Dawnsbury Days
- March 8, 2024
- Dawnsbury Studios
Get on Steam"Dawnsbury Days" is a 2D turn-based tactics game with CRPG elements, based on the rules of PF2E. As the Dawnsbury Four, you'll battle monsters, make friends, and level up on a quest to save your home town. With multiple playthroughs and free encounter mode, there's plenty of replayability in this 4-hour adventure. The complex OGL-based rule system adds depth to gameplay.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Fantastic implementation of the Pathfinder 2E ruleset, making it a great introduction for new players.
- Charming and humorous dialogue, with engaging combat encounters that require strategic thinking.
- Excellent mod support and frequent updates, providing potential for expanded content and replayability.
- The game is quite short, with a campaign that can be completed in just a few hours, leaving players wanting more.
- Limited character customization options and a lack of certain classes and features from the tabletop version.
- The story and writing can feel basic and linear, with some players finding the fourth-wall-breaking humor off-putting.
- story83 mentions
- 24 % positive mentions
- 72 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The game's story is generally described as simple and linear, primarily serving as a backdrop for combat encounters rather than a robust narrative experience. While some players appreciate its lighthearted and charming elements, including humorous dialogue and meta-references, many note the lack of depth, exploration, and meaningful choices. Overall, the story is seen as a basic but enjoyable introduction to the Pathfinder 2E system, appealing mainly to those focused on combat rather than intricate storytelling.
“The story is cute and progresses nicely with risk, and it does increase in difficulty, although it was short to complete.”
“The story, writing, and presentation were, in some ways, the biggest surprise, as I would normally expect that stuff to be an afterthought in a project like this, but the story and writing were actually well-written enough to be entertaining—not in a high drama sort of way, but more as a self-aware parody.”
“A great way to learn the Pathfinder 2E system while enjoying a fun little story.”
“The game is focused on combat encounters, so if you are expecting a more Baldur's Gate, Pillars of Eternity, or other CRPG robust social and party interactions, you sadly won't find them, and the story is fairly basic with not really a lot of exploration, even dungeon crawling.”
“The story is basic, but still cute, and the voice acting has massively improved compared to the demo.”
“The main story and characters are lacking, and there's no actual way to change any of your party's personalities.”
- gameplay22 mentions
- 27 % positive mentions
- 59 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The gameplay is highly praised for its faithful adaptation of the Pathfinder 2e rule set, offering an engaging and tactical combat experience that serves as an excellent introduction to the tabletop RPG mechanics. While the graphics and story are simple, the game compensates with a variety of encounters and intuitive mechanics, making it a valuable tool for new players to learn and experiment with character classes. However, some players noted the lack of certain mechanics and the repetitive nature of the encounter music as minor drawbacks.
“The game’s mechanics follow the Pathfinder 2E rule set to a T, with precise implementations of complex systems like action economy, character classes, feats, and skill checks.”
“I'll almost certainly be recommending this to anyone in the future who is interested in getting into PF2E as it is a good representation of gameplay within the system, as well as proving that the pen and paper system of 2E can easily be adapted into a fun and engaging game.”
“The gameplay and encounter design was quite good as well - there's more to it than just a series of fights and they shake things up with different objectives that actually do make use of some of Pathfinder's combat-adjacent systems.”
“Some mechanics are missing to account for the simpler medium of a video game such as inventory bulk, but a glaring omission was skill feats.”
“However, there is nothing more immersion-breaking to me than when the characters in a game talk about game mechanics in-text.”
“The actual gameplay is entirely combat, so if that turns you off, I guess you wouldn't like it.”
- humor17 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's humor is characterized by clever voice acting and a blend of meta, tongue-in-cheek dialogue that resonates well with players, often drawing on B-movie one-liners and fourth-wall breaks. While some voice performances and humor references may not land perfectly, the overall comedic tone is engaging and adds charm to the narrative, making it a fun experience for fans of tactical combat and tabletop RPGs. Players appreciate the balance of humor and gameplay, noting that it enhances the enjoyment of the story mode.
“What I didn't expect was voice acting and tongue-in-cheek meta humor that doesn't feel forced.”
“Imagine a blend of B-movie one-liners and awkwardly timed humor, and you've got the essence of this game’s narrative style.”
“The humor and tongue-in-cheek dialogue from enemies is fabulous.”
- graphics11 mentions
- 27 % positive mentions
- 45 % neutral mentions
- 27 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally described as simple and minimalist, yet they effectively complement the gameplay and overall experience. Players appreciate the unique artwork for spells and items, as well as the clean visuals and basic graphical effects, which enhance the charm of the game. While the graphics may not be groundbreaking, they are considered serviceable and fitting for the game's budget-friendly price point.
“Haven't beaten the campaign yet but it's a nice little CRPG with clean visuals and surprisingly good voice acting.”
“You can tell a lot of love and thought has gone into making this game, with unique artwork for each spell, icons for each weapon or item, and even some simple spell effects.”
“Love the aesthetic, really reminds me of MapTool which I imagine is by design considering the tokens were all made using TokenTool.”
“The graphics and music are serviceable to the cost of the game.”
“The voice acting caught me off guard and genuinely makes up for the lack of, well, graphical style for it.”
“The art style exists.”
- replayability10 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- 10 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The game offers significant replayability through its customizable team builds and various class combinations, allowing players to experience the story mode in different ways. The inclusion of mod support and ongoing content updates further enhances replay value, making it an appealing choice for fans of CRPGs and tabletop roleplay. Overall, players find the game enjoyable and worth revisiting due to its engaging mechanics and flexibility.
“The customization options and mod support make for lots of replayability.”
“With a super cheap price tag and high replay value, this game is definitely worth the purchase.”
“I don't know how much replayability exists with the story mode, other than wishing to try other class combinations.”
“There's replay value in rebuilding your team differently each time.”
“You can replay the short campaign with your own custom party, giving you additional replay value, and from what I've seen, the creators have already been patching in new classes as they go.”
- music6 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally considered serviceable, with some players appreciating the quality of the soundtrack, while others find it repetitive, especially since only one song is used during encounters. Although the music can be disabled, many reviewers express a desire for a more diverse and engaging musical experience.
“The soundtrack is also surprisingly good.”
“The graphics and music are serviceable to the cost of the game.”
“I hope you like the song they use for the encounters, because it's the only piece that the game uses for gameplay.”
“The music gets really repetitive after your first playthrough (but can be disabled).”
“I know that a lot of work went into creating and automating the classes and enemies and that this is a labor of love, but I just felt wanting more of everything: better music, better art, better story.”
- emotional3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is characterized by its wholesome narrative and charming story, which resonates well with players, despite some challenging moments. While the fixed hero personalities offer replay value through customization, players express a desire for more interactive elements within the story.
“Very wholesome while being quite hard at times.”
“The story is cute and wholesome, although I'd like to be able to interact with it in some way.”
- optimization3 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is perceived as lacking, with players suggesting starting on medium or easy difficulty for a better experience. While the mechanics are similar to the previous edition, the absence of certain skill feats on hard mode may lead to a less challenging experience for those familiar with the system, as many players prioritize roleplaying over optimization.
“The game will work almost identically to 2e on the hard difficulty, minus the absence of all skill feats except Intimidating Glare. It might feel easy for anyone with actual PF2E experience because you can perfectly control full party optimization, while many real players often intentionally break optimization for roleplaying purposes.”
“They're not particularly optimized, so start on medium or easy.”
“I feel like a lot of that has to do with a lack of direction for the performances rather than a lack of talent, but I had to mention it.”
