Dreamscaper: Prologue
Behind the Game
As always, I like to start out with a deep dive into the developers of the game. Afterburner Studios consists of a four person development team: Ian Cofino, Robert Taylor, Paul Svoboda and Dale North.
Ian Cofino is a seasoned game developer who has worked with some industry leaders like 2K Games, working notably as the lead UI designer on NBA 2K16. Next, Robert Taylor is a seasoned software engineer who started out with Zynga Games on titles like FarmVille 2. Paul Svoboda. is their environment artist and has an extensive resume of working in the Unreal Engine. He worked with Epic Games for the Gears of War series.
Hometown - Afterburner Studios
These three developers met at the now defunct game studio Outpost Games. While feeling burned out working on traditional AAA games, they formed Afterburner Studios in 2018 and started work on Dreamscaper with the goal to make unique gaming experiences that strike at the player’s emotions.
Last, but not the least, music composer Dale North joined Afterburner Studios. North composed for a few indie titles like Contingent99’s Wizard of Legend and Max Nielsen’s Long Return. Looking through his catalog and YouTube, he has extensive experience as an Arranger, Remixer and Composer. North also made some of the jingles you have heard like the Nintendo Switch’s Download theme, the Nintendo Power Podcast theme, and Humble Bundle’s Official Jingle.
With over 30 years of gaming development combined under their belts, I will have some pretty high expectations going into this game. While this is just an early access demo, this will set the tone for the rest of the game that is slated to release in the summer of 2020. For this critique, I’ll focus on three main things: game play, story, and music.
Setting the New Standard
Combat - Afterburner Studios
Starting out, this is a Rogue-lite or Rogue-like game and I have some inherent bias that I love these types of games such as Faster Than Light or my current obsession Risk of Rain 2. Dreamscaper is one of the better Rogue-like games with its combat system. It is more complicated than your standard rouge-like with both melee and ranged attack options. These blend together well with the progression system that has you going through a maze like dream, similar to The Binding of Isaac, and doing various things for better equipment or consumables.
To further drive home the point of complicated, but rewarding controls, you have 2 skills two that you can interchange with other things you find that aid the player in combat. I would go as far as to say Dreamscaper marries the combat system of God of War and the Rogue-like features of The Binding of Isaac perfectly. This alone would make this game a smash hit in my eyes and we haven’t even started on the other aspects of this game. I give it an A+ on the Game Play. Afterburner Studios are setting new standards for this genre going forward.
Waking Up to Reality
Dreamscaper unfolds its story a bit differently than most where it borrows some queues from dating sims. You run wild with your arsenal in your dreams, fighting your subconscious fears to waking up into the reality of the main character lives in. Cassidy, the female protagonist who lives in a quaint little town as an artist, is fighting the same struggles as everyone else, her depression. This is something I can relate to a lot.
Cassidy in her Apartment. - Afterburner Studios
With the inspirations she gains through her dreams, Cassidy crafts some art that she can give to the people she interacts with through out the city. This helps her find new friends, talk garbage with an old historian, and connect with her new coworkers at the cafe. I wouldn’t have said dating sim game play inherently lend well to telling a story in this genre, but it captured me here. It is interesting to see Cassidy come out of her shell little by little. These budding friendships unlocking new equipment you can use to fend off the fears in Cassidy’s subconscious. Further developing the contrast between our real life and the fantasy we all want to live in. This game speaks volumes to this and I have only scratched the surface.
I look forward to the full release Dreamscaper, so I can flesh out more of Cassidy’s interactions and learn her full story.
Home Run
Without burying the lead too much, Dale North knocks it out of the park on this one. He sets the tone of the dream worlds perfectly. Blending piano and orchestral movements that evolve through combat and exploration as you progress. North ramps up the orchestra to the fullest in the boss fights at the end of stages to add that suspense and sense of danger beautifully. It excites me when great compositions are paired great game play and it’s done phenomenally in Dreamscaper.
Restore Fountain - Afterburner Studios
I want to expound more upon North’s musical prowess, but I believe experiencing it yourself is the best explanation.
Refill Please!
I have gushed over Dreamscaper enough. In my opinion, this four person development team made a great game! I didn’t even get into the art design in this game, but it is beautiful! Paul Svoboda did an amazing job painting the picture within the dream and in the town Cassidy lives in. I cannot say enough how impressed I am with this game and it’s just the prologue to boot.
Dreamscaper, give me a Refill Please! The prologue will be going live on Steam on April 8th, 2020 for everyone. Dreamscaper: Prologue is the free demo before they do the full release later in the summer. I’ll be looking forward for the full release of the game. It’s not often that I am blown away by a game, but this one in particular has hit every point of game development running and the four of them did an amazing job!
Refill Please!: It’s good! Buy it now!
Needs Sugar: Needs something else to make it playable.
Let it Cool: Buy it when it’s on sale.
Dump It: Not worth it.
Special thank you to publisher & developer Afterburner Studios for giving RNG & Tea the opportunity to play Dreamscaper! We can’t wait for its full release! This is not a paid advertisement for the game.
Watch the full Twitch stream of Lloid experiencing Dreamscaper!
