The Smurfs — Dreams Review

The Smurfs — Dreams is the latest entry to the seemingly growing repertoire of games about the cute blue family, and this time, it's a platformer developed by Ocellus Studio and published by Microids. I got to try the demo a while back, and I was absolutely smitten by it, so I was over the moon when I was told I could also review it. The only question that remained was whether my prior fantastic experience might've set my expectations and hype a bit too high, especially because platformers are hard to nail in the long run (most of the time, at least).

Starting the game up, I was surprised that the intro was just as simple as the demo's — no dialogue, no introduction: you just get shown through a quick cinematic of what happened and jump straight into action. In a nutshell, Gargamel enchanted some berries and put all the Smurfs to sleep, and now we have to save them!

Personally, this isn't a downside to me because, although dialogue and story are cool, I don't think they're necessary in every single game. Heck, if you're an avid gamer, you might just find them redundant; after all, how many times can you read about Gargamel doing something wicked to The Smurfs before you know what the plan is?

Just like in the demo, the first world was also Chef's! This time, however, it was much longer, and I was quickly introduced to the first of the tools, too! To my original dismay, you don't get to wield them throughout the entire run, but I understand why it would be easier to make fun worlds if the player doesn't have an arsenal of weapons and tools at their disposal.

In total, The Smurfs — Dreams offers four main worlds and eight smaller ones. The difference is that the former are more detailed in the environment, are themed around a specific Smurf, and are longer; the latter have shorter run times but also feel more challenging. Personally, I enjoyed the main ones more because it was when the game most shined — the environments were gorgeous (especially Vanity's! Wowza!), the gimmicks were very fun, and they felt engaging. The shorter ones weren't too bad on the eyes, but I also died a whole lot more because they had more tedious mechanics (at least to me; I know people, like my wife, really enjoy them), like having to do something quickly in a set amount of time.

That being said, don't let that discourage you if you don't like difficulty — the game is very forgiving! If you die, nothing really happens; in fact, you don't even have to restart from the beginning during boss fights. And for anyone concerned about getting bored if you're bad at platformers, there are checkpoints aplenty all over the place! I worried maybe having only two hearts throughout the entire game might become punishing, especially during the later levels or bosses, and although I did die often, it was mostly because I was excited and impatient. I tend to want to zoom through everything, and it takes a few deaths for me to settle down and take a jump seriously, so I doubt anyone will struggle too much.

The Smurfs — Dreams is also relatively short; I got to the final level in just seven hours, and I had more than 70% of the achievements done by then, too! I fully intend to get all of them because — to the relief of achievement hunters out there — it's a very enjoyable 100% to acquire! Some of them are silly, you get most of them just by just playiing the game, and you won't find any grindy ones, either. In fact, aside from the few tools/weapons and platforming, the game doesn't really offer a lot more, but I think it's smart budgeting. It's not so complex you would need to upgrade your character, I was satisfied with the outfits available (and their prices), and there are enough movement abilities that it was fun to platform! Adding anything else might've muddied such a fun and lighthearted experience, and it’s when games overstay their welcome due to content bloat.

If this all sounds simple or boring, it’s because I’m trying not to spoil any of the exciting mechanics, unlockables, or fun content. Due to the length, a lot of it is best experienced first-hand, and I’d hate to take that from anyone reading! 

Despite all of this, there is one thing I do wish they had done differently: instead of eight smaller worlds, I would've liked it if they had made a fifth big one and one or two short ones. I would have loved to see their creativity and environment-building for a Smurf like Painter or Blossom! I was also a bit disappointed that the ending cinematic had a default male Smurf in it and not a girl or my character, though that is an even smaller complaint in the grand scheme of things. This is especially true as there are a lot of smaller details that I could go on about that really make the experience come to life but aren’t really all that vital to anyone wondering if it’s something they should pick up. Just to name a quick two, I’m not usually the type to notice soundtracks in games, but there were a few tunes that really stood out to me (namely, the one in Vanity’s level), and I was also quite smitten by the silly comedy that the background Smurfs brought to the whole experience! The amount of things I could highlight and compliment much outweighed the few problems I had throughout my time with the game. 

I love platformers, and although there are a lot of them, and it seems like an easy genre to make, very few of them nail the excitement and fun, and The Smurfs — Dreams was one of them! I found myself either chuckling or gawking the entire time because it's bursting with so much charm and humour, and the platforming was good, too! The worlds are unique, the levels are vivid and colourful, and I am so grateful it exists. If you are looking for an adventure that'll really give you an enjoyable time, I highly recommend it!

The Smurfs — Dreams is available now!