Back when I was in elementary school, I realized pretty quickly that Greek mythology was extremely fascinating to me. Fast forward about ten years, and I realized that my absolute favorite game genre was survival. When I tell you that Dawn of Defiance is the perfect mixture of Greek mythology in an open world survival, I mean it wholeheartedly. Whether I’m fighting off the Lost and Betrayed, or even destroying shrines and stealing the knowledge of the old gods, I’m having a dang good time.
You see, Dawn of Defiance is exactly what you’d expect from a game that boasts defiance in the title. The Greek gods of myth have left behind important knowledge, skills, and resources, and rather than respecting the gods and their will, we’re here to steal everything they have and defy them. I honestly really enjoyed the twist on the story line and the fact that we’re here not to follow the gods, but to become a god for ourselves.
You start out just outside the gates on the starter island with an important mission: hunt, forage, build, and most importantly, survive to achieve your destiny. After some strange things go down in the Underworld, a mysterious, disembodied voice speaks out, speaking of your defiance as you wake up on the Isle of Arrival. You’ve been sent as a test, to start with nothing but the clothing on your body and the defiance to survive the dangers ahead.
From the very beginning, I found some of the mechanics to be unbalanced, most specifically in combat. When you reach the first area where you’ll encounter the Lost enemies, they’ll easily overpower you, leaving you in a seemingly perpetual cycle of dying, trying to defeat one or two enemies, dying again, and having to rebuild tools and weapons on your way back to the scene of your death. However, after you pass your first night and fight your way to victory, things seem to look up quite a bit, and you unlock the ability to craft better weapons, tools, and armor, making life on the Isle of Arrival just a bit easier.
The story is quite intriguing, but I’d be lying if I said there was enough indication to what’s going on within the game. Take Enshrouded, for instance, where you find little bits of lore in every new point of interest, or Ark, where the discovery of each new dinosaur releases more information about the time before you found yourself on the Ark. I would love to see more lore; small bits of story left behind, more words from the mysterious disembodied voice, just a bit more of anything that explains why you’re being tested. With a story so interesting, it’s a shame to not see more of it.
Unlike a lot of survival games, I find that the quests quite accurately tell you where to go and what to do, ensuring that you stay on task quite well and progress with ease. While that shouldn’t be shocking news, you’d be surprised how often something so simple can often be so screwed up, so I have a relatively high degree of appreciation for it.
The pursuit of these quests is great solo, there are also some awesome traits that come along with playing in a party in co-op. It’s relatively unique because you can’t necessarily invite people who are already on your server to your party. If they’re there, they’re already your allies, which I think is lovely. It helps skip the extra steps to invite people in and lets you get the most out of your time. Additionally, while you have other people on your server, you automatically share everything with them; your location is always shared, as well as any recipes you or your friends unlock during the time that they’re in-game with you, which honestly saves a ton of time.
Overall, I think Dawn of Defiance executes a great concept with depth and quality. Yes, some things still need work, but overall, the good outweighs the bad by far. I can’t wait to see the positive changes that come with the full release.
