A Nightmare On Switch Street: A Dreamcutter Review

By Manuel

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC

Action platformers are very common these days, as are ecchi titles dropping onto consoles, especially on the Nintendo Switch. What happens when you mix both of those things together? You get Dreamcutter of course! Previously available on PC, it recently made its way to Nintendo Switch courtesy of publisher EastAsiaSoft. It's that Switch release we're going to be looking at today, so let's get right into it! Oh, and because this is an ecchi title, there will be some discussion regarding adult topics. In short, you've been warned!

My dorm room wasn't like this.

Look how different the art is here.

Dreamcutter places you into the shoes of Haley, a young college student who finds herself pulled into a world of dreams. In this new strange world she finds an even stranger scythe. Picking it up fills her with many new powers, and enables her to fight against the darkness that exists in this dream world. If that weren't enough, it turns out that the scythe is sentient as well. The scythe's name is Dreamcutter, and it's their job to guide you through the dream world. I keep calling it the "dream world", but it actually is Haley's subconscious. Being that she's a conflicted person full of the stresses of everyday life, this dream world is anything but rosy. It's actually filled with many monstrous nightmares that need to be taken out with Dreamcutter's help. Things keep getting weirder though, as Haley not only encounters other versions of herself, but even her friend Lucia. Lucia seems to be in danger, and it's one of Haley's first goals to save her. Nothing is ever as it seems though, and as each area is cleared Haley awakens to her sexuality. What does this all mean? What are Dreamcutter's goals? Why is Lucia here? All that and more eventually comes to light, but I'll leave the story discussion there so as to avoid going into spoiler territory. Even though I found parts of the story to be a bit off-the-wall, it was what ultimately kept me invested in the game. I probably would've beaten it for the sake of this review anyway, but I got through it much more smoothly thanks to the plot that never ceased to surprise me. Not only is it probably my favorite aspect of the game, it's also where a lot of the 18+ ecchi content resides. I'm not kidding when I say that clearing each level awakens a latent sexual desire in Haley, as defeating each boss is followed by a what is essentially a sex scene. These aren't as graphic as what you'd get on the PC version, but there is nudity, and lots of salacious dialogue. I guess that's rather obvious for those who may be familiar with the game already, but the 18+ stuff does feel a little out of place when put side-to-side with the standard gameplay. Speaking of which, let's move on to discuss that next.

BAM!

Me too Haley, me too.

At its core, Dreamcutter is an action platformer that borderlines on the precision-heavy sub-genre. You have the ability to jump, slash at targets that launch you even higher, spin jump off of hooks, and glide down slowly while in the air. You can also launch Dreamcutter into a wall and use it as a springboard to jump even higher still. Besides all that, you'll also find yourself grinding on rails and taking many leaps of faith. You'll need to master using all these skills together in order to get through the game's many levels. You may be wondering why I haven't mentioned combat yet, and that's largely because you can avoid most of it if you choose to do so. As far as attacks go, you have a standard attack combo, as well as the aforementioned Dreamcutter toss. Both of those can damage enemies, but they come in various strengths that might require more than one hit. You can eventually increase your combo and damage output with upgrades, but you start off fairly weak in the beginning. Stringing together multiple strikes starts up the Dream Combo system, with these combos being the most effective way to get coins. Coins are used for those aforementioned upgrades, and are also found scattered throughout the levels. Since each of the game's levels only actually require you to get to the end, I usually found myself simply running through them. Of course this meant that I lost the potential for more coins and upgrades, but I eventually found spots to farm them later on. Some enemies will directly block your path, and you're going to want to take out some of these at least since knockback is a thing. With all that said, I found combat to be largely boring unless it was against a boss or a nightmare, so I avoided it as much as I could. Speaking of nightmares, each level ends with you facing off against one of them, and you must defeat it in order to proceed. In this context, "nightmares" are flying orbs that spawn enemies, and it takes several hits to take them out. Each of the game's worlds has four levels and a boss encounter, and you're allowed to move on to the next after you've cleared them all.

