Developed By and Published by: Valorware
Categories: RPG, Adventure
Release Date: 04.24.2025
Price: $15.99
*Game Download Code graciously provided for the purpose of review

I love a game that has a lot of customization options and tons of loot, and 9th Dawn Remake was no exception. I haven’t played any of the previous games before this, so I wasn’t prepared for the amount of content the game threw at me. It’s an open world dungeon crawling RPG that’s a remake of the original 2012 game, but it’s bigger and better.

The game is played in a 2.5D pixel art style with an option to play in first person mode. I thought this was a great option to have but the controls were a bit different and it was easier to get lost. Personally I’m not a huge fan of how the game looks, but the game was so good that it didn’t matter.

When you first begin the game, you’re investigating a disappearance, but it quickly evolves into a grand adventure across a huge world. The overworld is huge and there are dozens of massive dungeons to explore. Each one has tons of enemies, puzzles, and chests. Once you take the items from a chest, they won’t be restocked, but monsters respawn every time you enter the dungeon for infinite grinding and loot.

Speaking of enemies, the combat is simple and fun. Use a variety of weapons like sword, daggers, and bows to blow away enemies in fast-paced action. The main reason that combat is so fast and easy is because of how great the button mapping is. There’s just a few buttons for moving and attacking but 8 additional actions can be attributed to just two button presses to make items and other actions easier.

The story is solid, the soundtrack is amazing, and the gameplay is fun. But the games real strength lies in its loot and depth. 9th Dawn boasts an ungodly amount of weapons, gear, and items that can be bought, found, crafted, and upgraded. These items all offer solid buffs to your character but they’re just the tip of the iceberg.

Most of your character growth comes from things like skills, abilities, and pets. There are 24 skills and more than a dozen pages of abilities to unlock. You also have pets fighting alongside you, each one having their own massive skill tree. There are infinite possibilities for how to build your character and there’s so much to do.

Then you have the mini games, and boy is it easy to lose track of time. The main mini game is a card battle called Deck Rock and it’s basically a fully fledged card game that’s similar to Slay The Spire. When you first start the game, there’s only a few levels, and more can be unlocked as you explore the world. When I first played, I lost track of the time and played the card game for three hours before even starting the first main quest.

There’s also a fishing mini game but it’s nowhere near as big as the card one. You’re just fighting off fish and at the end of the level, all the fish you defeat are added to your inventory. This is very useful for the game itself because you can sell the fish for money or use them as a crafting material for things like health potions.

9th Dawn Remake is so much fun, there’s so much to do, and it runs perfectly on the Switch. For only $16, the game throws so much content and value at you and will keep you occupied for 50 hours or more. It’s well worth the price of admission if you’re an RPG lover.

10/10