Dawnfall Reviews

I liked it well enough. (6/10)

This was an incredibly engaging story that captured a solid block of my time, not easy to do. The depth of worldbuilding is fantastic; you will feel like you are really in the worlds you visit, the ships you might board. There is an unforgettable cast of characters and you'll feel Real Feelings for them, if you allow yourself to be enveloped by the story, as I like to do. I found that I particularly like stories that are presented to me in this way, and I think it is because I have a long and colorful history of playing MUDs. Text based adventuring just feels right. It's all too easy to get swept up in the emotions shared between the characters, all too easy to feel your own heart-stars blooming on your skin as you become more fond of them, no matter where you take the individual relationships. I appreciated the wonderful variety of paths to choose, decisions to make... some of them really feel like the world is balancing on your decision alone! It's an intense read-through that will stay with you, long after you've clicked The End. You'll want to play again, trying out entirely different choices, different mixes of relationships. I certainly intend to. The work that went into this is massive, and is very much appreciated, as it was a thoroughly rewarding experience. Seeing my own pronoun on the page was singular and validating and I'll never forget that, either. A spark of hope, in an otherwise empty chasm. When you get to be part of the story like that, you get to feel real, for once.

it's an absorbing choose-your-own-adventure story where you don't have to keep your fingers in the pages: queer, space adventuring pirates, and magic. What's not to love? It's text-only, but if you like novels that won't bother you.

*I played this in the Heart's Choice omnibus app* Combine one part fantasy, one part science fiction, and one part romance (maybe). Toss in an interdimensional pirate ship. Stir in a sprinkle of rock and roll, a generous splash of found-family vibes, and a piquant pinch of danger, and bring to a frothy boil. The result, in the words of author RoAnna Sylver, is "a giant ridiculous queer space magic pirate adventure." I don't think it's possible to describe Dawnfall any more succinctly than that. In Dawnfall, you play as a Navigator, one of the skilled specialists that work in small teams to open portals between the magical world of Zephyria and the dystopian world of Eclipse. (It should probably be mentioned that you're not human; you belong to one of two sapient species described in the publisher's blurb as "space elf" and "bird-person.") In recent months, you've observed an increasing instability in the balance between worlds, but it still comes as a shock when one of your teammates is injured by a rush of energy from a malfunctioning portal - and the other, an unassuming fellow you never would have suspected, lets you in on a secret that will change everything you thought you understood about your universe. I didn't expect Dawnfall to be entirely to my taste. Sylver has stated they wrote the game with "queer/trans/polyam/aspec" players in mind, and I am none of those things except a heteroromantic demi who doesn't use the term "aspec." But I've enjoyed games before when I wasn't in the target audience, so I took the plunge. Instead of trying to force the story into a narrower box than the author intended, I made up a character who belonged in the world of Dawnfall: a lusty pansexual with a taste for danger and plenty of love to go around. I threw caution to the wind and my lot in with outlaws; I embraced chaos and three of my fellow pirates. And I had a blast. The story is pretty fun, and you have to love a world where humans are the aliens and interdimensional portals can be opened, with equal aplomb, by mystical runes, lines of precise code, rock-and-roll rhythm, or any combination thereof. That said, what's going to bring me back to this game is the characters. The crew of the Dawnfall are a diverse bunch, in backgrounds and abilities and genders and species as well as personality, yet there's a sense of love and respect among them that runs deep. Dawnfall is among the few Heart's Choice titles that can be played without entering a sexual or romantic relationship at any point. In fact, although I enjoyed the romance, Sylver devotes just as much attention to platonic soulmate connections, and nearly as much to friendships and familial bonds (both born and chosen). Although it's rated "Spicy" (two out of three peppers), probably because it's technically possible for the PC to have sex on the page, it's not at all graphic. There are few physical sensations and almost no anatomical details (which, seeing as how most of the characters aren't human, is probably just as well - or especially a pity, depending on how interested you are in xenobiology). The focus is overwhelmingly on the intensity of the emotional connection. That said, it does need to be pointed out that this game is very, very poly. Of the five ROs, only one isn't already partnered with one or more of the others, so your options for a truly monogamous relationship are extremely limited. Romancing a character with a partner doesn't require you to be in a relationship with the partner as well, but you do need to be willing to share. There is a serious weakness in the chapters featuring intimate scenes, and that is repetition of text. Although the ROs in an interactive romance game should read as distinct individuals rather than interchangeable playthings with only superficial differences, I understand using some of the same text for multiple characters when there wouldn't be any significant difference anyway. In a game written specifically to be poly-friendly, though, when it's possible to have scenes with several characters in the course of one chapter, reusing text not only breaks immersion, it takes away from the individual specialness of each relationship - and there's far too much of it in Dawnfall. Not only did I have some identical moments with two or three characters in the same chapter, at one point I had almost the same conversation, several paragraphs long, twice in a row with the same character. I wish more care had been taken to personalize these experiences. If you decide to give Dawnfall a try, it's definitely worth it to spend a dollar on the little collection of non-interactive bonus stories. Set several years before the events of the game, they can be read either after you play, to fill out the backstories of characters you've already come to know, or before, to introduce you to the setting in nice little chunks and the characters one (or two) at a time rather than jumping into the game with both feet. In any case, it's both great fun and deeply moving to see how the crew of the Dawnfall began to find each other - and to get a better sense of the formative experiences that made them who they are. *originally posted on Reddit*

