Dreams

The start of the year is always a bit of a dull one for gaming, particularly when you had an empty end to the previous year like we did in 2019. Months have passed without me buying a new game - a good opportunity to revisit some older ones and take advantage of Xbox's wonderful Game Pass. So between playing God of War again, Modern Warfare, and catching up on some games in Game Pass, I decided to check out Dreams, PlayStation's and developer Media Molecule's next step in the create-your-own game genre. 

Media Molecule is almost untouched here as their previous trilogy, LittleBigPlanet, was widely praised and Sackboy/girl became the unofficial mascot of the PS3/PS4 era. I always enjoyed these games to a certain extent and Dreams is a "victim" of the same issue I have:

I do not have the time to create my own games or levels. I have enough hobbies as it is, and creating an awesome experience for someone else to play is a very time consuming one. So with these games I enjoy playing what the developers themselves have created and what the community has put together. 

Very atmospheric and moody

The interesting thing about Dreams is that there's not anything bad with it, and I struggle to find true issues that it should work on. My criticism, potentially for once, is based solely on opinion and how I interact with this game. What Media Molecule has created here is beyond impressive and it's abundantly clear that the tools of this new "creation" platform are far more advanced, nuanced, and complete than LittleBigPlanet ever offered. Unfortunately, but fairly, since the game is only $40 to start with, there's far less content to start with here. Sure, there's plenty of community content, but from the pros - Media Molecule - using their own tools/system, there's only one 5ish hour "dream".

Impressive and intuitive creation tools
(for the short time I dabbled in it)

"Art's Dream" is the main display of what these tools can do by combining to create several types of games while also having cutscenes, music, performances, etc. Again, all wildly impressive and the story of Art's Dream is surprisingly poignant. It's clear that the lifeblood of LittleBigPlanet is still here (i.e. cute characters, platforming, etc.) but it's also clear that Mm wants this to be a more mature experience as Art is a struggling musician who infrequently curses, has to deal with his inner demons and ego, etc. Art's Dream is definitely a special, short time but I guess in the most straightforward way I can say it: it's not enough. 

And that's my biggest struggle with Dreams. It's wildly imaginative and impressive. It has probably 20ish hours of content if you take all the building tutorials. And it's where I was uneducated upon purchasing it. Dreams is not a satisfying game if you're just looking to Play. Nearly 75% of its content might as well be an educational course on game design using specific tools. Which is cool! In college, I may have had the time to dive into them, but certainly not anymore. As it stands now, there's one long dream from Mm, a bunch of very short ones that I'd classify as "apps" and then user content (more on that later). I think Mm should have crafted 3-4 stories, similar to Art's Dream, that used more of the tools and just overall provided more content. Maybe they will in the future, and it's hard to complain for $40, but suffice it to say that if you know you're just here to play, there's not enough to last.

Once you move onto the user-created content, you'll be wildly impressed...for a few days. Nothing against the content creators in Dreams social platform (yet another impressive feature) as there are some wildly jaw-dropping things out there. Some visual theaters are on par with AAA games of today and some games recreate iconic ones or have fun gameplay with original ideas. But here's the thing: none of them were A) as good as Mm's Art's Dream and B) many are like game apps you play on your phone. Fun for 20ish minutes then you're done with them. Many are still in "beta" modes or are titled as "concepts" while all the visual theaters are just that...theaters. You can move the camera around to look at the incredible graphics, but that's it. 

I know I sound like a major a**hole here, and I applaud any Dream creators who are in there, putting a game together. It's literally endless content and they should be praised for their ingenuity and creativity, but as someone who has increasingly limited time to play videogames, this just isn't where I want to spend my time these days. And playing back and forth between God of War and user created dreams (while not a fair comparison in the slightest) only further proved out that chasm of quality to me. 

Colorful, imaginative, and familiar gameplay

Realistically Dreams was not the right game for me less because of anything wrong with it, but rather because I was uneducated on what it had to offer and how I had to interact with it in order to find fulfillment. Where LittleBigPlanet was a game first and content creator second, Dreams is most definitely a content creator first, game second. If that's your jam then you'll likely have the time of your life and I can almost guarantee you that in terms of console game building, this is probably the best, and most complex set of tools out there. Furthermore, the social platform by which it connects its creators is thoughtful and exciting, allowing you to gather inspiration from literally anywhere. But if you're like me and simply looking to take some time out of your day to "play", it's a bit of a hollow option currently that didn't satisfy me in the way that more polished gaming experiences do.  

CONS

• If you're just here to play, there's not a lot of professional level content here...yet
• The dreams from users and some from Mm play like apps. Fun distractions, but not full fledged games
• For some this won't be a Con, but this is a creating platform before it's a game and you should know it going in

PROS

• Despite my own opinions about it, what Mm has created here is impressive
• Art's Dream, while short, is a poignant story that's told through creative gameplay
• Takes a more mature tone than LBP
• Vast suite of tools to create everything from first person shooters, platformers, racing games, etc
• Social network that prioritizes awesome creations, innovation, and fun ideas
• A fun game when you're playing 80% of the time. Some of the user content is truly impressive
• Has nearly limitless potential and I could totally see this taking off and requiring that I purchase it again down the road once it has more established content/user base
• For $40, it's hard to complain about much. Smart price point
• If you're in it for more than just "playing", add 1-1.5 to the score below

Rath's Review Score | 7.5/10