Alabaster Dawn Review – A Luminous Action‑RPG from Radical Fish Games
Alabaster Dawn blends fluid, Devil May Cry‑inspired action with CrossCode's soul, gorgeous 2.5D pixel art and town‑building systems. Early Access already sparkles — just be ready for some missing pieces until the full release.
I jumped into Alabaster Dawn with CrossCode fever still in my bones, and Radical Fish Games manages something impressive: a familiar DNA that still feels fresh. The game pairs addictive, combo‑focused combat with exploration, puzzles and a surprisingly cozy settlement progression loop. If you like action RPGs with precise inputs and great animation — think Devil May Cry meets Zelda‑style exploration, with a CrossCode heart — you’ll want to try this. Early Access isn’t the full story yet, but what’s here already makes me excited for the full trip.
Dancing with the Wasteland's Foes
Combat is the beating heart of Alabaster Dawn and it shows. You swap between melee and ranged seamlessly, tag elements onto weapons, and chain Combat Arts from weapon‑specific skilltrees to build stylish, effective combos. The game rewards precision: timed attacks, parries and stamina management matter, so encounters feel tactile rather than button‑mashy. Enemies demand you read their tells and switch loadouts on the fly — which you can do mid‑combat — so fights become a small choreography where you’re constantly thinking two steps ahead. I found myself grinning when a risky dodge turned into a perfect counter and a Divine Art finisher; it feels earned.
When Gear Meets Community: Rebuilding Tiran Sol
Beyond fights, Alabaster Dawn ties progression to the world in a satisfying way. You rebuild settlements, open trade routes and unlock visual changes that literally alter navigation and secrets; helping a town feels like a real mechanical reward. Crafting revolves around gems, Artificers and enchantments: socket the right gems to alter weapon behavior or boost situational stats, and use cooking to expand healing bulbs and temporary buffs through the Palate Level. The game encourages exploration — hidden paths, puzzles that use your weapons and team members, and treasure that grants recipes or upgrade mats — so every detour tends to pay off.
Pixels, Parallax and the Sound of Step‑Clips
Visually, this is pixel art in 3D done with an incredible attention to motion. Animations are buttery smooth — many player reviews rave about that for a reason — and the parallax and water shaders give the 2.5D world a real sense of depth. Audio and music mostly hit the mark: village tracks soar, though a few intro sections felt thin to me in Early Access. Performance is solid on Windows and even friendly on Linux and Steam Deck according to reports, but the minimum OS note changed from Windows 7 to Windows 10 which matters to some. Accessibility and options are reasonable: map reminders, fast travel between landmarks and objective markers mean you can decide how guided you want to be. Overall, the tech side supports the design elegantly and the presentation often turned ordinary moments into memorable ones.
Alabaster Dawn is already a joy: a precise, stylish action RPG wrapped in gorgeous pixel visuals and smart world systems. Early Access shows a few rough edges — mostly missing content, occasional audio quirks and some writing that could be deeper — but the combat, animations and exploration are stellar enough that I recommend buying if you enjoy this genre. Radical Fish Games seem to be building something that could easily sit beside CrossCode as another indie favorite.
Pros
- Insanely fluid, expressive combat that rewards timing and skill
- Stunning 2.5D pixel art and animations — some of the best around
- Meaningful world progression: rebuilding settlements alters gameplay
- Deep weapon customization with per‑weapon skilltrees and gem system
Cons
- Early Access still misses some content and polish in places
- Writing and NPC arcs can feel a bit flat compared to the gameplay
- Occasional audio mix issues reported in earlier sections
Player Opinion
Players consistently praise Alabaster Dawn's combat, pixel art and animation — you’ll see a lot of "buttery smooth" and "best feeling combat" in the reviews. Fans of CrossCode feel the same DNA is present but improved in many ways, with several commenters saying the game feels like an upgraded CrossCode or even a new classic. Common criticisms focus on Early Access caveats: some sections still need content, a few audio or cloud save hiccups exist, and a minority find the dialogue or writing a bit undercooked. The community also mentions crashes on older systems and that the minimum OS requirements shifted, so check compatibility. If you liked Hyper Light Drifter, Death's Door or Zelda’s exploration with tighter combat, you’ll probably enjoy this.