Back to the Dawn puts you in control of two potential protagonists. Thomas is an investigative reporter who discovered a secret about the mayor taking bribes. Unfortunately for him, he made the mistake of crossing the mayor's personal fixer, and he was framed for a crime and sent to jail in an attempt to discredit his reports. Bob is an undercover police agent who has been sent into the prison system to get to the center of a mysterious conspiracy that threatens the entire country. Both have a mere 21 days to get out of their respective predicaments before they meet a grisly fate — as will everyone else around them.

Back to the Dawn does a fantastic job of creating an interesting and compelling story to follow. It's deeply interesting to dig through the massive web of characters within and outside of the prison to find out the truth and find a way to escape. I had a ton of fun interacting with a lot of the characters in the world. There's a real sense of humor to keep it from feeling too grim, even if the jokes are sometimes a bit dark. The game leans in fully to the fact that the cast mostly consists of anthropomorphic animals, so there's a sort of adult-oriented cartoon feel to the whole thing.

Of the two potential protagonists, I liked Thomas a little more. That's possibly due to the fact that Thomas has had more time and polish for his story, since it has been front and center in the game's Early Access period, but I also found it to be more polished. While the characters share a lot of overlap, there's stuff that Thomas can access that Bob doesn't, including romance plots and some of the weirder storylines. I also found the "investigative reporter struggling to prove his innocence" concept to be a tad more compelling. Bob's storyline isn't half-baked by any means, and it has a lot more focus and structure in a way that would appeal to people who might not necessarily have liked Thomas' more freeform path.

The translation is also surprisingly solid. While there are some occasional instances of odd wording or unusual dialogue choices, it's largely very well polished for an indie RPG. Frequently, similar games tend to have less polish in that element. Back to the Dawn feels like something that has been intentionally translated and edited, and that makes it a much easier game to recommend, considering how plot-heavy it is.

You start Back to the Dawn by selecting your character and their background. A background changes the basics of how a character plays. For example, Thomas can start as a broadcast journalist, undercover journalist, or war correspondent. Each of these has a positive and negative impact and influences his starting abilities. A broadcast journalist Thomas begins with extra charisma stats and has an easier time talking to people, but he requires soap to shower and gets a penalty when rooting through garbage, which makes it more difficult to explore messier areas. In comparison, the war correspondent version is a much better physical fighter but has a tougher time staying asleep at night.

Each character has four stats: Strength, Agility, Intelligence and Charisma. These stats not only impact how likely you are to succeed at various challenges in the game but also how many skills you can equip. You're probably going to pick one or two specific ones to level up, but each has its benefits and negatives. Charisma is great for talking your way out of fights, while Strength is fantastic if you need brute force but basically worthless when Finess is called for. There is enough potential for each skill that it didn't seem like any would be a bad choice; it just means you need to approach conflicts in different ways.

The bulk of the challenges in the game is in the form of dice rolls. When you need to do something — convincing someone to help you, stealing a book, or pushing aside a heavy cabinet — you have to roll dice to do it. Your basic stats and skills impact your chance of success, as does finding certain items in the environment. If you can find something sharp, it might be a lot easier to cut through a sealed item. If you can secret away a coin, you can use it to unscrew something more easily. You can reroll bad dice rolls, but this tends to require you to spend Focus, which is an all-important resource that's also used for fights and social interaction.

A major part of Back to the Dawn is forming relationships. By spending time with prisoners, you can learn more about them, unlock side-quests, and gain access to different skills and abilities. Think of it like the Persona 5 confidant system but more basic. Not only does spending time with characters boost your abilities, but it can also give you access to escape routes, plot progression, or other important information. It's also genuinely the most enjoyable part of the game, as you get a gradual sense of the various ins and outs of the prisoners, their relationships, and how you can make them like or dislike you. You can even extort prisoners or get into fights.

Fighting is a basic JRPG-style, turn-based combat system that serves its purpose well enough, but it isn't something you're going to seek out for the fun of fighting. If anything, fighting is a huge risk. Even if you're strong enough to trounce someone, you run the risk of getting injured or upsetting people, which can make it much tougher for you to escape. Sometimes it is unavoidable, especially on Bob's route, but it's important to treat it as you would a real fight: brutal, risky, and with consequences that you might not want. I didn't dislike the combat, but it was the least interesting part for me.

However, because of this, resource management is a huge part of the experience. You need to keep track of your health, mental state, hunger, bladder, money, cleanliness, reputation, and more. This is a delicate balancing act and a major factor of success. You can go without food, but you'll gradually become weaker and more irritable. If you go without showering, you'll feel worse, and people will be less likely to interact with you. Don't build a reputation, and you won't be able to get access to resources you need. Almost all of the above requires money, which you can only get by risky wheeling and dealing or by slow and not very profitable prison jobs.

The most important resource of all is time. Pretty much everything you do in the game requires time, with most actions having a minute cost, so the more you do, the more time you use up. Since you're in prison, you're forced to adhere to a pretty strict schedule. You have to get up at a certain time, be at meals at a certain time, be in the recreation yard at a certain time, and be in bed by a certain time. You can try various ways to get around this, like sneaking out of your cell late at night or trying to avoid going unnoticed during a headcount, but failure can carry a serious risk.

This is probably going to be the biggest make-or-break element of the game for people. There is a time limit, and while it isn't insanely strict, it's strict enough that failure is a genuine possibility. The game clearly feels designed to be played multiple times, with you coming back in with knowledge gained from previous runs to have a better chance at success, but that means it isn't a one-and-done kind of game. There are a number of potential handicaps you can set for yourself. On the easiest difficulty mode, you get bonus items that provide special bonuses and additional ways to circumvent dice rolls. There's also a Memory Recall option that allows you to redo a day if you don't like how it went. The time limit benefits the game and feels like a natural part of the experience, but if you're someone who dislikes feeling pressured, then it might be a barrier to enjoying it.

Back to the Dawn looks fantastic as well. The lovingly crafted and detailed 2D sprite artwork is incredibly charming in motion and does a fantastic job of conveying the environments and characters with tons of detail and personality. I was constantly impressed and amazed at of the little visual touches, and it's one of the nicer-looking 2D games I've played, especially for a smaller indie title. In comparison, the soundtrack is good but not exceptional. The music does its job and does its well, but the graphics are where the game stands out.

Overall, I found Back to the Dawn to be an incredibly fun and well-crafted game, especially for its budget cost. The excellent visuals and compelling gameplay systems make it one of the best prison escape games I've ever played, and I quickly wanted to hop back in and try a different run even after a successful prison escape. It's just a well-made game from start to finish, and I wanted to go back for more. If you're even slightly interested in the concept, Back to the Dawn is well worth playing and a great example of how indie RPGs can shine.

Score: 8.5/10