Dreams of Another [REVIEW] – A Beautiful but Flawed Dream

If I’m being honest, I don’t usually go for the more experimental artsy kind of games, but Dreams of Another really caught my eye. Maybe it was the striking visuals, maybe the odd premise of a shooter where bullets create instead of destroy, or maybe it’s just because I fancied a change… whatever it was, something about it pulled me in, and I’m glad it did, because while this game has its imperfections, it’s easy to appreciate how it blurs distinctive art, metaphorical storytelling, and unique gameplay together into something that feels wholly unique.

Check out some screenshots down below:

From the outset, Dreams of Another establishes its unusual premise, with the game opening with the Wandering Soldier, a man unable to pull the trigger even when his life depends on it. Soon after, control shifts to the Man in Pyjamas, who wields the same weapon without hesitation, but his bullets don’t cause destruction – instead, every shot brings the world into focus, bringing unfinished dreamscapes into solid form. Trees, buildings, and entire scenes materialise as you fire, transforming the violent act of shooting into one of creation. It’s a simple yet clever twist that underpins the entire experience of Dreams of Another and helps make it feel unlike anything else out there.

Mechanically, this core idea works surprisingly well, with the spraying of bullets across the hazy landscapes feeling oddly satisfying. The act of revealing the world is almost hypnotic, and the art direction makes it even more so, with the visuals shimmering with thousands of particles that shift and tighten into detail as you fire. It’s not a technical showcase, sure, but it’s a memorable and striking aesthetic that brings a real sense of beauty to just about everything you do. When combined with the wonderful audio design, it helps bring a dreamlike tone to the overall experience that’s alluring to be a part of.

“Dreams of Another is strange, slow, and often hard to interpret, but it’s also imaginative, beautiful, and genuinely unlike anything else I’ve played.”

Unfortunately, beneath this gorgeous creative presentation lies a structure that struggles to maintain momentum across the entirety of its runtime. Each chapter of the game follows a repetitive loop: enter an area, clear the fog with gunfire, interact with a few objects, and watch a brief cutscene that pushes the narrative forward. While there are collectibles to find, the basic gameplay rarely evolves, and even when new weapons like grenades appear, they don’t add much depth beyond clearing areas faster. There are a few set pieces that offer light puzzle elements to add to the variety, but it never brings a strong enough evolution to the world to really wow you. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the game’s addictive and creative gun-firing gameplay loop, but it just needed a few more layers to maintain its momentum.

Narrative-wise, Dreams of Another is as abstract as the world you’re uncovering, with players exploring the fragmented dreams and memories of others. Each dream offers a glimpse of meaning that ties to the underlying themes of the game, but the constant switching between storylines can make it difficult to stay engaged, especially since the concept as a whole is intentionally designed to feel abstract. The game is also filled with philosophical musings on existence and the nature of creation, so it can get pretty heavy at times. The problem is that this constant sense of philosophising can feel more exhausting than enlightening, so if you’re not fully engaged in the message it’s trying to deliver, it’s easy to find it a little mundane. Everything does pull together by the end, but the path there isn’t always an easy one to follow.

Check out some screenshots down below:

It’s clear throughout then that Dreams of Another wants to deliver a different sort of experience than your typical shooter, and to its credit, it absolutely succeeds. Its slow pace and deliberate abstraction won’t appeal to everyone, and the repetition can dull what initially feels like a bold concept, yet for those who embrace its rhythm, the act of exploring and revealing the world becomes meditative and fun. I said at the start of this review that I don’t normally play this type of game so maybe a lot of its appeal wasn’t aimed for me, but at the same time, I could appreciate what it was trying to do – sure, some of what it offered went over my head, but in the moments where it did get its hooks in, I was wholly invested.

Developer: Q-Games
Publisher: Q-Games
Platform(s): PlayStation 5 (Reviewed), PC
Website: https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/games/dreams-of-another/