Yes you read that correctly. I (Keith Weatherby II) am actually playing a Role Playing Game which I said I would never play ever. Okay that’s not true, I said I never get into RPGs because of their pointless side quests and anime characters. I’ve said this once and I’ll say it again, I hate anime/manga. However the graphics in here are on point as we would say in the US or “spot on” as the English would say. Before I get more in depth I gotta say I really dig this game. The name of the game is Dawn’s Light by John Wizard games. (The website has a nice easy to read layout with nice colors, but this isn’t a review about websites). It started out with an easy tutorial. The controls are simple. And it does basic hand-holding in the beginning. I don’t know if it changes later on because my Trial expired. I feel that I got enough of an idea of the game with the trial, which makes me think you should try it then buy it. Here’s a video of the game in action:
The in-depth review after the break.
The basic story goes something like this: Boy is living on an island with his Grandpa and brother (or friend, I don’t remember). Evil dude named Mordecai comes to take Boy because of something in his blood. Grandpa hides Boy on another island. Boy is rescuing some sheep for a neighbor when Mordecai comes and kills everyone in his village (except said neighbor, to tell him what happened). Boy now a man, flees back to Grandpa’s island. Grandpa reveals he’s not his grandfather after all, and that Mordecai killed his parents and Grandpa raised him. Now Man (who used to be Boy) seeks revenge for his parents death. That’s it. Pretty standard RPG story fare I think.
The one thing I do like is click-and-point adventure games. I always considered an adventure game a simplified RPG. So the beginning was closer to that in that I had a single plot to start with although you do have turn based battles. Anyway the simplified nature of adventure games and single plot is what makes me like this. (Not that there won’t be side plots as this is indeed an RPG). It allowed me to get right into the story and yet still teach me how everything worked. The controls are very simple, most of the time you use the arrow keys and space or enter (and alternately ‘x’ or ‘Esc’ to get out of menus). Arrow keys to move around, arrow keys to navigate menus. Enter or space to select stuff. This is an example of how game play should work. I should just be able to start it and play. There’s only one little issue with the control and that is mostly when you enter a door you can’t just automatically exit by going the same way, you have to move away a bit from the door, and then go back the opposite direction, otherwise it doesn’t think you want to go out.
I have to say the graphics are pretty good. It’s all tile-based art, but it is an RPG. It does look like something that could be created for a Sega Genesis or Super Nintendo, so for those who really dug RPG’s on old 8 and 16-bit consoles would like it for the nostalgia factor. But even if you’re not in it for the retro-ish factor, the graphics are clean and colorful. The only issue with the graphics I had was at a certain point the game seemed to get a little jerky in places, probably due to some things with what I assume are graphics related. But it’s not enough to kill the game or to even really slow you down. The music is actually also quite good, and even the interface sounds are not annoying. In short everything is pretty dang good.
If I ever get into RPG’s on the computer or consoles or whatever, I’m glad it was this game that got me interested in them, because I think I would be missing a whole huge segment of fun. Now it’s off to find my parent’s killer!
Name: Dawn’s Light
Developer: John Wizard Games
Price: $19.95 (Sorry but it’s Windows only right now, as far as I know.)
Where you can get it: Here.
Tags: Dawn's Light, Indie Flux, John Wizard Games, reviews, RPG, Uhfgood