Want things to get weird? Then LSD: Dream Emulator is one of the OGs of weird games. Now, a free fan-made recreation brings all the surreal magic of the game to PC, and you can get hold of it for …
Want things to get weird? Then LSD: Dream Emulator is one of the OGs of weird games. Now, a free fan-made recreation brings all the surreal magic of the game to PC, and you can get hold of it for free. The project is called LSD: Revamped and we’re absolutely obsessed with it.
We’ll forgive you for never having played LSD: Dream Emulator before. The game is a rare PS1 title that up until its release on the PlayStation Store in 2010, was not easy to get hold of.
LSD: Dream Emulator is a game, or at least an interactive experience, based on dreams. The original creator of the idea, producer Osamu Sato, conceived it to be more like an art piece than a game in the classic sense. With environments based around a dream diary kept by a game designer at Asmik Ace, LSD: Dream Emulator lets you take a stroll through dreams.
Your actions are fairly limited. You can walk in any direction, and turn on the spot. Most objects you touch will transport you to a new area.
It’s not always a whimsical adventure though. Some dreams take you to dark places.
There are nightmarish dark cityscapes with dead bodies on the ground, eerie open fields covered with a red mist, and corridors of massive disembodied faces.
You’re not always alone in your dreams, and the entities that visit you aren’t always friendly. You deal with the constant threat of The Grey Man, a sinister figure in a wide-brimmed hat who casn materialize in your dreams. He will walk slowly towards you. If he touches you, he wipes your dream from replays. It’s not a huge punishment.. so why do I feel so unnerved?
So what does the remake offer that the original doesn’t? LSD: Revamped has all the strangeness and familiar locations you can find in the original, with some modern comforts.
You have more graphics options, with resolution and filter options available.
More interestingly, it is built with mod support in mind, with a view to letting the community build in all kinds of weird and wonderful new content. With any luck this means a long-lived community and tons of all new experiences. Unless they’re anything like The Grey Man. You can keep anything like him. Even one is too many.
Want to check the project out and download a copy? Head over to the itch.io page. Give the creator some love.
Want some more weird games? Try our news on False Hero.
