Dreamspring

The dev calls this 1.0, but I would say it needs another year in the oven. The level design is pretty amateurish - understandable, seeing as this game was made by an amateur, but understandable isn't the same as acceptable. Areas seem to follow three patterns: senseless maze, beach, and rubble-strewn field. Sometimes if the dev is feeling frisky he'll combine two of them. There is no real flow to the levels, nor does there seem to be any real thought on where enemies, items, etc. are placed. The most polite thing I can call the enemy design is uninspired. Palette swaps that deal more damage are the most exiting thing you'll find here. Melee enemies are a joke; at best they will manage to be an annoyance. Ranged enemies on the other hand, are far more aggressive, attack faster, deal more damage, and are actually capable of hitting a moving target from time to time. Ranged enemies with the zero-windup dash attack are AIDS incarnate and should just be avoided when you encounter them. Of the three bosses I've fought, two were melee, and thus a joke, and the third was trivialized by just standing slightly off-center on a platform so most of its attacks couldn't hit me, and shooting it with a gun. I don't know if I'm just blind or something, but I have only found two new weapons out in the world, and both of them are locked to the dream world. I've found plenty of spells, however. The starting gear is perfectly serviceable, but I got so tired of looking at the starting sword that I bought one of the two melee weapons for sale so I'd have something fresh to stare at. Speaking of melee weapons, both the player character's and enemies' melee range feels like it needs to be extended by around 50%. Either that, or make the slashing effect smaller. The game claims to be inspired by Morrowind and King's Field, but this game isn't anything at all like Morrowind (though it sure loves to reference it) and seems to take a lot more inspiration from Dark Souls than it does King's Field. The Morrowind references honestly borders on plagiarism at times; it's one thing to start your game with "Wake up, you were dreaming," but it's another thing entirely to have a 1:1 copy of Dagoth Ur, who has the same plan as Dagoth Ur, and quotes Dagoth Ur in a voice that sounds a bit like Dagoth Ur's. I'm fairly certain the game makes heavy use of pre-made assets, though there is only one assets that I know for a fact is premade - that weird worm thing from Starforge. I have no moral objection to pre-made assets, but using them tends to cause a issue present in this game: a non-cohesive visual design. The enemies and the ground that those enemies are standing on look like they are from two entirely different games. And on the topic of visual design - just ditch the VHS filter and weird pixel grid overlay. I know you can turn them off in the options, but it looks terrible and shouldn't be in the game to being with.

Came to this game expecting to get my King's Field fix. It utterly failed. It has none of that enticing level design you find in a Fieldlike; this is big, open areas with a lot of scattered enemies. That stairway? Deadend with plants. Those nooks and crannies? You guessed it, deadends with more alchemical ingredients. The combat is unsatisfying; your attacks feel limp and like they aren't connecting even when they are. The animations of the enemies are lacking; one time I wasn't even aware the enemy was winding up an attack. And one of the very first (common) enemies you fight is this super quick enemy that peppers you with ranged attacks, then flees as you near it. Which in turn has it retreat into other enemies you weren't aware about and aggroing them as well. Graphically the game feels uninspired, instead it leans heavily on the retro post-processing effects of CRT, VHS, etc. You turn those off and the game feels bland and generic. It is hard to describe but... everything feels like it was a haphazardly placed asset. It doesn't feel like it belongs where it is. If you want a clunky action first-person combat game, then you might like this. If you were looking to immersed in a rich, well-designed world, then look elsewhere.