Dream-based Games

The Silent Hill series has explored the dream concept on more than one occasion. For example, the first game in the series begins with a man named Harry venturing into a mysterious resort town called “Silent Hill” to look for his family after being involved in a car accident. Unfortunately for Harry, this town just so happens to be full of tricky puzzles and scary monsters. The game has several endings, so a variety of explanations are given. The “bad” ending suggests that Silent Hill and its inhabitants all exist within Harry’s mind. It’s implied that Harry either died in the opening car crash or was left in a comatose state. In either case, the implication is that the events in the game didn’t really take place and were mere hallucinations. Silent Hill: Homecoming revisits this concept. One of its endings implies that the events of the game take place within the mind of a mental patient who is undergoing shock therapy. I would have rated the Silent Hill series higher on this list, if not for the fact that these endings are not necessarily canonical in nature.

Unlike the other games on this list, the events that unfold in Final Fantasy X don’t take place within a dream. Rather, only the central protagonist and his homeland are dreams. One of the driving forces behind Final Fantasy X‘s plot was the emotionally charged relationship between its two principal characters, Tidus and Yuna. Tidus is a professional athlete who has an eternally cheerful outlook on life despite being lost and confused after his hometown is attacked by a mysterious creature. In contrast, Yuna is much more reserved and serious. Her mild demeanor contrasts Tidus’ outgoing personality, but the two find strength in each other as the story progresses. Sadly, it’s eventually revealed that Tidus and the inhabitants of his city were formed from the collective dreams of past souls. It is further explained that Tidus was created as a means of defending the world from the same creature that destroyed his hometown. Tidus also comes to realize that he will cease to exist after the mysterious creature is defeated. Tidus understands the consequences, but opts to rid the world of the monster regardless. In doing so, he essentially sacrifices himself in the process. No wonder Yuna thinks he’s so dreamy.

Lost Odyssey is one of the most slept on games of its generation, which makes it a perfect fit for this list. The game is centered around a group of immortal beings on a mission from a parallel universe. Before undertaking this mission, the characters voluntarily had their memories of their past lives erased in order to become fully human. However, the main character (Kaim Argonar) is able to recollect some of his memories in the form of dreams. Because Kaim had lived for a millennium prior to his memory being erased, his reclaimed memories are referred to as A Thousand Years of Dreams in the game. These dreams are displayed as short stories within the game, and each new dream allows Kaim to reclaim part of his own history and gain a better understanding of his current situation. This ultimately allows Kaim to evolve from a stoic protagonist into a more emotionally-realized character.

The events that take place in Monster Party were so bizarre that the game pretty much had to be a dream. The game starts out with an imposing fire-breathing gargoyle kidnapping a young kid and ordering him to beat up a bunch of monsters with a baseball bat. The enemies in the game are almost as strange as the premise. Along the way, you’ll fight flying onion rings, giant cats who attack by throwing baby kittens, and zombies who slowly decompose in front of your eyes while dancing for you. Against all odds, Monster Party‘s ending is even more unpredictable than the rest of the game is. When the game is finally over, the kid is awarded a small treasure box. Upon opening the box, a beautiful Princess emerges. Unfortunately, the Princess is accompanied by a bunch of monsters who cause the kid’s face to melt off. (In a NES game, no less!) At this point the kid wakes up and realizes it was all a dream. When the gargoyle that kidnapped him at the beginning of the game then shows up at his front door, more questions are raised. The player is supposed to be left wondering what was real and what was not, but most players will probably just end up wondering what the heck the game’s developers were smoking.

The concept of a dream world has been a recurring theme in the Twisted Metal series. For instance, one of the characters from Twisted Metal 2 was apparently able to see through the fourth wall and was convinced that the world was fake. This idea was further explored in Twisted Metal Black. It is strongly implied that the events of Twisted Metal Black take place in an alternate continuity from previous Twisted Metal games. Various in-game hints suggest that the entire game actually exists within the demented mind of a killer clown named Sweet Tooth. Due to his inflated sense of self-worth, Sweet Tooth appears to be much more muscular than the other characters and possesses abilities not available to his competitors. Additionally, every character in the game is connected to Sweet Tooth in one way or another. The majority of the plot lines were mere reflections of Sweet Tooth’s inner thoughts, and the supporting characters were nothing more than puppets. In retrospect, Sweet Tooth’s inexplicable ability to transform his ice cream truck into a giant robot should have been a pretty clear indication that something was up.