Platforming is one leap of faith after another.

Beating the nightmares can be tricky.

I have to be pretty straightforward here, and mention that there are several issues that make Dreamcutter borderline unplayable at times. For starters there are quite a bit of collision detection issues when it comes to the more intense platforming sections. It always feels like the next thing needed for a platforming section is just out of reach. The game seems to realize that it's not programmed well enough to allow for this level of precision platforming, and often lets you get away with hitting the energy balls or hooks even if you're far away. The problem is that it's always jarring when this happens, and more often than not you'll fall to your death anyway. Thankfully falling only takes away ten hit points, but it's annoying nevertheless. The real issue comes with how the game runs on the Nintendo Switch. It's my understanding that the version I'm playing now (coming from June 2024) is a patched version that fixes a bunch of issues the game had at launch. I can't imagine how bad the game must've been at that point, as there is an insane amount of slowdown and skipping that occurs in its current version. Lag is a big issue, and the game sometimes jumps ahead as if it's catching up with itself. This seems to happen randomly, and doesn't even take anything intense happening on screen in order for it to show up. It rarely appears in boss battles at least, but when it appears during a platforming section it basically means instant death. I said "borderline unplayable" earlier, because I managed to compensate for these happenings after a while. I'm not sure if it was Stockholm syndrome, or if my skills improved, but I was pretty much ignoring the game's many issues by the halfway point. I still want to emphasize that they are there though, as I can totally understand this one thing being a complete deal breaker for some.

I'm usually not one for platformers, especially ones that require so many sections of precision-based leaps of faith, but there's something about Dreamcutter that just drew me in and kept me interested. It's not just the ecchi content either, as most of that just took me out of the game whenever it popped up. I never really got used to some of the dialogue that was going on, and each time there was nudity I wondered what the hell I was doing playing this kind of game in the first place. I'm not one to balk at such content mind you, it's just that it seemed rather out of place most of the time. There are essentially two games running here, with one of them being able to be rated Teen at worst. Actually, there are two very different ways to play the game. At the start screen, you can pick between Story Mode and Arcade Mode, with the latter cutting out all the cutscenes. I don't think I'd ever bother with that mode since it also cuts out the ability to upgrade Haley's skills, but it's there for those who may not want the ecchi content at all. Speaking of that content, I have to also point out that the version on the Nintendo Switch appears to be censored when compared to the PC release. This may seem like an obvious thing to do since it's on consoles, but I've played Nintendo Switch titles that feature art just as explicit as anything found in the uncensored version. Maybe the publisher considered putting it on other more strict platforms, but the changes feel largely unnecessary here. I know that this also will be a deal breaker for some, but I do want to point out that it's only some of the art that appears to be censored. Even though I personally thought the ecchi content could be a bit cringe at times, its exclusion makes me feel like this version of the game is rather incomplete. I still ended up loving the game regardless of this, but combined with the performance issues, I couldn't help but wonder why this version of the game even exists at all.

Get those upgrades early!

Call me Haley Hawk!

Trying to make sense of Dreamcutter's visuals is a very difficult task as there are quite a few different styles at work here. First off is the look of the actual levels and gameplay. These feature somewhat retro-inspired visuals, and honestly can come off somewhat bland and boring. They're most often wide open areas where you're able to run and jump your way through most of it without really noticing whenever things change up. Even though the game doesn't really do much with this style, it's my personal favorite of the game. Then there's the art that's used in dialogue scenes. These have a comic book feel to them, and are often different from what you see in the core gameplay graphics. The visual differences here are probably the least jarring though, and there's not a whole lot more to mention regarding them beyond that. Next up are the cutscene graphics. These look like they were all drawn by different artists, as just about every character looks wildly different from one screen to the next. The game also features an art gallery that consists of fan art from several different artists. Its inclusion actually makes me wonder if I'm not wrong in thinking that every cutscene image has a different artist behind it, as it would explain so much. Cutscene art varies from looking rather on model, to just looking odd and downright extreme. There's a lot of lewd moments here too, and several of the oddly censored sex scenes (Which use shadows or mist to cover up certain areas by the way.), so that just adds to their overall strangeness. The thing about the visuals in Dreamcutter is that none of them are bad by any means, they just lack any sense of cohesion. If you can get beyond the mix of various art styles, then you're bound to find lots of enjoyment here as the game is quite a treat to look at most of the time.

