RPG #11: Dreams Review

Dreams is a fabulous and vastly underrated RPG that unfortunately has only one chapter to its name at the moment. The game's back story is explained in an opening cut scene told in comic book style. The Hammerhead Brothers, Hunk and Zeke, are called to meet with a mysterious man called the Seer. He has a task for them: they are to head for a bizarre clockwork tower (apparently designed by Salvador Dali) and seek something called the Source.

Your arrival does not come unnoticed: it isn't long before you are assaulted by strange phantoms with rifles. Don't worry, though--Dreams has no random battles, and the ones you do fight are actually pretty fun. Dreams has one of the most unique combat engines I've seen in a game, period. Not just in a flash game. Not just in an RPG. I mean any game.

Combat is turn-based, but your "turn" is really just an allotment of about 20 seconds during which you can switch freely between the Hammerhead Brothers. Hunk has a rifle with two types of ammunition: while he is selected, the battle is shown from his perspective in first-person, where you can target and shoot the enemies from where Hunk is standing. Zeke, on the other hand, has a gigantic hammer and some sort of winged creature (a parasite, perhaps?) on his back. While Zeke is selected, the battlefield is shown from the side, and Zeke must hurtle towards the enemies trying to bash them with his hammer as quickly as possible. For some enemies, you'll need to switch back and forth between the Hammerhead Brothers to perform combos. During the enemy turn, you must try to dodge enemy attacks. With practice, you can go through entire battles untouched, though it won't matter much if you do, as your characters are fully healed at the end of each battle regardless. Just don't die.

So far, Dreams is easily one of the most unique and stylistically impressive RPGs created in Flash. The first chapter was submitted to Newgrounds in November 2006, and after going so long without word of a sequel, I began to believe that the series had been abandoned. Or so it seemed, until I stumbled upon this. Yes, that's art for "Dreams Ch. 2," and it was posted in February 2009. It seems like the series might be continued after all...