Dream Chronicles 2: The Eternal Maze

Gameplay

Gameplay in Dream Chronicles 2: The Eternal Maze is more involved than that in the original game. Whereas in the first Dream Chronicles, players as Faye would solve one scene and then move on to the next level, in this game they may need to move between relative scenes in a separate area in order to progress. The objects that players find may be used in a scene other than the one they found it in. Objects will stay in inventory until players need to use them. All objects that players are able to pick up will serve a purpose, whether they are used in that scene or not. A lot of times in this game the pieces players pick up may only be used as they get to the next scene. Some items may not become visible in a scene right away, players must perform other tasks first before they become visible.

Each level becomes more complex as players advance through the game, and how players solve the puzzles will vary greatly. There are many puzzle types in game: logic puzzles, Simon-style memory games, jigsaw games, scramble words, maze puzzles...If players are having difficulty with a level they can go back and reset the level. It will bring players back to the beginning of the closet area. This feature only appeared in Dream Chronicles 2. For the first time in the series, players can enjoy the experience of solving maze puzzles. The game contains two underground labyrinths, one in the 9th scene, and the other one in the 25th, last scene. However, they are criticized for their highly difficult level, which prevent players from completing the whole game. Thus Dream Chronicles 2 is considered the most difficult Dream Chronicles game in the series.

Dream Jewels, previously a mere bonus for high scores, now have a function. Collecting these transparent gems and players are presented with a word scramble to unravel, one that offers clues to a future conundrum. Players will be asked a question and provided with a number of words. The task is to put all the words into a sentence, and after players find out the answer, they are given more detailed information on this question. Players can choose "Meditate Now" to tackle the poser right away or "Unlock Secret" in the diary to solve it later. There are 138 Dream Pieces molding eight Dream Jewels to complete in a given game, and 15 ones in total. Players need to replay the game several times before they can receive all the Dream Jewels. In order to activate these Jewels, players must find the Dream Pieces first.

In the end, players earn a high score. The faster how players can complete the game, the more Dream Pieces they can find, the more Dream Jewels they can find and answer their mysteries, the better score they will earn. When players play again under the same name, they will have new Dream Jewel puzzles to solve, and some of the items will be in different locations.

Setting

There are 25 main scenes and six large areas featured in the game. Once players access a new area, they cannot revisit the previous ones, though they can travel back-and-forth among the places within an erea.

Plot

A mortal woman named Faye had a dream in which she was on the search of her fairy husband Fidget. The couple were almost united until the Fairy Queen of Dreams, Lilith, came and separated them. Lilith brought Fidget with her, and sent Faye to a forgotten fairy prison where no mortal had ever escaped from. Waking up from Lilith's dream spell for the second time, Faye soon realizes her real-life situation, which makes her feel deeply confused. Fortunately, the Fairy Queen of Flora and her mother-in-law, Aeval, appears and is able to communicate with Faye through magic plants, then she helps Faye find a way out. Escaping from the prison rooms, Faye then explores the Ancients' Place, known as the fairy race's birthplace, where fairies used to live for a long time ago. She has to encounter numerous magical obstacles carefully arranged by Lilith, as she keeps preventing Faye in any way from ruining her almost-perfect plan: marrying Fidget, and becoming more powerful. Suddenly, Aeval looks at the nearest crystal ball, and informs Faye that her daughter Lyra is no longer sleeping in her bed, thus it is assumed that Lilith has taken her hostage. Aeval also asks Faye to hurry, because Fidget's hope of being rescued is fading, and then he may succumb to marry Lilith.

After roaming through the Mortals' Maze, Faye arrives at the cottage of an Aeval's old fairy friend named Merrow, an odd inventor who lives for himself in the Mortal Realm, and asks for his help rescuing Fidget and Lyra. Faye eventually meets Merrow himself in his secret lab, and she is surprised with his appearance as a human-talking plant, which is another result of his crazy experiments. Merrow agrees to take Faye to the Tower of Dreams where, according to him, Fidget and Lyra are being kept hostage by Lilith. There is a strange tree lying outside the Tower, but Merrow declares that it is not important to them. Faye does not keep the tree in mind, and enters the Tower, which no mortal has done before, without Merrow's help as he cannot enter. The Tower of Dreams was also where one of the closest Fairy Lord's advisers, Dream Librarian, lived and studied. That explains why each floor is locked with a magically genius lock: melodies, books, instruments, chess pieces, statues, and a bed.

