Dawn of the Monsters - Switch Review
"You’re going to love this no-brainer."
The battle has begun in Dawn of the Monsters! Fight side by side with other kaiju as you try to push back the waves of the invading Nephilim that are hell-bent on destroying humanity. This game boasts side-scrolling beat-em-up mayhem which sees you in control of one of four titans as you brawl with oversized monsters in a colossal adventure.
The Good
The story in Dawn of the Monsters is centred around strange creatures called the aforementioned Nephilm whose origins are currently unknown. These creatures appeared in three separate Districts in 2036 and have caused untold amounts of destruction upon the world. As a result, a special task force called the Defence Alliance Worldwide Network (or “DAWN” for short) was established which was backed by the UN. They carefully selected four unique fighters: Eiji who has the ability to transform into Aegis Prime, a 55-metre-tall giant; Jamila Senai who pilots a giant robot with a large hand cannon; and two captured Nephilim called Megaton and Ganira who are control by two unknown operators. The story and characters have a lot of personality and the narrative greatly benefits from being fully voiced acted, with each character having their own distinct personality.
There are four kaiju to play as and each has their own unique abilities called Rage Attacks, as well as standard light and heavy attacks. Every hit or damage received builds up your Cataclysm bar which allows you to perform a screen-filling attack, damaging or even vaporising your foes. You can also execute enemies, allowing you to kill them instantly and recovering some health in the process.
There are four different regions with a total of 35 missions, which may not sound like a lot at first but each mission can last from anywhere to 5 to 15 minutes depending on your skill level. There are also boss battles to face at the end of each region that take some time to memorise their attack patterns.
While you're fighting, you'll see a combo metre which appears in the top right hand-corner; this will slowly decrease when you're not in combat. However, you’ll want to keep your combo going as you will receive better rewards and better Grades when you’ve completed your mission. Earning anything from an F to S+ will net you top tier augments that you can equip to your characters, giving them some extra abilities in battle, such as increased health, invulnerability, etc. These augments come in different rarity tiers and you can select three per character. There’s even the ability to sell them for extra cash and re-roll them for better statistics at a cost.
The chat menu becomes available every now and then, allowing you to get further insight into the characters' feelings and relationships with each other. In addition, you can also access an archive which allows you to read additional information on the monsters and ongoing research.
TL;DR
- Fully voice acted story
- Four unique kaiju characters
- 35 missions across four regions
- Lots of augments to unlock
- Added detail and lore
The Bad
It can be difficult when you're surrounded by multiple enemies and you’re trying to put some distance between yourself and them. As I found out myself on multiple occasions, I often got stuck on buildings and took damage as the dash ability doesn’t quite give you enough distance when you use it.
As for the pace, the gameplay is quite slow, which is to be expected because you’re controlling a massive monster and not a small agile human. However as previously mentioned, I wish the dash ability gave you a bit more distance, which would have sped up your escapes.
My biggest issue is that there’s no online play which I would have just loved here. While there is local multiplayer available, it’s an option many sadly never use and online play helps to mitigate these issues.
TL;DR
- Dash is underwhelming
- Slow-paced
- No online play
Final Score: 8/10
Dawn of the Monsters is a great but slower paced beat-em-up with a splash of kaiju gore. The voice acting sells the story well and it’ll help to keep the player invested. There are plenty of augments to unlock and a few unlockable extras to boot! Shining with local multiplayer, if you love kaiju monsters and don’t mind slower paced beat-em-ups, you’re going to love this no-brainer.
Thank you for checking out our Dawn of the Monsters Switch review, thank you to WayForward for providing the review code and thank you to our $5 and up Patreon Backers for their ongoing support: