Dawn of the Monsters

30$???? scam 8$??? fun purchase C:

This game is what I would label "Simple but effective" and boy is it effective in my opinion. DOTM is a perfect small compact game for any Kaiju fans that want something with a simple formula but attention to details. The playable monsters are perfect with their unique yet simplistic designs that really give off a Showa era feeling for kaiju media. The combat is very fun too with heavy moves that feel heavy and destructive. Megadon was the obvious choice for me as I am a mega Godzilla fan, and I can feel the love with Megadon being this games take on the "Godzilla". Its just a nice sweet little present that will take a few hours of your time for a fun little story with beat-em-up mechanics. Dont worry too much about the gameplay, because if you are a mega Kaiju fan like me, you will enjoy this game no matter what. Highly praise this and look forward to anything further with this world.

A low budget love letter to the kaiju movies of yesteryear, Dawn of the Monsters does an impressive job of giving off the impression that you're really controlling a hulking monstrosity capable of walking over most buildings. This has you select from one of four different characters. There's Megadon, the not Godzilla lava monster who can buff himself and hits hard; Ganira, a giant crab turtle who specializes in support, offering shields and monster spawns to take the heat off; Ttempest Gallahad, a proper mech that uses ranged weapons and reloads to weaken enemies from a decent distance; and last but not least, Aegis Prime, a man who can turn into a giant power ranger and uses martial arts to fight kaijus. Aegis Prime wound up being my favorite, as all of his moves focus on damage avoidance, and he worked best for single player, but the four characters really are distinct. Rather than the snappy combat of something like Streets of Rage 4, part of the way DOTM sells the Kaiju fantasy is with slow, deliberate animations. Attacks all have sort sort of wind up, for both you and the monsters, so watching the tells of monsters in your vicinity amd reacting accordingly is key to victory. You can pick up buildings to use as powerful weapons, great when in a pinch, and the game rewards you building up your special attack meter through careful play. The combo system is pretty simple; basically, just hit guys until they die, and don't let the combo meter run out (even basic attacks refill it to max). It's a simpler combat system than in other games, which given the general weight of everyone, is much appreciated. There are five regiions across the world that you combat kaijus, and each one has a general color pallet the devs use to differentiate them. This is where the low budget is clearest; each area looks fine, but repetition settles in quickly. Still, Tokyo looked cool and walking over buildings that come up to your ankles automatically is fun (the game even keeps track of how many you knock down, a nice touch). The story is surprisingly involved, telling a human melodrama and developing the scifi world pretty well. It was just interesting enough to keep me invested, although it isn't high art or anything. It doesn't need it be though, because it gives you plenty of reasons to beat the tar out of monsters. Lastly, there is a meta game of slotting in ability cards. Your rank at the end of a level determines the rarity of the cards you can pick, and if you get duplicates you can always sell them. There are plenty of different abilities to mix and match, allowing for a lot of expression. None of them fundamentally change how a character plays, but it's still fun to tweak your character, and also very easy and forgiving when it comes to trying someone new. Thankfully you don't need to grind excessively; if you use Megadon for five levels but feel like switching to Tempest Gallahad, it's as easy as slotting in whatever cards you want on Tempest. I appreciated this, because often times games with grindy elements like this can rail road you into only using specific characters for maximum efficiency. There's no denying that the game can be a bit repetitive, but I still had a good time with it. I'm hoping this is the start of a franchise, because I could see a larger budgeted sequel being really fantastic. As it is, this is still a fun time that has surprising depth in its customization and story. Plus, who doesn't love ripping the heads off of horned monsters and bashing their friends with it?

As a fan of the kaiju genre, this game checks all of the boxes. Could not have picked a better first game for my Steam account.

