PC Game Review Dream Chronicles 2: The Eternal Maze

Casual gamers who enjoyed blockbuster Dream Chronicles will be excited to see the Faye returns for another adventure. In the previous episode, Faye went on a quest to find her husband, Fidget. She reached him only to find the sneaky Liliith, Fairy Queen of Dreams, take him away again. To find her husband, Faye must go deeper in the dream realm in Dream Chronicles 2: The Eternal Maze.

Dream Chronicles 2 follows its predecessor’s footsteps with its phenomenal art nouveau scenes, graphics, and effects. Players again fill in Faye’s shoes to find Fidget and their daughter Lyra. But like any good soap opera, we won’t find all the answers in this latest episode and must wait for another. Nonetheless, solving puzzles, picking up dream jewels, and collecting clear and hard to see dream pieces will entertain and challenge.

When the dream pieces fill a dream jewel (you must find the jewel first), players must solve another puzzle before receiving a clue to help them in their adventures. This puzzle consists of words that form a sentence.

We must figure out the order of the words to create the correct sentence. Here we discover one of the annoyances with the game. We can’t backtrack or swap words whenever we mess up or change our minds. So reset we must hit and start over. 15 dream jewels will dutifully reveal their secrets after we solve their puzzles. Some of the dream jewel clues do come in handy.

The best part — the 80 assorted puzzles — comes between finding jewels. These puzzles can spread over several scenes requiring us to move back and forth. Some needed items won’t appear until we first finish another task. The game lets players move freely instead of sequentially. Sure, you won’t be able to go certain areas until you solve a puzzle — but some adventure games don’t venture beyond a set sequence.

Oh, how the puzzles vary! A few puzzles call for putting something back together to make it work (my favorite type). Another has us matching musical instruments with their sheet music. My least favorite is the Simon-like game where the game plays a sequence and you must repeat it. Never like that kind of game, but I get through it.

Dream Chronicles 2 treats us to 25 chapters, seven over the original’s 18 chapters. Though the game lasts longer, it’s shorter (it took me less than eight hours) than the average game in its genre except for Mortimer Beckett and the Secrets of Spooky Manor— the shortest of ‘em all.

Even if you haven’t played the original, you should be able to play Dream Chronicles 2 without confusion since the story stands alone. Although, the game tells a stronger story than stories found in most casual games, the original Dream Chronicles spins a more compelling story. I’m ready for Dream Chronicles 3— will it stop there? Will it continue? To be continued…

Try Dream Chronicles 2.