Dreamscaper

Conceptually, the idea to blend a somewhat linear story about mental health with dungeon crawler mechanics is very interesting. Dreamscaper is able to execute a blend of these two elements together very well. Using the waking world as an anchor for permanent dreamworld upgrades not only lends itself to steadily paced improvements, it also offers a very realistic story element to a game that relies heavily on fantasy combat. In addition to the overall construction of the day/night cycle working well, most runs through the dreamscape feel unique due to a solid set of options when it comes to weapons and abilities. Though the enemies, including all of the boss battles, are always the same, Cassidy's approach to fighting them can always be different.

In addition, only a small amount of inappropriate content suggests that younger and older players alike will be able to handle Dreamscaper, but it should be noted that the difficulty scales quickly at the start. While the first of the five sections are beginner-friendly, players will quickly have to adapt to enemies with much higher health bars and much more damage dealt to Cassidy per hit. Though there's a game mode that allows players to come back stronger each night after every defeat, this doesn't seem to alter the game's difficulty at all. Some may find these challenges enticing and worth many tries, but others may find that the high stakes of Dreamscaper's permanent death (in which players lose all upgrades to equipment and abilities after every loss) to be too harsh. There are other titles with similar mechanics that would be better suited to those either totally new to fast-paced action games or those who may be more interested in story elements rather than combat. Overall, though, dedicated fans of roguelike or fast-paced action games will definitely find Dreamscaper to be a familiar experience with enough innovative changes to keep players invested in Cassidy's journey into her own mind.