Recent reviews by Lionheart

I give a positive review on a few conditions.

1-- you're already a fan of the survival crafting genre, because this is quite formulaic so far. If you've played Ark, Atlas, Conan, Valheim, and/or Enshrouded, this game hews very close to their experience. If you want more of that, Dawn of Defiance is that, but pretty and quite well-executed for being in the beginning of early access.


2-- Setting. Mythical Greece is a cool and under-utilized setting in games. After AC Odyssey I wanted more Greek hero stuff, and this scratches that itch.

Caveats: I'm not putting these down as "cons" per se because it remains to be seen if they are addressed as development continues.

1- No character customization. You can change your armor, but as for changing sex, hair, skin, nada. You get one white guy with a brown beard. Appears to be listed on the roadmap.

2- The game map looks a bit small. I would love to see either procedural generation, multiple maps, or just a lot of expansion to the current one. A game with a fleshed-out building system should provide tons of great locations, and while the current game map is okay, it could be better. Enshrouded and Valheim spoiled me with the size of their worlds and it would be an extremely welcome improvement if we got more here.

3-- Doesn't appear to have sailing. I haven't gotten very far yet so I don't know for sure, but I miss it. Even if it's just a small raft rather than a Jason and the Argonauts-style galley, the game feels less Greek because the only way I've found to get from the starter island to the mainland is by portal.

Still having tons of fun with Dawn of Defiance and optimistic about its future. :D

It's hard for me to say absolutely. Yes if you are really hurting for a semi-realistic age of sail action RPG, otherwise no.

I played a game nearly identical to this called Age of Pirates: Caribbean Tales about 19 years ago. This is like a prettier version of that, with a more engaging quest system. So it's basically an incremental step up in that case, but brings it back down with jank. I have crashed to desktop as many times as I have quit the game normally, the camera is jerky at times, the sword combat kind of works as expected, and it makes heavy use of a 2x time mechanic because there's a lot of time wasting while on foot.

The thing is though, I LOVED the original game. It was a phenomenal formula, and since this is nearly identical to it in feel, it's still good. We sailing RPG fans absolutely deserve better though. Recommending to support the devs so that their next project can be closer to their higher ambitions.

Despite the political conflict with Sony, this is a special game that still has room to grow. Fans of tactical combat will love it and the community is like nothing else. For Super Earth!

Built a tank bristling with weapons and heavy armor, made it fast and hardy to boot with strong treads and deep well of battery power, steamrolled everything in my path. I wish there was more to do in endgame but it is a phenomenal foundation. 9/10

As a lover of real ships and sailing that part leaves a bit to be desired, but overall it is an excellent fantasy pirate survival adventure. Mods also make a big difference in tailoring your experience.

The roguelike element is bitter, but a good fighter and smart strategist will feel like a bad mofo gladiator. The fighting system, while not really beautiful all the time, is actually better than other direction-based melee games out there. Tons of present quality, that much more potential, and I'm about it.

Game seems to be abandoned and still needs a fair amount of tweaking to be truly "good" but unfortunately it's also apparently the only building/sailing sim in the world. Recommended if nothing less will do lol.

Extremely ambitious RPG that feels to me like a spiritual successor of Morrowind, with hints of Mount & Blade.

First of all, it's *punishing*. Nearly every bit of ground you gain, you have to fight for. As a matter of fact, it starts you in the hole: the intro explains your character is in debt and half your village is clamoring for you to pay up, lest they repossess your house. It autosaves automatically to prevent save-scumming, so no matter what course of action you take, you're committed. That often means avoiding a fight, whether because an enemy is a badass or because you're dehydrated, bleeding, and an inch from passing out, is the only way. Even things as simple as traveling without getting lost are not given to you (no player marker on the map), so expect to use signs, landmarks, and a little spatial awareness to get around. Similarly, a big part of the game is inventory management. You can't level up strength to carry hundreds of pounds of gear. You're going to have to make painful choices about what's worth carrying to or from home.

^That leads me to the backpack. I believe it was a Kotaku reviewer who called the backpack function the game's "thesis statement." It turns the inventory from a menu full of stuff removed from the world, to a collection of gear with a physical representation you carry with you. The ability/necessity of dropping it when needing extra agility to fight or flee, and fighting your way back to it if things go wrong, is a really wonderful touch of immersion.

But for all my high praise, it does have moderate technical issues. Without the bugs (of which I've suffered minor but console players get reamed) you can still tell it was made on a comparative shoestring budget. The flow of combat (animations in particular) leaves a little to be desired and the graphics in general would be right at home in 2007. But it does have murmurs of GREAT aesthetics (weapons and armor clearly showing historical European and east Asian influence, notably in the polearms and gamboised/lamellar-looking armor), beautiful architecture, and fetching emissives) and is just gushing with charm. It's the kind of experience we desperately need more of. Since it is expected to receive regular updates, I'd highly recommend supporting it.