Back to the Dawn from Clouded Leopard Entertainment, Spiral Up Games, and Metal Head Games is a story-driven CRPG set in a high-security prison. Learn more about it in our Back to the Dawn review!
Back to the Dawn from Clouded Leopard Entertainment, Spiral Up Games, and Metal Head Games is a story-driven CRPG set in a high-security prison. You’ll be playing as either Thomas, a wrongfully convicted reporter who was caught in a web of lies, or undercover agent Bob, who has been forced into the prison system. You’ll need to pay attention at all times if you are to survive, since danger is very much part of your day-to-day in a place where all inmates are ready to either help you escape… or tear you to pieces.
As you can tell from the trailer and screens in this Back to the Dawn review, the game features a cast of anthropomorphic characters. This is, after all, an experience that takes place in a city of animals where corruption and despair are displayed front and center. As for the main protagonists, Thomas is the fox, and Bob is the panther. As Thomas, you will be working alongside your attorney on the outside as you collect enough evidence to save you before it’s too late. As Bob, you are tired and pretty much done with your line of work, but end up being dragged into “one last mission,” hence why you’re now working from within the prison.
The first step in your new life will be to pick the background of your character. For Thomas, the options are Broadcast Journalist, Undercover Journalist, and War Correspondent. Each one will grant you a positive ability, as well as a negative effect, along with a pair of initial specialties to give you an edge as your journey begins. If you go with the Broadcast Journalist as your background, you’ll have a +1 for Charisma, with an extra 30% when raising Rapport with others, but you won’t be able to shower without using soap, and you will lose 1 Mind when searching through the trash without wearing gloves. You’ll have Affinity, so you’ll only consume one Focus Point when befriending prisoners, as well as Bookworm, with +2 points when performing knowledge actions, which will increase by 1 for every 3 books that you read.
The Undercover Journalist background will grant you +1 in Agility, with one extra pocket slot, but attempting a challenge with a re-roll success rate of less than 30% will cost a pair of Focus Points. Your initial specialties will be Special Compartment, which increases your violation threshold by 10, and Crafter, which allows you to craft simple tools and weapons using materials. The last one for Thomas is War Correspondent, which will grant you +1 in Strength, and your armor type will change to Thick Fur, which can cushion blows and make you impervious to cold. Unfortunately, nightmares can’t be automatically forgotten. When you take sleeping pills to sleep, you’ll need to take 2 at a time. Your initial specialties will be Robust, which will increase your max health by 8 points, as well as Weapon Practice, which makes it so that when performing a weapon attack, you will not consume extra Energy due to All Thumbs.
Bob can choose between three backgrounds: SWAT Officer, Detective, and Beat Cop. For SWAT Officer, you’ll have superior physicality and the ability to use SWAT combat techniques when fighting, but the effects of old injuries will reduce your Strength and Agility by 1, requiring daily painkillers to alleviate the effects for a period of time. Your initial specialties will be Weapon Practice, so that when performing a weapon attack, you will not consume extra Energy due to All Thumbs, and Catnap, so that satiety no longer goes down while you are resting.
The Detective background will make it so that sleepiness does not reduce Body, and you gain +1 Intelligence and Agility 1 at night, but satiety is depleted 25% faster, and you will not automatically recover Focus Points while hungry. Your initial specialties are Multi-threaded Brain, so you can accept 3 simultaneous quests from each quest giver, and Criminal Profiler, so that when you view an item in the item Encyclopedia, you can see which of the inmates you’ve befriended currently have it. Beat Cop will boost your Charisma +1 and Stamina by 20, and you can infer people’s gift preferences through Insight, but Body is deducted by using mint or cigarette products, and being in places with harmful gas is doubled. Your initial specialties are Juicy Gossip, so you can listen to chats between inmates to gain Intel – you can remember up to 10 at once – and during afternoon recreation, you can sell said Intel to the barbershop for money equal to your current Charisma, as well as Reflex, which reduces Focus Point recovery by 10 minutes.
You can play through the game by choosing one of four different modes: New Eden Mode, Central District Mode, Skidroad Mode, and Champion Mode. New Eden Mode is for players who want to experience the stories in a less challenging and more relaxing way. You’ll also be provided with three special items at the start of the game. Central District Mode is the one that the devs recommend, since it offers the standard experience. Skidroad Mode bumps up the challenge, and you won’t be able to use Memory Recall, so you can’t reroll results. As expected, Champion Mode dials things up to 11, which is why it won’t be available until you manage to complete the game once.
Boulderton Prison and its guards will require that you abide by its many rules… or at least do your best not to get caught doing something you shouldn’t be doing. You could gain the trust of others by helping them out here and there, or you could give in to the prison chaos and fight your way all the time, collecting some valuables in the process – as well as many bruises! You might be tempted to do everything on your own, but perhaps you should consider finding at least an ally or two juuuust in case.
Back to the Dawn is a story-driven CRPG set in a high-security prison. You’ll be playing as either Thomas, a wrongfully convicted reporter who was caught in a web of lies, or undercover agent Bob, who has been forced into the prison system. You’ll need to pay attention at all times if you are to survive, since danger is very much part of your day-to-day in a place where all inmates are ready to either help you escape… or tear you to pieces.
With two separate storylines to take on, this does mean the game has a ton of content for you to take on, with dozens of hours when adding both storylines, as you aim to reach one of the different endings on offer, with 100 handcrafted quests, several escape routes, and 500,000+ words in total. There are 40+ inmates to interact with, and the choices you make along the way will certainly matter in the long run. Back to the Dawn is out today on Nintendo Switch 2 with a $34.99 price tag. There’s also a Nintendo Switch version of the game available as a
Disclaimer
This Back to the Dawn review is based on a Nintendo Switch 2 copy provided by Clouded Leopard Entertainment.
