Earth's Dawn Game Sample - PS4
19Also being released on the Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android, Earth's Dawn (known in Japan as Earth Wars) is a rather ambitious game from an indie developer known as "OneorEight". While not a particularly groundbreaking game in its own right, when you view OneorEight's game catalog, the devs started out as humble app store game makers, with their first work being known as "てくてく勇者". or "Tekuteku Yuusha".
TTY was a game where you played as a knight/hero who was basically tasked with moving along and collecting items while slaying monsters ("てくてく" being a sort of onomatopoeic or mimetic word, referencing a sort of long distance walking at a steady pace, and "勇者" being "hero" or "brave"). TTY had a follow-up game, titled "てくてく勇者DASH" (TTYD), which was a sort of higher intensity/action-based version of the original TTY. Besides those, there is "5x5 Wars" (a retro-sprite styled simulation game) and "Deportivo", which is a set of "assets" available in the "Unity Store" (for the "Unity Engine").
Perhaps I will someday have a chance to experience their humble beginnings, but I wanted to shed a little light on their previous work because Earth's Dawn is their first "console project" and apparently, it was of enough quality to attract the attention of Rising Star Games, who wanted to "localize" their work. Oneoreight's philosphy is as follows:
"We are a Japanese game creator established by gathering members who want to “make games that we ourselves think are interesting”. The Earth’s Dawn (Earth Wars) series is our first entry into console gaming as OneorEight. We would be delighted if you were able to play this game which we ourselves think is “fun to play”."
Having seen their previous works, I have gained a heightened sense of appreciation for Earth's Dawn...not that it is even a bad game. Rather, given OoE's previous works, it's pretty amazing to think that this is from the same developer! In some circles, Earth's Dawn is touted as a "nice Odin Sphere distraction" --- I definitely see where that thinking comes from, and the game is also VERY CHEAP now (in stores and various online outlets, at least for PS4)...though it is still 30 USD on the Steam store, last I checked.
Much of what Earth's Dawn is about can be seen in the introduction sequences, but basically, a massive sort of alien invasion came out of nowhere one day, and with no means to effectively fight the new threat, the vast majority of humankind was wiped out. A group of brilliant minds came together and discovered that they could use parts of the enemy against them --- augmenting regular soldiers with alien matter and making them super soldiers. That discovery gave the inhabitants of Earth a glimmer of hope...and eventually, that's where "you" come in, joining the forces and proving that you are the greatest soldier of all. There are additional bits of information, but just know that the general plot of the game is pretty straightforward.
Earth's Dawn shines in the sense that it is fast and frantic where it counts, and for the kind of game it is (side-scrolling platforming, and a sort of "action roleplaying game"), it tried to incorporate a number of different play mechanics to keep things from becoming too stale for the duration of the game. While you will hack and slash and kill THOUSANDS of enemies, you unlock different play styles with different weapons, the more you grind. You also gain experience points, get materials, and craft equipment (some being merely cosmetic, so you can look cooler). For example, you start with a sword and a gun, but after fighting for a while with your sword, you can eventually dual-wield swords. Same with guns. Also, there are BROADSWORDS (big swords) that have a particular fighting style, bows (that combine ranged attacking with punch/kick combos), etc.
Add to that, the guns have different properties --- not all guns are just pistols or such. Some fire lasers. Some are flamethrowers. Some are "sniper rifles", that actually hit enemies from further away and can pinpoint them, things like that. Along with getting experience and leveling up, you collect capsules (of sorts) that allow you to equip more skills, the more you collect...and you can get weapon properties and elemental affinities, so on and so forth. Furthermore, there are lots of missions with objectives to get new skills and great boss fights! While the game does get a bit repetitive, it is actually very competent and has great music (where applicable) and decent particle effects and style (though the "flash" type movements might not suit everyone, lol). I can't type more, but definitely look into it! It may not be Odin Sphere, but it's a nice (and probably cheaper) alternative until you get to play OS.
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