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Find true love and family with a pirate crew at the ends of the universe, where aliens, ghosts, and portals open the space between worlds...and your heart. You are a Navigator, one who creates and guards portals from one dimension to another, wary of the liminal sea between them.
Your universe is made of two worlds: one contains the magic-infused world of Zephyria, and the other, the dystopian space station Eclipse. The worlds are balanced, until one day, an explosive disaster, a deadly energy storm, and an infamous pirate—the Ghost Queen—upend your life and plunge you into a race to save both worlds.
Dawnfall is a 235,000-word interactive romance novel by RoAnna Sylver, where your choices control the story. It’s entirely text-based, without graphics or sound effects, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power or your imagination.
So what happens when you find there’s not just two dimensions to save, but three? Is saving two worlds worth sacrificing one? Will you find love with the crew of the Dawnfall, or will you bring these pirates to justice? Are connections between universes, people, and lives meant to be forged and protected, or severed for the greater good?
* Play as male, female, nonbinary, or agender; gay, straight, bisexual, asexual, or aromantic
* Play as monogamous or polyamorous--romancing up to 5 crewmates at the same time!
* Live your best life as a star-covered space elf, or as a feathered, magical bird-person
* Face off against infamous pirate known as the Ghost Queen, or join her rebellious quest
* Save not one, but three whole worlds; one built on magic, one on technology, and one on something entirely unknown...
* Explore an ever-shifting, magical pirate ship
* Open portals between dimensions with magic, technology, or the power of rock n’roll
Navigate your heart’s own course, and hope you can weather the storms.
| Average Rating: Number of Reviews Written by IFDB Members: 2 |
To put it simply, I felt bullied and abused in this game.
You discover that the few people you thought you had something special with (your sister, your partners) all know each other and have deep relationships and you were the only one out of the loop. On top of that, you're attacked and threatened by the ghost queen for no fault of your own, and your partner who's supposed to be your only support merely makes heart eyes at her after a lackluster attempt at diffusing the situation. And then you're trapped, having to spend days in a realm where your attacker is God over, with strangers who love and support each other. A distinct power imbalance.
Furthermore, the only way to further romance with anyone in this game is to be immediately forgiving of all the things they've done to you. It's either "I forgive you and love you and all happy feels eee!" or nothing. There's no "I want there to be something more, but I'm overwhelmed and scared from being surrounded by strangers who I thought I knew. Strangers who are already unquestionably loyal to each other, leaving me lonely and in danger should I ever stand up for myself against even one of you". It's blunt and clunky. There's no nuance at all in romance and relationships despite this being a heartschoice (romance focused) game. There's no slow burn, there's barely any time for burn at all.
I wouldn't've minded the severe angst had it been represented properly. But as it is, it's obvious the author was completely blind to this perspective.
Dawnfall is pretty tough to rate. It features an interesting setting and somewhat strong writing. The ending scene explores some interesting themes of loyalty, betrayal and sacrifice.
However, the prose is as heavy as a tank, with a lot in the way of length and detail. There is plenty of lore, special terms and worldbuilding which the game wants to convey to you. But in this regard, the game basically throws you into the deep end from the start and keeps you submerged there for the entire story. I was pretty much running the CPU in my brain on overclock mode throughout the game, just to digest the thick and heavy prose as well as the content within. For casual readers or someone who wants an easy read, I can’t recommend this.
There are a couple of stats in the game. I was mostly sigils, sigils, sigils everytime I saw a stat check, and as far as I can tell, it seems to have worked.
Romances are a tricky thing. You can romance everyone, and there’s even an achievement for it. I got it on my first try simply by picking the romantic options whenever they came up. There is also a final romance scene where you have the option to talk with anyone (and everyone?) for a final romance scene, but I decided to stick with one person at that point. Some characters are in polygamous relationships and will insist on it if you try to suggest otherwise, but at least they’re upfront about it. (For the record, I’m not strictly opposed to poly relationships, just that it’s not my thing.)
Romance scenes appear to be mild for the most part. I always picked the “romance and sex” options, but didn’t see anything very explicit.
It’s a good title, but it feels really impenetrable to casual readers. As a romance game, I’d rate it as okay. The strength of the game comes from the worldbuilding, setting and storytelling. But you’ll probably need brains of steel for that part.