I’m Baiyon, the director of Dreams of Another and a multimedia artist. The release date for the game, October 10, is fast approaching.
In this post, I’d like to share the inspiration behind the themes of the game, the ideas behind the object dialogues, which is one of the aspects that makes the game special, and my personal dedication to the soundtrack I created.
How did the theme “no creation without destruction” come about?
Dreams of Another is built around the philosophical theme of “no creation without destruction.” Rather than destroying objects by shooting, as in traditional shooting games, here, your shots materialize and create the world around you.
I have a memory about “destruction and creation” that has stayed with me. It happened during my middle school cultural festival. According to the school rules, everyone had to prepare some kind of exhibit, and my friend and I collected cardboard to make and display a cardboard sculpture.
When the chime signaling the end of the one-day festival rang and cleanup began, I lightly started punching and breaking the sculpture. Since it was going to be thrown away anyway, perhaps it was a lighthearted thought born of youth: “If it’s going to be cleaned up anyway, let’s have some fun.”
At first, my friend laughed as he watched, but after a while, I felt a pain in my back. When I turned around, I saw my friend, with an angry face, kicking my back. From there, it escalated into a full-on fight, and a teacher, noticing, came into the classroom and shouted at me, “Are you making something to destroy it?!”
Those words stayed with me in a way different from the teacher’s original intent. I think I understood that the teacher meant I should take care of what I create, but I kept thinking, “It’s going to be thrown away anyway…” Yet I found this human contradiction somehow interesting.
That feeling has always run deep in my approach to creating things, and this game allowed it to take shape.
Unique dialogue with objects like trees and doors
In this game, you can not only interact with people in the dream world but also talk with objects such as trees and doors. One of the game’s major charms is being able to hear their sentiments and experience their emotions.
For example, when I am thinking about ideas for this door’s dialogue, I first realized that even when we say “door,” there are many kinds and positions. Doors in public places, such as buildings, schools, or shopping malls, doors in one’s home, doors of the living room or bedrooms of children and teens, the door of the family home lived in for decades, or the door of a grandmother’s house after losing her husband… Each door is connected to human life, and I imagined that, like us, they might feel pride or even envy other doors.
If I were a door, I would want to be a door that is there for an individual’s personal space, rather than merely a being that separates spaces. At the same time, some doors might actually feel comfortable being roughly used by a large family in a living room, while others might feel suited to existing for strangers in a public facility.
Imagine doors having a variety of preferences and ways of thinking. In the dialogues, nothing is imposed as “right” or a conclusion. I wanted players to reflect on their own environment, access past memories, and have a moment of reflection.
In this way, the dialogues are not just flat and one-dimensional—they can be experienced in a multi-layered way, from various perspectives, and connected to one’s own memories.
Of course, it’s perfectly fine to enjoy it simply as a door saying something a little strange. That playfulness and unexpectedness of the dialogues are part of the unique charm of this dream world.
A unique approach to composing the soundtrack
I have worked on various game soundtracks alongside my own projects over the years, but this time, I felt especially the sense of “I made the music for a game.”
I wanted to create music that resonated with the scenarios and dialogues I wrote myself, as well as the situations and atmosphere of each scene, which made me approach the music in a way different from before. For each scene, I composed music with the intention of evoking certain feelings in the player and expressing particular emotions myself.
Additionally, a key theme was to convey the instability and ambiguity of the dream world with music. One thing I consciously tried to avoid was being “too polished.” As a musician, this approach is somewhat challenging, but instead of creating compositions that are overly tight or densely structured, I aimed for music that flows.
Also, for example, For a particular river scene inspired by my own memories and experiences, I actually spent a long time traveling to the location for field recordings to compose the music for the scene, capturing sounds such as flowing water and stones being rubbed together—the latter of which I then incorporated as rhythmic elements. These particular touches may go unnoticed by anyone, but for me, the focus was on keeping things genuine. By incorporating elements drawn from the source of inspiration as much as possible, I believe it could enrich the experience.
I think there are many sounds that aren’t often heard during gameplay. While playing, I hope you take a moment to listen closely to these subtle details—they might lead to small discoveries or interesting experiences.
Dreams of Another will launch on October 10 for PS5 and PS VR2. A special bundle is also available for pre-order, which includes the previous game I directed, PixelJunk Eden 2.
If you’re interested, please check out the store page. I truly look forward to you enjoying this special experience.