, fighting through a dream towards a variety of bosses, but then spend time in the real world, awake and cultivating relationships.
At first, the break from one mode of play to an🐼other felt jarring and forced. In one moment, there was intense combat with some massive🅘 creature of the deep trying to devour our main character, Cassidy, and in the next, she is walking around a bookstore, speaking to people and offering them gifts.
However, Cassidy’s time awake can be equally as important as when she is asleep, and the well-written relationships, fascinating backstories, and gender-neutral pronouns between characters is so well done that this writer was hooked in no time. There is, of course, a connﷺection between the two styles of play, as increasing friendships through discussion and thoughtful gifts grant Cassidy new abilities in the dream world.
Still, each mode of play is so well done that developer Afterburner Studios should really consider making two more games after Dreamscaper: one that is pure action, and🐟 one that is all about r🙈elationships, because it would be fascinating to see what these talented developers could do if they devoted themselves to one type of game each, rather than split the difference into two.
In this way, Dreamscaper feels like a fantastic game, but after hours of play, I found myself wanting to hurry through levels to learn more about Eve, Fernando, and everyone else in Cassidy’s life. Some players might feel the same way, or they might favor combat more, it really w🍎ill depend on each person’s preferences.
Combat Is Simple To Learn, Hard To Master
The basics of combat are simple, with players having access to a light and heav♏y melee attack, ranged weapons, bombs, rolling, blocking, parrying, and fantastic abilities that offer magic-like abilities, and the ability to slow down time.
Beyond the basics, however, there is much to learn. Light melee and ranged attacks for instance offer players bonus damage if they time their attac♐ks to correspond with Cassidy flashing white for the briefest of moments, items can be replaced, upgraded, and purchased along the way, and learning to dodge is fundamental to avoiding the often overwhelming number of enemies on screen.
Luckily, most enemies telegraph their moves and are predictable based on their types, so after a 💞while the challenge is establishing a plan of attack to avoid t🅺aking cheap shots from behind. While combat feels a bit simple and slow in the early stages, once a player starts finding new ways to fight, the pace feels far better.
Bossfights Feel A Little Long
Although much of the 🍎combat falls within the category of a roguelite, boss fights sometimes♛ feel lacking in substance. Most boss battles played out in a similar way, first be memorizing the five to eight or so attacks that will come your way, and then spamming attacks during a short window before the pattern begins again.
The only problem here is that due to high boss health pools, most fights felt tedious rather than challenging.♛ In some cases, it felt like it took around fifteen stuns and windows of attacks before downing a boss. Meanwhile, players can take massive damage from the bosses, and so of course the “difficulty” here is not to take a hit, but once an series of moves is memorized victory feels like it takes far longer than it should compared to the combat in each section leading up to the boss.
Superb Music And Aesthetic Designs
Without a doubt, one of the best things about Dreamscaper is the masterful blend of sound, music, and aesthetic design. When the game first begins, players f🅰ind themselves outside but with no initial𒆙 guidance. It is the music that sets the mood for what is to come, along with what appear to be several cherry blossom trees that are out of place, but wonderful to see, and this style of design continues throughout the game without missing a beat.
There is currently no listing to purchase the soundtಞrack for the game on Steam, but hopefully that will change.
This One Is Worth Picking Up ASAP
Without a doubt, Dreamscaper is well worth picking up right away. Not only is the mix of combat and storytelling excellent, but the developer has stated that there is more content to come following the end of Early Access: “Along with new levels and a plethora of new weapons, abilities and items, the full release of Dreamscaper will expand the depth of the story and interconnected nature of the waking world and dreaming world. Look for new bos👍ses, new challenges, new puzzles and an expanded waking world by the full release.”
A review copy of Dreamscaper was provided for this preview and is available on Steam. The game is still listed as releasing on other platforms, b♋ut no dates have been provided for those.
Source: Dreamscaper Early Access