WTF is going on here?!?!

The art in the gallery is really good.

Sound is another mixed bag of sorts, but things fare far better here than they did in the visuals department. The music largely features upbeat electronic music, with occasional touches of horror and gothic style themes, and I'm here for it. There were several tracks that I liked, and I have pretty no complaints when it comes to music. Well, I do wish it were a bit louder in the mix, but that can be adjusted in the options menu. Sound effects have a satisfying crunch to them, and I really liked that Haley's attacks felt like they had weight to them. It's not often that I find myself raving about how good the sound effects in a game are, but Dreamcutter really deserves the praise. Next up would have to be the voice acting, or lack thereof. Dreamcutter does use unique typing sounds for each character, and that's a nice touch, but a game like this could've really benefitted from being fully voiced. The fact that so many artists took part in the game's gallery lead me to be believe that there was quite the creative force behind this game's production, and I can't help but think that there would've been some voice talent in that pool as well. There wouldn't even be a lot of work to do here either, as the game doesn't feature all that many characters, or even a lot of dialogue. I don't want to be too negative about it, but it definitely feels like a huge missed opportunity. That one gripe aside, Dreamcutter hits it out of the park as far as sound is concerned.

Even though there are quite a few things that kept me from totally enjoying my time with Dreamcutter, it did eventually grow on me. I already mentioned that I got used to the performance issues on the Switch, and I even played to the point where I unlocked everything possible from the shop and the gallery. Clearing the game will take most players about 5 to 6 hours depending on skill level, and probably a couple more if you're going for the completionist route. That of course references the Story Mode, but you could easily go straight to the Arcade Mode if you're looking for more of a challenge. In short I had fun with the game, and I don't regret my time with it. The story may have been a bit all over the place, and the censorship seemed a bit odd, but the game's charm kept me hooked. There really isn't much else to compare this to, especially on consoles. Of course I wish that this console release ran a bit better, but I guess we must make do with what we get. Also, at just $14.99, picking up Dreamcutter seems like a rather simple deal.

Panic kills lost girls.

Beware the boss encounters.

If you can get beyond some wonky performance issues, and mild annoyances like spotty hit detection, then I suggest picking up Dreamcutter. I do think the game is worth playing, even if it's far from polished. I guess one can skip the Nintendo Switch route entirely and get it on Steam, but I know nothing about that release beyond that it features more revealing images. It's not often that I recommend a game with as many issues as this one, but I can't help but feel that it deserves it. Grab it now and be sure to keep that dream journal handy!

Check Out Dreamcutter on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/dreamcutter-switch/

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Story: A
Gameplay: B-
Graphics: B
Music/Sound: A-
Value: A

Overall: B+

Pros:
+ An interesting mix of an action platformer, visual novel, and ecchi title.
+ Though it may through you for a loop, the story is interesting and well-written.
+ The Dream Combo system is rather fun, as is unlocking new abilities for Haley.
+ Even though there is somewhat of a lack of cohesion in the styles on display, most of the visuals are amazing.
+ Has an awesome soundtrack full of music that is energetic and lively, and also a little spooky and atmospheric.
+ It's always a treat seeing games like this get a console release, and this one is priced rather affordably too.

Cons:
- There are a lot of performances issues on the Switch. (Thankfully, none of them are game-breaking.)
- For a game so reliant on platforming, it's amazing how poorly implemented many of the advanced jumping techniques are.
- The game's visuals seem to be done by several different artists, with the art found in cutscenes, dialogue sections, and in-game graphics, being all over the place in terms of style.
- The lack of voice acting hurts the game's presentation a bit.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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Haley is pretty thicc though.