I wasn't a fan of bullet hells/heavens before playing Picayune Dreams, so I'm glad to say that it's definitely reeled me into these genres. However, the clear amount of passion that's been funnelled into every other aspect of this game is what really makes it stand out from the rest.

The story is poignant, but very digestible and it played a big role in keeping me engaged during my first few hours, but that doesn't mean the extremely addictive gameplay loop was lacking in any regards. The roguelike side of Picayune Dreams really helps with stopping runs from feeling too samey, and I love how well designed all the upgrades and entities are in both a gameplay + aesthetics sense.

Speaking of design, I'm a huge fan of the psychedelic art direction. I initially thought that the game would be a bit too visually overwhelming for me, but my eyes never felt tired even after a three hour play session. I'd say this is quite important considering how the Yume Nikki-esque visuals of the story really goes hand-in-hand with the gameplay's appearance.

As for the banger soundtrack: it does a superb job of complementing what's going on in-game, whether you're in the thick of a wave or going through a memory. There's good variety too, as the music isn't just the glitchcore that you hear in the trailers, as great as all of those tracks are. In fact, I actually first found out about Picayune Dreams through the ambient stuff, since I've been listening to milkypossum's music for a while now and had one of the character themes pop up in my YouTube feed!

At the end of the day, Picayune Dreams is just one of those games that even makes me feel good by simply recommending it to my friends, because it really is a must have in any games library.

And to the dev team themselves: Thanks a ton you three for creating such a seriously awesome piece of work whilst listing it for so cheap! I've only played a couple games published by 2LT, but I genuinely believe that Picayune Dreams is my favourite so far. I'm really looking forward to what comes next, but until then: keep cooking!