Gray Dawn Review (●ω●)
Gray Dawn had tons and tons of potential, unfortunately the lack of budget and experience drags the entire thing down.
I really wanted to like Gray Dawn and I really did, at times. Excluding the character models, the game looks great, especially the architecture and the fine details, I mean, just look at the screenshots on this page. Most locations had tons of atmosphere and unique visual elements. The religious angle the story takes was occasionally thought provoking and inspiring. It was clear that whenever the developers were influenced by Romanian history and culture, you were looking at the high points of the experience.
Everything else though... Oof, were things rough. Absolutely abyssmal voice acting, including AI-generated voices thinly hidden behind audio filters. It was so bad, that I unironically think the game would benefit from having text only dialogues. The other option was to have naturalistic voice acting in Romanian, like with a minor character at the end of the game. And that leads to an entirely different problem Grey Dawn has: why is everthing such a nonsense mix of cultures, ideas, religions and places?
The "write what you know" principle exists for a reason. As I said before, whenever the game sinks into Romanian culture, it's clearly peaking. Why then, is the game set in England? Why are you playing as an Englishman, who for some reason seems to be a catholic priest? The Romanian influence exists in the game because of the main characters, a kid, who was born there. How did he even get to England? Why is a Catholic priest preparing an Eastern Orthodox service? Why does the game contain Egyptian gods, Lovecraftian tentacle monsters, possessed puppets and other completly unrelated things that stood out like a sore thumb? Who put a single jumpscare at the very beginning of the game, when the rest of the game is not even trying to be scary and aims for more of a somber tone?
Not everything was jarring, some things were "just" okay. The occasional puzzles were simple, clear and did not overstay their welcome. The music, while fitting, wasn't exactly memorable. The story felt... basic. A man tormented by guilt tries to overcome it by exploring a metaphorical representation of his memories and feelings. Also known as the story of every walking simulator ever. The game clocks at about 3-4 hours long.
I really wish the developers really leaned heavily into their culture and history. It seemed that, whenever they did, something really beautiful appeared on my screen. Instead, by trying to appeal to a broader demographic, or maybe lack of either experience or direction, Gray Dawn felt like another, generic walking simulator. It's worth experiencing, but do not expect anything special. What a shame...