Bygone Dreams Impressions
Bygone Dreams is a fantasy action-adventure that could use more refinement.
Bygone Dreams. Prime Time Studios / GrabTheGames / CyberStep, Inc.
Bygone Dreams from developer Prime Time Studios is a high fantasy action-adventure that drops you into a surreal dream world as Wa, a spirit tasked with saving the realm from a creeping Nightmare. The story features Slavic mythology and Bosnian folklore, serving to differentiate the game somewhat from other fantasy fare. Unfortunately, its gameplay left me frustrated enough not to wish to spend more time with the game.
Combat left me unimpressed. I could tell that the game is drawing on the Dark Souls games for some of its combat inspiration, but it lacks something that I can’t quite put my finger on that makes it far less fun. Fighting blends melee weapons, ranged attacks, and magic with elemental damage and status effects. Combos look flashy as they deal damage, but they leave you vulnerable in ways that don't always feel fair, as stamina runs out too quickly. Blocking, parrying, and dodging felt out of rhythm. Magic is also drained rather fast and is slow to recover, while the ranged attacks that use it never feel very effective.
Bygone Dreams. Prime Time Studios / GrabTheGames / CyberStep, Inc.
Bygone Dreams stumbles in its level design, which is a little bland in the areas I explored. Despite this, navigation became a problem for me because of the lack of a map system. The game also lets you stumble through portals into areas that are meant for later in the game, as labeled by their chapter names. Are they supposed to be completed in order? Their names seem to indicate as much, but then why can I skip ahead?
Bygone Dreams. Prime Time Studios / GrabTheGames / CyberStep, Inc.
The character and enemy designs are genuinely appealing, with expressive animations. However, that doesn’t extend to the cutscenes, which can be awkward as characters are locked into a single expression when the camera gets close for these sequences. The visual design and color palette—the general art style—make the game feel like a lost PlayStation 2 title, but with some more modern bells and whistles. I had to fiddle quite a bit with settings to get good performance on my Steam Deck, though the game never looked like its graphics should have given the machine much trouble. Perhaps the game lacks optimization.
The game shows real promise, but between the unpolished combat feel and uninspired level design, Bygone Dreams feels like a game that needed just a bit more time in the oven to become what its developers clearly want it to be. As it stands, I lost interest in the game fairly quickly.
Bygone Dreams is available now on Steam.
Played on: Steam Deck
