Taming Dreams RPG

I entered eagerly for emotional epiphanies, but became bored by battle details. While the game and its mechanics are unique and impressive, the time taken to explain everything is time I had rather spent delving into emotional discoveries. Great art, great dialogues, great characters, great lore, great details, just way too much explaining mechanics. I played through the first two episodes (which took several hours) and have yet to see any significant emotional growth in the characters.

I love everything about this game. The creative concept, the colorful characters, the engaging story, all of it. It is such a great game that it is immensely disappointing that it hasn't updated in so long. I understand that the developer has been dealing with depression and health issues, and am willing to wait, but the sooner more comes the better. As they say: shut up and take my money.

This is a beautiful game. Laid out well. Good mechanics. Beautiful art and music. And the basic storyline is very reminiscent of another certain game series I fell in love with years ago ;) . On those basis, along with the obvious effort and care the developer put into this game, it received 4*. Concerns: it tries too hard to be different. The gameplay is unique enough to stand on its own, in my opinion. There is very little need to continually try and justify the reasoning. Too wordy.

I live the idea of emotions instead of elements and the runes add a nice touch of complexity that makes the agitation a puzzle in themselves if you're not careful. Great story, amazing characters. Attention to detail is superb!

Playing this just reminds me how good the original Mardek series was. This game is unnecessarily wordy, complicated, and slow. The charm of the characters seems to be gone. Mardek 3 was pure bliss is every aspect and yet I somehow can't find much enjoyment playing Taming Dreams.

I first encountered the original Mardek several years ago. It immediately became one of my favorite RPGs for its solid mechanics and entertaining writing. Now, with the rebooted Taming Dreams, Cornwall demonstrates just how much he has grown since then as a writer, as a game designer, and as a person. The game's intense focus on diverse characters, their relationships, and their realistic emotional issues informs its every aspect, creating something beautiful and unique.

Easily the best 2.99 or so I've ever spent for the third episode. Believe me when I say the writing and spirituality is phenomenal. The agitation system is a little obtuse at first, but if you love exploration of mechanics as much as I do, it quickly becomes very very interesting. I've listened to the soundtrack for hours and still loved each note. The graphics are charming and great. I couldn't ask for a better mobile game, and I know Tobias' next project will be just as good or even better!

Let me start by saying this: I've been a huge fan of your work for years, though this is the first time I've ever made any sort of comment, and I genuinely regret being over a year late to this game. I never doubted the direction you were taking the MARDEK universe, though that may be a sign of a blind admiration. These 3 episodes of Taming Dreams have been quite an experience, though I know it doesn't necessarily fit the conventional mobile app gaming convention. The dialogue- distinctly a Tobias Cornwall product- carries an incredible depth that unfortunately gets mired down in the complexity(?) of the game. Beyond explanations of game mechanics and a dictionary function that can potentially encompass over half the screen is a lovingly hand-crafted piece of art. The spritework, the soundtrack, and the blurbs provided by examining virtually every object in the environment show the care (and skill) you put into this. The main characters are relatable- personally speaking- and even the background characters tell compelling stories. Though "relatability" is highly subjective, this all points me to one conclusion. You were made to make these games.

Finish the game pseudo! Dangit, I will pay you twenty dollars if you actually finish this story, but not before! I will not invest money (let alone time) into this until I feel like I can trust you. There is nothing worse than participating in a half finished story.

Well, it won't let me save. Other than that, I liked it. Will write a full review once I can play the whole thing.

While the game has its up and downs just like any other game ever made, i cant justify to myself paying for a game he will only make a few episodes for over a few years then several years later decide to completely reboot it and alienate his fan base. While i give the newer games a try the credibility of an ongoing series with many developers like pseudo, aka tobias, and others doesnt give me any hopes that the games will actually have an ending, ir not get rebooted again.

People who were fans of the Mardek series will find this new series pretty enjoyable. Its a different story, and has different mechanics, but give it some time and the great storytelling and emontion will start to sink in. This is actually the first app i've paid for, ever. So yeah i would reccomend, if you like storytelling with bits of humor

This game has some great detail your and I love the characters. It can be a little grindy, but I don't mind bit especially with its interesting combat system. I'll def be getting all the chapters as they come out.

A very niche game with many lovingly crafted features that may be confusing (too confusing even) to a new, young casual gamer that somehow discovers this little gem.

Pseudo's games have always been apart of my childhood ever since I first stumbled upon the first Mardek game. I love every game he made after that but the Mardek series was one of the best games I've ever play. When this new game came though I thought it was awful bad that he changed the whole story, but I finally gave it a shot. This game has all the elements that I love from his games and again I can relate to some of the characters in the game which makes even better!! Rock on dude keep the games going.

