A Fantastical Fever Dream
HIGH Effective world-building and imaginative game design.
LOW Gameplay and visuals lack variety. Some pretty egregious bugs.
WTF Money floating around waiting to be pilfered is truly the stuff of fantasy.
Dread Delusion is a delightfully retro open world first-person CRPG for fans of The Elder Scrolls or King’s Field series but with a much weirder, trippier look and feel.
Many CRPG veterans will applaud the sole developer at Lonely Hellplace, James Wragg, for his commitment to replicating the sort of graphics, combat, lore and music they associate with the genre while lending it a more modern sensibility and quality-of-life improvements, whereas newer players might be annoyed by the foundations being laid in old-school game design.
The early access version of Dread Delusion has been out for about two years and received mixed reviews, but the publisher, DreadXP, has now released the full version including new areas, NPCs, creatures, side quests and a long-awaited ending to the main quest.
The adventure starts as the player wakes up in a cell and chooses their stats and background by answering some questions to determine what kind of character they want to be. Sadly, there is no opportunity for cosmetic customization, as the player never sees their character.
After choosing my stats and corresponding backstory, I was released from prison — but not before an “Inquisitor” made me a “Confessor,” forced to do penance for my crimes by suppressing Wikkan (worshippers of the old gods) activity throughout the land and ultimately, stopping the most wanted mercenary captain, Vela Callose of the Dark Stars, from bringing an end to the Apostatic Union.
For an organization that is so tough on crime, the Apostatic Union is surprisingly lax about the level of supervision that should be required to make sure their prisoners stay in line, because from that point on I had free reign to go wherever and do whatever I wanted in the world — and what a vast, fascinating world it is.
The Oneiric Isles (an archipelago of sky islands) are home to a plethora of strange flora and fauna scattered throughout various regions that the player can explore. Most of the NPCs are strange too, stricken by famine or madness as a result of dabbling in the occult or taking too many magic mushrooms.
During my first mission set in a castle, I came across artillery weapons that had fallen into disrepair, documents that were scattered on desks detailing what had happened to the land, and other artifacts from a war between the humans and gods. As I fought my way up to the battlements, its roots in older games made it feel a bit like stepping into an old pair of shoes, but the combat using a rusty sword I received at the start was too simple. After a few quests, I found a spell that allowed me to return to my last save point, which proved useful whenever I ran low on stamina or health potions.
In every town I explored, there seemed to be a treasure trove of lore (and sometimes a literal treasure) waiting to be unlocked via the dusty tomes found in the world, and NPCs who were more than happy to tell me anything I needed to know — and often, many things I didn’t need to know. Such opportunities for learning more about the world of Dread Delusion should be especially satisfying for lore-curious players.
In the open areas between quests, I encountered many foes — some of which felt totally original, like the autonomous cannon enemy in the Clockwork Kingdom (an industrial dystopia dominated by machines that warrants its own game) and I especially liked the disturbing “goblin” enemy I found near Hallow Town. It was a furry blue creature wearing a red mask that rests above its gaping mouth, but the mouth is located in the center of its chest.
Later in my playthrough, I started traveling by airship so it was exciting to find that the adventure was not limited to the sky islands — there was an entire overworld (known as the “under lands”) still left to explore below.
Maybe I’m seeing things through rose-colored glasses but looking back on my own experiences with a few of those games in particular, I remember how eager I was to explore all the curious landmarks dotting the horizon and how fascinated I was by all the lore that informed what I was experiencing along the way. Dread Delusion never quite managed to trick my brain into believing that the world it depicted was real in the way that the best CRPGs manage to do — through careful, consistent world-building coupled with enchanting visuals — so I never felt nearly as invested in turning over every stone the game had to offer.
Technically, there were moments when things stuttered or glitched out (in one extreme case, the entire island disappeared from under me) which reflects the jankier elements of the CRPGs I grew up with, but it’s much less endearing when considering that it was released in 2024, not 2004. I also abandoned several quests because I had accomplished the objective, but the game didn’t recognize it. It would then fail to give me the next objective, or just not show that the quest was completed.
Like many CRPGs in the past, it’s likely that I will never beat Dread Delusion and I’ll be totally alright with that. Still, I’ve largely enjoyed my time in its world and I look forward to exploring more of it because to me, open world games are (and always have been) more about the journey than the destination — and I suspect the developer behind Dread Delusion would wholeheartedly agree.
Rating: 7 out of 10
Disclosures: This game was developed by Lovely Hellplace and published by DreadXP. It is currently available on PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher. Approximately 10 hours were devoted to the single-player mode. The game was not finished. There are no multiplayer modes.
Parents: The game is not rated through the ESRB. This game is set in a dark fantasy world where players will fight monsters and some humans using weapons and spells but there is no gore. Beer is a usable item and players can ingest psychedelic mushrooms, both of which can induce a drunken state. NPCs will sometimes use expletives in their dialogue.
Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.
Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: There are no voiced lines in the game, it’s all text. There are no audio cues. This game is fully accessible.
Remappable controls: The controls can be remapped.
- Dead Of Darkness Review - August 17, 2025
- Vessels Of Decay Review - July 23, 2025
- Tainted Grail Review - July 6, 2025