Through the Nightmares Review

Through the Nightmares follows the world of dreams where you are Sandman, a spirit said to bring good dreams to sleeping children. Normally the Sandman is known for sprinkling sleepy dust in the eyes of children to help them sleep. But what if they can’t wake up? What if they are stuck in a nightmare? The Lord of Dreams, Morpheus, is trapping children in their sleep and it is up to Sandman to bring them peace and wake them from this horrifying nightmare.

This 2.5D precision platformer wastes no time throwing you into intense action across 45 handcrafted levels spanning 3 chapters and 6 different locations. From your first step, expect constant challenges and stay alert - you never know what the nightmare will throw at you next. Challenge-driven games have been on the rise in the past decade and this is no exception. I enjoyed almost every level here. They were well designed, matching what the child’s trauma was in the nightmare whether it was the unknown beast in the woods, the giant spider pouncing at you or…the clowns. I’ll just leave that for you to figure out.

While trudging through the nightmare infested worlds you must avoid whatever the environment throws at you and luckily you have tricks up your sleeve. You have typical platformer movement - running and jumping - but Sandman can also control his size and perform devastating downward strikes. The size-changing goes beyond just shrinking to fit through spaces. When smaller, you’re lighter and can walk on fragile platforms without breaking them, while your full size adds weight that can trigger pressure-sensitive mechanisms or cause explosive traps to activate if you’re not careful. The downward strike helps you get to things quickly before they close or break through barriers, and some platforms won’t respond without that extra pressure. It seems simple at first, but these abilities become much more creative and essential as you progress. I appreciate the idea of not just introducing new moves but making me rethink how to use the current ones throughout each chapter.

Speaking more of the levels, the art style was impressive, with each chapter designed around the specific fears and memories of the child you are trying to save. It uses a low-poly art style that proves highly effective in creating these twisted dreamscapes. As you go through each level you unlock key memories that show you why they are having this nightmare, which adds emotional weight to your mission. And the challenge is certainly there in each one. Yes, while at the beginning they allow you to stretch your legs out, but by the time you are at chapter two you should feel the increase in difficulty. The difficulty comes from precise timing requirements and challenging enemy patterns. I found myself dying frequently in certain sections, which led me to take breaks - not out of frustration, but to reset my focus for the precise movements required. You do get some help with a flask that you can place down as a save point for a few deaths. There is a challenge though to bring that to the end of the level without using it. This increases the difficulty because one small mistake starts you over.

There was one area whose color palette caused issues for me. Avoiding spoilers, while I appreciated the area’s excitement and puzzles, the lack of color contrast, combined with the chaotic enemy attacks, made it difficult to identify where my character was or what was happening on my screen. I struggled to know when to dodge or attack because I was more focused on getting my bearings straight without straining my eyes. Overall, it felt unfairly difficult and left me frustrated. Each level features boss encounters that play out as extended sequences requiring you to chain together all your abilities from start to finish. These encounters test what you’ve learned in that specific chapter and how to utilize it all together for this final challenge.

I played on PC with a controller and also tested it on Steam Deck, where it performed flawlessly on both platforms with no technical issues. This doesn’t require a high end PC to play, so it can be enjoyed really on any platform. It is going to be released also on the Xbox, PlayStation and Switch. If you are a fan of challenging platformers, then I highly recommend picking this game up. The mechanics work well with the haunting environments, and while the difficulty can be punishing, the instant respawns and creative level design keep you coming back for more. Through the Nightmares successfully delivers a nightmare worth experiencing for those brave enough to face it.