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PayPalPreviously known as Project Terra, Radical Fish Games who made the excellent CrossCode have now properly revealed their next game with Alabaster Dawn. From what their presskit said it will have Linux support once again too.
Alabaster Dawn is an Action RPG that builds on the best aspects of Radical Fish Games’ previous title, CrossCode. It features a deep combat system, challenging puzzles, and a mysterious world teeming with secrets, all bundled up in an engaging story. The shadow of Nyx has fallen—warping the world into a wasteland and vanishing the gods and their people. Now, Juno the Outcast Chosen, awakes to an impossible task: bring it all back.
Check out the reveal trailer below:
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Direct Link
Direct Link
Features:
- A unique 2.5D art style combing pixelart with a subtle 3D perspective
- A deep combat system featuring combo trees, 4 elements, and 8 unique weapons that can be quickly switched between at any time
- A large environment to explore that will change and develop as the game progresses
- Settlements that will be built from rubbles into bustling towns.
- Several larger dungeons filled with puzzles and large boss fights
- A complete RPG system with leveling, equipment, and skill trees
- A unique cooking system that combines healing and buff consumables with a leveling system, designed to avoid item hoarding
- All the exploration and jumping that you loved (...or hated) from CrossCode. The 3D helps with the perspective!
- A detailed movement system with auto-jumping and precise collision
- An engaging story about rebuilding a civilization with lots of surprising twists
- Original soundtrack by Deniz Akbulut (aka Nagi Shirakumo)
You can now follow it on Steam.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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15 comments
CrossCode is the best RPG I've ever played, and that's a damn high bar. Super excited for this.
4 Likes, Who?
I hope they allow you to skip puzzles this time (or improve them significantly).
I loved the combat and character system in CrossCode, but the puzzles were atrociously awful.
Not difficult, mind you - fairly simple and mundane, which made it worse in a way - but the constant running around to solve them made them take what felt like an eternity every single time.
And after you are done with a puzzle, what came next? Another puzzle in an even bigger room with even more trekking around to flip switches. And after that? Another room! And another!
Dungeons were either combat or puzzle dungeons, and not optional, either...
I can deal with the usual awful JRPG lever puzzles if they are only occasional, but CrossCode turned them into a horrible swamp to wade through to get to the good parts of the game.
Completely insane design, I couldn't continue playing after the second or so puzzle dungeon, which was quite upsetting given how interesting the rest of the game was.
Last edited by TheSHEEEP on 9 August 2024 at 1:29 pm UTC
I loved the combat and character system in CrossCode, but the puzzles were atrociously awful.
Not difficult, mind you - fairly simple and mundane, which made it worse in a way - but the constant running around to solve them made them take what felt like an eternity every single time.
And after you are done with a puzzle, what came next? Another puzzle in an even bigger room with even more trekking around to flip switches. And after that? Another room! And another!
Dungeons were either combat or puzzle dungeons, and not optional, either...
I can deal with the usual awful JRPG lever puzzles if they are only occasional, but CrossCode turned them into a horrible swamp to wade through to get to the good parts of the game.
Completely insane design, I couldn't continue playing after the second or so puzzle dungeon, which was quite upsetting given how interesting the rest of the game was.
Last edited by TheSHEEEP on 9 August 2024 at 1:29 pm UTC
3 Likes, Who?
ExpandingMan Aug 9
Occasionally I see someone with 100 hours in a game thumbs-down it and I think "What?"
Therefore Crosscode stands out to me as a game in which I have invested 60 hours that I would thumbs-down on steam. How did this happen? At the start of the game it was fantastic, I loved everything about it. As I progressed, more and more things started to bother me and I liked it less and less. Combat became grinding and tedious, eventually totally dominated by damage-sponge enemies that took forever to kill, *so many* tedious puzzles and annoying fetch quests, so much filler dialogue that I couldn't be bothered to read anymore. The rate at which I came to dislike it was *just* slow enough, and I had *just* enough fond memories of the early game that I felt compelled to finish it. By the time I beat it, I saw it was at 60 hours and I thought to myself "that was awful". It's the only game I've ever had that experience with, and it has perhaps made me more willing to abandon games if I feel I'm no longer enjoying them.
Therefore Crosscode stands out to me as a game in which I have invested 60 hours that I would thumbs-down on steam. How did this happen? At the start of the game it was fantastic, I loved everything about it. As I progressed, more and more things started to bother me and I liked it less and less. Combat became grinding and tedious, eventually totally dominated by damage-sponge enemies that took forever to kill, *so many* tedious puzzles and annoying fetch quests, so much filler dialogue that I couldn't be bothered to read anymore. The rate at which I came to dislike it was *just* slow enough, and I had *just* enough fond memories of the early game that I felt compelled to finish it. By the time I beat it, I saw it was at 60 hours and I thought to myself "that was awful". It's the only game I've ever had that experience with, and it has perhaps made me more willing to abandon games if I feel I'm no longer enjoying them.
