Disclaimer

I was asked to cover Bygone Dreams: Prophecy, which is the free to play demo of the games initial level. I understand the game is still a demo and will be a bit more lenient. That said, these will still be my honest opinions of the game.

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What is Bygone Dreams: Prophecy?

Bygone Dreams is a souls-like that is scheduled to release in June 2025. In preparation, the developers have released the game’s prologue to generate some hype around the game. My review will be on the prologue.

A terrible nightmare threatens the peace known to Lume. One spirit alone hears the call to action and rises against the encroaching darkness. As Wa, travel across Lume’s surreal landscape, solve its many puzzles, collect its many powers, and defeat anything that threatens its peace. Do you wield the power to save Lume from this nightmare?

Gameplay

The demo acts as a tutorial for the game. It introduces a few essential mechanics for combat and exploration, and players get to experience a bit of the story and world. If you’ve played a souls-like, this game doesn’t veer too much from the path. What makes the game unique is the colorful world players get to explore on the rail-road the devs designed for them.

Impressions

Bygone Dreams: Prophesy didn’t do enough to excite me for the full game. The game has an interesting artstyle, but world is far too busy. There is a lot crammed to fill the spaces that become the walls for a rail road. Having a built in track for players to follow isn’t an issue. I understand the limitations of a demo, and I’ve played games where it works. It works here, but everything is so busy it distracts from how unique the world is. I don’t mind invisible walls or railroads if the gameplay is fun.

I found the gameplay in the demo to be a bit lacking. I can see bones with potential, but the game needs a lot more polish to be fun. Combat doesn’t feel smooth enough when compared to other games in the genre, and it was often a little boring. Enemies all felt the same and offered nothing interesting, and the combos weren’t fun to watch. The full version might have the polished combat the game needs and the enemies to make it fun, but I need to see it to get excited. The whole time I played the demo, I wanted to be playing something else and that’s a problem.

In its current state, this is one of those games I’ll play and forget it exists. Unless the full game gets a major performance polish, I think it will be one of those games you forget too. I’ll be trying to get a copy of the full version for an update, so stay tuned for that. In the mean time, check out Bygone Dreams: Prophesy and see for your self.