Peppermint: Journey of Fantasies

The logo of the game.

***Peppermint: Journey of Fantasies*** (**ペパーミント：空想の旅** lit. **Peppermint: A Fantasy Journey** in Japanese), also known as ***Peppermint Fantasies***, is a 3D action-adventure platformer video game developed by Ri Studios and projected to be published by Imaginate. It is third installment of the *Peppermint* franchise and the second game of the series. *Peppermint: Journey of Fantasies* took place 2 years after the first game.

The game was released on April 2nd, 2021.

## Overview

Peppermint flies to a school's dorm after having magical contact of 2 unlikely students who are getting bad thoughts and dreams after a unsettling event they have been in. Those being Noah and Sophie. By using ornaments, they can become Peppermint to kick, leap and spin against nightmares! However, a new villain named Ghaster rises and uses his powers to resurrect Peppermint's arch-nemesis; Dr. Mystery.

## Gameplay

*Peppermint: Journey of Fantasies* features an all new gameplay than the first game. The gameplay will be more like a mix of *NiGHTS Into Dreams*, *Sonic Lost World* and *Super Mario Galaxy*. Players will have access to an open world location known as Bellcon, the main setting of the game. Manholes appears as a stage and it will lead the player into stages that are casino, carnival, snow, night town and space themed.

### **Characters & Abilities**

Players can control Noah, Sophie and Peppermint. As both Noah and Sophie, they can jump and interact with object. Once collecting ornaments, it will lead them to take the role as Peppermint. When Noah/Sophie is Peppermint, there is a time limit to where it can last up to 5 to 10 minutes. As Peppermint, she can jump, spin and kick, as well as leaping and backward jumping. When blasting through the air, Peppermint can fly before reaching to the next destination. While in flight, she can collect more ornaments to keep the time limit from wasting. Peppermint has a life meter of 5. It can be added by 10 via Life Ornament, a power-up.

The goal of the game is to collect all 30 Aura Bells to brighten up the Dream Meter of both Noah and Sophie.

### **Stages & Their Details**

There are over 30 stages total in this game. Again, stages consist of casino, carnival, snow, night town and space themed. Most stages takes inspiration and pays homage to *Super Mario Galaxy* and *Sonic Lost World* as they feature platforms floating in the air/sky with small planetoids appearing too. Cannons appear to make the player fly to their destination, while in the other hand collecting ornaments, doing stunts and strike at enemies, similar to *NiGHTS Into Dreams*.

## Development

Development began in early September 2019, months after release of the first *Peppermint* game in April 2019. Imaginate has no interest of making more content for the *Peppermint* series until sometime later, they decided to go back and give *Peppermint* more representation with a movie and a 2nd game.

It took the team of Ri Studios 20 months for the game to develop. They decided to go for a *Super Mario Galaxy* and *NiGHTS Into Dreams* take on the game by making it a action platformer; players can control Peppermint like she is Mario and when flying to their next destination, they can fly all around in the air, collect ornaments and fly through ornament rings by pressing an action button. The staged will be based on *Super Mario Galaxy* and *Sonic Lost World* of how the stages in those games feature floating platform surfaces, planetoids and realms.

## Trivia

* *Peppermint: Journey of Fantasies* is the second game and the third installment of the franchise. It is due to the fact that *Peppermint: The Movie* is a sequel and a prequel to the first game, hence the film's title (*Peppermint II: Origins*) in PAL regions.
* Oasis, Amelia and Captain Galaxy did not make a appearance in this game.
* *Peppermint*: *Journey of Fantasies* is heavily inspired by *Super Mario Galaxy* and *NiGHTS Into Dreams*, with a few inspirations to *Sonic Lost World*. This is likely due to why this game is "dreamy", "fun" and "musically entertaining".
* The characters Noah and Sophie are a spoof of *NiGHTS*' Elliot and Claris.
* It got a Best Dream award by Imaginate.