Dreams on PS4 is a lot of fun and I only just started

I started playing the PS4 exclusive Dreams last night and absolutely loved it. I had read quite a few reviews and it seemed interesting. One common theme running through any article talking about it was that it was hard to explain what Dreams actually is. It is kind of like Minecraft crossed with YouTube crossed with some kind of art app crossed with a games arcade. Plus a load of other things. Ok, I can’t really explain it either. It is made by Media Molecule, who made Little Big Planet 1 & 2, so if you know those games / platforms then you might have a better idea.

Ok, let’s start with what I have experienced so far…

At the start, you have the option to do some Dream Surfing or a Dream Shaping. Like most, I tried out Surfing first. It just seemed less effort and gives you a chance to see what can be achieved. Once that had been clicked you are faced with something that caused my earlier YouTube comparison. You’re presented with a load of things that have been created by users. Or Dreams that have been shaped by Dreamers. Whatever floats your boat. This is essentially the tip of the dreamy iceberg.

There are numerous options presented in rows depending on categories. Like with Netflix. I thought most of the things on offer would be fairly basic games. I know that Dreams has been in open beta for over a year but there can’t be that much done by so few. Or so I had thunk. But I had thunk wrong. There is an absolute ton of stuff there. And not just games. There are numerous scenes and sculptures and all sorts of creative shenanigans. Some seem to be using it as a palette for art – some interactive and zoom-able, and some not. Others are making short animated films. Some are a pretty picture but with music (because you can create music too).

If all this sounds good to you, you will probably enjoy it. I would suggest playing the intro game, called Art’s Dream, to get an idea of what can be created. It’s a fun story with a lot of different game types, all of which were incredibly well made and all achieved using the software. Already there are some great games out there in a surprising range of genres such as FPS, racing, platforming, horror, scifi, etc. People are also remaking Mario games, Crash Bandicoot, Fallout 4, Wipeout, Spiderman and so on. I own the last three – plus Crash Bandicoot if you count the version in Uncharted 4 – so will stick to newer stuff but it shows the amazing versatility. As this video will show:

If you want to see some of the more in-depth stuff people are making, then check this one out, it really shows some of the potential of what can be done on the platform:

These are early days, however. I played a couple of games that started well and then just finished as the dev was still making it. In these situations you can opt to follow the maker or the creation and hope they complete the thing. Like the early days of YouTube there is some great content but a lot is unfinished or in development, or just shite. You can feel the possibilities though, and how there is potential for some superb things to come out. Already there are great things to do and that is going to explode now that the game is open to the public.

I have only done the opening bits of how to create things in the Shaping mode but it was enjoyable and I am looking forward to more. I am personally going to recreate some scenes from books I am writing. It will be both fun and will be a good way to visualise them. In the future, who knows, maybe I will be able to link to them to give readers a chance to see what I had imagined in detail. I’m getting waaay ahead of myself here.

Conclusion. Should you buy Dreams?

I think it depends on how creative you are. If you just want to play games, then maybe a wait a little to see what is made. It has only officially been out for less than two weeks and there is already a lot of fun stuff to do, so the wait won’t be long. If you are in any way creative, then I would have to go with yes (assuming you have spare cash, obviously). I am going mostly by what people have created so far, and a very limited time in creator mode, but the sheer variety of things you can create and develop is evident very early on. I am genuinely excited, as a writer, as to ways I can use this: Interactive books, scene recreations, art, story character sculpting and so on should all be possible. I will write more on this in the future as I am currently guessing.

If you want to learn more about Dreams have a look at Youtube. There are already a million videos. I’m off to Shape a Dream – aka have a nap. Then it’s PS4 time!