Dreamteller by Faith
Sometimes I have trouble with reading comprehension. I’m not really sure why. In my school days I usually scored above average on reading and writing portions of tests and I was generally “good” at academics. Sometimes I wonder if my head is just too full of stuff and noise. There is work all day, and then all the things that go along with living in a reasonably kept home, and then side projects galore. With so many entries in a short period of live competition time, I think I feel driven to “get through” entries and it is easy to slide over words only to realize a little while later I have no idea what is going on in the thing I am reading. I am so impressed by the way some of the other reviewers are able to really analyze works and write thoughtful reviews. It’s why I titled this thread “casual”. I wanted to relieve myself of the pressure a bit.
So when I get to something as dreamy and surreal as Dreamteller, well, I’ll tell you: I don’t know what is going on. There is a lot of slippery sliding between what feels like reality and some kind of voice in your head, which is, I guess, maybe a dream. You are trying to track down a serial killer, but maybe you are the serial killer? Killing people who welcome death is some kind of vehicle for revealing your own true nature to yourself? If Dreamteller’s goal is to make me feel like I am only half conscious, it did a good job in that regard.
The interactivity is minimal. I think there are 2 basic outcomes, and I appreciate the ability to go back to the decision points and easily replay the other path. At one point you have to enter a code into a text box, which feels a little trivial since you only have to click to proceed to get the code. I decided to enter the text with the logical spaces in the sentence, only for it not to work and require no spaces, so I fix it, and then immediately after it presents the sentence with spaces. I mean, come on, now you are just taunting me.
But yea, this game seems like mostly vibes, and the vibes are abundant. I wish it was a little more concrete in the wrap up, but that might be my own problem.