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Sacred Reviews: Träumerei

Introduction

I'll admit that I tend to avoid horror games on general principle. After all, I know myself well enough to know that I usually don't care about these kinds of games. I'm just not big a fan of jump scares, gore, or even psychological horror to really enjoy them for the most part. Which I suppose begs the question, why did I bother taking a look at for a demo I don't care for?



Well, I'm bit a sucker for when it comes to earning maker score and I'd like to keep myself in the list of top 25 achievers. So, I decided to take a look at this game regardless of how much I know I'll personally despise it.

Story

I'll admit that I'd be hard pressed to say a lot about this section seeing as how I gave up on the game within twenty minutes of starting it. Not because I was turned off by the bloody scene involving the magpie pictured below.



But because I really couldn't stomach the slow pace of the work. It's the same reason I wanted to stop reading "The Lovely Bones" back in High School, but I had to force myself through that one because it was assigned summer reading. Thankfully that wasn't the case for this game. Because if I had to force myself through this game I'd probably be spewing a lot more vitriol about it.

Gameplay

As far as I can tell you simply spend your time wandering around and interacting with objects with the goal of not dying. A task made all the more difficult by the need to follow a laundry list of rules. Of course, even if you kill something in this messed up Wonderland it doesn't appear to stay dead for long. So, I'm not sure if I should be horrified that we run across an immortal magpie early on in the game or ask why it wasn't a raven. Since at least then I could make a reference to "Highlander" or even be more unorthodox by making a reference to it's spin-off series "The Raven".

Graphics

While "Träumerei" might start out on a slow burn when it comes to it's story. The game quickly lashes out at the player for their attention when it comes to the game's visuals. After all, while "Träumerei" isn't the first game I've run across with a custom title screen. I really can't think of many other games on this site that have custom title screens that are also animated. Even if the animation work shown below is rather simple and limited to the main character just blinking their eyes.



And the rest of the game continues in the same vein. This is a game that really wants to grab your attention with how much effort Veynn put into the look of her game. Which is something I can definitely appreciate even if I don't care for the game itself.

Music

In a similar vein to the graphical presentation the game also makes good use of music in order to enhance the mood. Of course, that mood is meant to make your skin feel like it's trying to peel itself away from your muscles, but I'll try to overlook that fact for the moment.

Conclusion

"Träumerei" is a game that really pops in terms of its visuals and background music. So much so that I wish this effort was going into project that I could personally enjoy, but I'm old enough and wise enough to recognize that the world doesn't revolve around my own wants and desires. That being said, I imagine this game will appeal to its intended demographic. At least if this game ever finished, but I'm bit more hopeful about this project seeing completion then "The Count of Venomlurk Manor". After all, the developer did leave a comment a few months ago saying they were working on the last dozen maps or so as well as finishing up on a few more art pieces for the ending.

Posts

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Oh wow, thanks for the review TheSacredLobo!!

I wasn't expecting anyone to review a currently incompleted game, but this was a nice surprise! The full game is 100% completed as of now, I'm just adding on a bit more artwork to the endings. After I have it betatested when I come back from vacation, it'll be good to go!

The demo/'Chapter 0' itself was more of an artstyle/game engine test than anything, but I took in-mind some of the critiques such as the pacing issues for the full game. Also tried making Chapter 1 less dark (at least, I hope it's much less dark) in-terms of zombie magpies.

Oh wow, thanks for the review TheSacredLobo!!


Your welcome.

I wasn't expecting anyone to review a currently incompleted game, but this was a nice surprise!


Normally I wouldn't bother with reviewing such projects either, but this game was put on the bounty list for the Review Pirates event that is currently going on. So I earned an additional 10 MS as well an achievement for reviewing this game before anyone else.

but I took in-mind some of the critiques such as the pacing issues for the full game. Also tried making Chapter 1 less dark (at least, I hope it's much less dark) in-terms of zombie magpies.


That's nice I suppose, but as I mentioned in my review I'm not a big fan of horror games. So much so that I usually avoid them like their infected with the plaque.
author=thesacredlobo
Oh wow, thanks for the review TheSacredLobo!!
Your welcome.

I wasn't expecting anyone to review a currently incompleted game, but this was a nice surprise!


Normally I wouldn't bother with reviewing such projects either, but this game was put on the bounty list for the Review Pirates event that is currently going on. So I earned an additional 10 MS as well an achievement for reviewing this game before anyone else.

but I took in-mind some of the critiques such as the pacing issues for the full game. Also tried making Chapter 1 less dark (at least, I hope it's much less dark) in-terms of zombie magpies.


That's nice I suppose, but as I mentioned in my review I'm not a big fan of horror games. So much so that I usually avoid them like their infected with the plaque.


Yeah, I saw that One Piece-Esque post on the front page earlier.

That's completely understandable! Personally, the Lovely Bones has been something I've been meaning to read for a long while. Your mention of it reminded me that I still need to check it out.

Oh no, I meant it's less dark solely in regards to the magpie. The game itself is a bit more macabre than the demo and still in the horror genre no matter what, so I wouldn't recommend it to you at all! I do appreciate all the feedback, however. ^^
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