The player character, Seto, wanders the world, searching for survivors and the answers behind the disappearance of everyone else, most of humanity itself. Seto also searches for a mysterious girl named "Ren." In his quest he must deal with ghosts that lurk within the ruins of the abandoned cities. Despite this, the producer of the game insists that Fragile Dreams is not a survival horror, rather it will focus on "human drama".
The world of Fragile Dreams will be filled with objects, sketches and short stories for the player to examine. Each artifact holds the memories of its former owner, and offers back story and hints to the player. A competition was held where readers of gaming magazines sent in their own sketches and short stories for inclusion in the game.