The Last Dream: Developer’s Edition
Gameplay 8
Graphics 9
Sound 7

The Last Dream is a surreal adventure featuring a man pursuing the ghost of his wife. The game features a unique blend of hand drawn locations and live action cut-scenes while offering mini-games as well as fragmented object scenes to complete. Multiple difficulty settings make this a great title for players of all skill levels and the story, while not very original, is quite engaging. For fans of the genre and players looking for something a bit more unique than a pure hidden object game this title is easy to recommend.

Gameplay: A nice blend of classic point & click adventuring, mini-games and fragmented object scenes.

Graphics: The hand drawn visuals look great and the game even features live action cut-scenes.

Sound: Decent voice acting and appropriate music

Summary 8.0 Great
Gameplay 0
Graphics 0
Sound 0
Summary rating from user's marks. You can set own marks for this article - just click on stars above and press "Accept".
Accept
Summary 0.0 Terrible

The Last Dream: Developer’s Edition

Developer: Specialbit Studio | Publisher: Specialbit Studio | Release Date: 2015 | Genre: Adventure / Casual / Indie | Website: Official Website | Purchase: Steam

The Last Dream Developer’s Edition

When Ben tragically loses his wife, Elizabeth, in a car crash he finds himself constantly dreaming about her. In his dreams Elizabeth calls to him, but one day remnants of his dream bleeds over into reality. Ben realizes that there might be more to his dreams than simply longing for his departed wife and sets out on a mission to find her. What follows is a surreal adventure where dreams and reality mix, forcing Ben to outwit the mysterious forces that is trying to prevent him from meeting up with his wife.

The Last Dream is a casual adventure game that involves plenty of pointing and clicking. Playing as Ben, players must solve 19 mini-games as well as ten fragmented object scenes to uncover the truth. Although it is a casual title some of the puzzles are real head-scratchers, but the handy hint system always ensures that players stay on the right path. On the easier settings a skip button can be used to bypass the mini-games, but solving them is obviously more satisfying. Experienced players who prefer a bigger challenge and less hand holding can always opt for one of the higher difficulty settings.

The adventure begins in an abandoned amusement park, but the dreamlike nature of the game allows for plenty of other surreal locations. In each location Ben finds himself always within reach of his wife’s ghostly apparition, but strange barriers constantly block his way. Players must then scour the environments for useful objects, while completing the mini-games and fragmented object scenes they discover along the way. Most of the mini-games are puzzles we have seen before in some form or other, but the fragmented object scenes are well done. Instead of having to hunt down a checklist of obscure and unrelated items players must find the components of specific objects. Each completed object serves a purpose on the scene and all of them contribute to uncovering some critical item needed to continue the adventure.

Players are not alone on their adventure either, but is joined early on by a fluffy feline companion. The cat can be commanded to interact with certain objects on the screen in order to complete actions that are not possible by the player. This is a nice touch and used is sparingly throughout the game, so it never becomes annoying. The cat permanently resides on a red velvet cushion to the left of the inventory and leaps off into the scene when commanded. The effect looks great and the overall animation of the cat is of a very high quality. The attention to detail is so good that the cat even dons a snorkel and diving mask for an underwater scene!

Sometimes inventory objects must be combined to solve certain puzzles, but these are always clearly marked by a “+” sign, which is a big time saver. The Last Dream typically confines players to a few locations at a time, which means there isn’t much backtracking. This also means that the game is rather short, but makes up for that with a bonus chapter that can be played after the completion of the main story. Players can also unlock extras like concept art along the way and hunt for bonus items such as toys for the cat companion and Polaroid photographs of Elizabeth. The game auto saves, so be sure to check each scene thoroughly before leaving as there is no turning back for the bonus items.

The visuals in The Last Dream are quite polished and each scene is brimming with detail. Thanks to the surreal nature of the game you are never quite sure what to expect next, which prevents the game from becoming predictable. The story is something that we have seen told many times before, but is engaging enough to motivate players to stick with it to the end. Speaking of the story, The Last Dream foregoes the usual hand-drawn or rendered cut-scenes to further the plot and instead makes use of live action cut-scenes. These scenes are restricted to the “real world” and were obviously shot on a shoestring budget, but are effective enough at conveying the story. Ben also narrates his adventure as he goes along and while the voice acting is not stellar it is decent enough for a casual game. The music is also very fitting and there is an abundance of sound effects.

The casual genre and hidden object games in particular have a fascination with tales that involve the supernatural, but The Last Dream feels like it has more in common with the point & click adventures of old. The story might not be very original, but it has a satisfying conclusion and the bonus chapter fits in well without feeling like it was tacked on as an afterthought. This Steam version of the game also comes with support for trading cards and achievements.

