EARTH'S DAWN

Earth's Dawn ultimately ends up feeling too familiar to truly stand apart as a new classic, but it can still be a lot of fun.

72%Game Brain Score

story, gameplay

grinding, music

73% User Score Based on 94 reviews

Critic Score 71%Based on 12 reviews

Platforms

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About

EARTH'S DAWN is a single player hack and slash game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by oneoreight and was released on December 7, 2016. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

"Earth's Dawn" is a 2D side-scrolling action game set in a post-apocalyptic world invaded by alien creatures. As a member of a resistance force, players can customize their character and weapons to fight against the alien threat in fast-paced combat. The game features a variety of missions, boss battles, and a crafting system to upgrade weapons and gear.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

73%

Audience ScoreBased on 94 reviews

story11 positive mentions

grinding16 negative mentions

The combat system is fast-paced and satisfying, allowing for enjoyable combos and a variety of weapon types.
The crafting and skill systems provide depth and customization, rewarding players for grinding and completing missions.
The art style and animations are visually appealing, contributing to an engaging atmosphere despite some repetitive elements.

The game suffers from grind-heavy mechanics, requiring players to repeatedly farm materials and face similar enemies, which can become tedious.
Controls can feel clunky and unresponsive at times, leading to frustration during combat and navigation.
The story and mission structure lack depth, making the overall experience feel repetitive and uninspired.

