Dreamview Weekly Roundup #73

To paraphrase a certain ‘90s-era rock band, the Fridays just keep coming - and they don’t STOP coming. Which is a bit of a problem, to be honest, because we’re running out of storage here at The Impsider HQ. Just throw it on the pile in the corner with the rest of them, we suppose?

While we figure out how to sort and categorise this excess of Fridays in our special filing system - which is almost definitely not a bin - why not redirect your attention to the five recommended creations below, available to check out in Dreams right now? Please stop looking at the bin. Er, filing cabinet.

VINELAND 2#

by ZIIQ and VitaminG_90

Estimated playtime: 7 mins

They have returned. One of the Dreamiverse’s most decorated duos, ZIIQ and VitaminG_90 follow up their Impy-winning art and audio experience VINELAND with a showcase that takes us further into the aching heart of the “incident”. It’s been 15 years since that fateful event, the details of which were left intentionally, gloriously vague, told only through the wounds on the landscape and the scabs that nature grew over them. Now, the humans that saw it all have finally found their voices; you can press the Cross button in each scene to read eyewitness accounts of the day in question, as robots hover mournfully and giant ships cast shadows through forests. It’s not just the writing that elevates this latest part of the VINELAND saga, but the best-in-class cinematography and design work. Nothing tells a story quite as efficiently as the JazzLand mascot head from the first VINELAND, half-submerged in the ocean all these years later, waves washing the memories out to sea.

Matter Master HUB concept#

Estimated playtime: 20 mins

by cannibal127_9

You’ve heard of “becoming anything you can put your mind to”, but what if you could become anything you put your feet to? That’s the idea behind Matter Master, a slight but savvy 3D-platforming experiment in which your character can absorb the attributes of any surface they stand on top of. Think Kirby, but with especially porous toes. (Actually, don’t think that. The Impsider regrets the error.) Embody grass, and you’ll leave a lovely trail of greenery behind you; sucking up the bright footlights in the city, meanwhile, will have you moving at the speed of, well, light. The different qualities of each material leads to a satisfying puzzle-chain - for instance, you’ll need to become flaming hot to complete the objective of melting a frozen pond, but how to survive the touch of lava in the first place is an extra step you’ll need to think through. An imaginative concept that, unlike its protagonist, definitely has legs. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’re off to step on some billionaires.

Crooked Mustache#

by MaJiCkAL0ne

Estimated runtime: 3 mins

We’ve heard our fair share of songs about love: when it’s going well, when it’s not going so well, and so on and so forth. What we’ve heard much less of is songs about crime. Fortunately, MaJiCkAL0ne has dropped an alt-rock track inspired by true crime documentaries; Crooked Mustache deals with the story of a woman who dons a disguise to enact her grisly revenge upon her ex-daughter-in-law. Fuzzy guitars are joined by MaJiCkAL0ne’s guttural and melodic vocals, the charismatic rattle in the catchy chorus giving us distinct tones of Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor.

Fast Art#

by Tomiou92

Estimated runtime: Looping

Artist Tomiou92 has spent much time honing their approach to realism, and with truly astonishing results - the clouds and lighting in Calm Before The Storm are something else. But Fast Art is truly something else, an ultra-stylised hyper-graphic vista that is hypnotising to behold. In the foreground, cranes and pine trees stand stock-still, an anchor for the eye - but overhead, planetary bodies (or are they voids studded with stars?) pulsate and flit in and out of layers of light. It’s wild that the creator spent just two short hours making this, clearly pulling this all together so quickly that they didn’t make time to assign a more fanciful name.

Flying Fish 4#

by danikaka

Estimated playtime: Replayable

Picture the scene: you’re a bear jetpacking about in zero-G, and you must use your two high-powered magnets to reel in errant fish. No, we’re not talking about the cheese-induced fever dream we had last night, but the latest installment of danikaka’s high-score challenge series, which makes excellent use of superafroboy’s Paranormal Propulsion kit to take the angling action to space. It might look silly enough, but the strategic layers here are no joke. With the number of fish you carry affecting the usage of your limited fuel tank - refuelled by returning to your base, which charmingly responds ‘Polo’ to your ‘Marco’ to help orient you - success depends on careful resource management and decision-making. Danikaka once again proves their natural affinity for thoughtful game design; the way Flying Fish 4 gradually unfolds is clever, only introducing enemies that demand greater jetpacking skill once the player’s had a chance to get a sense for the movement systems. That goofy premise might be what reels you in, but it’s compulsive design that’ll keep you hooked.

Check out the playable edition of this week's Dreamview Weekly Roundup right here in Dreams!

Which creations caught your eye in the Dreamiverse this week, and why? Tell us about your personal picks over on the official Dreams forums!(otworzy się w nowej zakładce)