Edit: stupid chars limit make me use Dolan speech. Lov ur work! Lonewolf! Take lots of balls to rewrit the story but u did it! There some prblm tho: (1) dialouge too long, would read story if trim down. (2) pixalized font is pain to read (espclly when GdM spk) (3) VOCABULARY! Too painful for non-Eng-speaker (me). Suggestion: an option for "Real" UI and change keywords from Abstract to Realistic (AKA Mardek mindset), Keep up the good work =)

This game fun and relatable if you're into Earthbound-style RPGs. The battles are more challenging but not impossible to beat them. And the story is solid enough despite being a parody of RPGs. If you like MARDEK, you'll love this reboot series!

Clearly Tobias has put a lot of effort into creating his world, and it is one I enjoyed. However, the pacing of the plot is too slow, especially since the episodes are limited in length. Given that Tobias has limited resources at his disposal, the main plot should be emphasized and dialogue made more compact. I fell in love with the original mardek series when I was younger and it would be a shame if this project could not be finished due to time or financial constraints.

I wanted to wait until I finished Ch. 3 to review and it's a really good game. I like the "combat" mechanics which made me use my head and is actually pretty deep and can lead to many interesting interactions. The new take on random encounters which allowed me to avoid combat entirely if I wanted to is a great addition! Love the story as well! Li'l complaint though, the text is a bit small (I'm on mobile) and the god's text is a bit hard to read. I have trouble differentiating the i's from t's.

This is an inspired game that is a joy to experience. It boasts excellent pacing, extremely fun and deep gameplay that is tied to the incredible narrative. The amount of insight required to make such motivating characters is incredible. In Taming Dreams you will find random npcs you can relate to just as well as the protagonists.

From the first three episodes, Taming Dreams already contains more emotional depth than any game I've ever played. The creator is telling a fantastical, engaging story of genuine, moving human experience so powerful that I empathize profoundly with the characters. It's a story of identity, inner struggle, and happiness -- one we can all reflect on and learn from. Add to that the beautiful music, charming art style, and intriguing (and fun) non-violent RPG gameplay. I can't wait for the next episode!

I don't really understand why this is getting so much hate from certain people. The game is - at its core - Mardek. The battle system is different to what I've seen elsewhere, but not so much I couldn't learn quickly how it works. What I found especially interesting was how similar the story line was to Mardek, but how different it was at the same time, to suit the new lore, improve pacing and give some characters real motivation. To me, Taming Dreams feels like the game I loved playing a decade ago, but polished up and adjusted to reflect the author's new vision. I did feel there were some missed opportunities; bookshelves all say the same fourth-wall-breaking thing, which pulls me out of the game at exactly the time I'm most wanting to be drawn in, and everyone seems to have their slogan, which at times are repeated so much it suggests less fleshed out characters than I hope we're being presented with. But I'm nitpicking at this point.

Let me preface this by saying I have been a fan of its predecessor, MARDEK RPG, for years, and have been following its development from the beginning. I admire Tobias and I was so excited to find out that he was making another series, updating it with new characters, lore and mechanics. I did not participate in the beta phase because I wanted to experience the finished product. With that said, I just played through most of chapter one, and it was greatly disappointing to me for several reasons. I had heard so much about how Tobias wanted it to be non-violent, character-focused ...... and yet the very introduction is a stereotypical dungeon, and it just can't stop talking about the very traditional RPG concepts it's trying to avoid. Protesting too much, or something. It focused so much on violence just by talking about it that it seemed it actually was. I did find the "battle" system intriguing, though without much lore/explanation to back it up at the beginning, it seemed like a shoddy attempt to reinvent the RPG wheel. All that to say: I wish it was further from MARDEK, and not ashamed to not be an RPG. I'm giving 3 stars because I did find the music and graphics excellent however

While this game has been hyped by the small community I am a part of, and is well-recieved by the community, it does not live up to its expectations. Maybe it could have been a better game had it been independently created from Mardek, but instead is alien from the original run: it is very far from the classic we knew and enjoyed a decade prior. There are a lot of frustrating bugs. It becomes difficult to distinguish particular tilesets from characters, and in many cases the menus cannot be easily read or understood. The episodes are too short for the price: one point seems to be made among a myriad of pretentious dialogue, getting muddled along the way. It does not seem to have a point other than throwing far too much "wisdom" into the dialogue, which might be fine for some, but most would be overwhelmed by the haughtiness of it. I give it two stars because it has some creativity in terms of its world and there was an attempt at graphics, but sadly it has really fallen from my expectations and does not seem that fit for today's age of games.