story
106 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
85%
5%
The story in the game is generally considered generic and clichéd, revolving around a typical alien invasion narrative with little depth or innovation. While some players appreciate the sci-fi tropes and the potential for an engaging backstory, many find the execution lacking, with repetitive mission structures and a reliance on grinding that detracts from the overall experience. The presentation is noted to be simplistic, often relying on text and voiceovers rather than immersive storytelling, leading to a mixed reception regarding its narrative quality.
- “The style is unique and distinctive, the hack-and-slash combat is simple but each hit is satisfying with enough bells and whistles and skills to make it not monotonous, and the gameplay cycle is enjoyable if you like hunting in the Monster Hunter or God Eater series.”
- “While the art and design of the characters and enemies are undeniably cool-looking and the story is full of sci-fi tropes fans of the genre will enjoy, the gameplay itself is pretty repetitive.”
- “Story - the story is good - I mean like background story for this kind of game.”
- “The story takes place in America, but everyone speaks Japanese.”
- “Storywise it had potential - sadly not much came out of it.”
- “Earth's Dawn isn’t going to win any awards for storytelling.”
gameplay
41 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
66%
10%
The gameplay in this title is a mix of 2D hack-and-slash mechanics reminiscent of games like Monster Hunter and Odin's Sphere, featuring a straightforward combat system that can become repetitive over time. While the combat is generally enjoyable and satisfying, many players noted issues with animations, a lack of depth in gameplay mechanics, and an over-reliance on spamming attacks. Overall, the game offers mindless fun for fans of the genre, but it struggles with variety and innovation, leaving some players wanting more from the experience.
- “The style is unique and distinctive, the hack-and-slash combat is simple but each hit is satisfying with enough bells and whistles and skills to make it not monotonous. The gameplay cycle is enjoyable if you like hunting in the Monster Hunter or God Eater series; there's no exploration, just selecting missions and fighting the enemies there, and probably farming for materials you want.”
- “Gameplay is superb for beat-em-up fans, with lots of opportunities to achieve 'S' ranks in this game.”
- “In Earth's Dawn, you will have to navigate different levels with varying alien encounters and abilities, along with occasional boss encounters that offer great gameplay and challenges.”
- “I seriously hate when graphics are prioritized over technical gameplay.”
- “With these features omitted, gameplay often feels a little disjointed as you will be at the mercy of simply smashing the attack button over and over until an enemy's lifebar is depleted.”
- “Due to the mission structure and lack of gameplay variety, Earth's Dawn will begin to feel repetitive.”
graphics
27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
56%
11%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the unique anime-inspired art style and character designs, while others criticize the animations as stiff and the overall visuals as inconsistent. Some players appreciate the aesthetic appeal and solid visuals, but express disappointment in the limited graphical options and repetitive environments. Overall, the game's graphics are seen as a highlight for some, but not enough to compensate for gameplay shortcomings.
- “As for the graphics, you can just look at the trailer and judge for yourself, but I think it looks pretty good, although the animations are a bit hit and miss.”
- “The beautiful manga-based art style is a treat to look at while playing, and while the characters are silly and charming, the environments are far less colorful and personality-driven than games like Dragon's Crown.”
- “I seriously hate when graphics are above technical gameplay.”
- “It's like Bayonetta, if Bayonetta was made in the 80's as an arcade machine with a 90's anime style aesthetic.”
- “The art style and animation are just... so ugly.”
grinding
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The reviews indicate that the game features a significant amount of grinding, particularly in the mid-game, where players must repeatedly defeat specific enemies to collect materials for crafting and upgrades. While some players find the grind rewarding and manageable due to flexible difficulty options and mission replayability, others criticize it for being overly repetitive and tedious, with a lack of exploration and clarity in the skill system. Overall, the grinding aspect is a defining feature of the game, appealing to fans of the genre but potentially off-putting for those who dislike it.
- “Very grindy game and worst difficulty scale, annoying common enemy but easy boss.”
- “The skill system is completely overdesigned and adds next to nothing to the game; it's entirely unclear what parts come from where most of the time, so farming for gear is extremely unreliable until you do isolate a particular item, and being stun locked is just a part of life.”
- “If you hate grinding of any sort, though, you might be disappointed.”
music
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
46%
27%
The music in the game is generally described as fitting the genre and includes some enjoyable tracks, particularly in combat, but overall it lacks memorability and inspiration. While some players appreciate the soundtrack, noting its electric and synth elements, others find it to be standard and unremarkable. Additionally, access to the soundtrack is limited, with some players expressing frustration over its availability.
- “I really like the soundtrack; shame that the only way I've been able to find it is from iTunes, but the soundtrack is Japan exclusive and I don't live in Japan, so if anyone out there can help with it, I would greatly appreciate it.”
- “Music - I really like it, great tracks.”
- “Soundtrack is a standard deal here as well, mostly electric and synth; combat sounds good.”
- “The music serves its purpose, and some of it is pretty good, but it's really nothing special or memorable if you ask me.”
- “It should be noted that the game has no English voice overs and the music is fairly uninspired.”
- “Good job on the combat noise, not so much on the soundtrack.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is noted to be a highlight, with players finding the gameplay amusing and straightforward. However, there are concerns about the clarity of other elements like skills, weaponry, and story, which may detract from the overall experience.
- “You can still get by using any of these even if just for a laugh; as long as it's not being resisted, then you are golden.”
- “I don't know, the gameplay itself is super funny and reasonably simple, yet everything else seems super blurry: skills, weaponry, story.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The stability of the game is mixed, with some users noting that freezing mechanics can be effective for strategic play, though damage output diminishes with repeated use. Additionally, players report visual glitches and a lack of frame rate cap, which detracts from the overall experience. Certain boss encounters also seem to be unaffected by these freezing abilities.
- “Visual glitches and no frame cap.”
- “Freezes a target solid for a decent period of time. This is great if you combine it with backstabs. However, the damage you deal seems to diminish as you abuse damage while they're frozen, but refreshes afterwards. Doesn't seem to work on many bosses.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Players appreciate the high replayability due to the significant variation in gameplay, encouraging experimentation and exploration of different strategies, especially in the absence of comprehensive guides.
- “With so much variation, there's plenty of replayability as you experiment to discover what's fun and effective, especially since there aren't many guides available.”
- “The game's diverse mechanics and choices ensure that each playthrough feels fresh, encouraging players to return and explore different strategies.”
- “Every time I play, I find new ways to approach challenges, making the replayability aspect truly engaging and rewarding.”