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Dreams lauded as a PlayStation great

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Game review sites were waxing lyrical about Media Molecule’s flagship title during its preview phase, but the full release has quickly cemented Dreams as a PlayStation great.

Last April we lauded Media Molecule for their continued originality and bravery as they lifted the lid on Dreams: a potentially revolutionary IP which allowed players to chance their arm at game development. Suffice to say the community and critical consensus were both overwhelmingly positive. LittleBigPlanet was anything but another early swan song.

After just days on PlayStation’s preview program, the internet exploded with all manners of digital creations courtesy of the burgeoning Dreams community; from 3D paintings, sculptures, models, music, animations, and ofc an ever-growing library of user-developed titles. It seemed everyone who downloaded the BETA found something to enjoy from Dreams’ unrestricted nature.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Btj6Ziu_QpU

Seven months, and a bunch of actioned feedback later, the game’s performance has been refined and Media Molecule’s bespoke toolkits have been made as accessible as possible (considering the dizzying amount of options). All the signs are fully lit and pointing toward commercial success – provided PlayStation can give Dreams the exposure it deserves.

Just for clarity, Dreams currently boasts a 91 rating on Metacritic making it the 10th highest rated PlayStation game ever, in the company of fan favourites like God of War and Bloodborne. Granted, it has less than 1000 player reviews thus far, but if we’re going by the glowing reviews of trusted gaming institutions, it appears unlikely we’ll see a significant drop off in its current standing.

In terms of new creations (i.e. not made in the beta phase), there isn’t too much to get stuck into as of yet. Rome wasn’t built in a day though, was it?

One particularly handy Dreamer dubbed Robo-Killer-v2 is making headlines this week for recreating the Fallout 4 menu screen and opening mission with unerring accuracy. Those who played Bethesda’s last decent addition to the Fallout franchise (shots fully intended) should take a quick peruse. You won’t be disappointed.

The menu theme, the character models, the environmental aesthetic, the weapons, the sound, the weighty mechanics, he’s got it all down – in a slightly more languid, laggy fashion mind. Still, very impressive stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWsWdp7VUMw&t=2s

Before your noggin starts to run away with infinite possibilities of games and films you can plagiarise, it has to be said that It’s a seriously tough ask to create projects like this (and on a DualShock 4 too).

At risk of stating the obvious here: your average player probably isn’t going to be churning out creations like this over a weekend or two. So, where does the rest of the game’s appeal come from?

Aside from having an endless treasure trove of user generation indie games to play for the price of one AAA title, Media Molecule are again talking up Dreams’ chief currency again: potential.

The devs have frequently alluded to a ’10-year plan’ for the game, revealing that VR integration is the first of a stream of updates to come over the coming years. And harnessing the power of the PS5 is likely top of the agenda beyond that. It’s safe to say this is one game you probably shouldn’t trade in after a quick platinum.

In the longer, vaguer term, there are even plans to allow players to monetise their own creations through posting direct to the PlayStation Store. It’s unlikely that proposed model could be sustained through the parameters of a conventional PlayStation game, like it is now. That doesn’t make the prospect any less exciting though, and people would 100% pay some sort of subscription to make it happen.

Someone needs to go and animate an endless space populated entirely with open doors, because that’s pretty much what we’re looking at with Dreams at the moment.

Stay tuned for updates. They’ll be coming soon enough.

Gaming Editor London, UK

I’m Jamie (He/Him), the Deputy Editor and a Senior Writer at Thred. Keeping up with social media updates and revolutionary technology is my forte, but when away from my keyboard, you’ll probably find me wrapped around a large Tango ice blast at the latest mediocre horror flick. Follow me on Twitter, LinkedIn and drop me some ideas/feedback via email.

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