The first smartphone game that looked smart enough to stir my dreams. Now it's teaching me to tame them. ;) Highlights, in no particular order: >>> The language is rich. And so the game comes with a built-in glossary. A great teaching tool, yes? :) >>> The characters, at least so far, are relatable and realistic. I keep reading snippets of their dialogues to my partner--who HATES games, one and all. But she enjoys listening to the troubles and triumphs of Mardek, Deugan, M-M-Mammary and the rest of the cast. (Especially the naughtier bits ... heehee.) >>> No violence! Yippee! I've been waiting for someone to subvert this silliest trope of tropes--that a story MUST contain violence in order to hold our attention--for AGES. Well done, Master Tobias. >>> This story is (among other things) about personal growth. In these first three chapters, we see only two stages (with five years passing between Ch. 2 and 3), but even they add an unusual depth to the characters, while hinting at greater changes to come. I'm looking forward to everyone's evolution in the next chapters. (And Rohoph is starting to give me the creeps ... must all immortals lose the perspective we have?)

While the battle system is thorough and smooth, that and the music are the only things to compliment. This game pretends to be ground-breaking, but really it's an RPG with every violent thing just relabeled as emotions. For a game that emphasizes story and character, it drowns you in the former and lacks the latter. I played the two episodes over 30min and 90min respectively. The first was okay, but over 2/3 of my time in the second was reading, reading, and more reading. The two-area town is saturated with 28 NPCs, most with 8+ unique dialogue boxes, and none of them lead to a side quest or add any gameplay elements. The dialogue is also jarring - the overuse of alliteration makes the mottos seem out of place; the random archaic words break up the narrative flow. The constant sexual jokes are annoying as well; it seems the only things to talk about are sex or the insane amount of in-game lore. The characters you meet are incredibly one-sided, usually made up of a couple tropes and a single obvious growth arc for later. The battles feel out of place, like an afterthought to the story. I'm afraid ep3 would be 4 hours of reading with no end, so I can't justify $2.99 towards it.

Alora Fane is a return to form for veteran flash game developer Pseudlonewolf. Unless you're a member of his forum, this is probably a disconcerting change of pace from MARDEK, his most popular series. As a spiritual sequel to MARDEK, it makes vast changes to the game that once was an exemplar of a high fantasy setting. The change to the core concept of the game is probably the most jarring for fans of previous games, but I wholeheartedly recommend giving it a try, even if you feel this game 'isn't up your alley'. Combat mechanics are similar to MARDEK,with few changes, but because of the core concept differences it's a chance for Pseudolonewolf's writing style to shine through. Characters have depth, controls are simple, and the art style has a retro feel with modern quirks. Taming Dreams might not be what everyone wants it to be. It's adapted from the world of MARDEK and for those who've played that series it's not an easy thing to see such drastic changes, and the ''swipe to walk' is perhaps a little difficult to use precisely, but those are minor complaints when weighed against the fantastic writing, the unique art style, and the complex battle mechanics.

Pros: 1) Very cute graphics. 2) Plays very smoothly with nice animations. 3) Is a creation by one of my favourite game makers. 4) VERY DEEP STORY with awesome plot and well-written characters. 5) Great art all around. 6) Cute idea of taming your inner demons instead of just fighting monsters. 7) Has a lot deeper of a meaning than most narratives. My only real complaint is how excessively complicated the battles seem to be. It not only has 3 runes with 5 levels to each one for each battle participant, but it has a "heart rate" for each character, as well as an elemental aspect (similar to how fire beats grass in pokemon). Not only that, but the potions in the game aren't clearly explained at all and leave the player basically guessing as to how the potions will change their character. It also feels like you can't really control the runes or the "mood" of your characters. Additionally, if you want to deal ANY damage to the "monsters," in chapter 3, you need to also make your characters vulnerable to high hits as well, getting them KO'd right after priming the setup, if you can figure out the setup. Pick it up if you want something different (and a little complicated).

It's a little weird seeing the greatsword-wielding Deugan being reduced to an ineffectual boy with twice the anxiety. He was a good straight-man to the loveable doofus, Mardek. It seems Mereadyth has taken that role, which suits her. I appreciate that Steele has been given some depth as opposed to his super hammy personality in Mardek 2 and his downright evil intentions in Mardek 3. I enjoyed the pokemon-esque mechanics. Really blends in some of Pseudo's previous works into Mardek, and also gives me incentive to fight the monsters. The fact that I can see what monsters will pop up is nice, but it's a little bothersome that the bubbles appear so frequently. It's hard enough to navigate the map on my phone without needing to stop and click on the bubbles. Then I miss and trigger the description of whatever I was facing. ugh. There's a few descriptions in the menu that run off the boxes. Nothing too serious, but a little sloppy in my opinion. I plan to purchase part 3 in a week or so. I'm not sure how far it will go in terms of Mardek 2's story. One thing I can say for sure is that I will definitely enjoy seeing the trio together again. I'm getting nostalgic of the old flash days.

