PLATFORM: PC, PS4/5, SWITCH 2, XBOX ONE/SERIES (REVIEWED) | RELEASE DATE OUT NOW
Set amongst the floating islands of the Oneiric Isles, Dread Delusion casts players in the role of Prisoner XVII, released by a higher power to assist in taking down Vela Callose, an outlaw mercenary and the most wanted criminal in all of the Skyrealms. But it isn’t a simple case of just tracking Vela down and taking her into custody – the land has fallen victim to an undead curse, brought about by the apocalyptic “World Rend” which saw any survivors fleeing to the sky to escape the horrors that now roam the surface. Employed by the Apostatic Union, you’ll travel the Isles – and the ground below them – to locate powerful allies to help the fight against Vela, while also dealing with cultists, mutants, clandestine god-worshippers (very much a prohibited activity, for reasons that will become clear) and all manner of unearthly distractions.
Inspired by late 90s / early 2000s RPGs of the PS1 era, Dread Delusion doesn’t hand out quests willy-nilly like modern games do. Instead, it’s up to you to seek things out for yourself. Talking to NPCs or reading the text on a poster might lead to the acquisition of a useful item, or it could just as easily send you off on a multi-part questline that you would otherwise have completely missed out on. Thankfully, the writing is fantastic – almost everything ties into the central story in some way or other, so it never feels like characters are waffling away with nothing interesting to say. Layers of intrigue are added to the main storyline at every turn, immersing you deeper into the world and encouraging you to speak to anyone (and anything) you can find in order to delve further into the game’s mysteries.
Your map is slowly pieced together as you explore the world around you, although you’re never given any quest markers. Your journal contains enough information to be able to keep track of where you need to go, but you’ll still need to keep plenty of mental notes if you want to traverse the Isles without getting lost. The places you’ll discover are visually arresting in a way that’s rarely seen these days – many of the game’s locations you’ll visit are incredibly striking – the late-game Clockwork Kingdom area deserves particular praise – and the blocky 32-bit visuals give the whole game an otherworldly feeling. Combined with the creative character and enemy design and an almost melancholic (yet fantastic) soundtrack, Dread Delusion offers a surreal dreamlike atmosphere that makes you want to keep exploring just to see what you might come across next.
Exploration and talking to NPCs form the bulk of the gameplay, but you’ll do a fair bit of fighting as well. Combat very much takes a back seat though, and contending with the various monsters and bandits is quite a rudimentary affair, slashing with your sword and taking a step back or quickly blocking to avoid getting hit before moving forwards again to get another strike in. Spells and ranged weapons come into play too, depending on the stats you choose to focus on and the character you decide to build. It brings to mind the classic FromSoft series King’s Field, or pre-Oblivion Elder Scrolls – very evocative of the era that Dread Delusion is replicating, but not necessarily up to scratch when measured against modern combat mechanics. There are other RPG elements thrown in too, with your stats dictating how successful you’re likely to be with various actions like lockpicking, charming NPCs into giving more information away, sneaking and of course fighting, and you’re able to collect items that can be used to create potions and strengthen your weapons and armour. There’s nothing too deep or overwhelming, and you don’t have to spend too long messing around in menus to get anything done, but at the same time there’s more than enough to keep RPG fans happy.
Almost two years after its full 1.0 PC release, Dread Delusion has now made its way to consoles, complete with all previous content including an additional dungeon (set inside a giant mollusc), a hard mode, and other tweaks and touches. Visually stunning, excellently written and supremely engaging in a what-the-hell-is-going-on sort of way, this otherworldly adventure is one not to be missed.
