A while back during the 2020 pandemic, I came across a 2D pixel-graphic title that really took up all of my time amidst the new releases around that period: CrossCode. This innocuous indie title is a throwback to 2D SNES action-adventure titles like Terranigma, Illusion of Gaia, and Secret of Mana, only with current gen gaming improvements and know-how. With lovely sprite artwork, a long-spanning epic narrative involving MMORPG worlds (think .Hack), great combat and controls, along with devious 2D platforming and dungeon puzzles that will test your patience and reflexes to their breaking point, CrossCode was a marvel.

Developer Radical Fish got a lot of praise and acclaim for their underdog hit, so much so that a follow-up was inevitable. Fast forward to 2025, and we have a demo of the developer’s magnum opus: Alabaster Dawn. At the risk of hyperbole, I daresay this has the makings of an indie-level Game of the Year on whichever date and time the full game is coming out on.

World’s End

The demo we’ve played recently spanned 1 and a half hours. Parts of it is the 1-hour prologue where you get to play characters in a flashback that teaches you the ins and outs of the action-adventure title, and puts you in the place of our heroine Juno. In this world of Alabaster Dawn, you have chosen ones who can wield God powers, and through a series of cataclysmic events, Juno ends up being the last person in her world to wield said God powers. So off she goes carrying that heavy burden, with assist from a godling “water pig” affectionally called Cabbage who tails alongside her, as she purges the forces of an evil entity called Nyx while figuring out if her people and friends are still alive.

The God powers aren’t for show; they’re part of the gameplay. Juno has access to different weapons she can switch and equip power stones onto; swords for fast attacks and counters, hammers for dealing with armoured foes and rock-enforced obstacles, a crossbow for ranged attacks and triggering switches from afar, and a chakram for that throw-and-return ranged attack effect. Juno can also parry and block attacks; a well-timed parry means you can stun foes and deal bigger damage while they’re stunned. A good number of boss fights in the demo require you to master this technique; my fight against a nameless armored knight and a “demon rock turtle” made me learn to reflect projectiles and attacks to build up these enemies’stun gauges faster.

As for her missing friends and family, thankfully they’re around, because she needs all the help she can get. The other half of the demo pits Juno and her support Weaver Filia in a dungeon called the First Trial. There are a ton of puzzles that echo those from Radical Fish’s past game, but are wholly new. These include standing onto elemental platforms so that your projectiles are charged with said element to trigger a chain reaction between rods, blocks-pushing (and pulling) but faster, and a few platforming ones where you need your Weaver friend to make certain puzzle solutions appear temporarily. It’s all done and features a great balance between brain teasers and combat rooms, with superb controls to make the experience all the more enjoyable.

Check out the longplay we recorded below so that you can get an inkling of what it’s like playing a lost successor to Quintet’s past games. Alabaster Dawn has no release date or year as of now, but we suspect this may be a dark horse GOTY contender in whichever year it pops up.