Dreams (PS5) is a game construction kit. I don't actually have time to construct games, no matter how easy to use the construction kit is, but the distinctive style of Media Molecule was such that when the priced dropped to $10 on a sale I bought it just to play the pack-in game (which took me a good 5-6 hours).
Media Molecule's mixed media art style is so distinctive that even though Bowen stopped playing Tearaway when he was 6, he still recognized the style and said it must be the same people who made Tearaway.
Boen and I tried a few community-contributed levels and mini-games, but to be honest, I think few non-professionals have the time or ability to polish a game to the point where it's compelling to play, so after watching a few music videos and playing a few unfinished adventures we gave up and just went all-in on Art's Dream.
Art's Dream was clearly designed as a showcase/demo for what could be done with Dream's game creation engine. The playstyle would flip from 3-D platformer to 2-D shooter, to point-and-click puzzle-adventure, and then to a flying or racing style game. It's quite clear that the underlying engine is versatile and capable. The music is beautiful, and the story while kind of cliche (though it happily drew in Boen and Bowen, when Bowen wasn't pretending to be too cool for Media Molecule games), did not suck. I had a great time. And because it's a Media Molecule game, I knew that every level was doable even by someone who wasn't 9-years old (unlike for instance, any Nintendo game I ever encountered) within an afternoon.
I enjoyed the heck out of the game and wished it was just a little longer when I finished. That meant it was perfect. Recommended.
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