Dreamed Away Review

Unsettling. Unnerving. Undertale-esque.

Written by Dallas Cardenas

Posted on: October 24th, 2025

Developed by Nicolas Petton

Published by Pineapple Works

Released on October 23rd 2025

Reviewed on Switch (also on PC)

I’ve never had the pleasure of playing Undertale myself, but I know it’s aesthetic, it’s quirky combat, and it’s heavy emphasis on choices and item interactions that are unbeknownst to the player. Ever since its release, there’s been countless games with their own attempts, effectively making its own genre. Dreamed Away is of that vein, albeit with a more focused and straightforward structure. This ended up being my first step in to this genre, and though I have my critiques, I was pleasantly impressed with its engrossing storyline.

Sometimes it’s better to just go back to bed.

France, early 90’s, you play as Théo in search of his sister, Louise, who has suddenly gone missing. And with her disappearance, the world around you starts to unravel. This is your driving force that leads Théo forward, but also what pushes you as the player to make decisions that’ll lead you to her. Along the way, you’ll meet a solid cast of characters, those who are there to help and others just wanting to cause “mischief”.

Dreamed Away took me roughly 8hrs to complete and didn’t even feel like it was that long in the grand scheme of things. Thanks in part to the characters and a story that always kept me guessing. Early on I was sure of how everything would pan out, but with every decision counting, it made sure I wouldn’t truly know. Alongside the “main” decisions, there’s also side objectives to be completed but only if the player is aware of them.

I’m unsure of how many endings there are, but I know there’s at least 3 by the ending I received. And while I was satisfied with it as an ending, I could see where my other decisions would’ve affected where my story went. I’m not lucky enough to go back and do another playthrough, but for those looking for bang for their buck, there’s reason to start up a new game. As long as you’re comfortable taking the emotional ride again.

I should state it clear here, Dreamed Away deals with some sensitive subject matter and delves into the horror genre. While not “scary” it is unsettling and will give you the sense of feeling uneasy. So this is just a content warning and reminder.

Guitar Hero trained me for this moment. Oh— I still failed.

Most of your time will be spent exploring, finding items, completing environmental puzzles, and getting into combat encounters made up entirely of dodging and input-based minigames. They do evolve into harder versions, but it ultimately ends with just those two types. I would’ve liked to see more variety, but with its length, it’s hard to complain, especially when the combat is only the real focus in a few sections. Outside of those sections, the combat is actually sparse. Though some of these fights can drag on a bit too long if you’re bad at timing like me.

There are some light rpg mechanics at play here as well. You can find new weapons and gear by exploring, giving both positive and negative attributes. There’s also abilities to find as well, allowing for buffs and debuffs. And of course consumables in the form of food and drinks, that act like this games potions. It all works well, and adds a layer to the minigame combat.

When it comes to puzzles, it’s your typical box pushing, item finding, and context clue based affair. They get the job done and vary up the gameplay. Though as you progress, there ends up being a lot of backtracking needed to complete optional content but also for the main story. It never takes too long, but it did become more apparent in the later hours.

Do you have a store? I seem to only have pajamas… and it’s raining.

Dreamed Away does well with its pixel art, and direction as everything was clearly visible to make out and the locations were easy to navigate. Some really impressive stylistic choices made near the end that made for a compelling finale from a visual standpoint. I played the Switch version (on Switch 2 hardware) and didn’t run into any sort of issues during my time with the review build of the game.

Usually I play games for the story, there’s something about a well told narrative that makes the journey worth it and Dreamed Away has that! Whilst the gameplay isn’t really noteworthy and nothing is revolutionary, it also doesn’t need to be. At the end of the day it was entertaining and I enjoyed my time spent with it. I look forward to checking in on other player’s playthrough’s to see what I missed along my journey. Because this tale is worth your time and money, especially if you’re into light horror themes and the quirky combat genre of games.