r/AlabasterDawn

Hey! I don't usually do this, sharing opinions is something I tend to keep to myself. but after finishing the game, knowing full well it's in early access and this is only 25% of the full experience, I came away with a lot of mixed feelings. I'm going to leave here the review I wrote on Steam, with some things I've been rethinking along the way. I currently have 14+ hours, having completed everything, including the roguelike section.

This is what I wrote around the 6-hour mark, right after finishing the first Hall of Trials:

The movement and map design couldn't be more frustrating. A large part of the exploration and progression in this game depends on poorly placed edges across the map, the assets feel very roughly placed (though I think this is more of a game design issue than an art one). To move from section to section, you have to meticulously scan every corner to figure out where you can and can't go, which to me, gets old fast. I understand that part of the appeal of RPG exploration is the "I can't reach destination A so I have to go through B" loop, but that only works when the maps are well designed. This is, in my opinion, the biggest thing holding the game back: a poorly designed environment that constantly works against the player. Fast travel helps, but only so much.

This also hurts the puzzles badly. They're actually easy/fun, which should be a good thing, but the map constantly gets in the way. I'm not criticizing the puzzle design itself, but the positioning and the maneuvers the player has to pull off to solve them are just obnoxious. Nothing in a puzzle should feel frame-perfect.

The protagonist, trauma and all, feels flat. Why does almost every line of dialogue have to be "I..." "Uh..." "It's just..."? Do we really need that many reminders that she's introverted? The game already tells us. And Cabbage as a sidekick contributes almost nothing beyond saying "The gods are silent..." Okay, we got it. What else? Why are we giving him dialogue if most of the time he's repeating what he's already said?

Enemy variety is also quite limited, though to the game's credit, when new enemies do appear, it genuinely feels rewarding.

Now for the pros, and there are real ones. The combat is great: easy to understand, fluid, and intuitive. The Hall of Trials mini-boss (the empowered turtle) took me three tries, and by the third I had a no-hit run. Weapon variety is solid and feels pretty balanced. The art direction is lovely, and the character design feels original and distinct. The cutscenes are well placed and don't feel out of touch with what's happening context-wise. The pixel art in Alabaster Dawn is INCREDIBLE.

This game has a lot of potential. I was really digging it, but in its current state, I couldn't recommend it. I said I'd update once I fully finished it.

And after finishing the game, here's what I have to add:

Did we really need another Hall of Trials? I get it's technically the same one on a different floor, but... why does the story have to advance through a puzzle section every single time? I get it, the first one served a purpose: it's where we discover the second element. But the second felt entirely gratuitous, like it existed just to teach the player a gimmick with the weapon and the aether orbs before the next boss fight. That fight was a slog, and so were the rest of the encounters in that dungeon. Is it really necessary to have mobs inside a place already packed with puzzles?

Take the Cloister of Trials in FFX: Time-consuming, sure, and not without its moments of frustration, but not a single mob in sight. You don't depend on any mechanic beyond your own wit and the controls. There's also a real sense of satisfaction in completing them: the rewards are meaningful, and you know it'll be a good while before you run into another one. Here it's the complete opposite. Constantly switching between elements and weapons to get anything done isn't fun, it's exhausting. At least for me.

And then, past the second Hall of Trials, it's genuinely annoying and disappointing that reaching Sundalam requires yet another puzzle segment. The Hall of Trials was supposed to be the puzzle place... why else would it be called that? If the player walks out of it only to run into the same challenges all over again, the name loses all meaning. I'm not talking about the lore itself, but about the design decision behind giving that name to that specific section of the game. The player does not want to walk out of a puzzle dungeon, watch the story move forward, and immediately run into more puzzles. The Cloisters in FFX are meticulously placed within the story and earn their context. Here they're not. A puzzle every five minutes doesn't challenge the player, it stalls the game, kills the pacing, and breeds frustration.

Speaking of frustration: did it really not occur to the devs that there might be another way to transition between areas besides "Hmm, looks like we can't get through here. Let's find another way!" followed by skirting the entire map to find a broken bridge, followed by.... you guessed it..... a puzzle segment? One linear section is not going to break your game or undermine the story you're trying to tell. You know what actually does that? Puzzle after puzzle destroying the game's cadence until the player forgets there even is a story and stops caring.

You already have an unconventional RPG on your hands, it's not a sin to go two or three hours without a puzzle. How many puzzles does Chrono Trigger have? The FF saga? In CT, almost none. The game trusts its story and its combat to keep you hooked, and it works. In Final Fantasy, puzzles are the exception, not the rhythm. When they show up, they mark something: an iconic dungeon, a temple, a point of no return. They feel like events. Here they feel like filler, the glue between parts and areas.

The roguelike mode feels completely out of place. I think it's a case of jack of all trades, master of none. Why does the game suddenly shift into roguelike territory for this section? Why not make the whole game like that, then? It breaks the cohesion of the experience for what feels like pure whim. The dream sequence could have kept the same structure and nothing would have been lost.

Honestly, I came away pretty disappointed. Not for me. It's a shame because I was starting to dig the characters, dialogue, environment, etc. But I just didn't get fully hooked.

I caved and bought it asap. Even though I'm gonna ultimately disappoint myself. How many hours do i have before i become sad again?

It's a little confusing that the green arrow upwards means "don't use this damage type against an enemy", but once you know that it's fine. What I can't figure out is what the purple exclamation mark means? The fish enemies have one for "Aether" but they don't seem to take significantly more or less damage from is compared to Physis.

https://preview.redd.it/yr3yhl9l1w0h1.png?width=863&format=png&auto=webp&s=3b34eee4b96a76de9b8fbbdea9f448235c11cdda

I just forgot, what is this?

I know it's related to cooking, but I don't know how to activate it.

I am not seeing nearly enough hype (SkillUp mention was great) and feel a little crazy setting a timer at work to buy my most anticipated game of the year. Could we get like a Megathread for all us dorks to converge in?

I remember when I was but a wee college kid learning the ropes of software development.

I came across a game framework for HTML5 games called ImpactJS. One particular example of what it could do was CrossCode, while still under development.

Bought the game years later and i fell in love with it. It suddenly made me feel that spending time working with web technologies was not a waste of time.

Fast forward, and my favorite indie studio released another game still using web technologies. Man, you all make a JS/TS dev see the light.

That this gorgeous game triumphs over big game engines and big studios is no mere feat.

This game is awesome and I spend every second just goofing on any area I encounter to marvel at your art, this is amazing, and the kind of game that brings me back into the sense of wonder I felt as a child.

Thank you, for inspiring another dev and for bringing out the child in me while playing.

As a senior software engineer, I see you. As a fan of games I do so as well. This is truly a great game experience.

Runs fantastic on the deck!

I bought the game on early access launch but have questioned if I should wait for it all to be released? I loved Crosscode and seeing this game just makes me so stoked to play again. But like what if I just replay Crosscode and then play this when it's finished??? Ahhhh I can't decide

Do note that this happened right after I completed the side story "Temple incursion". Do note that this was the last side quest I had to complete. Once I finished this side story, when im trying to fast travel from the map, its showing that fast travel is unavilable. Is it intentional because I wanted to travel to Sandalon and it seems impossible without fast travel. Any help would be appreciated.

I didn’t play the demo and I never finished Cross Code (maybe I’m stupid) but so far an hour or so into the game I’m really enjoying the combat. Where the current story goes but I like it so far.