PlayStation launched a new game called Dreams of Another which is now playable on PS5 and PSVR2. The game is an action story with very imaginative and cool mechanics that affect the player’s surroundings as the player gun shoots. Yes, you read that right – the bullets actually change the environment around the player in real-time. PlayStation‘s official social media account posted the tweet about the news together with a trailer that brought a lot of publicity for different reasons.
A lot of players in the replies are asking the question, “What is a life-affirming action game anyway?” User COBHC directly asked, “What is a life-affirming action game?” and honestly? That is the question I have too. It is one of those marketing phrases that sound really smart but at the same time leave you confused. Another player, vayne, wrote, “The graphics are sooo different and beautiful but what does not life-affirming mean? I can affirm life by getting pregnant, but I don’t know how a game can do that.” Which… alright, that went a little off the track but they’re not wrong to challenge the use of the word.
Nonetheless, the graphics and art style are really bringing in the attention. Lowlight.gg’s reaction was, “This looks super cool not gonna lie,” and Pixel showed his excitement by saying, “Can’t wait to dive into those dreams!” It seems that some players are quite positive about the dream aesthetics, some even comparing it to the look of Media Molecule’s Dreams creation tool, saying it has a similar vibe. Josh Russell said, “I am still intrigued by the Dreams inspiration,” which by the way is absolutely understandable considering the similarity in names, and the whole shooting-reality mechanic thing.
However, there are still a lot of players who do not buy the hype. Fahrenheit 8008 advised: “Watch some reviews before buying this game!” which is probably a good suggestion for any new release, especially one that comes with such an extraordinary premise. Leon Pierce was also unimpressed with the marketing saying, “I got to admit, I’ve seen better trailers than that one.”
The PSVR2 feature is also getting mixed reviews. Patryk stated, “I will try it one day but Sony, please support and increase the number of common AAA games for PSVR2,” which seems to be the sentiment shared amongst VR enthusiasts who want bigger budget experiences. The Virtual Resistance went a step further by saying, “PlayStation, we need Dreams for PS5 with PSVR2 support.” Wait, are people confusing this one with Media Molecule’s Dreams? That would explain some of the mix-up in the replies.
In addition, some players are taking it as a whole… political issue. Renz88x commented ironically, “Oh wow a post from PlayStation that isn’t the ghost of wokeness? How rare nowadays,” while JosieBedlam labeled it “more woke slop masquerading as gaming i assume.” Wednesday (not the one from the Addams family, right?) wanted to know, “is it woke like ghost of yoteitit” which… I think they meant Ghost of Tsushima? Autocorrect fails are real, folks.
Talos Cat was very harsh about Sony’s support decisions: “It is quite ridiculous that Sony supports this over so many other more deserving #PSVR2 games.” Patryk retorted with “I know what they did – doing strange stuff like in the old days but you should do this only when our psvr2 library is so full of ex that we want some weird stuff” which really makes a valid point about balancing experimental titles with mainstream releases.
Technical aspects got some attention as well with TalbertsirhC asking, “Are they using the fog of a dreamscape to hide polygon construction?” which is a very smart point about how dream visuals might help in optimization. And itsTeeRev brought up the question of server issues with, “Are the servers still down?” although it is not clear if they are talking about this game or the PlayStation Network generally.
Meanwhile, _juanjo_m just shouted, “Wish to have one,” which I can really feel you, mate. The desire for the new gaming experiences is definitely there.
What is impressive in this situation is the fact that the reactions are so different—the players who are excited by the imaginative concept and visual style, the ones who are skeptical about the “life-affirming” marketing dissonance, the VR supporters who want a more extensive and better-funded platform, and then the usual culture war issues creeping into the gaming discourse. It is quite a mood.
Still, the major concept of a game where players’ actions actually affect the world around them is undeniably very appealing. If they can successfully implement the same mechanic in VR it would be a super captivating experience. Imaging being able to turn things to create paths or just manipulating the environment could really result in the combination of clever puzzle-solving and combat situations.
Ultimately, Dreams of Another is at the doorstep of every PS5 or PSVR2 owner to enjoy. Whether it indeed has the “life-affirming” quality or just gets filed under another weird experimental title in the PSVR2 library is to be seen. The discourse around it is definitely showing that gamers are keeping a close watch on what kind of titles Sony is supporting especially in the VR space where the variety of the library is so important. If you like reality-bending mechanics and can deal with a little dream logic in your action games, you might as well just go for it.
