[SPOILER] Review of Therapy Dream

[DanielRand47]

Before Reading: This is an honest review based on my own playthrough and feedback from others. I do not expect everyone to agree with the rating I will give be it good or bad. As always I am open to ways to improve my reviews.

Warning: Spoilers below!!

Introduction
Therapy Dream follows the character of Ethan Jones who wakes up in what appears to be his home. But all is not what it seems. Therapy Dream was developed by a young Romanian man by the name of Robby on the FG forums. His first release for the title was back on December 29, 2016 on Moddb. Unfortunatly due to a major bug that caused the player to experience a black box error, it quickly gained a very poor rating amongst many of its users. This in turn prompted the developer to release version 1.01. (Link found below) The new release did away with some of the timers that caused the black box erros, but some of them are still present. Though you would have to wait a very long time for it to happen. Once the new version was released Robby had this to say:

Response to TD players


Furthermore he has a rather low rating for what the mod offers.

Moddb rating of Therapy Dream


He offers an apology to those who have played his mod, but he makes note that it was his last custom story and that to him it was a success. And the mod itself is really not that bad once you get into it. Speaking of which let's start the analysis.


Positives

Level Design
The design of the levels in Therapy Dream shows the amount of time and effort that was placed into each level. Each level is very much designed to fit the puzzle or puzzles that are featured in each. The lighting fits the environment very well, though later on you will encounter many dark hallways, but are not to difficult to navigate. The layout of each level starts out as normal, but very quickly turns into something that seems really out of place. In fact you will find alot of things that won't make sense but that is the whole point. Another vital point to mention is that puzzles can be solved with the current layout. You will have to be patient. Overall the level design is very good.

Sound and Music
Therapy Dream has very little in the way of a musical score, but it does have a single track that plays for the majority of the game from start to finish. If anything it adds to the out of place and dream vibe.

Enemies
During your theraputic dream session you will encounter only two enemies throughout. A brute and a dog that seems to be patroling the tunnels in the lower areas. You will notice it by the red glow it emits. Furthermore this mod follows the one hit rule that Justine follows. One hit and you're dead. Did I also mention that the game autosaves only a few times, which means that if you die and you have not reached another checkpoint, you get to restart at the previous checkpoint.

The dog is not difficult to avoid as your only real close encounter is prior to the "pipe nightmare" or so it's called in game. However the brute you encounter later on is a bit more challenging to avoid as it fixes in on your position but it is doable.

Puzzles
Be patient. A solution does exist.

Foggy maze: The first puzzle encounted. This puzzle essentially introduces you to how Therapy Dream plays out. The puzzle itself is rather straight forward, but can also be frustrating to many players as the solution to it is well hidden and if you are not observant you will miss it. Fortunatly you do not lose any sanity while in the dark, so when the lights go out it is not a race against time. Once you find the solution which is a lever on the wall in the red room you are quickly zipped away to your next destination. A household.

FNAF section: If you want frustration but also being kept on your toes, then this puzzle is just for you. Especially if you love FNAF. This puzzle is something that Amnesia has not seen. It is innovative and puts to use the resources that Amnesia offers. You have only nine minutes to complete it. Sounds easy enough, but we all know that there is a catch or two, or three. While you listen to the mysterious man on the megaphone he tells you what you have to do. Survive for nine minutes. However, he tells you that you have to execute a series of instructions otherwise face the consequences. You have to keep an eye on your power level by refueling the furnace with coal, keep the six torches lit, keep whatever is in the vents at bay, re-callibrate the lights, and keep a stock of tinderboxes. Also for every torch that goes out time slows down and eventually can stop completly.

Three ways to fail: Have all six torches die out. Whatever is in the vents breaks out. Furnace loses all power.

Once you complete the puzzle, you will be given the code to access the keypad located one floor below where the puzzle takes place. This puzzle is not an exact replica of FNAF but a hat tip to it.

Tunnels and keypad: Welcome to the largest map of the entire mod. 3 MB. If you have played SCP Containment Breach, this map makes a hat tip to it. This map is one giant puzzle, which requires you to do some back tracking later on in order to find the "Mind Pieces". It is also where you will have your encounter with the dog that patrols this place. First the keypads. You will find a note that gives you all the combinations for the keypads, but you can simply guess what the correct combo is by simply punching the buttons until you get the correct code. (They light up if the correct button is pressed.) After this, you will find some oil in the area, though use it only when needed as the areas are dark.

Soon you will eventually reach the bottom most level of the tunnels where you must find the three "Mind Pieces" in order to proceed. The first one is rather easy to find. Just pay attention to the water in the lower levels. The second is found behind a caged in doorway, but it has a padlock. You get a key for it later on. The third and final piece requires some exploration and you better be ready to book it once you have it. After you find the three pieces your final access code is given to you.


Restoring your mind: (Red slime does not hurt you.) The purpose of this puzzle is to clear your mind of whatever is plaguing it. You should have five tinderboxes in your inventory. If not you may need to backtrack some. However six more are provided in a small chest. You must light all the nonlit torches in the area in order to proceed, but you must also find three steam rods before assembling the orb, which is what makes the puzzles such as this one really good. It's not to easy and it requires you to do some looking around. Once the rods are in place, fix the orb or your mind. Remember when I said that it's not to easy? Well this mod does mess with your mind and what better way to do than to make you think that you may have failed by running through endless hallways. Again their is a solution.


Reach the bell: The final challeng in your theraputic session. Not only does TD provide a list of good puzzles and exploration, but also some platforming. The platforming here is very interesting as not many custom stories seem to include such puzzles, and it's not solid horizontal platforming. The objective is to reach the bell area in the center. However one mess up and you are warped back to the start of the platforming area. Once you reach the center the game is complete!


Negatives
One of the negatives this mod has, is the potential for encountering the black box error which occurs if a player exceeds the default timer index. Should the player go beyond the limit, it will crash upon loading the next map. The other negative is that when you reload after the game saves in the tunnels near the "Pipe Nightmare" section, you can end up falling through the map. Maybe it's just my system but I encountered this multiple times, but was able to finish it. My third negative is that the hallway sequence near the end of the game felt way to long and repetitive. Almost to the point of unneccessary after awhile. My fourth negative is the minimal game auto saves. Say if you die after collecting one of the "Mind Pieces" you will have to go through an entire section again until you get it right. This got very old after a few attempts and was edging on the verge of frustrating.

Conclusion
Overall Therapy Dream is not as bad as some would make it out to be. Granted it does have its issues, but it really forces the player to step back and think about what they are doing and what the solution may be. And it requires your constant attention. It really gets at the puzzle solving feel that was in the original Amnesia as well as making a hat tip to other games like FNAF and SCP Containment Breach. However, I will have to give this mod an honest rating where I factor in all of the above as well as community ratings.

Verdict

Rating Scale
1 = Don't bother playing.
2 = Look into it.
3 = Play only once.
4 = Recommend to a friend and play it again on a later day.
5 = Play it again and again.

Based on all the above I give this mod a honest and solid rating of: 3.5 out of 5. (7 out of 10)
Moddb Rating: 5.5 out of 10. (As of the publishing of this review.)
Average Rating: 6.25 out of 10. (Average of my review and Moddb.)

Rating Factors

• Possiblitly of having a black box error. (Granted a warning from Robby is given.)
  
• Lack of more autosaves.
  
• Some solutions could be just a bit more easier to find.
  

If you wish to try it out for youself check out the link below.
Link to Therapy Dream