Upon reaching the top floor, Faye founds a bed, which reminds her of the same one in her Town of Wish. Having suffered enough nightmares since the husband was abducted, Faye feels loose wanting to take a short nap. But as soon as she touches the bed, Aeval warns Faye that Merrow is a traitor, and she must escape from this dangerous Tower. Faye jumps out of the Tower's window, and is then caught by Aeval's guided vines. Aeval then leads Faye to the Eternal Tree, which turns out to be the one that she has skipped before, and where Fidget and Lyra are thought to be being held. Faye enters the Tree, finds a sleeping Fidget, and Lyra's favorite teddy bear. Aeval asks Faye to obtain a Root Potion from the Eternal Maze that could awaken Fidget. After Faye emerges from the Eternal Maze with the potion, the teddy bear vanishes. Faye gives the potion to Fidget, and the couple are finally reunited, but they must find their missing daughter now. In the extra cut-scene, after putting the book named Dream Chronicles: The Eternal Maze back to bookshelf, Faye declares that finding Lyra is all to her. Unless she finds Lyra, there would be the end to both her and Fidget.

Release and post-release

Dream Chronicles 2: The Eternal Maze was first presented limitedly as a beta version on December 8, 2007 for the publisher PlayFirst's players. A game preview and the teaser trailer appeared the first time on Gamezebo in January 2008. It was officially released on February 14, 2008 by PlayFirst, and promoted: "With its attention to detail in storyline and gameplay, KatGames has built upon its initial work to deliver an expanded sequel - with longer gameplay, more puzzles and more depth - that will keep players even more firmly immersed than the spellbinding original." Following the successful footstep of the previous game, Dream Chronicles 2 instantly peaked at number-one on PlayFirst, Pogo.com, Shockwave, Reflexive Arcade, GameHouse, RealArcade and Zylom; number-two on Big Fish Games, SpinTop Games and Logler Global; number-three on iWin.com, Amazon.com and Mac Game Store; peaked inside top ten on Yahoo! Games, MSN Games, Alawar Games and other major casual game charts.

On June 13, 2012, a high-definition version of this game was available via App Store for iPad device, and the latest version was updated on November 21, 2012.

Reception

Much like the original Dream Chronicles, the game earned positive responses from casual game critics. On the second time with the series, Gamezebo's Chuck Miller praised the game: "Like its predecessor, [Dream Chronicles 2]'s an amazing piece of craftsmanship. Visuals are beautifully rendered. Each scene features gorgeous imagery, with many including animated objects like falling leaves, rippling pools and tumbling waterfalls. Atmospheric audio accentuates play. Exceptional music and sound effects bring the game's fantastical world to life. Plus, an unexpected plot twist adds to the mystery, while a built-in leaderboard allows you to compare your questing skills with those of other players." Miller also noticed it's "a bit on the short side for an adventure", still he rated the game 4.5/5.0 stars overall.

Ms. 45 from Jay Is Games expressed her opinions on the game's impressive production value: "The artwork is impeccable — beautiful, immersive, and extremely good at hiding that last item you desperately need to get to the next level. [...] The overall layout is essentially the same, but the addition of more complex puzzles and useful Dream Jewels scattered around the levels adds a new layer to the experience." Awem Studio also highly enjoyed Dream Chronicles 2, and stated: "The sequel [Dream Chronicles 2] follows in its forerunner’s path and delights its players with gorgeous graphics and enchanting music. [...] The artwork is gorgeously dreamy and it adds some special coloring to the entire atmosphere of mystery and enigma. [...] The backdrops are fragrant with eye-soothing nature and landscapes while the sounds of the game are incredibly enchanting and fascinating. The visual and sound aspects are greatly satisfying and create a real Dream World. [Dream Chronicles 2] is one of those games that will be engraved in your memory and win over your heart."

Contrastly, Adventure Gamers only gave the game 3.0 out of 5.0 stars, summarizing that the game is "a noticeable improvement over the original, Dream Chronicles 2 nevertheless retains a few too many common adventure-like problems to fulfill its evident potential." In July 2009, RealArcade announced that Dream Chronicles 2 won two awards, "Top Adventure Game of 2008" and "Best World Design", in their very first RealGames Great Games Awards.