For a casual title with varied and creative environments as well as great puzzles and an interesting story don’t miss out on The Last Dream. The game is cheap enough to make it an impulse purchase, but players who want to test the water first can download the demo from Steam.

System Requirements

  • OS: Windows XP®, Windows Vista®, Windows® 7, Windows® 8, Windows® 10
  • Processor: 1.5Ghz
  • Memory: 1024 MB RAM
  • Graphics: 256 MB VRAM
  • DirectX: Version 9.0
  • Storage: 3000 MB available space
  • Sound Card: Is not essential
  • OS: Windows XP®, Windows Vista®, Windows® 7, Windows® 8, Windows® 10
  • Processor: 2Ghz
  • Memory: 2048 MB RAM
  • Graphics: 512 MB VRAM
  • DirectX: Version 9.0
  • Storage: 4000 MB available space
  • Sound Card: Is not essential

Related posts

Radiant One

Radiant One

Radiant One is a short, casual title about a man who has to deal with the fallout of his lucid dreams becoming nightmares. It was originally a mobile title, so the gameplay is extremely basic, but the interesting story and detailed visuals help to draw players in. It can still be completed in one sitting, though, so while fun this is not a title for players in search of a challenge or a lengthy story. Gameplay: Interesting, but very simple and short. Graphics: Detailed and well animated. Sound: Both the soundtrack and sound effects are very good.

Venus: Improbable Dream

Venus: Improbable Dream

Venus: Improbable Dream is an emotional visual novel that features a protagonist named Kakeru who struggles daily with social anxiety due to hemangioma. Kaker is terrified when he is coaxed into trying out the after-school music club, but his life changes when he meets a disabled girl named Haruka. This lengthy visual novel features an emotional storyline, memorable characters, and a beautiful soundtrack. Gameplay: The story is not just lengthy and engaging but also branching thanks to player-made choices that determine the ending. Graphics: Gets the job done. Sound: No voice acting, but the soundtrack is fantastic.

WAGAMAMA HIGH SPEC

WAGAMAMA HIGH SPEC

Join Narumi Kouki, a hardworking manga author who is still a student as he tries to juggle work and studies. To complicate matters for Kouki, he is pressured into joining the student council where he finds himself with more responsibilities as well as the only guy among a group of beautiful girls. Wagamama High Spec is a typical slice of life visual novel with a school setting, but the charming characters, humor and different routes make it stand it from the competition. There’s nothing really new here for people who are tired of the setting or tropes, but the writing is good and the visuals very polished. Gameplay: Not a lot of choices, but they do lead to four very different story paths. Graphics: Beautiful illustrations, tons of CGs and some nice backgrounds. Sound: Full Japanese voice acting along with plenty of great tunes.

Divine Slice of Life

Divine Slice of Life

For a short, but interesting visual novel that doesn’t take itself too seriously and features branching paths it is worth checking out Divine Slice of Life. The all ages version isn’t too bad, but the game is best played in its uncensored form. The story isn’t particularly deep or original, but overall the game is enjoyable enough for us to recommend to fans of the genre. Gameplay: Rather short, but features an interesting story and multiple endings. Graphics: Better than what we are used to seeing in Western visual novels. Sound: Decent soundtrack and full English voice acting.

Rocking Pilot

Rocking Pilot

Rocking Pilot enables players to live out their Airwolf fantasies by taking control of a helicopter and laying waste to enemy armies. The game takes the form of a 2D, top down shooter with colorful visuals and arcade style gameplay. Plenty of mission variety and addictive online leaderboards make up for the relatively short campaign mode and the game is addictive enough that you’ll keep coming back until you’ve earned every collectible. Add to this the low price of the game and you have a title that is essential for fans of the genre. Gameplay: Fast, frantic and very, very addictive. Graphics: Bright and colorful, albeit a little cramped. Sound: Features a suitable rocking soundtrack.

Five Nights at Freddy’s

Five Nights at Freddy's

Animatronic mascots are on the prowl at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza and it is your job to keep an eye on them. Unfortunately, the are more than capable of killing you since you have no means of fighting back. Instead, you have to make use of your dwindling supply of electricity to monitor security cameras and lock the doors to your office before it is too late. You will have to be careful, though, because if you run out of electricity before morning the chances are very good that someone will find your body stuffed into the jagged interior of an animatronic animal mascot suit. FNAF suffers from some technical limitations, but excels at jumpscares and keeping players on edge. Gameplay: Your interaction with the gameworld is limited, but this just adds to the atmosphere. Graphics: You are mostly looking at static renders, but the visuals still manages to be very creepy. Sound: Not much in the way of music, but the sound effects are superb.

1 Comment

  1. ePICa April 21, 2017
    Reply

    I love this game, they have a new one out now on Steam too that you should review.

Leave a comment

13 − 6 =