![]() (And let’s face it, isn’t “ Myst-lite” an oxymoron?) I’ve head the term “ Myst-lite” in reference to this series, and that’s not an entirely inaccurate comparison, though the many significant differences soon become apparent. It’s a very, very thin storyline that stretches just far enough to launch you on your way and occasionally propel you forward with periodic updates.įaye displays very little personality in the text-only descriptions and reactions provided, and you’ll only ever meet one other character per game (two of which are plants, like miniaturized “Audrey II’s”), making the Dream Chronicles a very solitary experience – your experience. ![]() For reasons that broaden only mildly over the course of the first three games, Lilith has designs on your fairy husband Fidget and your young daughter Lyra, and the goal of each game is to rescue one or both from Lilith’s clutches by following a (figurative) trail of magical breadcrumbs. A point-and-click slideshow adventure played entirely in first-person view, you’ll control a mortal woman named Faye, who’s pitted against the machinations of Lilith, the Fairy Queen of Dreams. The setup for each game is virtually identical. So while working your way through a game can be mentally stimulating, sometimes it’s inevitably bound to feel far more like work than fun. And unfortunately, a bit too much of the difficulty stems from the same problems that have plagued adventure games for years, most notably the dreaded pixel hunt and a reliance on ridiculous contrivances serving as obstacles. On the other hand, make no mistake: the three Dream Chronicles are distinctly casual experiences that rarely reach for or achieve much beyond the minimum levels of personal freedom, puzzle relevance, or narrative depth to tie it all together. And indeed, there are certainly moments to admire from that perspective. That probably sounds encouraging to puzzle fans and challenge-lovers. The Dream Chronicles are games you’ll need to work your way through. And yes, each game does have a built-in hint system, but heck no, it never lets you bypass, auto-solve, or otherwise sleepwalk through their many levels. Yes, the journey is often compact and linear, but there’s far more exploration than you might expect, at least in the later games. Yes, you’ll spend plenty of time collecting scattered items, but no, it isn’t a “hidden object” game. Perhaps that distinction is too subtle to matter (and perhaps I dreamed it up entirely, in keeping with the subject matter), but the point is that in approaching this series, one mustn’t take for granted anything we’ve come to expect of casual games overall. Unlike many of its contemporaries, Dream Chronicles is a series that seems to have been inspired by full-fledged adventures and scaled back to its current form, as opposed to the latest trend of adding adventure elements to simplistic designs to make them feel a bit more inclusive. Since the variations between titles are largely superficial, I’ll take a page out of the “casual” notebook myself, covering all three in one fell swoop, stopping only long enough to highlight the significant differences in each. And like many pioneers, there are both inspiring breakthroughs and discouraging setbacks experienced along the way. Before the likes of Return to Ravenhearst and Drawn: The Painted Tower came along to help popularize the “lite” adventure, KatGames’ series was already blazing the trail. This is no fairy tale, after all, though a fairy tale is exactly what the Dream Chronicles are all about. Their detractors, however, would argue that these games also display the weaknesses of each forebear, stripped down and yet still surprisingly inaccessible and overly obtuse at times.Īll of this is true. To their admirers, this trio came to represent the best of both worlds, with lovely visuals and streamlined, relaxing gameplay that far exceeds simple “seek-and-find” titles in scope and ambition. It was a unique new type of crossbreed – part casual, part traditional – that went on to quickly spawn two offspring of the same ilk. Small but beautiful, it displayed a bold, adventurous spirit that defied its limited stature, and seemed destined for great things. Once upon a time, in a magical land not unlike our own, a little game called Dream Chronicles was born. ![]() ![]() Jack Allin - JanuTo skip the series overview, go directly to ![]()
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