Skip to main content

Dawn of the Monsters is the Godzilla game of my dreams

Ever since Godzilla’s disappointing 2014 PS4 appearance, I’ve known exactly what I wanted in a new game featuring the King of Monsters. I looked around for the exact type of game I was thinking of, going back to my childhood with the Destroy All Monsters series and even venturing into mobile territory with Godzilla Destruction. All I was asking for and dreaming of was a game that entailed controlling a kaiju, stomping through a city, and fighting other kaiju beat ’em up-style. Is that so much to ask?

Dawn of the Monsters - Official Announcement Trailer

My hunger came back tenfold recently thanks to what feels like a resurgence of the kaiju genre in the cinematic world. Now, WayForward and 13AM Games’ Dawn of the Monsters finally delivers on my video game fantasies, giving Godzilla, Ultraman, kaiju, tokusatsu, and even mecha fans a game made just for them.

Destroy all monsters

Dawn of the Monsters is easy to explain: Select a giant, venture through different cities, and defeat kaiju while progressing through a story. But it isn’t nearly as basic as it sounds at first glance. It’s evident that 13AM Games put a ton of love into the title. It just screams “by kaiju fans for kaiju fans,” which instantly made me fall head over heels.

From color palette references to the fact that you can make kaiju roar and strike fear in enemies, there are so many little Easter eggs all over the game that give me an indescribable feeling as a fan. It takes me back to a time as a kid when my dad was constantly showing me Japanese films and anime that blew my mind. They featured giant battles over the fate of humanity fought by unstoppable forces of nature or a lone hero piloting a government tax-paid mech. The idea that a new IP could give me that sort of nostalgia is a dream come true, and I get the sense that many kaiju fans will feel the same.

It isn’t just for die-hard kaiju fans, though. Dawn of the Monsters features a fun combat system with tons of customization and four unique characters to brawl with (kaiju based on Godzilla and Gamera, a growing man inspired by Ultraman, and a girl piloting a mech that seems like it’s pullsed from Getter Robo, Kamen Rider, and Gundam).

Dawn of the Monsters - Combat Deep Dive

Like Streets of Rage 4 and River City Girls, there’s a heavy focus on combos. You can chain together weak attacks, cancel them into heavy attacks, cancel heavy attacks into dashes for more combo options, cancel all that into special attacks at the cost of super bar, and cancel all of those into a cataclysmic ultra attack that has a different effect depending on who you use. Personally, I’m a fan of the Kamen Rider-esque Tempest Galahad, who has a giant gun and a weapon similar to Iron Man’s proton canon in Marvel vs. Capcom.

Tempest Galahad uses a proton canon in Dawn of the Monsters.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Custom kaiju

Players can customize each character with various buffs and risk/reward edits that come in the form of cards. Cards are earned after every mission and can either be equipped to change the way you play or be sold to earn money for other unlockables, like palette swaps or more health.

I found myself doing a lot of experimenting to find exactly what I wanted in my game and had consistent fun doing so. For example, Tempest Galahad’s combos have several functions, including a vacuum bomb that lifts opponents, allowing them to continue their combos. I equipped an item that gives me an extra special move bar for every parry and a speed-up item so I could always get in range to continue my combo for even more damage.

And yes, the game has a training room, so you can bet I’ve spent hours there trying to find the coolest-looking combos possible.

Dawn of the Monsters - Story Trailer

The combat is a clear standout, but the story caught me by surprise too. As a fan of tokusatsu, I was more than impressed to find that I was actually enjoying the narrative 13AM Games weaved with this game. I love all the characters and their stories, and even got sucked into the mystery that starts coming forward at the end of this first chapter. I felt like I was watching the 2000s Godzilla cartoon mixed with some of his comic runs, a tokusatsu superhero show, and your favorite mecha-versus-space invaders anime.

Dawn of the Monsters is one of the bigger surprises for me in gaming this year. After several rumors about Godzilla’s video games, I had all but given up. Little did I know I would be getting exactly what I wanted for years sooner than I’d expected. Fans of kaiju, mecha, super robots, Super Sentai, Ultraman, and beat ’em ups in general will find that Dawn of the Monsters isn’t just stomping around for show.

Dawn of the Monsters launches on March 15 for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC, Nintendo Switch, and Google Stadia.

Topics
DeAngelo Epps
De'Angelo Epps is a gaming writer passionate about the culture, communities, and industry surrounding gaming. His work ranges…
All new weapons in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty DLC
Two gangsters looking at a row of guns on the floor.