4 Likes, Who?
Combat reminds me of Spearhead Games (the excellent Stories and Omensight games), so I'm gonna follow this for sure. Interesting what people are saying about Crosscode though - I finished Stories in 6 hours, but played it about a year later all over again for another 6 - excellent game. Then 10 hours in Omensight - finished it, but frequently consider playing it again.
Meanwhile, I have 15 hours in Crosscode but gave up on it, and no urge to play again. I feel like I have a "maximum hours" regarding gaming that occasionally kicks in.
I say occasionally, as there are many, many exceptions. But Crosscode wasn't one of them.
Still, this looks excellent.
Meanwhile, I have 15 hours in Crosscode but gave up on it, and no urge to play again. I feel like I have a "maximum hours" regarding gaming that occasionally kicks in.
I say occasionally, as there are many, many exceptions. But Crosscode wasn't one of them.
Still, this looks excellent.
1 Likes, Who?
and I had *just* enough fond memories of the early game that I felt compelled to finish itThat's the problem. Some games are too long for their own good. You have to learn to let go in order not to taint your experience/fun with the beginning of the game.
3 Likes, Who?
and I had *just* enough fond memories of the early game that I felt compelled to finish itThat's the problem. Some games are too long for their own good. You have to learn to let go in order not to taint your experience/fun with the beginning of the game.
You're not wrong. The problem is many people feel a game has to be 20+ hours to be worth the money. I've seen 10h games labeled as "too short".
To me it's less about the time and more about quality of the time, like you said.
Speaking of CrossCode, the "ending" not even being part of the original release of the game was pretty annoying as well. And now that it has come out, I have zero interest in going back because the horrendous puzzle design as mentioned by user TheSHEEEP made me go like "yeah no". Between CrossCode and Sea of Stars, I kinda lost of faith in SNES-inspired indie RPGs.
3 Likes, Who?
Philadelphus Aug 9
Immediately wishlisted. I'm not usually interested in action RPGs, but CrossCode is the rare exception that had me emotionally invested for all 120 hours from beginning to end. (I haven't 100%-ed it in terms of achievements, but I completed every single quest in the game.) I found the puzzles fun and quite challenging, and while I beat them all on the default difficulty I love that the team included multiple different difficulty scaling options for both puzzles and combat – a real good move for accessibility. I can see the CrossCode DNA in the writing and expressive character portraits in the trailer (a trait which this video I watched recently argues is part of what makes Lea such a great silent protagonist), and if they've iterated on the already solid engine I can't wait to see what Radical Fish Games have cooked up this time. 
0 Likes
PoliticsOfStarving Aug 9
Between CrossCode and Sea of Stars, I kinda lost of faith in SNES-inspired indie RPGs.
What’s up with Sea of Stars? I haven’t had a chance to play it yet, but I thought it might be good.
2 Likes, Who?
Between CrossCode and Sea of Stars, I kinda lost of faith in SNES-inspired indie RPGs.
What’s up with Sea of Stars? I haven’t had a chance to play it yet, but I thought it might be good.
I admit it could be just a personal gripe of mine, but
Spoiler, click me
locking endings
Spoiler tag included just in case you don't want that spoiled for you, even if I'm keeping it very vague :)
Last edited by kftX on 9 August 2024 at 10:48 pm UTC
2 Likes, Who?
Therefore Crosscode stands out to me as a game in which I have invested 60 hours that I would thumbs-down on steam. How did this happen?Same here. I don't fully get why people enjoy this game all the way through.
Even though people call it an RPG and I really don't consider it to be one I quite enjoyed it in the beginning. However the longer I played the more my experience was muddied by repetitiveness and some MMO mechanics I really dislike in singleplayer games. At some point it I just felt it wasn't worth it any more.
Maybe the game just isn't for me - which is a pity as it seems to tick a lot of boxes for me. It's not the first time this has happened to me though. For example I hate the Borderlands games with a passion for similar reasons even though they look like I should enjoy them...
1 Likes, Who?
Let's hope it will be available in a DRM free store also.
1 Likes, Who?
hardpenguin Aug 12
CrossCode is the best RPG I've ever played, and that's a damn high bar. Super excited for this.Woah! That is high praise. I still haven't played it but I have it on itch.io.
0 Likes
hardpenguin Aug 12
Let's hope it will be available in a DRM free store also.Pretty sure that will be the case, their previous game was on itch.io and GOG.com.
1 Likes, Who?
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