Gamertell Review: Dream Chronicles: The Book of Air for Windows, Mac

Title: Dream Chronicles: The Book of Air
Price: $6.99
System(s): Windows and Mac
Release Date: July 9, 2010
Publisher (Developer): Big Fish Games and PlayFirst (KatGames)
ESRB Rating: N/A, I’d say 10 and up
Pros: Two difficulty levels, good voice acting, beautiful environments, nice blend of adventure, hidden object and puzzle elements. Hints available. Can collect jewels to use abilities. Some hidden objects glimmer, to help you locate them. Dialogue segments highlight where you should look next. Almost all background objects can be clicked for Lyra to comment on them. No penalty for random clicking.
Cons: Can be quite easy to click and skip over dialogue/segment. It sort-of expects you to have prior knowledge of the series’ characters. Somewhat short. You’ll want to keep a notepad handy for solving some puzzles.
Overall Score: Two thumbs up, 94/100, A, * * * * out of 5

KatGames and PlayFirst found huge success with the original Dream Chronicles series, a trilogy of casual computer games which combined adventure gameplay and storytelling with casual mini-games and puzzles to tell a rich, fairy tale. The first three games follow Faye, a mortal woman who married a fairy man named Fidget, who must save her husband and their daughter from the Fairy Queen of Dreams Lilith. In the end of the original series, Faye and Fidget learn their daughter Lyra is a chosen child with a great destiny.

Now, with Dream Chronicles: The Book of Air a new trilogy begins. This time Lyra finds she has a new journey that she must undertake to realize her own destiny.

Accidental dimension-hopping

Lyra is preparing to celebrate her 18th birthday. However, it doesn’t happen. The night before she dreams about her party, with her friends and family, and sees her grandfather Tangle with a present for her. When she wakes up, everything is wrong and she’s all alone.

She looks throughout Wish and finds herself outside of the school her father, Fidget, teaches at. There she discovers a mysterious box, inside is a dream diary and note from her grandpa. He tells her that she has been sent to an alternate, parallel dimension and if she wants to get back home to their world and the real town of Wish, she has to find the Clockmaker. This means she has to use unusual new abilities to solve puzzles and discover secrets about the new places she’ll visit.

Beautiful puzzle adventure with lots of different experiences

Dream Chronicles: The Book of Air does a wonderful job of telling a story and allowing players to explore, while also preventing them from getting hopelessly lost. After arriving in each new area, or after completing a puzzle, there will be a bit of dialogue from Lyra or a note from her grandfather. While you’re listening to her thoughts or seeing what’s happening next, the screen will darken and the area you should be focusing on next is circled. So you know exactly where you should be looking. Also, the dream diary is constantly and automatically updated.

It also works in tons of different kinds of puzzles and mini-games that actually fit in well with the story. You don’t suddenly find yourself faced with a hidden object search or match-3 puzzle. To the contrary, most puzzles don’t fall within the established casual genres. They actually make you think. Yes, there are times when you’ll search for objects, say to repair an airship or get pieces for a puzzle, but they aren’t focused on. You can also choose two difficulty levels initially, casual and challenge, with the casual option making puzzles/mini-games easier and adding the ability to skip ones that stump you.

There are also dream jewels to collect in each area. When you collect certain amounts, Lyra becomes able to use an ability that can help her advance through the story and overcome challenges. These can be anywhere – in scenes or in puzzles. Finding them all allows Lyra to do things like decipher fairy writing, transmute gold into wood or use brilliance to light up darkened areas.

The main downside is that Dream Chronicles: The Book of Air is part of an established series, and if you come in without any prior knowledge about the series, you do miss out a bit. You don’t know anything about Lyra’s heritage or her family’s past. This is easily remedied though – you can always look online to get a synopsis of the previous trilogy starring Faye. The information isn’t crucial – this new Dream Chronicles trilogy is supposed to be about Lyra discovering her heritage and realizing her own destiny so you can stay in the dark and learn about it with her.

An artistic adventure, whether you’re familiar with Dream Chronicles or not

While having played the previous Dream Chronicles trilogy is helpful, it isn’t mandatory. You can enjoy and appreciate Dream Chronicles: The Book of Air without knowing anything about the series or its characters. After all, Lyra is a clueless heroine for most of The Book of Air, unaware of her own background and heritage. It’s a fantastic game with intriguing puzzles and gorgeous environments to explore. There are lots of little details, especially if you take the time to click on random objects in the environments so you can read Lyra’s commentary on them.

Site [Dream Chronicles: The Book of Air]