Does that screenshot look familiar? If you've ever played the opening minutes of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, it should! But no, Link has not suddenly changed skin colors or gotten a deep tan. This screenshot is from Dawnlands, an upcoming mobile and PC action-RPG that has some very clear heavy influences.
Like Breath of the Wild, Dawnlands opens with the hero character—in this case, a player-created character—waking up in a cave, learning the basics of controls, and then exiting to a majestic, sweeping shot of the big, beautiful fantasy world that is just waiting to be explored.
The core gameplay is also very comparable to Breath of the Wild, with players scavenging for weapons that can break down pretty easily, using parts of the environment to mess with enemies, and exploring the world for random hidden treasures or little puzzles that offer rewards.
And while I think it is a blatant clone, as stated in the headline, I'm not necessarily saying that's a bad thing! The Breath of the Wild gameplay formula is compelling for a reason, and shrinking that down to mobile is a pretty amazing feat. I certainly enjoyed the several hours I spent playing around in an early test version of Dawnlands.
To the game's credit, it does set itself apart from its inspiration in some ways too. For one thing, it has a much more in-depth crafting system, including the ability to build structures and set up defenses for missions where you need to take on waves of baddies. And although Dawnlands is free-to-play and will presumably have some monetization worked in, it appears to be blessedly free of any gacha mechanics.
If you're looking for a mobile or PC title that copies the best stuff from Breath of the Wild and presents it in a colorful package with a tad more focus on survival mechanics, you should add Dawnlands to your wishlist right away. The test version was a bit lacking in polish (especially the English translation) and had some technical issues, but the ambition of this project is already obvious—just as obvious as the game that most heavily inspired it.
oh yeah then tell them to make legend of Zelda game for mobile ha fk
2023-06-14
I mean they totally should! Nintendo has started making mobile games, it's far past time we get an official Zelda game on phones
2023-06-15
Can't do anything about it. I'm ashamed of my own Chinese people for always copying from other popular video games, rather than using their own talent & creativity
2023-08-10