Update: this launch day story is getting more attention than the more up-to-date review and I think it’s worth pointing out that things seem to have improved a fair bit. Hit the link for a more considered and detailed opinion on Shape of Dreams.
Original: I’ve just finished my latest run at Shape of Dreams, which is out today on PC, and I’ve come away from the game with some mixed feelings.
I’m not the only one, either. A quick glance at the Steam reviews reveals a bunch of feedback from players who’ve experienced both similar and different issues to me.
Shape of Dreams has ended up being a surprisingly divisive launch, but I think it’s far from game over based on my first impressions, even if there is work to be done…
What is Shape of Dreams?
Developed by Lizard Smoothie and published by NEOWIZ, Shape of Dreams is a polished action-roguelite that borrows a little from Hades, and a lot from DOTA.
I’ve never really clicked with games in the MOBA genre, which may be why Shape of Dreams didn’t stand out to me at first, however, after a few runs today I was reminded that Dota 2, LoL and the rest of the genre was born out of a Warcraft III mod, and I quite like strong-arming minions as a hero character in a good real-time strategy.
Strong-arming minions is the name of the game in Shape of Dreams, too, and you do so by equipping special attacks to one of four slots, and then levelling them up with new abilities.
There is a lot of dodging, a bit of kiting, and plenty of watching timers count down so you can unleash some hell when your main is back online and ready to roll.
Shape of Dreams is also a co-op game, which is another aspect that reinforces its MOBA heritage. You can go into battle with a small team with up to three of your finest friends, and then synergise your attacks as much as you care to.
So what’s with the mixed reviews?
A big part of the problem seems to be issues with the game’s balancing. This has already been noted by the developer and they’re trying to address this with a quick resource rebalance. More may have to be done on that front, but a move has been made.
Another criticism has been technical, and this is where things fell down for me. I had a fine time playing through the tutorial on my laptop. It started running a bit hot, though, and so I installed it on the desktop instead. However, my progress didn’t carry, my character glitched, and I couldn’t load into a game. I also started seeing Korean in the menus.
That’s not a great first impression, and it wasn’t until later, when I went back to my laptop that I was able to make a bit more progress. Once that happened, however, I started to have a really good time.
I think the washed-out watercolour art style is lovely, I like the tight arena and environmental designs, the characters are cool and nicely differentiated, the abilities I’ve tried seem fun, and the whole thing feels ripe for interesting build experimentation.
I’m going to stop playing now, wait for a couple of updates and some extra polish, and then I think I’ll dive back in for another look. Shape of Dreams appears to be a jolly good game, but based on how the launch has gone down, should it have been an Early Access launch? Lizard Smoothie has work to do if this otherwise excellent game going to reach its fullest potential.
Shape of Dreams is out now on PC (Win) and I played the game via access kindly provided by the developer, publisher NEOWIZ, and their PR colleagues.
