Through the Nightmares Review

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Fast Facts

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night

Through the Nightmares is an action-platformer title which follows the Sandman on his journey to save children from darkness. Throughout the journey, I encountered monsters to flee from and treacherous traps to traverse. Does this game stand out from similar titles on the market? Find out in this Rapid Review.

The game immediately started out on the right foot with a brief cutscene showing the Sandman beginning his adventure. Throughout the title, I saw brief cutscenes which outlined the context behind the changing environments. Additionally, as I completed levels, I got to review photos taken of the children undergoing hard times. These helped characterize the people I was working to save, and established something of a connection between me and them. It was nice, especially considering the primary focus of this title was the gameplay.

While I was not looking to get much narrative content out of Through the Nightmares, I appreciated the pieces the developers did include. With that said, the overarching story was confusing. Some pieces tied together somewhat towards the end, but I left the game having more questions than answers. This certainly was not an issue, as I was focused more on the gameplay pieces, but I would not seek out this title solely for the narrative. 

Navigating the Dreams

To supplement the narrative, the developers incorporated multiple dream worlds to explore. The Sandman had a handful of abilities to help me with this. Namely, he could alter his size, jump, and slam himself onto the ground. It is a simple toolkit, and it does not feature offensive moves, but it worked nicely. It felt good to maneuver my character throughout the levels. In particular, I felt that I had a lot of control over his jump height and that the gravity in the game world made my actions seem impactful. 

The growing and shrinking mechanic was also neat. Through the Nightmares features a variety of different obstacles which leverage this ability. In addition to the size piece, when I shrunk, I got lighter which helped me tailor behavior of switches, elevators, and even landmines. Since augmenting his shape is one of the few truly unique pieces of the Sandman’s move set, I enjoyed how the developers integrated a multitude of ways to integrate this into the level design.

Unfortunately, while I enjoyed a lot about how the Sandman interacted with the environment, I found less enjoyment in the level designs themselves. While there are a few enemies, Through the Nightmares does not feature combat. Every stage primarily focused on having me dodge things and navigate towards the end. In premise, this sounds like an enjoyable gameplay loop. However, many of the traps require waiting. For example, lasers oscillate slowly on a set path, meaning if I get to an area just after ideal timing, I must wait for a while. Many puzzles in Through the Nightmares require cycles of traps to align, which meant I spent a decent time waiting. This was frustrating, and it was compounded when I died, as levels are lengthy. I replayed sections often.

Added Treasures

Adding to the core gameplay loop, many stages in Through the Nightmares hold collectable items. Often associated with a minor platforming challenge, these were fun ways to incentivize me to engage with the world around me. The developers did a good job of hiding clues to where these items are held. I often saw these treasures through walls, so I knew to look for a diverging path. I also appreciated that a specific collectable unlocked items for a character’s room. This made collecting these items subtly more rewarding, as I got a tangible outcome from my behavior. 

Unfortunately, as much as I enjoyed the visibility of the treasures, I consistently had a challenging time seeing things in the game. The game looks very nice overall, but certain obstacles do not stand out well from the background, leading to confusing deaths and frustration. This did not impact me on every level, but it was frustrating to die when I could not decipher the information on the screen. 

In fact, the visual style of Through the Nightmares as a whole left me feeling mixed. I had some issues deciphering information, which certainly left a bad taste in my mouth. However, some of the art was gorgeous. The cutscenes were wonderfully animated. I thoroughly enjoyed exploring a dockside area where oil rigs were drilling. However, other areas were visually jarring. In particular, I explored a dusty chateau with vibrant mold which was simply unpleasant. Additionally, many areas were very dark. This made them challenging to see and failed to capture my interest. This is a shame too, since the areas which do stand out are stunning. Through the Nightmares has some talented artists behind it, but some pieces did not resonate. 

Awakening

The soundtrack is also worth calling out. It was very cinematic, as though my journey was being recorded in a movie. The soundtrack itself was loud and powerful, encompassing some of the energy associated with my journey. I appreciated that many actions which happened in-game triggered sounds or swells from the music too. Sure, I did not fall in love with the music itself, and do not think it is a core strength of the game, but it certainly sounded nice as I was playing and I appreciated how dynamic it was.

As a whole, I am glad I played Through the Nightmares. It certainly is not the best game I have played this year, but there are a decent number of solid components. The Sandman’s movement is fun, there are unique components relating to his size augmenting abilities, and the artistic design has some standout pieces. However, the primary gameplay loop had me waiting more than I would have liked, and I had some issues deciphering the on-screen information sometimes. It is a fun game, but there are other platformers I would recommend first.

3 out of 5

3

You can purchase Through the Nightmares on the Microsoft store here.