Dawn of Defiance
- August 15, 2024
- Traega Entertainment
- 14h median play time
Get on SteamJOIN OUR DISCORD See the Community Discord link in our social section on the right panel! About the GameDiscontent brews in the Underworld, and by the hand of Charon, you have been spared death and brought to a lost shore to be tested. To discover your role in an elusive plot against the Gods, you must start from nothing, hunt for resources, and arm yourself against the dangers of the isles. O…
Reviews
- The game has beautiful graphics and a stunning environment that captures the essence of ancient Greece.
- The building mechanics are intuitive and allow for creative freedom, making it enjoyable to construct unique structures.
- The combat system is engaging, with a mix of melee and ranged options, and the ability to unlock god-like powers adds an exciting twist.
- The game currently feels empty, with a lack of diverse enemies and wildlife, leading to repetitive gameplay.
- Quest progression can be tedious, often requiring players to gather large quantities of items or hunt specific animals that are hard to find.
- There are several quality of life issues, such as the inability to craft from storage, limited inventory management, and a lack of character customization options.
- story192 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 78 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The game's story is generally perceived as underdeveloped and lacking depth, with many players noting that quests often feel like tedious fetch tasks rather than engaging narrative experiences. While there is potential for a compelling mythological backdrop, the current execution leaves players wanting more direction and meaningful content, leading to a sense of emptiness in the questing experience. Overall, improvements in storytelling and quest design are highly anticipated to enhance player engagement and satisfaction.
“The story and quest elements were compelling and it felt satisfying working as a team to take down foes.”
“Unlike most survival games, there is a solid quest system which gives you purpose and direction.”
“I'm excited to keep exploring, building and discovering the story.”
“The story is not very fleshed out, and you don't really know what you are doing there or why; you get objectives but no real 'drive' to get them done, as the story is not clear.”
“Story: pretty much non-existent in its current stage; every time you load your game, the one NPC you purchase and sell things to repeats his lines about just arriving on the main isle.”
“There is little to no story, or at least not one that leaves an impact.”
- gameplay120 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 53 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game features solid building and crafting mechanics, often praised for their depth and ease of use, but it suffers from a lack of content and repetitive quests that can make the experience feel tedious. Combat mechanics are generally stable, though some players find them clunky and unpolished, with enemy variety and AI needing improvement. Overall, while the game shows potential with its unique mechanics and engaging survival elements, it requires significant enhancements in quest design and world-building to fully realize its promise.
“Great building mechanics and I love the skill upgrades.”
“The building and crafting mechanics are a lot of fun, and the combat mechanics are very stable and can be challenging if you are not prepared.”
“The game has amazing mechanics and a semi-decent storyline, mainly just a progression line, but it's good.”
“The gameplay feels extremely glitch-riddled and incomplete.”
“Moreover, the variety of enemies is very poor, combat is clunky, and game mechanics are questionable to say the least. For example, to open new recipes, you need to open some chests, but the game does not even give you a hint about where those chests are.”
“The gameplay loop itself is very boring, repetitive, and feels like a walking simulator.”
- graphics113 mentions
- 65 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received widespread acclaim, with many users praising the stunning visuals, atmospheric environments, and attention to detail. While some players noted issues with optimization and occasional frame-rate drops, the overall aesthetic and art design were highlighted as standout features, contributing to an immersive experience. Despite a few criticisms regarding simplicity and occasional blurriness, the consensus is that the graphics are a significant strength of the game.
“Firstly, and I cannot emphasize this enough, the visuals are breathtaking.”
“The graphics are gorgeous and atmospheric; the sound is top notch.”
“Graphics are outstanding: this is a high-resolution Valheim, with Greek flavor, vegetation is lush, enemies look great, environments look lovely, the skybox is amazing, especially when the sun sets and you see the stars appearing.”
“Graphics are meh, blurry object edges even with graphics on ultra.”
“It's felt like a 640x480 picture got upscaled but still extremely blurry even on ultra setting and I have a XFX Radeon RX 6700 XT graphics card, so it shouldn't be an issue.”
“I understand it's fresh out of the womb, but it's the first game that runs legitimately terrible for me, even on the lowest possible graphics settings with 32 gigs of RAM, like single-digit FPS at times when I'd look inland, and I've tried every way of drawing out performance I know of.”
- grinding48 mentions
- 4 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 96 % negative mentions
Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be a mixed experience. While some appreciate the resource gathering and crafting mechanics, many describe the tasks as tedious and repetitive, particularly when it comes to building and farming. The game's stamina system and travel speed also contribute to the grind, making certain activities feel more laborious than enjoyable, though some believe that playing with friends could enhance the experience.
“Pretty limited for die-hard survivalists at this point, but the mechanics are fun and it's not too grindy.”
“It's not too tedious.”
“The resources are extremely tedious to gather to the point you need to build 1 main base and 4 small bases to store and gather, because like in ores, despite not needing many materials since they only really go into gear, there isn't much of said material and it's extremely spread out.”
“There is the foundation of a good game here, but right now, it's just resource grinding and fetch quests in a mostly barren map.”
“I do not recommend this game in its current state because you get around 15 to 20 hours of exploring and finding things for the fetch quests and buying of recipes, but the only reason it takes that much time is because quests are tedious, time-consuming, and not very impactful or fulfilling.”
