Dream Trigger 3D Review

The Nintendo 3DS, lacking a juggernaut franchise like Mario, is bound to have a sleeper hit amongst its early titles. If only a company would release something truly innovative that blew away our preconceived notions of what a game should be. D3 Publisher undoubtedly hoped that it would be them. Dream Trigger accomplished at least part of that – it blew my mind away, but not in a positive way.

Where to start? Dream Trigger is undoubtedly a unique concept. You fly around as a butterfly with the objective of killing invisible enemies. No, this is not Killer 7. The enemies float around the screen shooting stuff at you while you try to avoid it. In order to reveal these enemies you have to ping them by dropping sonar bombs on them. Only then can you inflict damage.

There are two main problems with the premise of this game. The first is that it requires you to switch between viewing the top and bottom screens constantly while also avoiding a frenetic onslaught of enemy attacks. The bottom screen is your radar where you can see the enemy representing as dots on a grid. The second problem is that when you need to drop your sonar bomb to reveal the top screen you need to use the stylus.

It is possible to use the A button instead, but it only drops the bomb where your butterfly dude is located on the screen. Essentially you are screwed either way: use the stylus and deal with the wonkiness of holding the system, moving the butterfly with the analog stick, holding a stylus, and pressing the trigger to fire… or you can avoid using the stylus by pressing A and risk dying multiple times because you get too close to the enemies. It’s your call! Which way do you prefer to die?

To make matters worse there are no difficulty settings that you can adjust in order to make the game easier. Rarely would I need to do this, but after failing the first level twenty times, you would want to as well. There isn’t even a competent tutorial to guide you through the ins and outs of the game. I understand that Dream Trigger is coming out of Japan, but I expect publishers to vet these types of issues before they get released to the general public.

Dream Trigger does have a few redeeming qualities. On the positive side, the soundtrack is pretty nice. They are essentially electronic renditions of classical music. The graphics are also a pleasant surprise. Each level is a visual treat for the eyes. It’s honestly the best part of the game. The 3D does not do a whole lot for it, although it is easier to judge when you can collect items that are floating around.

D3 Publisher missed an opportunity here. If they had launched Dream Trigger with a more realistic control setup and a friendlier learning curve, it could have been a good addition to the 3DS lineup. As it stands, Dream Trigger is such a hassle to attempt to play that you will more than likely just give up after a while. Only masochists are likely to get much enjoyment out of this.