dreamscaper starts out stronger than the rhythm it eventually takes. i think in a heavily-saturated market of roguelites, you really need a strong hook to keep me coming back. whereas binding of isaac has an extreme level of variety, hades has lots of story and character hooks, and vampire survivors has broken builds aplenty, dreamscaper never quite gets there in any one category.

the story elements are very much tailor-made for me and my life and general vibe, but i don't remember much of what happened. the setting is quite nice, and seems like where i'm from, but that can only carry me so far. the combat is decent, but not as tight or distinct as i'd like.

should you play this? sure! should you play it over any of the other exceptional run-based games dominating the scene at any given moment? i don't know. i'm glad i checked it out, but it doesn't have the staying power or bombast to milk a few hundred hours of my life like so many other roguelites have. that said, if they do a sequel, i'll be keeping my eye on it.