LSD

I think my problem with LSD Dream Emulator is that it feels too much like a novel attack on the senses, with a heavy emphasis on psychedelia. That's the impression its music gave me anyway, along with a plentiful array of sound effects and the loudest footsteps imaginable. The irrationality of the subconscious is there and I appreciate that it functions as a dream would; with bumping into objects having a transportive effect and falls ending the cycle. Not to mention the dream chart, which classifies your dream placement, still remains cryptic to this day. But what connection these experiences have to a conscious mind can only be understood by its creator, or the dream diary's I should say. I don't know about you, but when I'm in a dream, it feels real to me in the moment and tends to involve people I know, as well as situations I'm consciously aware of or desire. I don't think there's much to piece together here, it's more of an atmospheric art gallery and a repetitive one at that.

for as legendary as this game and its aesthetics are, i'll be the last person to defend it as anything other than a quick curiosity piece.

the gameplay consists of being thrown into one of a handful of maps, touching a wall then being transported to another map from the set. if you're lucky you'll get a texture-swapped variant instead of the same map you saw an hour ago, and if you're really lucky you just get a shoddy low-res video with the colors inverted instead of playing.

being the first to do something does not mean being the best to do it, much less still being essential after others have continued your work. every idea here can be found in better and more refined form in something like Fatum Betula, The Void or even Yume Nikki.

everyone should play this game at least once, but never for more than 10 minutes.

I hate the Hatman.

LSD: Dream Emulator remains to this day the only video game worth playing.

This game portrays dreams in a notably distinct manner from its progeny. What remains especially interesting to me is the aspect of randomness being emphasized, with you starting from a different point in the dream every night, the music constantly changing, the different texture replacements that can occur, and the many events and characters that do not always show up. I think Yume Nikki [ゆめにっき] was going for something similar with its several low chance events, but they are not quite as integral to the experience as LSD. Playthroughs between different people can be very distinct in this game; Nikki does not really succeed in that aspect. However, in comparison to Nikki this game seems to lack subjective charm. This may just be because the early 3D aesthetic makes me feel unsettled, but the lack of fan content comparatively must mean something. I would guess you could blame it on two aspects; more randomness means less shared experiences and a lack of cute girls.

Special mention to all the random clips and bits of text that can appear as dreams. Those were evocative of my own dreams in a way nothing else (read: Nikki and its fan games) ever has been. Reading the translations for all the text dreams had me especially affected, shivering and looking over my shoulder constantly. I do not really know why these mostly innocuous dreams have that effect on me. I leave you with this, a translation of one of the text dreams from the game: "Then the car, as if drilling into the old tree's center, runs towards the house. The late great-grandmother came out. "You came back for me, didn't you?" she said, while passing away. She held my hand."

Oh man do I have a story about this game. The first time I ever played this game was the first time I ever smoked marijuana. Two of my high school friends and I were smoking in one of their backyards, and we ate a colossal amount of food and played a variety of games. One of these games was LSD Dream Simulator. Bro, this is one of the most fucked up games ever. When you're high, and you've never been high before, playing a game like this is just stunning. I have no idea what's going on in this game. It's delirious, surreal, and if there's any sort of story, I have no idea what it is and don't care to figure it out honestly. But I'll be damned if this wasn't an affecting game when I got stoned for the first time years and years ago.