Above all else, I find this game heartwarming. The uniqueness of feelings instead of swords in an adventure game makes it novelty to say the least, and the developer's lovely writing style, that being sad in the abstract while silly and whimsical, makes me want to figuratively drool. As a fan of MARDEK for the past several years and a couple shameless hundreds of hours of game play, the recycling of characters & plot certainly doesn't bother me. Keep at this, or MARDEK, or something!

The battle system in this game is unique and intriguing; the monsters inside of us can be the most difficult to defeat. The writing is the biggest draw to me. There's cheeky humor (Who knew that lava wrote poetry?) and thoughtfully-drawn characters, who all have their own weaknesses to overcome. The village is full of individuals, whose lives also move on and change. If you played Mardek, you'll recognize the story and characters, but the writing is more delicate and the themes more cohesive.

Great RPG. Original concepts and compelling a storyline. The mechanics make for easy game play which is good for experiencing the narrative. The rapport system adds hours of fun. Think Pokémon except every creature is worth training and the storyline is deep and expansive. Easily worth the money to support such a dedicated and skilled artist. Looking forward to future episodes.

Okay so I was a bit skeptical about reshaping a classic RPG style game into something so EQ-based, but I am completely won over. First of all, the combat system (I'm going to go ahead and keep calling it that, hope it's not too much of a pet peeve to the devo) is so stinking innovative and such a breathe of fresh air for someone like me who really enjoys the strategic side of these games. It was very unfamiliar at first, but I thought the game did a good job of easing the learning curve. Then getting familiar with the concepts that it is based on (emotional connection rather than brute force) made it a lot more intuitive. And once I found my footing, I could really appreciate how innovative this game is. Structurally, it's really well made. I love the depth of the story, I already care about how things will play out and that's without a ton of game time for the story to unfold. And the way that the game play is so tightly fused to emotional wellbeing is really innovative and it needs to get attention in whatever news medium talks about this kind of stuff. I think there is/will be a big market for it and I want to applaud the developer for pioneering things along.

This takes a little learning and getting used to, but is WELL worth it!! The game itself is amazing, and I personally think that the price for the game is ridiculously under- Especially with the 1st 2 episodes being free! The combat system- oops, sorry - the "agitation" system is very well thought out and creative, especially the bosses! I happily erm... how would I phrase this? I happily "agitate" the bosses every day. xD The story is greatly written, and I would gladly pay a lot more for this game, ∞/5

I was a little scared of this game coming in; while I avoided becoming a beta tester just to build up my excitement for the game, I was concerned I was to attached to the old MARDEK games to really enjoy this reboot. Boy was I wrong! I can definitely tell that Pseudolonewolf has definitely improved, especially dialog-wise,and everything! Even the things as simple as the jokes, which were sometimes juvenile in the original, have now matured. And I've only seen the first chapter, and I'm already impressed!

I was recommended to this. It's fairly well made; I enjoyed the first two episodes and I was tempted to buy Episode 3. But then I did some research... The dev mentions on Patreon that it will be a ~45 episode story, which at this $3 rate means 43x3 USD - a total 130 dollars for the complete story. That's absolutely insane for a mobile game. Then in his most recent blog post he mentioned releasing episodes one per month at BEST, and three per YEAR at worst, which means a minimum of 3.5 years (and a maximum of 14 years!!) of waiting for the complete story. And that's assuming nothing goes wrong or puts it on haitus. Even halving these numbers, it's far too little content for a cost far too high. No other media would succeed this way. There are much better games (mobile, steam, or otherwise) to put those hours and dollars towards. I'll come back if/when the *complete* project is offered at a standard game's [reasonable] price.

Was a big fan of the Mardek series back in the day, so when I heard it was getting a reboot of sorts, I was thrilled! Admittedly I was hesitant when I heard about some of the changes, but after playing, I have to say, it really resonated with me. The game is heavily story based, so if you want a lot of action, it may not be your game, but in my opinion, Pseudo has created yet another work of art that truly keeps the Mardek spirit alive. Great work and can't wait for episode 4!

Game just flat out sucks. I was a fan of the Mardek series and was hoping for Mardek 4 but instead you made this dickwars. It's not fun,complicating af and doesn't make sense. The graphics are cool tho and it's smooth on phones. Kthxbai. :)

A lot of reading. ALOT. Its part of the game. Also, the save function isn't working for me.

Thank you Tobias for taking the time and effort to make such a brilliant artwork-in-progress. It's tough without much support. So do look around to see if anyone can lend you a hand if you're feeling stretched. Dreams drive us to divine discoveries. I've done a let's play of this game on my youtube channel. So check it out at thewevhez