Dreamhold
Andrew Plotkin
Platform: Z-code
Rating: 6.9
Total Votes: 27
Std. Dev.: +- 2.7
Average Playtime: Between 2 and 6 hours
Genre: Fantasy / Puzzle-fest / Parody / Surreal
Rate this
Audience Comments:4/12/07 04:32 AM
A lot of effort has gone into this... but I just didnt feel it. Cold, artificial, and detached. And too damn hard, even with all the helpful promptings.
Rating:2
9/24/06 11:51 PM
Interesting take on an (unfortunately too-often used) amnesia plot. Interesting gadgets and objects. Interesting puzzle near the end, although I appear to have run into either a bug or an inconsistency at the end. Back-story has promise, but never fully developed. Not bad for a puzzle-fest.
Rating:8
7/15/06 01:57 PM
An excellent introductory game. The puzzles are straightforward, logical, clever and fun, usually revolving around strange and complex machines that are brilliantly implemented. The setting and story might be considered cliched (its set in a wizards house), but the writing more than makes up for it. Andrew writes the best room descriptions in IF, he's got it down to an art form. I enjoyed simply walking around and reading the descriptions. The game is pretty much flawlessly implemented (I don't remember a single bug), and there's even a heady mix of symbolism in there for those who like that sort of thing.
Rating:9
7/09/06 06:29 AM
It was one of my first tries at IF games, and it got me hooked to them. I loved the room descriptions.
Rating:10
3/31/06 04:09 PM
Very enjoyable. The game and story were a bit disjointed, but when I finished I wanted to know more of the story. I'd enjoy playing another game or reading a story set in this world, something I can't say about most games.
Rating:8
11/12/05 03:57 PM
Brilliantly made, fascinating story though somewhat disjointed in places. Well worth playing.
Rating:9
10/08/05 03:03 PM
Many places with few puzzles, no ambiance.
Rating:4
5/26/05 02:10 AM
Rating:2
5/25/05 01:20 PM
The Dreamhold is very similar to Plotkin's earlier games: lots and lots of symbols and imagery that don't really lead anywhere and a story that's thinner than Calista Flockhart. In a way, I felt like a was playing a meta-tragedy. Behold, the fate of Andrew, who came to notoriety too early and too easily and therefore believed he could do no wrong. "Beware the dark side of Empty Symbolism and Turgid Writing, young Andrew. It is quicker... easier... yes. But if you give in to it now, it will forever shape your destiny."
Rating:1
5/23/05 04:53 PM
I love puzzle romps so I wanted to like this one. I really did. I can see that a *lot* of skillful work has gone into this. Only if it weren't so colourless and unimaginative... Imagine a playing character who is a faceless, genderless, amnesiac referred to by the game as "the silver-haired one" and you'll get the general feel of the piece. Still, I would have given it a 6 if it weren't for the tutorial. I just can't see how this game is going to attract new blood to IF. If anything, it's likely to scare newbies away.
Rating:3
5/23/05 04:08 PM
Well-written on a sentence level, but quickly turns into a pompous, humourless, overwrought, dreary mess. Rather like its author. Really annoying, obtuse puzzles.
Rating:2
5/07/05 07:57 AM
Well-implemented, but I wasn't particularly engaged by the setting or the story as it emerged.
Rating:6
3/15/05 04:00 AM
I found Dreamhold to be a bit disjointed, but that's a quality that many treasure-hunts share. Puzzles were inventive and the concept was wonderful. I give it eight thumbs up.
Rating:8
4/20/05 09:01 PM
Got bored quickly with this one, I think because of the emphasis on mechanics over human interaction and story. Borrows the flashback method of Babel for what is essentially a treasure hunt. In places the writing is surprisingly bad. The tutorial commentary might work for beginners, but did we need anything like that?
Rating:6
3/01/05 06:21 AM
Rating:9
2/28/05 02:15 AM
Rating:6
2/12/05 07:27 AM
Rating:8
1/29/05 11:35 PM
Well-written, good puzzles, some beautiful scenes, lots of well-implemented optional details -- all typical Zarf things. The overall lack of organization is kind of a pity, though, and the backstory isn't really satisfying.
Rating:8
1/26/05 06:14 AM
Rating:8
1/21/05 06:55 AM
Yet another memory-recollection game, but elegant, engaging and with an awful lot of difficulty-level options. Reminiscent of the Myst series almost to a fault.
Rating:8
1/11/05 11:16 AM
Some excellent large-scale puzzles, though many are not particularly easy, and an elliptical, fragmented backstory somewhat reminiscent of So Far. Terse but evocative writing. A few too many red herrings for my taste, but well-crafted and worth playing.
Rating:9
1/11/05 04:44 AM
The backstory is tantalizing but never really coheres into anything meaningful. This is the only major flaw, however, in an otherwise thoroughly enjoyable game, filled with satisfying puzzles and vivid imagery.
Rating:9
4/23/07 04:15 PM
Rating:6
1/07/05 02:37 PM
Brilliant. (Some of the optional bits are probably too easy to miss out on, though.)
Rating:9
1/06/05 03:56 AM
Thin backstory, but great imagery and interaction. Several of the images/items are now among my favorite in IF. There's plenty of puzzle here to keep busy even experienced IF players.
Rating:9
1/05/05 06:19 PM
The is game is designed to be newbie friendly but even in basic mode the puzzles are not trivial (though they're not mind-blowing either). I don't think I solved any of the optional puzzles and so I got only hints at the backstory, but there is alot to do and see. Both in terms of the main treasure hunt/memory recovery and in extras.
Rating:8
4/04/06 03:44 AM
The usual crisp prose combined with really outstanding gameplay -- the not very interesting backstory being only a minor blemish on my enjoyment. Settle down and enjoy this one -- it's a treat.
Rating:10
| |