Dawntide

ohhh dawntide. if youre unfamiliar, with the space of furry visual novels, Dawntide is one of those. i will admit, this genre of media usually isnt for me but holy shit does Dawntide break the mold. im not sure where to begin, so let me establish some of it. set in the furry equivalent of the UK, our story follows a mid twenties pine marten named Riley. living in this small nowhere town- the story revolves around him and his group of friends meeting again after being separated for some time. this reunion also brings about Riley's high school ex, alongside some turmoil between the friend group. a lingering bitterness from their youth and an unspoken event unite them all this time later- for better or worse.



the characters of Dawntide all feel like fully realized people, and each character interaction and route feels like it can peel back the layers of who they are, encouraging multiple playthrougs. while theres cheesy romance between Riley and his ex Griff, spending time with the other characters is easily the most rewarding thing. that and ill be so honest. im not here for Riley's budding romance with his various friends and the varying levels of toxicity in all of those relationships, im here to see his inner monologue. easily the most interesting part of this game is the way Rileys thoughts are expressed as if their own characters. his conflicting feelings are written as individuals, arguing in a way that feels so very natural to the anxious mindset he has- and reveals so much more about him.



have i talked about the artwork yet? im gonna talk about the artwork. dawntide is insanely pretty. every background, sprite, even the music tracks make every moment and scene feel so good to experience. ill have used examples all over this page, but im sure ill provide more examples after this. the artist on this game, which to my understanding is also the writer, does such an incredible job with the character deisgns and backgrounds. i have nothing but praise for this game, and highly recommend it.

it should be noted there are various triggering scenes in this game that i feel should be expressed before hand. those include but are not limited to: homophobia, use of homophobic slurs, implied sexual scenes with an older character, nonsexual nudity, substance abuse, transphobic language, etc. i feel the game handles this in a very real and appropriate way, but i understand this could be upsetting for some people.

below are some sprites from the game of the various characters! i think they're really so cool especially in shape language and use of color. i really love how well they all resembler their actual animal counterparts while still coming off as stylized. while i enjoy my super stylized furry art, i cant help but admire the artists work and really hope to study it at somepoint. with that, i'll let you look at these for a while! its so so awesome.

sprites!

okay so here we get to the playlist i made for this game! i really am proud of it, and its in order. i made this after experiencing Griffs route, and tried to push the angle of an ultimately doomed relationship that isnt good for either party, but one that both of them yearn for badly. yknow, typical stuff lol. maybe its a little evil of me but i am also in it for the inevitable doomed nature of rekindling a relationship that ultimately isnt going to work out. its fun how it lets you examine the characters through it.

like sunflowers in a snowy field