Paladin Dream Review

Introduction
Have you ever had a dream that is so vivid that it almost seems real? In this game called Paladin Dream, you play as a paladin and he has terrible nightmares. This game is developed in an RPG MAKER engine and it looks very well tested.
I have only found a few minor bugs and some problems. You can complete this game in about two hours and there are not many items to be found. The story is better than I had expected but I saw the ending coming from miles away.
There are only a few weapons but they have been categorized into multiple specialties, one weapon damages wild animals more and other weapons damage demons more. You will learn new skills as you gain levels, being around level 12 will be good enough to beat the endgame boss.

What did I think about Paladin Dream before playing?
The game is made with RPG MAKER engine and this excited me, I like games that are made with RPG MAKER.
The graphics looked the same as it does with any other RPG MAKER game, I recognized many tilesets that were used.
Most of the non-playable characters were also the default options from the RPG MAKER, this is not a problem but it does stand out.
I booted up the game and started playing Paladin Dream and was met with an interactive cutscene.

I rate the Paladin Dream with a 6.5 before playing.
The graphics looked okay but it was nothing unique or special. The game looked fun to play and it seemed interesting with a good story.

Story
The story starts with a Paladin called Joshia having a bad dream once again, this seems to be an omen. You are the only paladin that is allowed to leave the church where all the paladins reside. You will need to find the cave that appears in your dreams. Slowly you start to realize something is wrong with the church!
Can you find out what is going on in Joshia’s dreams?

I rate the story of Paladin Dream with a 7.0
The story is good and I liked it, it was something that I don’t see much but the ending is very obvious. You can clearly see that there was a lot of work put into this story! I wish the story would have been longer and that it took far longer to reach the cave. Finding the cave so quickly and ending the story was just bad and destroyed the whole purpose of the game. If the story was longer, I would have rated the story rating higher.

Gameplay
The game uses common roleplaying elements as it is made with an RPG MAKER engine, you start as a low-level paladin that can only fight slimes. The shops work very simply where you just need to select a choice. You can use a loaf of bread to heal your health points. When leveling up you will gain more stats and health points. At certain levels, you will learn new magic skills that can help you on your journey. Battles take place in a side-view but the enemies walk on the map, this means you will need to bump into the enemies to start a battle. There are some strong weapons and armor hidden away, you can find these by talking to non-playable characters for hints. The game is fairly balanced but if you keep up with your armor there will be a lot of enemies that barely damage you. If you don’t keep up with the new weapons and armor Joshia will be in a world of pain. There are only a few villages and one bigger town, the gameplay is exactly what you would expect from a roleplaying game. Make sure to use the correct weapon against the correct enemy type.

I rate Paladin Dream with a 6.8 for gameplay.
The gameplay was exactly like other roleplaying games, I did like that you have other weapons for other enemies but for me, this was mostly a burden instead of fun. The game is very short and defeats its own purpose by making it so small. I feel like even the most common villagers could have traveled to that cave.
The game does not seem very balanced, the end game boss will destroy you in one hit or he won’t hurt you at all.

Sound and Graphics
The graphics are exactly what you would expect in an RPG MAKER game, there is nothing special to see in this game because only the tilesets were used.
The sound effects and soundtracks were mediocre but I enjoyed them throughout the game.

I rate the sound and graphics of Paladin Dream with a 6.4
The sound and graphics were mediocre and nothing special.

What did I think after playing Paladin Dream?
The game did not leave me warm or cold, I liked going through the motion but it was nothing unique.
I do recommend this game to any other RPG MAKER fans, if the game would be longer I would have enjoyed it more.
The weapon swapping got annoying fast but the idea is good, I did like the story.
The game was properly tested, this is a must for any game! There were not too many different items or enemy sprites which was also a bad decision.
I expected more of the Paladin Dream but I did enjoy my time with this game. I rate the Paladin Dream with a 6.0 after playing.
There are multiple flaws with this game, otherwise, this could have been a much better game!

Personal Rating
I do not have anything new to add to my personal rating.

I rate Paladin Dream with a 5.5 for a personal rating.

Pros and Cons

Pros
– The game is made with an RPG MAKER engine.
– The story of the Paladin Dream is better than I had expected.
– The game has been tested properly before letting other people play it.
– The enemies in the game do look nice and pretty.

Cons
– The game is very unbalanced, some armor makes you a god but if you don’t have this armor you can die in one hit.
– The story seems very short,  it would have been more effective if it was a long journey.
– There is less enemy variety than I had hoped.
–  I would not pay 5 dollars to play this game for a maximum of two gameplay hours, I would wait for a sale to purchase this game.
– I was confronted with one major issue when coming back to Paladin Dream for a video review and some screenshots. The point of no return is broken! Saving before the final boss does not work, after defeating the final boss you will always meet the credits when booting up the game. Make sure to do everything you want in Paladin Dream before attempting the final boss.

Paladin Dream is a small fun game with both pros and cons but everyone who loves the RPG maker games will love Paladin Dream as well.
The final rating of Paladin Dream is…drumroll…

6.5

Don’t forget to leave your own thoughts about the game in the comment section.
I hope you enjoyed reading this review, I hope to see you in the next review!