- optimization30 mentions
- 37 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
Overall, the optimization of the game has received mixed reviews. While some players report smooth performance and good frame rates, particularly on higher-end systems, others experience significant issues such as low frame rates, mouse lag, and stuttering, especially on more modest hardware. Many reviewers suggest that further optimization is needed to enhance the overall experience, though some acknowledge that the game shows promise and has potential for improvement in future updates.
“Optimization is incredible for early access, lots of toggles to up or lower settings already in.”
“I haven't encountered a single bug, I haven't had any performance issues at all, and it's clearly well optimized.”
“The combat is also really cool and so far it's very well optimized with a lot of customization to reduce and tweak in case your PC is a bit older.”
“I did run into some performance issues (very low frame rate + mouse lag even in menus), but they were generally resolved by saving and then restarting the game.”
“System resources - I don't know if it's an optimization issue, but this game runs very poorly on my modest gaming laptop with an RTX 3050/16GB RAM, causing me to have to play with low settings.”
“The graphics are quite a bit prettier, but this is actually a downside quite often as the game is not yet well-optimized and occasional jankiness and frame-rate issues are very common.”
- stability19 mentions
- 32 % positive mentions
- 5 % neutral mentions
- 63 % negative mentions
Overall, the stability of the game is mixed, with some players experiencing minor glitches and bugs, while others report smooth performance without issues. Notably, there are complaints about freezing on startup and specific gameplay bugs that require workarounds, but many users also highlight that the game runs well on various platforms, including Steam Deck and low-end systems. Despite the early access glitches, the developers show promise in their commitment to improving the game's stability.
“I've been on Steam Deck for my entire 20 hours and it runs great.”
“It looks amazing and runs great; can't wait to play more.”
“Game runs great with ROG Ally X!”
“Would love to play it on my PC, but it freezes on the start screen almost every time.”
“Buggy in some ways: stuck in terrain without stamina (you can only log off and log in to fix it), golem throwing stones in any direction (even behind him), skills stuck at athletic and can't get more experience, inability to fly (have to die to be able to fly again), unable to use bow (same solution, have to die to be able to use bow again).”
“I feel straight up insulted by this empty, boring, buggy joke of a game.”
- music14 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with some players noting a lack of variety, citing only two soundtracks that can become monotonous. While the combat music is appreciated, many feel that the game would benefit from more Greek-themed tracks to enhance the overall atmosphere. Overall, the ambient sounds are considered decent, but music is often described as minimal and not a significant factor in the gameplay experience.
“Music is chosen well; if you are in combat, there's different music and so on.”
“For being a game in early access and not a massive survival game fan, I am very impressed with: character movement, menu system, music, and the Greek mythology theme!”
“Music is just 2 soundtracks and will lull you to sleep.”
“The scenery is really beautiful, but to get that Greek feel, it needs more Greek music.”
“Music is essentially non-existent.”
- atmosphere9 mentions
- 78 % positive mentions
- 22 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its stunning graphics, impressive sound design, and effective use of lighting, particularly during the day/night cycle. Players appreciate the immersive Greek/Roman setting, highlighted by awe-inspiring giant statues and a well-executed raytracing feature that enhances the visual experience. Overall, the atmosphere contributes significantly to the game's appeal, making it feel rich and engaging despite some rough edges.
“The graphics are gorgeous and atmospheric, the sound is top notch.”
“I love the atmosphere, and the light transition of the night/day cycle is awesome.”
“The Greek atmosphere is unique, the giant statues of the gods are awe-inspiring.”
- humor7 mentions
- 86 % positive mentions
- -29 % neutral mentions
- 43 % negative mentions
The game is noted for its humor, particularly through amusing physics and quirky glitches, such as trees "exploding" during harvesting and comical enemy behaviors. While some animations and combat mechanics may feel stiff, the overall comedic elements contribute to an entertaining experience, making it a worthy purchase despite some shortcomings.
“A bit stiff animation, the combat is janky... and when the trees 'explode' when harvested, it's hilarious.”
“Let's call it a con that trees do not fall and kill you in this game... because who doesn't think it's funny as hell when that happens in other survival games?”
“The graphics are great, and the physics are hilarious in some settings, making it definitely a worthy buy.”
“We walked through this game so fast it's not funny.”
“The jokes fell flat and didn't land at all.”
“I expected a lot of laughs, but it was more cringeworthy than comedic.”
- emotional3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by the sense of accomplishment and understanding players feel when interacting with the environment, as seen in the positive reinforcement from characters like Dirty and Raptor. Additionally, the mechanics in Valheim evoke a connection to the materials and structures, enhancing the player's emotional investment in crafting and building.
- replayability3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
Players highlight the potential for high replayability due to the introduction of diverse challenges and monsters, enhancing the survival experience. Some users even describe the game as "infinitely replayable," indicating strong engagement and variety in gameplay.
“This could also introduce a wider array of challenging monsters or divine retributions, adding even more layers to the survival experience, and can have potential replay value.”
“Infinitely replayable.”
“This could also introduce a wider array of challenging monsters or divine retributions, adding even more layers to the survival experience; and can have potential replay value.”
- character development1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The character development in the game is praised for being phenomenal and highly creative, contributing significantly to the overall game experience.
“Phenomenal game development, character development, and highly creative in-game space.”
- monetization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy has been criticized as bordering on a cash grab, with some users feeling that the price is already too high for the value offered.
“If the price tag were any higher, I would call this a cash grab.”
“The in-game purchases feel excessive and detract from the overall experience.”
“It's frustrating to see so many features locked behind a paywall.”
