Earth’s Dawn is a great game. If you’re at all a fan of 2D beat-em-ups, 2D shoot-em-ups, or action RPGs, I highly suggest you play it.

Earth’s Dawn isn’t as a good as Odin Sphere, or even at the same level. It doesn’t have to be though. This is clearly a more budget focused title and it shows. All things considered, it’s one of the more fun and addicting games I’ve played this year, and surprisingly so. A game I almost didn’t give a second glance, and here I was being pulled away from other huge heavy holiday games. It offers a lot of content to work through, and for the price, players could do much worse this year.

Earth’s Dawn has the genuine feel of being developed by people that have played other similar games in the genre and have established the groundwork for a successful action RPG. Unfortunately, their execution fails to hit the mark in a number of instances that quickly add up to work against it. Perhaps by drawing too much inspiration from the likes of Odin Sphere, Earth’s Dawn ran the risk of riding the success of the recent Leifthrasir instead of being celebrated as a unique infusion of genres.

Earth’s Dawn is the perfect example of a videogame with good ideas. It is entertaining, however, it does not achieve the goal of becoming a big installment in the genre. It is good, but not great.

Repetitive gameplay is the only thing holding back Earth’s Dawn but it is a pretty major part of the equation. The missions reward you well and it always feels like you’re making progress, but the lack of variety may be a deal breaker for some.

There is plenty to like about the combat in Earth’s Dawn, but the game doesn’t manage to reach its full potential. A boring story gives players very little reason to care about what they are doing or reason to progress, and the game ultimately becomes monotonous due to this. Those who enjoyed Odin Sphere will find an intriguing game here, just one that isn’t nearly as special or polished.

A game which offers a lot of depth for player choice, but poor execution makes all the effort feel pointless. Earth’s Dawn tries to make up for its lack of content with too much repetitive gameplay.