Roguelikes are always welcome at our libraries, and 20 Minutes Till Dawn is no exception, with a little bit more than what we asked for.
There is a rise in demand for roguelikes nowadays, no doubt. Elements of the genre are built upon the premise of very quick reflexes, building your character slowly and thinking ahead with the current perks in the build you got. With all these details, the roguelike genre becomes an instant favorite with the new generation of games, especially if the game allows you to freely pick a route every time you start all over.
Previous examples such as The Binding of Isaac and Nuclear Throne were quite the pinnacle of roguelikes, and we know they had a big role in making such genres popular today. Meanwhile, the overall idea of a roguelike is clear as day; there are developers who approach it differently than others.
Flanne, the developers of 20 Minutes Till Dawn, followed a precise formula for creating their new roguelike title. It is certainly not a new release; however, Flanne is finally out with their 1.0 version of the game, meaning it is completely out of the experimental and early access era. Although it is completely a novel idea, such as the same sort of gameplay already existing within the market, there are some remarks where it completely plays very unique compared to other titles currently available.
Unlike other horde-based roguelikes, there is a charm to 20 Minutes Till Dawn, with certain aspects employed with the gameplay and art directory that needs extra attention. Of course, not everything has to be about the presentation; the gameplay is also as important as the developer’s intention to pair their title evenly.
20 Minutes Till Dawn does not have a storyline per se, but every time the game starts, the objective is given right away: survive for 20 minutes without dying- as the name of the game suggests. The dawn arrives exactly at 20 minutes when you spawn in the middle of the map. At the first-ever playthrough, there is only a starter pistol and one character. You do not necessarily have to survive the first night because some other weapons and characters have other benefits that can let you build specific combos and survive even further than your first try.
As basic as it sounds, in order to survive the night, you have to kill the enemies that approach you endlessly in 20 Minutes Till Dawn. With the help of your arsenal, you can overcome their presence easily; however, as you kill more and more, they get doubled in waves and have a larger health pool. To combat those problems, you have to collect the pellets dropped by each enemy you kill to build your EXP meter so that the character you are controlling can level up. And by leveling up, you can get to choose certain perks that help you survive the night.
One of the best parts of the 20 Minutes Till Dawn is the skill ceiling that progressively gets harder to reach with levels you gain during a run. Perks do come with randomly selected waves and range from health-boosting items to companions who deal with AOE damage. Once you pick one perk, there is a chance of a leveled-up version of that perk showing up the next time you get to choose a perk. These range from more tanky options, the higher damage output of your weapon, dodge builds, or beefed-up versions of your companion.
Talking about companions, there seems to be no limit to gathering companions. We are allowed to choose as many as we like during our run. Their abilities change from shield-like behavior to guided projectiles- and even lightning that strikes whoever is close to you. As you keep spending the EXP on companions, their damage output gets in a huge boost, making them basically area-clearers.
Now on paper, it might sound like a great idea, but you must not forget to also build on your character’s stats as well. When the character is completely weak to any of the incoming damage, there is a high-change of getting hit, as there is no indication of enemies leveling up on the go. The only way to know if the game started the next segment or the wave is to check the timer. Every 5 minutes, there is a change of pace with enemies and every 3 minutes, you can expect to see a mini-boss.
Mini-bosses are not too tough to overcome once you learn their pattern, which is something that will eventually occur a lot during the playthrough. Most of them have their unique abilities, such as spawning enemies or directly attacking you from the range. The most apparent way to know when a mini-boss is currently around you is to look out for its red outline.
It is a nice way to point out in 20 Minutes Till Dawn’s gameplay, as it can help you prioritize who to shoot down first. Mini-bosses also give you small bonuses when you beat them down. While the neutral, non-attacking bosses give you character-related perks, the ones that attack drop items that would give you three options to choose from, and all of these options are rough as they usually give an upside while taking one of your important stats away.
Every 20 minutes of surviving, unlock new maps and challenges to go for. There are also Darkness modes available, giving it a bit harder flavor to it. The darker it is, the harder it is to survive. Now, let’s talk about the point and reward system. With a roster of other characters and weapons, it is irresistible to try out new combinations.
Therefore it is necessary to go for unlocking every content as it will lead to new trial and error sessions. In order to get a high-ranking payout from a run, it is best to stay alive the longest and cause a killing spree on the pitch-black map. Every pellet, kill, level, and minute survived gets added to a result screen and gets added to a sum of currency. Credits earned can be used to unlock various other options the game provides.
The weapons roster is actually quite diverse, with both vintage and modern weapons included, as well as some extraordinary tools such as magic bows or water guns being available too. Most of the first playthrough of any game starts very slow, and in 20 Minutes Till Dawn, starting with a pitiful revolver is the only way to get a starting point for yourself. As you keep playing, you will have enough credits to unlock better and more varied weapons.
One of the best things about the unlocks is all of them cost exactly the same amount of credits, thus allowing the player to choose their next weapons non-linearly. To get the best out of the situation, it is advised to keep a high-damaging and fast weapon like a shotgun or a grenade launcher as a priority to get.
The characters themselves are female and have very distinct personalities from each other. This is also mirrored in the fact that they all have different abilities. A larger health pool, dashing ability, and natural AOE perk are amongst a few of them and when mixed with the chosen weapon and build, they can work together immensely.
A little tip, if the first levels are making you struggle, try focusing on heroes with larger health pools and dash/dodge/walking speed build. This way, through the end of the 20-minute barrier, you could be out-pacing your enemies in terms of speed, even if you do not have the power to put them down.
Gameplay aside, both the art style and the music compliments 20 Minutes Till Dawn so well. Pixel art and color scheme are not hard on the eyes, giving it a nice and cozy feeling. Unlike other roguelikes, 20 Minutes Till Dawn has the character outlined at all times with bright colors, making them easy to be seen in the ever-busy fights.
Although it doesn’t completely cease the confusion of what is exactly going on on the screen from time to time because it’s always a swarm of enemies hurling at the player, the matter gets pretty hectic as the timer ticks down, sometimes making it regretful to choose certain perks during the level-up processes.
Even though it looks like a perfect game, there are some parts of 20 Minutes Till Dawn that felt a bit lacking, as it was always to see the same updates being thrown at you at any level given. Basically, you are always trying to build the same updates but different combinations of weapons and characters.
Sometimes they do work; sometimes, they completely showcase their incompatibility right out of the gate. Added the factor of 20 Minutes Till Dawn is not an easy game. Trying to understand perk-weapon-character combinations may take some time. But still, it is advised to take caution before diving deep into this addicting title.
Overall, 20 Minutes Till Dawn is a nice take on the roguelike genre. It is completely reachable in terms of availability with regular updates and a fair price and also can be played as an introduction title for the genre. There might be a lot of games upcoming for the run-and-gun roguelikes, but this game got a favorable state in our catalog nonetheless.
