Dreams Spotlight

Harvest Moon is most likely the game that we have to thank for this genre. Th e fi rst installment was released in 1996 for the SNES and has been a staple of the category since then, but whether playing on the SNES or 3DS, Harvest Moon games have followed the same formula. Th e player arrives into a town or island and comes into possession of a farm, and from here the game cycles through the days and seasons of a year in which they plant diff erent crops and farm animals, along with building relationships with the surrounding townspeople. In Harvest Moon nature is magical and the farmer is oft en bringing balance back to the surrounding area by their work. Rune Factory, a fantasy spin off series of Harvest Moon, leans into the fantastical elements of the series. Here the player can be a farmer, an adventurer protecting the town from monsters, or a combination of both. In recent years there’s been strong yearning to return to the simpler early days of Harvest Moon. Th is yearning culminated in the spiritual successor Stardew Valley, developed nearly single handedly by Eric Barone who goes by ConcernedApe online. First released in 2016 on PC, this game has been ported to Mac, Linux, Xbox One, PS4, Playstation Vita, Switch and mobile. Th e game has been periodically updated over the last four years, adding more relationship options, a multiplayer mode, and many more quality of life improvements. But at its core it is a simple - yet refi ned - farming, exploration and relationship sim, calling back to the 16-bit games of the past. Each day passes in about 12 actual minutes, the rushing to complete tasks before the end of the day creates a wonderfully morish gameplay loop. With the release of a new Animal Crossing game just around the corner, I’ve been preoccupied with slice of life games. Instead of action and adventure, slice of life games aim to capture the mundanity of everyday life. It could be that of a new farmer starting out for the fi rst time in the countryside, a student heading off to college, or a new villager in a town inhabited by animal people. Although these are mundane actions and objectives, slice of life games bring joy and importance to them. So let’s explore some of the more popular and interesting games in this genre. Simple Joys of Slice of Life Games

the series. Here the player can be a farmer, an adventurer protecting the town from monsters, or a combination of both. WORDS BY Niamh Muldowny

Let’s leave the farm now and explore a more life sim type of game. Animal Crossing with its fi ve mainline games and three spin-off games has been around for nearly 19 years. In these games, the player arrives as the new inhabitant of a small town and can spend their real time days doing whatever their heart desires. Th is can be fi shing, catching insects, talking with your animal neighbours, decorating your home, or saving money to pay off the mortgage on your home to Tom Nook. Over the years Animal Crossing has introduced new aspects to its games, such as city living, mayoral responsibilities, and most recently an island getaway, but at its heart it is the charm of the simple routines you’ll make that will bring you back again and again to this game. At its heart, however, the gameplay has stayed the same. Lastly, perhaps not a very well-known game, but one I spent many hours of my childhood on is Enchanted Folk and the School of Wizardry. Th is DS game was part of a bigger series but was the only entry to be released outside of Japan. Th is game lets you create a young wizard beginning their year at magic school and let you attend classes, make friends with your fellow students and solve magical mysteries. While it was a blatant copy of the Animal Crossing formula, the element of magic and the weekly challenges delighted me as a child. Looking back on it now, its graphics have aged dreadfully and the movement is fl oaty and unresponsive, but it captured my heart and my mind in living out this Hogwarts-esque fantasy. However, this game did succeed in capturing the mundane in the magical and the magical in the mundane, which is for me the joy of the slice of life game - not the big magical moments, but the simple delights found in the routine of everyday life. Let’s leave the farm now and explore a more life sim type of game. Animal Crossing with 28

Way back in 2013, at the PS4 reveal event in New York City, the soft ware that would eventually become Dreams was unveiled for the fi rst time. Developed by Media Molecule, the studio behind Little Big Planet and Tearaway, it was unclear to the public what Dreams was meant to be. Th e studio touted it as an accessible games development platform, an animation suite and digital art gallery all rolled into one, running on PS4. In 2019, the developers ran a Beta program, and the game picked up a small but dedicated community of creators. Now the game is fi nally out, so we’re taking a look at it, in order to answer the question; what is Dreams, and should you buy it? Way back in 2013, at the PS4 reveal event in New York City, the soft ware that would eventually become by Media Molecule, the studio behind unclear to the public what

art gallery all rolled into one, running on PS4. In 2019, the developers ran a Beta program, and the game picked up a small but dedicated community of creators. Now the game is fi nally out, so we’re taking a look at it, in order to answer the question; what is

In a nutshell, Dreams is an accessible creative platform. But of course, there’s more to it than that. It follows the Little Big Planet motto of “Play, Create, Share”, except Dreams applies it to more than just user-created game levels. Dreams can be used to create entire games, 3D art, music, animations and more. Anything made in the game is uploaded to the ‘Dreamiverse’ for players around the world to use or modify in their own creations. You’ll spend most of your time either playing or creating. I had a go at both to get my bearings in the vast world of Dreams. Playing Dreams foregoes the succinct “story mode” and “create mode“ found in Little Big Planet, instead encouraging you to try a showcase game made by Media Molecule entirely within the creation toolkit. Th is game is a two-ish hour long story called Art’s Dream. It explores the struggles of a jazz musician named Art, as he tackles his crippling self-doubt, wrestles with his past and attempts to make amends with his estranged bandmates. Th e story plays out in the backdrop of a dream in Art’s head. In typical Media Molecule fashion, this leads to some incredibly creative scenes and mechanics. Th e campaign showcases how Dreams can be used to create an impactful narrative, a rhythm game, a twin stick shooter, a shoot-em-up, a racer and a platformer, all under the same banner. Undoubtedly, ‘Art’s Dream’ is the most ‘wow factor’ that Dreams has to off er.

Aft er completing ‘Art’s Dream’, you’re encouraged to go “Dream Surfi ng”. Th is involves browsing the latest creations from the community, whether they’re games, animations or anything else. Some of these are absolutely jaw dropping. Th e stunning work done by the community would encourage anyone to try their hand at creating something for themselves.

Creating I don’t mean to brag, but my Little Big Planet levels were modestly popular some twelve years ago. Th e simplicity of the creation tools in Little Big Planet and its sequels led me to think that the toolkit of Dreams would be equally accessible. I was unfortunately wrong. Creating anything in Dreams is relatively complicated. Th ankfully, there are optional tutorials for each part of the creation toolkit, though these can still be overwhelming as there are literally dozens of hours of interactive videos to explore. You can also search the “Dreamiverse” for user-generated assets, which can mitigate some of the more complicated work. In order to create anything, you’ll need to get to grips with the motion-controls. Th e creation toolkit relies entirely on the motion sensor of the Dualshock 4 controller in order to move objects around in 3D space. Alternatively, you can use a pair of PlayStation Move controllers, although both control schemes have a similarly steep learning curve. Armed with the tutorials and a litany of online forum posts, I had a crack at recreating a level I had made in Little Big Planet all those years ago. Once I had my vision in mind, it was easy to solve the problems I encountered and to create at the very least, a proof of concept.

Dream  Nightmare? Dreams’ complicated creation mode shows that simplicity can come at the cost of versatility. However, the diffi cult learning curve is not steep enough to discourage a determined and creatively inclined user. Dreams has plenty to off er for lovers of art, animation, or indie games, as well as just about anyone with a creative itch. I would highly recommend it, especially for its asking price of €39.99.

WORDS BY Sean Clerkin