Review: Back to the Dawn (Nintendo Switch)
Back to the Dawn is a story-driven RPG set in a prison. It comes from indie studio Metal Head Games and features anthropomorphic characters, tongue-in-cheek humor, pixelated graphics, and a great soundtrack. In short, it’s something pretty special.
There’s a lot to Back to the Dawn. It begins with a choice between characters. Will you play the role of a journalist fox named Thomas or cop panther named Bob. Once you’ve made that decision, you can select from three specific roles for your character, each with slightly different stats. Thomas can be a Broadcast Journalist, Undercover Journalist, or War Correspondent. Bob can be a SWAT Officer, Undercover Cop, or Detective. That’s already plenty of variety right up front, but there’s also a third unlockable character to give you yet another reason to replay once you’re done with the first two.
No matter which path you go down, your overall goal remains the same: survive 21 days in prison before the corrupt mayor of the city can be re-elected. Along the way, you’ll interact with 46 other inmates and several guards. Your day-to-day goals range from earning money to increasing your reputation with inmates. Despite the unchanging goal, no two playthroughs will be identical. It’s almost a choose-your-own-adventure style – will you talk to this person, work at that job, buy an item, read a book to learn a skill, or join a particular gang? You can steal, extort, fight, befriend, explore, and so much more. There’s an incredible amount to do.
Thankfully, at first you really don’t know just how much is on offer. You’re initially given simple quests like getting a work permit at the laundry. Eventually, you’ll find you just don’t have enough time in your day, and you’ll start planning ahead for tomorrow. The game is cleverly split into days, with every activity costing you precious minutes. Being a prisoner, you’re somewhat restricted with how you spend your time; 8am is headcount; 12pm is lunchtime; 1pm is free time outside; 5:30 is dinner; 10pm is lockdown. Where you can go and what you can do depends very much on the time of day. It opens up a tactical way to play that’s very addictive.
One of the most fun aspects of Back to the Dawn is talking to the interesting characters dotted around the prison. Every time you purchase an item from them (every prisoner is basically a walking shop) or gift them with something, you earn friendship points. Once you reach 99 points, you can bond with them to learn their true story. It also unlocks more items in their mobile “store”. Getting to know them is actually kinda sweet, with each inmate having their own story.
They’re also cleverly named. There’s a teacher-turned-illegal-drug-manufacturer named Walter (who happens to be a skunk), a warthog named Hakuna, and a reindeer named Rudolph (of course). I loved the variety of animals, too, from tapirs to capybaras. The team has done a fantastic job bringing each and every one to life. They all have likes and dislikes, which you have to figure out (unless you look it up online). I can imagine this being the type of game I would have taken notes for back in the day.
Graphically, Back to the Dawn sports a retro-inspired look that uses pixelated characters. This perfectly suits the top-down perspective, and fans of ‘90s era RPGs will feel right at home watching the various characters move around and interact with each other. The prison itself is well designed. Each area has a unique design with plenty of color and variety despite the setting. A prison-based game could easily look muddy or uninteresting, but the developers have done a great job bringing this world to life.
Plus, you’re not always in prison. There are plenty of cutscenes as the story unfolds, and occasionally you’ll even play as another character outside of prison. These departures from prison life help craft an engaging narrative that drives the story forward and keeps you invested.
There is one little graphical hiccup that randomly occurs. When this glitch happens, it’s almost like a few framerates are skipped, the screen briefly flickering while your character is walking. It’s not often and it doesn’t affect the gameplay at all, but it’s noticeable. I think a patch would easily fix this issue.
The audio is also great. The game features simple beats that work well with the environment you’re in, never overtaking the task at hand. Instead, they’re just there, sitting neatly in the background yet somehow getting stuck in your head despite their subtlety. Well done.
Whether you’re making phone calls to your ex-girlfriend to patch things up, running quests for one of the three gangs, or trying to make friends with the guards so you can work in the mailroom, Back to the Dawn is one of the deepest and most versatile games I’ve played in a long time. It might be a big investment of your time, but it’s totally worth it.