Not the best from CoG, but still decent. The characters were good, I enjoyed the worldbuilding and the story was interesting. I wasnt very interested in romance in this one (ironic for a game in their hearts label). Most of the characters are already in relationships, which isnt my cup of tea, though if you like poly stuff you might enjoy it.

First time I've quit an interactive fiction title out of sheer boredom. The characters are dull, there's a lot of introducing bug alien people and bird people and telling me "You care deeply about this character" or "You know you can trust them," and just, holy fuck someone tell the author that if you want your audience to like your characters, you have to write them in such a way that ... They are likeable and interesting. This almost reads like it's just the kind of placeholder text a lot of fiction writers will do to keep the flow going, e.g. and then moving to flesh out the next scene where they have a clear idea of the dialogue. But the greatest sin of all is that it's just.so.boring.

Dawnfall is not like any other romance game I've ever played before, on multiple levels. The first and most obvious is the sheer lengths that the author has gone through to make sure that this game is as inclusive as possible. It's probably the MOST detailed game I've ever played in allowing players to pick their own pronouns (for a lot of nonbinary players this will be the FIRST TIME this has ever been an option) and the exact kind of relationships they're interested in. Want some mildly steamy and highly artistic sexual encounters with the crew of the Dawnfall? You can do that! Like romance but want a fully nonsexual experience? You can do that too! Just want to grow friendships while playing a portal adventure? Also an option. And in a bonus, though the PC may be one of two alien species, none of this is treated as alien in any way, no matter your gender choice or orientation, the player is not made to feel Othered by any descriptions. The detailed questions on your exact romantic preference takes the forefront because the focus of the game really and truly is entirely on your bonds with the crew that you find yourself fallen in with, if you don't trust them and hold them at arms length to try and save the world as an individualist or forgive the secrets that have been hidden from you in order to embrace your teamwork, whether you want to romance one, none, or all of them, and whether your loyalties lie with your family and lawful way of life or the pirates you're working with. This narrow focus allows deeper scenes with each character and lets you get to know them as practically living, breathing people. Each of them has a full history and relationships with other characters that really help to fill out the world. I felt as if my character was stepping into a truly developed history and full world, not just shallow backdrops to play out the story against, which is not easy to do with a text only medium. The writing, of course, is top notch. The story goes to great pains to paint vivid pictures of the two alien worlds and even without the aid of images or audio cues I felt that the setting was fully realized and shown in amazing detail. Also unique to this game are the polyamorous options, which are shown in surprising depth and detail. Each romance is acknowledged by your other potential romances and can be merged together in unique ways. While the pirate queen is the only option to be fully monogamous, there's little reason to not want to try for everyone as they all knit together into a fascinating tapestry and your character can be part of several different very sweet triads and polycules. There are also several possible endings to reach, depending on which relationships you choose to develop and whether you focus on teamwork or on your own goals and I found that my ending felt distinct in a satisfying way. The impacts of your character's relationships are what guides the ending and it felt as if all my choices over the course of the game really came together to create the impactful ending. All in all, I highly recommend this game especially for queer or polyam inclined players who might never have played a game that so openly acknowledges and is made for them. After years of being on the outside, finally a game lets me in and I, personally, couldn't be happier with it.

