Dust: An Elysian Tail

Dust: An Elysian Tail is a true gem of a game. Think of it as a mash-up of a Metroid, Castlevania, and Castle Crashers. While the story does have talking animals, it is surprisingly deep. full of twists and turns that will keep you hooked. The world is vast and the art style is absolutely gorgeous. This game will grab and and won't let go. It's that good.

Metroidvania is not my cup of tea, but as a veteran gamer, I can appreciate well polished art. This is well polished art, that also happens to be a video game. Music, graphics, gameplay, controls, narrative, voice acting, and lots and lots of small polished details that are just amazing. It does everything right. This is not meant to be played, as much as it is meant to be enjoyed. This reminds me of why I enjoyed games as a kid, and still enjoy them today.

I got this as part of GOG's Mutator promo -- it was one of the mutations, and the only one I thought might be up my alley, despite the fact that I'm really not a fan of anime. I was pleasantly surprised to find a truly enjoyable action platformer with a good storyline that, at times, could even get emotional -- especially at the end (which I will not spoil). The game progresses very well, always challenging but never overwhelming; the difficulty curve always stays just slightly ahead of your current skill, and introduces new abilities more or less when you need them, and there are plenty of secret areas to find, though some of them can be really tricky to get to. Especially those earlier in the game that require a skill you don't acquire until much later, forcing you to backtrack considerably if you want to reach them. That said though it's a game that has plenty going for it. Lots of side quests, a diverse range of enemies to fight, varying scenery between major areas, great artwork, surprisingly decent voice acting (assuming you can tolerate your saccharine-cute sidekick Fidget's periodic exposition) and a very effective RPG-Lite leveling and inventory system, complete with shops along your journey and a crafting mechanism. All in all I was quite impressed with Dust. I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. It's not terribly long, though some of the backtracking and grinding and optional challenge arenas can make it seem longer than it really is, but the pacing is good and feels rewarding, and I was never really left feeling underwhelmed. A solid game well worth picking up if you're a fan of the genre and style.

Playing this game to 100% completion and collecting everything there was to get gave me the nostalgic feeling of playing old school action rpgs of yore. It brings you to a lush, vibrant world full of lovable characters and amazing storytelling. The struggle of the titular character is very real, as someone that has lost his way and is on the road to redemption. You cannot pass up this game, the feeling you get when you beat it is so satisfactory and breathtaking. It really makes your heart bleed!