Dawn of the Monsters: Arcade + Character DLC Pack Review

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Fast Facts

The Dawn of the Addendum

In March of 2022, the game Dawn of the Monsters came out. I reviewed it on the site here and enjoyed it. Thus, I was excited to see the developers release the Dawn of the Monsters: Arcade + Character DLC Pack. This is an arcade campaign featuring the characters and enemies from the main game. Did this additional content further my excitement for the series? Find out in this Rapid Review.

The first thing I noticed about the Dawn of the Monsters DLC is that there was no story content. When I booted it up for the first time, the developers just thrust me into combat. This was not innately an issue, but my initial reintroduction was a bit confusing since it had been almost two years since I had played the game.

Additionally, I was a bit disappointed by the complete lack of lore. The main game certainly did not rely on lore to provide meaning, but I enjoyed seeing the interactions between my characters. The arcade edition did not have any of these. Though I was not looking for anything revolutionary, the complete lack of story content in the arcade mode made the act of completing it seem insignificant. To be entirely honest, since I was not drawn in by anything in the story, I found it challenging to motivate myself to complete the challenge. The lack of framing in the Dawn of the Monsters DLC disappointed me.

Running it Back

Though the lack of story content failed to reinvigorate my excitement, the combat was just as good as I remembered. Maneuvering the different characters to take out enemies is fun. I combined different attacks, leveraged special moves, and selected upgrades to fit my needs. Specifically, I enjoyed using the dodge ability to perfectly evade enemy attacks. This dodge, in combination with the rest of my moves, made navigating the levels in the Dawn of the Monsters DLC a lot of fun.

Unfortunately, despite enjoying revisiting the moves and capabilities of my main characters, almost every enemy, if not every enemy was the same as those I faced in the main campaign. Despite it being almost two years since I played Dawn of the Monsters, navigating the enemies was not very rewarding since I knew how each worked. This was especially disappointing since it extended to the bosses and level layouts too. Almost nothing was completely brand new in this adventure.

Granted, the enemies are enjoyable to go up against. Foes clearly telegraph their attacks, enemies are distinct from each other, and different combinations encouraged me to play with different strategies. I had fun dismantling these foes for sure. However, I had just as much fun in the main game. Since nothing is overly unique, to me, there is little that justifies this purchase in addition to the main game.

Spicing it Up

The key differences between the main game and this mode are that this mode features limited continues, score leads to increased health, and there is a constant timer that forces me to play quickly. The limited continues were an obvious inclusion. The idea works well in this arcade mode. Having a strict number of respawns forced me to play carefully and strategize more effectively. Additionally, having my score increase the number of continues I had was also great. This feature incentivized me to play well and rewarded me for doing so. I think the way these design elements contributed to the Dawn of the Monsters DLC helped make it fun.

Additionally, included in this DLC is a fun new playable character. This character was like the others, but also had some unique mechanics such as being able to swap weapons. While fairly standard, the new character helped diversify some of the gameplay that Dawn of the Monsters offers. Though I did not feel like Dawn of the Monsters had too few playable characters to select, I enjoyed getting to play as a new one.

On the other hand, the developers included a timer. I was not necessarily the biggest fan of the timer, as it encouraged me to play hyper-offensively. Though playing quickly was encouraged consistently, as it often increased my rank, I did not like how I was punished for playing slowly. During the main game, strategically choosing my openings was a viable strategy whereas now I would get punished for using it. Though this timer was not overly tight, losing a continue to an expiring timer never felt good. The way it was implemented inhibited me from playing the game in the way I wanted to play it.

General Disappointment

In addition to the lack of control in my playstyle, the arcade mode was not as challenging as I would have liked. There are toggleable difficulty options before I enter, but I typically play on the normal mode, so I chose that one. Unfortunately, it only took me a few tries to complete the arcade mode. Though the mode can be revisited as many times as I would like, and the Dawn of the Monsters DLC even has a rogue-like mode where upgrades are randomized, score chasing in this arcade mode did not hook me.

Whether it was because of the lack of unique enemies when compared to the base game, the lack of a narrative hook, or the fact that this content features practically the same objectives and levels as the base game, I did not appreciate the Dawn of the Monsters DLC as much as I had hoped. Granted, the game is still innately fun. The characters are solidly designed, the core gameplay loop is enjoyable, and the enemies are formidable while being fair. However, I find it challenging to justify purchasing this DLC. Considering that the base game has pretty much all this content already, I am not rushing to recommend the Dawn of the Monsters DLC unless you are a huge fan of the main game and classic arcade titles.

3 out of 5

3

You can purchase the Dawn of the Monsters: Arcade + Character DLC Pack on the Nintendo eShop here.