Sometimes nightmares can be stressful, and sometimes they can be fun. The indie title brought to us by art and video game collective ‘melessthanthree’ proves just that, in the form of action-adventure RPG Lucah: Born of a Dream. With its striking art design made of neon scribbles and dark narrative grit, this mixture of visuals and combat pulls the player into an unforgettable, albeit challenging gameplay experience. Whether you survive the dream or not, depends solely on you.
The Story of Lucah: Born of a Dream
First thing’s first—this game deals with dark topics. Revelations of what is going on are fragmented into occasional sentences appearing on the screen, or brief conversations between characters. All of this adding weight to the purposeful, nightmarish atmosphere the game creates. The events follow Lucah, a person trapped between the borders of reality. He must find a way to escape from the living nightmarish hellscape. Using magic abilities and cool combos, he attempts to lift this curse in their quest for Purification. Along the way he encounters characters who reveal small pieces of story. Sprinkled with ominous imagery the player can interpret, guess about, until the very end of the game and even after. You can choose the option of a New Game+, and in the same vein as Undertale or Nier: Automata, the game isn’t done until you finish everything. For the sake of preserving the game’s strangely deep story, I’d recommend venturing throughout this game unspoiled.
Game mechanics and combat
Lucah: Born of a Dream comes off as your average hack-n-slash, but don’t be fooled. The combat system within this game is one of its strongest parts. An impressively well-developed Dark Souls-esque way of teaching the player to study the moves of the enemies, customize unique combos with added magical effects, and whether you choose to go melee-range or long-range is entirely up to the player. Cutting your way through the chaotic enemies, berserk style provides an exhilarating feeling of reward and accomplishment. Needless to say, you won’t grow bored during the 6-7 hours required to beat the game.
Sound Design
A notoriously overlooked aspect of good game design, the soundtrack of Lucah: Born of a Dream is haunting in the best way possible. Walking through those halls, all of them handcrafted and unique, not knowing what’s going to meet you on the opposite end. You’re only guided by the feeling of the music, represents a very solid message that the developers intended the music to be an integral part in experiencing the story. Drenched in chilling timbres and ambient glitch mixes, this OST is something players with a flair for music can definitely appreciate.
Wait, but is it out?
Yes, it is! The game released not so long ago on Steam for PC, Mac, or Linux. Do you enjoy an immersive, emotion-packed ambient with addicting combat and unique visuals? Then Lucah: Born of a Dream is highly recommended.
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