CD Projekt Red is known for adding tons of content any time it releases an expansion to one of its games, and Phantom Liberty is certainly no exception. The biggest addition is obviously the entire new zone called Dogtown and the storyline it contains, but there are plenty of other additions that add even more reasons to take a trip back to Night City. Aside from the new Relic skill tree to experiment with, there are a handful of new guns you can get your hands on and test out against the improved enemy AI. These new guns are mixed in with all the rest, so if you're jumping back into the game after a while, you might not recognize them. Here are all the new weapons introduced in the Phantom Liberty expansion.
Every new gun in Phantom Liberty
Grit - Auto Pistol
Looking like a smaller, yellow UZi, the Grit is a rapid-firing pistol with a huge clip.
Hercules - Special
The only special weapon introduced is the Hercules. Considering special weapons are always a treat to find, we'll leave this gun's function a secret for you to discover yourself.
Order - Shotgun
Looking like a Frankenstein's monster of a shotgun, the Order is an illegal double barrel that doesn't play around.
Osprey - Sniper
This sniper comes with a massive clip and bulky design that indicates just how much punch each shot will pack.
Rasetsu - Sniper
A more sleek sniper, the Rasetsu also can use a mounting attachment to pull off tough shots.
Thermal Katana - Melee
While you can't get a lightsaber in Phantom Liberty, this burning blade is the second-best thing.
Warden - SMG
Like the big brother of the Grit, this yellow SMG is also illegal and built for an insane rate of fire.

Read more
The best P Organ abilities in Lies of P
Lies of P customization

The jokes just write themselves with Lies of P and its choice to include P Organ abilities. The game almost avoided any further snickering past its odd title by sticking to mostly normal names for things like weapons and Legion Arms, but just couldn't resist in this one area it seems. Putting the name aside, this is a mostly familiar skill tree system that you can slot Quartz into and unlock new abilities for your puppet character. The further down the tree you go, the more Quartz you will need to unlock said skill, so it pays to plan ahead on what skills you want to invest in. Here are the best P Organ abilities you should invest in in Lies of P.
Best P Organ abilities

P Organ abilities are separated into different categories, which we will note next to the skill name so you know where to locate them, as well as in different phases that must be unlocked by investing Quarts into enough synergies in any category. You can also only have one ability from each type equipped from the same phase, so you do need to do some planning based on which skills you want from which phase.
Increased Pulse Cells - Survival
If you don't automatically pick this ability first, you're either purposefully making the game harder on yourself or have made a dire mistake. Pulse Cells are your healing items in Lies of P, and it goes without saying that even getting one additional heal can mean the difference between just barely beating a boss and being sent back to the last checkpoint. If you invest further into this P Organ you can get up to three additional Pulse Cells.
Increase Staggered Duration- Attack
The stagger gauge is another system that will be familiar to fans of Soulslikes where, by breaking an enemy's stagger, you can leave them vulnerable to a powerful critical strike. Enemies won't stay staggered forever, though, so you can miss your chance for free damage if you're not quick enough. This skill gives you a few extra moments to realize what's going on and press your advantage, especially against challenging bosses.
Enhance Fatal Attack ATK - Attack
Pairing perfectly with the previous ability, this skill makes that critical hit you can pull off on a staggered enemy deal a huge chunk of damage to really make that moment count.
Enhance Pulse Cell Recovery - Survival
While not quite as immediately necessary as getting more Pulse Cells, eventually you will level up and notice a single heal won't bring you back to full. This skill makes your Pulse Cells restore more of your HP to keep you as healthy as possible. This can also be upgraded in the same way as Increased Pulse Cells.
Quick Cube Activation - Ability
Your Cube is what you slot your Wishstones into in order to activate them, but it isn't applied instantly. Odds are you will want to pull these buffs out in critical moments, and this simply speeds up the animation so you won't get caught unprepared. Considering each Wistone costs you Gold Coin Fruit, having them go to waste can be a major setback.

Read more
Take a break from September’s loudest games with this cat-filled indie charmer
Villagers fish on a pier in Mineko's Night Market.

September has been a high-octane month for video games. We got a loud multiplayer shooter in Payday 3, a tense spy thriller in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, and a whole lot of gore courtesy of Mortal Kombat 1. Doesn’t all that just make you want to chill out a little? I can only take so much blood and noise before curling up on the couch with my cat and smoothing my brain over with something a little gentler.

Mineko’s Night Market - The Night Market Trailer - Nintendo Switch

Read more