Eternal Sonata is centered around the Polish composer Frédéric Chopin, who died of tuberculosis in 1849. The game envisions a dream world imagined by Chopin during his last hours. Naturally, this dream world is influenced by Chopin’s life and music, and several of his compositions are played throughout the game. Eternal Sonata makes great use of the dream setting, and boasts vibrant visuals that are nearly as beautiful as Chopin’s music. The story is divided into several chapters – each represented by one of Chopin’s compositions and related to his historical life. While most of the game takes place within Chopin’s dream world, the player is also given occasional updates regarding Chopin’s condition in the real world. Frédéric Chopin is widely considered to be the greatest Polish composer of all time, and Eternal Sonata uses imaginative storytelling devices to effectively educate the player about his compositions.

NiGHTS into Dreams… and its 2006 sequel take place in two dream worlds known as “Nightopia” and “Nightmare.” As you have probably garnered, humans journey to these worlds while they sleep. Unfortunately, the evil ruler of the Nightmare world decided that he wanted to take control of Nightopia, so he attempted to steal dream energy from sleeping visitors. Thankfully, his plans hit a brick wall when a couple of kids showed up and released two strange jester-like beings. These flying clowns saved Nightopia by flying through rings, collecting gems, flying through more rings, beating up scary monsters, and flying through even more rings. That’s really all there is to it. The NiGHTS games don’t seem to make a lot of sense, but this is a good thing. The games both take full advantage of the dream world setting, and they’re full of colorful imagery and surreal music.

Most game franchises are only able to make use of the dream mechanic once, but the Kirby series has been embracing the dream concept since the very beginning. Kirby has been protecting the interests of Dream Land since making his first appearance in the aptly titled Kirby’s Dream Land way back in 1992. In his debut game, Kirby set out to retrieve food for the inhabitants of Dream Land after it had been stolen by the gluttonous King Dedede. When we next saw Kirby in Kirby’s Adventure, he was busy trying to return power to the “Fountain of Dreams” in an effort to restore every ones’ dreams. In addition to battling fat penguins and invading nightmares, Kirby frequently battles a planet-sized cloud of dark matter. There’s nothing Kirby won’t do to protect Dream Land. It’s easy to see why Kirby would go to such lengths, though. With its lovable characters, colorful backgrounds, and cheerful music, the Kirby series is one of the most upbeat franchises in video game history.

Link’s Awakening is a masterpiece on every level. The game mechanics and overall design are simply fantastic, but I’m mentioning the game here specifically for how effective its dream-based story is. One of the most surreal aspects about the game is the sheer amount of cameo appearances. During the game, Link will meet a maiden who bears a striking resemblance to Princess Zelda and square off against a final boss who is able to replicate boss battles from previous Zelda games. Link’s Awakening also includes characters from outside the Zelda series. You’ll encounter goombas and piranha plants from Super Mario Bros., Dr. Wright from SimCity, and see obvious references to Princess Peach and Yoshi. Fittingly, you’ll also run into characters from other dream-themed games – including enemies who looks suspiciously like Kirby and a giant frog who looks exactly like Wart from Super Mario Bros. 2. I’d be remiss not to mention a portly man named Tarin who has a moustache, spends his time looking for mushrooms, and even transforms into a raccoon. Ultimately, the dream world in Link’s Awakening makes it the most lighthearted game in the series and helps differentiate it from other Zelda games. Unlike many games on this list, the player is given an indication that Link’s Awakening is set in a fantasy dream world before the game is over. In fact, the primary objective in the game is to help bring the dream to an end. This is somewhat bittersweet, however, as the game has so much fun with the dream motif that you won’t want it to end.

The American version of Super Mario Bros. 2 was famous for pulling the classic “It was all a dream” card. This didn’t happen until the end of the game though, and there was nothing overtly dream-like about the adventure. In contrast, the story and gameplay in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team completely revolves around its dream theme. During the game, Mario has to travel through Luigi’s dreams to prevent Bowser from acquiring an artifact known as the Dream Stone. While Mario explores his brother’s dreams and encounters Luigi’s dream counterpart, players can use the 3DS touchscreen to interact with the real world Luigi (who is fast asleep). Tweaking Luigi’s moustache in the real world can cause a Luigi-shaped tree in the dream world to fling Mario to new areas. Likewise, making Luigi sneeze can create a sudden gust of wind that blows blocks away. Mario & Luigi: Dream Team deserves tremendous credit for its creativity. A lot of games use the dream gimmick for storytelling purposes, but few games incorporate dreams into the actual gameplay.