Gamertell Review: Dawn’s Light 2 for Windows

Title: Dawn’s Light 2
Price: $19.95
System(s): Windows 98, XP and Vista
Release Date: August 20, 2010
Publisher (Developer): John Wizard Games (John Wizard Games)
ESRB Rating: N/A, I’d say ages 12 and up. It isn’t especially violent or graphic, and I didn’t see any foul language.
Pros: You get a strategy guide with the game, appropriate sound effects and music, Harvey makes for an unusual and interesting hero, needed task items flash, name of each location is given when you enter, super tip signs around areas to help players out, outfit system remains, weapons have special abilities, lots of returning characters, great and hilarious script, crafting system, split into multiple parties, lots of items to collect and improved turn-based battle system.
Cons: Only 4 save slots, a lot of puzzles still rely on “push this here” so you can “flip that switch,” and there are a few minor glitches (tribal necklace trinket does nothing, game can crash in Coyote Borough).
Overall Score: Two thumbs up, 94/100, A, * * * * out of 5

It’s been just about a year since John Wizard Games released its first independent RPG, Dawn’s Light – so it’s the perfect time for Dawn’s Light 2. Once again, players follow along with Harvey and his comrades in a quest to stop tricksters, fight evil and maybe even do a little world saving. Plus there’ll be some clothes collecting, sidequests and parodying along the way. The result is a sequel that’s just as good as the original, and even works as a stand-alone game.

Ordinary life can’t compare to adventures and heroics!

After Harvey, Vera, Tyson and Virgil defeated Mordecai, saved the world and such in Dawn’s Light, all three went to settle down. Tyson joined the Lone Wolves ninja/mercenary group, Vera returned home and married David and Harvey married a girl named Edith and returned to the island where he grew up with the intention of making it liveable again and raising a family.

Seven years later, Edith leaves Harvey. He’s a shell of a man, unsuited to a normal life. He spends his days in bed, wearing only his underwear, fantasizing about being a hero. (Only this time with the ability to fly.) The day after Edith leaves him, someone knocks on his door. He goes to see, finds a mysterious clearing and the spirit of his dead brother, Victor, who tells him to get an artifact from the Midnight Cave on the island.

When Harvey finds the artifact, he also finds a map and learns that the devilish tricksters are back. He decides to round up the old gang (Vera, Tyson and, hm, well, that seems to be everybody!) and they set off on a new adventure. Same old, same old, only this time Harvey’s older and has a beard that everyone (except him) seems to hate.

More hilarious dialogue, more challenging situations, more pushing that column/barrel/item there to complete a puzzle.

In terms of gameplay, Dawn’s Light 2 is your standard, turn-based, JRPG style game. Characters go around towns, forests, dungeons and so on, battling monsters, searching for items and completing quests. Quests and side quests can be checked in the main menu at any time, and if you’re looking for items in a nearby area you’ll have a helpful checklist in the upper left corner. If a battle comes up, the game stops and you switch to a turn-based battle situation, where you must direct your characters to attack and eventually defeat the opponents.

Battle has been slightly tweaked to make it more strategic and challenging. It’s presented in a first-person perspective, with a gauge on the right side of the screen that shows the turn order. When Harvey or one of your party member’s turn comes up, you can attack or use skills. Choosing attack doesn’t just unleash a standard attack though. Depending on what you have equipped, different general attack skills will be available. You’ll also be able to see exactly how many hit points each enemy has left when selecting which one to attack.

The writing, however, remains the same. It’s as sharp and funny as ever. Dawn’s Light 2 lampoons hidden object games, common RPG stereotypes and situations and even John Wizard Games’ previous release, Jack of All Worlds. Nothing is safe, and every opportunity is taken to make the game more interesting to the player through clever dialogue and humorous takes on familiar situations or events. One of my favorite moments was fairly early in the game, when Harvey and Tyson go to convince Vera to rejoin their party for a new adventure. The result is a party joining-leaving-creating-disbanding skit reminiscent of something you’d see in a Marx Brothers movie.

Another thing that, for the most part, remains the same are the puzzles. You’re going to encounter puzzles that mostly fall into a few types in Dawn’s Light 2 – collecting objects, which are easy to find since they flash, pushing items to trigger switches and transforming into colored creatures that match certain color switches. Of course, this is a common pitfall for RPGs of any kind, be they professional or independent. They aren’t irritating or terribly innovative, but do require players to occasionally think.

A witty RPG perfect for beginners and veterans

The Dawn’s Light series from John Wizard Games provides players with a wonderfully funny adventure. It’s a perfect casual RPG for beginners, due to the numerous save points, included strategy guide and average difficulty level and, while the difficulty level and rather common puzzles won’t challenge advanced gamers, they’ll certainly appreciate the clever quips and dialogue. Those who enjoy games made with RPG Maker and like to support independent developers should, at the very least, try out the demo.

Another thing worth pointing out is that Dawn’s Light 2 is one of those rare sequels where you really don’t have to play Dawn’s Light to enjoy it. While there are a few hints at the backstory in the first half hour or so of play, newcomers won’t really miss out on anything. So Dawn’s Light 2 is not only a good successor to the original Dawn’s Light, it’s also a good stand-alone game.

Site [Dawn's Light 2]