My review on Mateui's Dream Catcher Emergence

Knowing nothing of this project, I decided to give it a whirl. Besides the few minor bugs that resided in the game (of course, every game has 'em), I found it to be quite interesting. So I'll break it down for ya and try to make some sense!

Let's start with the story! Mateui can write, and can write a lot! The game took me around three and a half hours to run through, which isn't bad. However, most of that time was spent reading dialogue so if you're looking for an RPG with heavy battles inbetween cutscenes to split up the gameplay, you may get bored. If you're looking for story and character development then this is the game for you! I only played through the game once, and throughout the adventure you are required to make choices that will branch out different paths, so maybe another time I'll re-play this badboy and see what I missed! I was a little bummed out that the game ended before I knew it, so I'm already looking forward to what happens in the 2nd Installment.
Story/Plot 4.0 (I can tell that this is the start of something big!)

You can't tell the tale of an RPG saga without a soundtrack! So next up will be what I thought of the music and SFX. Some of the music played early in the game had that SNES old school bass line that I always liked in an OST. I thought that some of the songs (like Donkey Kong Country 2's Bramble Level theme was used for the underwater scene) worked well for the atmosphere. The sound effects worked just fine for me. I wished I could say more for the SFX . . . but that's all I got.
Music/Sound 4.0 (Everything sounded like a great indie game!)

Next item on the list is the graphics. The intro of the game had great pictures that were nice to look at and added atmosphere to the quest. The in-game mapping looked like it took quite some time to create, for most of the areas are quite big. Some of the areas confused me, to be honest. In towns, there are many doors but only a few could be accessed. In houses there where some stairs that led to nowhere and in the forest there were a few spots that looked like you could exit out of, but you couldn't. Not a huge deal, but it did add time on needless exploring. On the plus side, the map system looked pretty cool! I do love myself a good world map!
Graphics 3.5 (The enemy sprites didn't match up with everthing else.)

So, for the final breakdown I give you Challenge and Gameplay! The game had a few things for you to do when you're not reading. The first thing you do is complete a small tile pushing maze. Then you can participate in a battle tutorial that will actually quiz you, neat idea by the way! I tried mining, it was a neat little mini game even though I didn't find anything I was suppose to dig for! I couldn't get lucky enough to beat the Rock Paper Scissors mini game, as it brought back bad memories of the Xenogears one. I'll admit, I like battles! After an hour and a half of story I finally got to the first fight and lost! Good RPG's have battle systems that are confusing at first, but you feel like you accomplish something when you master it. However, just as I got good with this battle system the game was over. Oh! And those faeries! They win the award for "Bastards of the Year!" That's all I'm going to say about that.
Challenge/Gameplay 4.0 (Great idea for a battle system!)

So in conclusion, yes, there were some things about the game that bugged me. Small things, however, like when I would walk in grassy areas and I'd get stopped by a bush that blended in. Sometimes I would roam around the same areas looking for the next event to continue on with the plot. Or the fact that the battles didn't play a larger role in the game. But that's just me! The developer made it clear that this game was more focused on story and that's where it shined. I'm really curious to see what the next chapter of the game will be like.