As you begin your journey in Dawn of Defiance, you'll find that the game does not hold your hand. There is no tutorial or guide to ease you into the gameplay. I was greeted only by an ominous character giving some vague dialogue and an objective list in the top left corner of the screen. Initially, this was a bit daunting, especially for someone not too familiar with this genre, but I quickly grew to appreciate the lack of clear objectives. The quests hint at what you need to start your adventure but never directly tell you how. That is for you to discover on the starting island. Gathering thatch, rocks, and wood enables you to craft your first tools and weapons, leading you deeper into the world as you search for resources and uncover what the world has to offer. It reminded me of Breath of the Wild's starting area where it just lets you freely explore from the get go.
Once you get past the initial learning curve, you'll find yourself building your first shelter relatively quickly. The building system is basic, with a locked grid layout, but it works smoothly, and pieces snap together accurately. You unlock more building options as you explore and gain new materials, but even after eight hours of gameplay, I still felt somewhat restricted in the shapes I could create for my buildings. Watching gameplay from others farther into the game, there are definitely more building options available as you progress. As an early access game, it's reasonable to expect the developers to continue adding more creative options.
As a survival game, dangers abound while roaming the land, including boars, armed soldiers, floating sorcerers, and more. One factor you don't have to worry about is food, as there's no hunger bar to monitor. Food and other consumables are still useful, though, as they provide buffs like health regeneration and stamina boosts. The combat in Dawn of Defiance is challenging due to the damage enemies can inflict, even when equipped with better armor. However, the experience is somewhat undermined by the enemy AI, which is predictable and easy to exploit. Their attack patterns are simple to recognize, making them less of a threat when faced one-on-one. To add difficulty, the game often overwhelms you with numbers, forcing you to rely on strategy, especially when dealing with enemies who switch between melee and ranged attacks. For example, caves in Dawn of Defiance offer great rewards but are risky, with many enemies guarding them. If you play "normally," these caves are very difficult without the right gear or a friend to back you up, but I found that you can easily exploit the AI by using a bow and taking cover behind crystals. The archers will only hit the cover you hide behind, with no attempts to circle around you.
The mythological theme adds an intriguing layer to the game story-wise and visually, where you face corrupted heroes and other mythic creatures. However, this theme can feel underutilized. The variety of enemies, particularly those rooted in Greek mythology, is limited which is disappointing given deep lore of the setting. There's room for more varied enemies and perhaps more complex caves or dungeons that challenge players in ways beyond just combat.
Multiplayer is available, but there are many quality-of-life features that need to be added. I was able to invite my friend to the game, and while he had to do the starting quests again, he quickly caught up, and our quests synced together. The connection was stable, with no apparent stuttering or lag, but I started to notice the shortcomings when another player joined our public game. While other players cannot attack you, everything you've built or stored in a chest is fair game to them. This means another player can join your world and easily grief it if they want to. While the players I encountered were nice and friendly, there is still room for options to control what guests can do in your world. Currently, there is no way to set permissions for certain players, and the only setting you have is whether you want your server to be public or private.
Dawn of Defiance has laid some solid foundation, but it needs more content, particularly in terms of enemy variety and deeper story elements, to fully realize its potential. The grind and gameplay loop of gathering resources to explore the islands and build my shelter is fun, especially when playing with a friend. Performance was mostly steady, though some encounters caused major fps drops, all while the visuals reminding you that this was made by a smaller development studio. For the price of $19.99 USD, there's a lot of potential for what a full release could look like, but it might seem steep considering Valheim is also $19.99. While I haven't played Valheim myself, I've seen that it offers a more complete and optimized package than what Traega Entertainment has here. If you enjoy survival games with a mythological twist and don't mind a bit of rough corners, Dawn of Defiance is worth giving a shot, especially if you're drawn to its unique setting and cooperative multiplayer. I look forward to the full release where a more firm review can be made.
