Summary
Despite its occasional, technical shortcomings, I think Bygone Dreams is a great, action-filled RPG romp for diehard fans of the genre. It’s also easy to recommend for those who are curious about soulslikes but who want an easier experience. Of course, those aforementioned and often sadistic diehards can enjoy a greater degree of challenge by unlocking harder difficulties and challenges.
Developer — Prime Time
Publisher — Prime Time, GrabTheGames, CyberStep, Inc.
Platforms — PC (Reviewed)
Review code provided by Developer
As an enormous From Software fan, I have a soft spot for soulslikes. As an equally enormous Darksiders fan, I have an even softer spot for action-adventure RPGs. Third-person hack and slashing with an emphasis on world exploration and some big boss fights? My money isn’t safe. I’ll take ten copies of Smacking Things With a Sword Simulator, please and thank you.
As a fan of these genres, I’ve been eating especially well lately. There’s no shortage of studios attempting to put their own spin on the souls formula, and I’ve noticed a growing trend of returning to design elements from the seventh generation of consoles which included titles such as the original Darksiders and Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. As a result, I was very excited to jump into Bygone Dreams, and I’m pleased to report that, for the most part, this ambitious indie title is a worthwhile time for my fellow action-adventure fans.
In Bygone Dreams, you play as an intrepid spirit called Wa. Your objective is to save the world of Lume from an encroaching and all-consuming Nightmare. I’m not bashing the game’s story or writing when I say this, but the narrative wasn’t something that kept me playing. By no means was it poorly done, but it didn’t succeed in grabbing my imagination. Characters are ho-hum, voice acting is merely serviceable, and cutscenes feel particularly rough. While it didn’t do much for me, there’s plenty of effort in the story that others could find compelling.
What did keep me invested, however, was simply exploring the world and meeting new enemy types. Upgrading Wa and their abilities was good fun as well, since I do find getting stronger in these types of adventures to be great fun. However, my favorite bit was simply duking it out with overworld enemies and the game’s bosses.
The combat might feel familiar with its light attacks, heavy attacks, dodge rolls, and stamina management, but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, says I! While some of the attacks don’t have the oomph to feel as precise or enjoyable as one might hope for, I think there’s enough charm and polish in the game’s overall aesthetics to carry it.
The world design is basic but in an engaging way, and the animation work (outside of cutscenes) is very enjoyable. In fact, the sheer number of different animations is incredibly ambitious for such a small title. Not only for the variety of enemies, but Wa can be equipped with a number of different weapons that feature unique attacks and combos.
I briefly mentioned the bosses a moment ago, and I do think they’re the absolute highlight of the game. They feel entirely unique from one another, and they’ve got some great music! However, my game crashed more than once during different boss fights. It never happened more than once during a specific fight, but it wasn’t exactly great for a climactic battle.
That air of slight bugginess existed outside of boss fights, but it never led to a full crash. Some of the game’s environments have strange invisible walls or terrain bugs that would send Wa skeetering across the floor. Again, these were infrequent, but they happened often enough to reinforce the idea that Bygone Dreams needs a fair amount of polish.
Of course, the game isn’t all about fighting. Some light puzzles occasionally break up the action, and they’re, in a word: fine. I didn’t love them, and I didn’t hate them. The best part of the puzzles was simply the change in pace they offered to
Despite its occasional, technical shortcomings, I think Bygone Dreams is a great, action-filled RPG romp for diehard fans of the genre. It’s also easy to recommend for those who are curious about soulslikes but who want an easier experience. Of course, those aforementioned and often sadistic diehards can enjoy a greater degree of challenge by unlocking harder difficulties and challenges.
While the story didn’t wow me and there’s plenty of jankiness, there’s so much effort, heart, and enjoyable animation that I enjoyed my time with the game. I look forward to Prime Time’s next game, and I’m hoping it will be another action-adventure to sate my endless appetite for smacking things with swords.
