When I saw Picayune Dreams I instantly fell in love with the artstyle and music. I love breakcore/drum&bass etc. so I bought the game immediately and went in with as little knowledge as possible.
When I booted up the game and found out this was a roguelike I was really bummed.

I've never enjoyed Roguelites. I feel so unsafe and weird with constantly restarting the game. It's never been for me. I've always quit after some progress. But I gave it a shot anyways and I'm really pleased with what it turned out to be.
It's a short game (took me 7H) and the experience is tight and fun. Theres something so satisfying about vampire survivor upgrades mixed with semi touhou bullethell gameplay. I am really happy that the game was designed to be a small experience with big potential for players who play hundreds of runs. For me I was able to experience the roguelike gameplay loop at a small playtime I would expect for an indie. But considering the upgrades and the different builds you can make I know there is enough here for deeper players to enjoy. Only issue is that I can see the content running dry fairly quickly. There aren't many bosses to push people to keep going once you're done.

The story is honestly my biggest issue with the game. It felt somewhat inventive by mixing the story along with the rogulike gameplay but I just could not get myself to enjoy it. It felt very flat and unnecessary. But at the same time I wouldn't change it. It's the creators vision and I mess with what their doing and thinking. Just wasn't for me in that part.
The presentation is where it really shines. The art is so good. I also love the touch of the various equipment showing visually on the MC. The enemies became repetitive after 3 tried but the bosses were really cool and had a lot of charm.

And the last note I have is that the music is incredible. It's so nice having my favorite music genre in a new indie game. If you like electronic music and breakcore you will love this game. It's worth it for that alone.
I suck at writing reviews sorry MWAH <3

Reviewed on Feb 10, 2024


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