Much like the other negative review, I can't really recommend this particular CYA story. I understand there is a story to tell and we're getting there one way or another but other CYA at least let you dictate how your OC feels about everything going on and how they want to go about getting to or not getting to know people. This one however decides how you're going to be feeling and acting a majority of the time for you. There were paragraphs of both dialogue and inner thoughts of my OC deciding how they feel about certain situations without my input about how I wanted them to feel. For example, I didn't want to trust or get close to the Captain at all, the game decides I find her rather enchanting to the point where the dialogue gets flirty even though I chose nothing to encourage that and was rather standoffish with her before this point. My other big thing is that the crew is all in a relationship with each other in some way, and while I respect poly relationships I don't really want to be a part of one myself and I don't want to steal a partner away from someone so that immediately nixed all relationship options. The only one who was seemingly single was a woman, which I'm not attracted to. Just to see what would happen, I asked one of the characters already in a relationship to be in a relationship with me and me alone. They said no. Then after I had offended them deeply, we made out and presumably was in a poly relationship. Which didn't make sense at all whatsoever. So while you can supposedly play as monogamous I'm guessing there's only certain characters that are willing to be monogamous with you. Overall I can't recommend this as a CYA since there's very little actual choosing going on.

So for the quick and dirty, I dont recommend this game. Now as to why. Its misleading and it railroads the story line. More specifically Its supposed to be a story about open portals and traveling between worlds and while that IS in the game, its not what the game is about at all. Your given a chance to do all the usual, set up your character (of which there are really only two choices, not counting your gender or lack of, and neither of which matter. While you can choose a race and get a fairly decent description of what the two races are, you are given no options on how you particularly look. No hair and eye color or feather color or what ever, no idea of how your dressed your either Generic A or Generic B) Then you get to start playing and the first scene does a decent job of pulling you in while giving you a few choices of how you go about doing this Portal Opening business. You get told how close you and the other two people you work with are, how important it is, how special... only to have it all come unravelled in a complete lie. Your tricked into helping one of your two coworkers, literally there isnt a choice to say no, get teleported to someplace you didnt even know about (and almost certainly wouldnt wanted to have gone to had he not tricked you) and are immediately harrased by a explicative explicitive "villian" you have literally only heard mentions of 15 mins ago while your friend literally starts fawning over them. Then you find out that your other friend who had been injured earlier and who was used as bait to get you to "help" get the first one here, is also part of this villianous group and has been lying to you the whole time as well. And as if thats not bad enough, then you are forced by the story line to help these people. They never ask if your okay with it, they never try to win you over to their side. The best you can do is complain about how you dont trust them while choosing what your going to do to help. And the story keeps telling you how your enjoying it, and glad you could do this and do that, and are building relationships with all these people.... Just No. This is seriously Bad game design. If you want to throw a twist in like that, it is IMPERATIVE that you get the player to agree with it. I was never asked once if I was willing to go on any of these missions, and saving one time I was never given the option to NOT do them. You could have had the other characters try to talk to the mc and get them to come around to what was going on, You could have used Threat and forced the MC to go along or else (hopefully with chances later on to exact revenge for so being forced to act against their will.) This is not a novel where you can have the main character do and react anyway you want them too. Even with a novel it would be beyond belief that anyone would just blithely go along with being kidnapped and ordered around AND like it! In a CYA the player is supposed to decide how the MC feels about whats going on. The writer controls the action and the player controls the MCs reactions. If you are having to tell me what a wonderful time I've had, the odds are infact I did not have a wonderful time.