ｃｈｉｌｌ | Hypnagogia
0dreamy
0:00 - Main Game
1:08:21 - Credits/Final Thoughts
1:10:52 - Bonus Level
REVIEW
____________________________
I've been hankering to touch upon some "vaporwave" aesthetics lately as it's not a common theme you see much in video games. Themes of exploration, symbolism and immersion makes for a laid back and thought provoking experience. Look no further than Hypnagogia.
Traditional story-writing does not exist in a game like Hypnagogia as the environments and the respective "feel" for the levels are representative of the developers instances of dreams they had in their life. Despite the dev's introspection serving as a baseline for this game, the player can also interpret and react to the levels in their own ways, how it brings forth feelings of similar positive or negative moments that lays bare in the past, present or future.
Gameplay is not really the emphasis of this game as you absorb the influence of every level's visuals and audial. It's more akin to a walking simulator but thankfully, the ambience does not make it boring. The player must traverse multiple worlds to collect red crystals in order to "wake up". There is interaction with upbeat, diverse characters and apart from world building, objective-wise, it boils down to a fetch quest in order to unlock a path to obtain said crystals. Very simple but does not detract from the overall enjoyment.
Can never go wrong with PS1-style graphics, especially since it adds charm to the various levels and the aura they espouse. The first handful of levels add to a sense of calm and peaceful, if not a bit unorthodox. The latter seem to strike a chord of dismay or uneasiness, that something is wrong. Considering the game showcases a sporadic nature of dreams that include effects of fever dreams and sleep paralysis, it's no surprise how hectic our unconsciousness can be. Even happy dreams can be all over the place.
Dream games are often an easy gateway to manifest the strangest things the human psyche can dream up but is endless content potential all the same. I may have had a sweet tooth for vaporwave but got swept up in quite a the rabbit hole that is Hypnagogia. Impeccable experience, was not disappointed at all.