Dust: An Elysian Tail

The star system doesn't adequately describe everything that Dust: an Elysian Tail accomplishes. It earns it's five stars then comes back for seconds. Every aspect of this game has been thoughtfully crafted to the point that it leaves a lasting impression upon the player by the time the story has concluded. The game opens with our playable character gaining consciousness and realizing that he has no memory. The quest becomes not just one for identity, but also one of understanding the opposing sides of a destructive conflict which threatens innocent bystanders which are caught in the middle. The dialog is top notch. Simultaneously cartoony and meaningful. There are many instances where Dust and his cohort are characterized to be three dimensional characters capable of sorrow, joy and mischief. Plenty of comic relief so that the events on screen are not unbearably depressing, but the moments of levity add contrast to the serious notes that punctuate the story. Art design is gorgeous, inspired by anime. The music is largely ambient and sets the tone for one's location in the game extremely well. The game is also, somehow, extremely kid friendly. The weighty themes take the front seat and the core of those themes, who is right, who is wrong, is clear without being overly preachy. This is not just a game that is kid friendly, this is a game that your kid SHOULD play. The simple Us vs Them dynamic is ever present, but it is also nuanced. Buy this game. Play it. Adore it. It will not disappoint you.

Dust is truly a nice game in the beginning chapters. It has great combat, cute graphic, many side-quests, and it's easy to complete the story. Unfortunately, that's ALL features it contains. 1. In the every chapter, you must face with the same enemy again and again. You can kill them easily, but it never ends, for they will be renewed at every time when you switched the area. 2. Dust only has few skills, you will soon feel boring to use them. 3. At the tough and hardcore mode, you may not be killed easily, for the game is easy in combat, but the damage from the environment was awesome. You may get injured easily, and sometimes die for it. Dust moves strangely, for he can't stop immediately, and you always fall off the platform, or jump into the dangerous areas.

If you have the chance to play this game then do it. I bought this on Steam and it is one of the best games I ever bought and played.

It starts out good and promises to be a short but intense metroidvania game, but falls flat extremely fast. The combat is unbelieveably boring and monotonous. There are just a few combos, who quickly prove to be useless except parrying certain enemies, and a special aoe ability (there's only one, even though the game tries to lie by giving out various "upgrades" who change little but its presentation). This already turns the game into a boring slug-fest, because fighting is all you do in these games. You just spam aoe until the game lets you progress further. Sometimes you will fight, eh, a "boss" (?), but more often than not it's just a bullet sponge or a scripted and timed event (the manor ghost you need to run away from). You do have an inventory system and an upgrade system, but soon enough I learned to ignore it and just spam additional healing items wherever I could. Levels are extremely unimaginative and I doubt any real design thought was invested in making them. There are a few ultimately easy puzzles (that mostly include precise timing over thinking at least a little bit on them) and a lot - I mean, A LOT - backtracking after receiving a new game-changing ability: like a... double jump. Now you can backtrack to the first levels to fight respawned trash to open that tasty, tasty treasure chest. It's extremely time consuming without any challenge attached. I've used "extremely" a lot, don't you think? Because the game is extreme in its mediocrity and leaves me extremely puzzled on why it's so beloved. Can't find any other explanation other than a simple golden eye target marketing. It's a furry title that guilt-trips all of them into buying it and loving it, because it has furry animals in it. Call about viral marketing. This product is more of a perfect "target title", than a good video game, which there's little and it's mostly just stale and mediocre. Imagine a praise Captain Claw (but it's actually good) would receive if it was released today.

Dust was an absolute surprise in every ways: Wherever i look there's only quality. It's not perfect but almost: One of the most beautiful games i have ever seen, great controls, a fabulous soundtrack, a good story despite having some holes in the general context. Fidget is a solid and sometimes hilarious character. For a sidekick she is on the top of the basket. Only two words could describe this game: Too short. Respect to the developer who have done 80% of this master piece alone.