Dawn of the Monsters is an energetic side-scrolling beat 'em up that successfully translates the spectacle of classic giant-monster battles into an arcade-style action game. Developed by 13AM Games and WayForward and published by WayForward, the game places its emphasis on destructive combat, enormous playable creatures, and a colorful manga-inspired presentation. Rather than simply borrowing kaiju imagery, it builds its mechanics around the fantasy of controlling something powerful enough to demolish buildings while battling creatures of comparable size. The premise begins with Earth facing an invasion by colossal creatures known as the Nephilim. Humanity responds through DAWN, or the Defense Alliance Worldwide Network, which deploys its own gigantic fighters as the planet's last major defensive force. The narrative provides an appropriate framework for a campaign primarily concerned with monster-versus-monster action. It does not attempt to become an overly complicated drama, but its science-fiction setting and larger-than-life conflict complement the exaggerated nature of the gameplay. The campaign contains more than 35 missions and takes players through destructible environments inspired by real-world locations. Players initially have four enormous combatants to choose from: Megadon, Ganira, Aegis Prime, and Tempest Galahad. One of the game's better design choices is ensuring that these characters have distinct abilities and fighting styles instead of functioning as simple cosmetic alternatives. Experimenting with the roster changes the rhythm of combat and gives players an incentive to revisit missions with another character. Their exaggerated proportions and powerful attacks also communicate the necessary feeling of scale, which is essential for a game centered entirely on gigantic creatures. Combat expands considerably beyond repeatedly using basic attacks. Rage abilities provide powerful offensive options, while Cataclysm Attacks emphasize the spectacular side of the battles. Finishers add another satisfying layer by allowing enemies to be dispatched with suitably brutal displays of force. The game also introduces numerous enemy types and major bosses, helping encounters maintain some variety as the campaign progresses. Fighting ordinary enemies is entertaining, but the larger confrontations are where the concept reaches its full potential, particularly when two massive opponents are trading devastating attacks amid collapsing surroundings. Environmental destruction is another important part of the experience. Cities are not merely static backgrounds behind the fighting, as structures can be destroyed during combat. This creates the impression that the monsters genuinely occupy these environments rather than appearing as oversized characters placed on conventional beat 'em up stages. The visual presentation reinforces that sensation through a stylized comic and manga aesthetic. Instead of pursuing realism, the game embraces bold designs and dramatic effects, giving its monsters and environments a distinctive personality. Progression is handled through DNA augments, allowing players to customize and strengthen their chosen monsters. This system adds a useful RPG-like component to what could otherwise have been a straightforward arcade brawler. Finding and configuring augments creates additional motivation to complete missions while providing some control over character development. It also makes progression feel more meaningful because improvement is not limited to the player's growing familiarity with attack combinations. Players interested in optimizing builds have something to consider between battles without the customization becoming so complicated that it interrupts the game's accessible nature. Cooperative play fits the concept particularly well. Dawn of the Monsters supports two-player shared or split-screen cooperative action, along with Steam's Remote Play Together functionality. Having two gigantic combatants fighting simultaneously naturally increases the chaos and visual spectacle. Solo play remains completely practical, however, so cooperative participation is not necessary to experience the campaign. The flexibility makes the game suitable both as an individual action experience and as a couch co-op title. Despite its strengths, repetition is the most noticeable weakness. More than 35 missions provide substantial content for a beat 'em up, but that length also means the basic combat structure inevitably becomes familiar. Players repeatedly enter environments, defeat groups of enemies, upgrade their characters, and continue toward larger confrontations. Different monsters, DNA customization, enemy variety, special abilities, and bosses help prevent the formula from becoming monotonous too quickly, but players who already struggle with repetition in traditional brawlers may experience fatigue during longer sessions. The game's overall presentation helps compensate for that familiarity. Animations give attacks an appropriately heavy impact, while destructible environments enhance the sensation of enormous physical power. The combination of science fiction, kaiju cinema, manga influences, robots, and arcade combat gives Dawn of the Monsters a recognizable identity. It clearly understands the appeal of watching gigantic beings clash, but it also provides enough mechanical substance to function as more than a visual tribute to monster movies. Dawn of the Monsters ultimately delivers a convincing combination of kaiju spectacle and traditional beat 'em up design. Its strongest qualities are the four distinctive playable monsters, satisfying destructive combat, powerful special attacks, character customization, cooperative functionality, varied enemies, and environments that react appropriately to creatures of such enormous scale. The campaign can occasionally feel repetitive, and its underlying structure remains relatively straightforward, but the responsive action and strong artistic direction keep the experience entertaining. For players who enjoy arcade brawlers, giant monsters, tokusatsu-inspired action, or destructive cooperative games, it offers an unusually focused and enjoyable interpretation of those ideas. Rating: 8/10

There aren't a lot of western developed games out there that manage to scratch that Tokusatsu itch. This is definitely one of the few that succeeds and then some! A 2D brawler with some depth wrapped up in gorgeous art/animation with a delicious color palette and a theme I personally love. You also get to trash Toronto, so that's an added bonus. So if you enjoy non-basic 2D beat'em ups, vintage tokusatsu and 70's/80's super robot mecha anime, then you owe it to yourself to grab this along with it's DLC. The only negative I can think of is the rather dull soundtrack.

Easy 9/10 from this Kaiju fan who played this entirely on Steam Deck as is Absolute love letter to all Kaiju and Super Robot universes out there! The story isn’t too hard to get through and gave me around 10 hours to complete. Around 20 hours with all steam achievements, trials and in-game challenges completed. I have not finished my New Game+ play through yet. Dawn of the Monsters is a side scroll Beat’m Up with some RPG elements. You play as one of 4 (5 w/DLC) Kaiju/Robots saving the world from evil kaiju. Each playable character has their own unique moves but share all RPG upgrades you obtain. DotM does have couch co-op but I played it entirely solo. The story is fully voiced and feels perfect for this genre! There’s no deep levels of writing but the story has its own twists and world/lore building that leaves it open to a much wanted sequel from this fan. At this time I have obtained S+ for all Story Mode levels and trials, and finished Toronto in New Game+. The most difficult parts of the game came from getting through Arcade mode w/all Characters and a few of the Trials. One Arcade mode achievement asks to play with all characters and I am frankly not great playing every character. The trials allow the use of any character with all the augments you have obtained while playing the game. Utilizing your augments and the different character play styles feels like a must just to get through the trials. The only glitch/error I noticed was at one part during a story scene/conversation between characters the game played the JP voices at the same time as the ENG voices. Not a deal breaker since it was only a few voice lines that I could still read the dialogue for.

Rapaz eu paguei o preço full só pra testar já que tava no hype do anime kaiju nº8, mas só pela intro do game eu peguei a dlc numa promo e rushei pra zerar o game que jogo bom. a trilha sonora, arte das cutscenes e dos cenários bem feitas e a gameplay é divertida (principalmente no coop onde facilita em certas fases e dificulta em outras jkkkk), acho que meu único contra é o movimento dos personagens serem um pouco lerdos pra reagir as vezes, mas creio que é íntecional afinal os bixos são gigantes e provavelmente pesados né :V Em relação a dlc ele acrescenta um person jogável (me ajudou e muito pra zerar no solo), mas infelizmente esse person não tem historia própria ele só tá jogado no game mesmo ;--; fora isso tem o modo arcade adicionado e várias skins também. Pelo que eu vi o modo arcade se completado mostra um pouco mais das artes até mostrando a historia dos personagens como n cheguei a completar então não sei se é true mesmo jkkkk O jogo conta com 5 persons jogáveis (incluindo o da dlc), a historia de 5 caps com 37 fases ao todo, com mais uns desafios e modo arcade (dlc), e tem um new game+ pra quem gosta de dificuldade. Recomendo :D