We will start with the bad. The game doesn't have all the promised features, nor is it well polished. That being said, I haven't encountered any game breaking bugs or crashes in my ~36 hours, it's only been weird technical stuff. T-posing npc's, jumbled dialogue, missing sound effects, etc. The driving is somewhat rough but you get used to it pretty quick and there is fun in sliding around corners on a bike. The meh. The linear nature of the story is something I don't personally begrudge, as the story they tell is one I really enjoyed and I don't think most people appreciate how insanely difficult it is to make games as open ended as people want them to be but this will be an issue for some people. Your starting lifestyle will add flavor to your playthrough but will not be defining of it. The combat mechanics are also good but nothing special. It's great fun to be sure, especially with the ability to use augments and quick-hacks but it isn't revolutionary (I put this point here only because people really seemed to believe it would be something altogether unique) and now the good. While such flaws should be taken into account, I feel that the game is really something beautiful all the same. It oozes atmosphere, the characters are interesting and painfully human, the dystopia feels crushing and miserable, the music (both as a sound effect and that found on radios) is phenomenal, and the voice actors all have great delivery. Night city is alive and repugnant, just as it should be. I loved occasionally just walking through the streets and taking it in, or sitting at a bar and seeing what people were up to, I loved doing missions and chatting on the phone with the various characters. There's so much soul to this game that I fear many will overlook due to the negative aspects. At worst, I would say wait a short while until some issues are patched out but please don't dismiss this game outright, it really is an immersive and compelling tale of the dystopia to come.
At face value dust appears to be a kids friendly side scroller with fluffy characters and a bright art style. The truth is that Dust tells a surprisingly compelling story, the characters are interesting, the setting well developed with a large world having been created for the sake of telling a comparatively small story, there are also points where the story gets surprisingly dark and tells a much more mature narrative than one would initially expect. Game play is fun and fast paced, controls on both keyboard and gamepad are tight and responsive, the world is bright and colorful making everything pleasant to see, enemy and level variety are great, and the soundtrack is incredible. This game was a pleasant surprise indeed.
This game had great potential and many aspects of it shine bright as a unique and enjoyable experience... BUUUT! While the card mechanics, deck building, narration and decision making are all extremely well done it is all brought screaming down to mediocrity due to it's poor controls. Gamepad or keyboard and mouse, it matters not, the controls are simply broken. Want to make it through this maze of traps that requires careful timing and reflexes? Well that would be just fine if there were movement options aside from full speed ahead and roll oh and no turning nice and easy either, try to turn and you run forward and then turn as you run. This WILL kill you multiple times. During combat the hit detection and counter system are simply garbage, enemies that do not hit anywhere near you will hurt you but you must be right in their face if you want to hit them, countering will either be your best friend, giving you essentially immortality for simply mashing Q OR it will force you into an animation that cannot be stopped until completion where you can be hit, often you will stand still like an idiot as the crowd comes for you and you can do nothing but watch your impending death, this is made doubly annoying during boss fights where the boss will lumber up behind you as you are countering a minion and you get to watch as it pounds you into the dirt. Oh and you get trapped in areas due to tiny objects on the ground that cannot be stepped over or rolled over despite being only about 1/2 a foot tall The last issue with the game is the difficulty curve, the game is hilariously easy all the way until the 12th boss then you get to die to the most horrendous cheap bullshit you have ever seen over and over again: doing just fine? last area and you have good gear and gold galore? well lose it all due to one bad card getting drawn, then die in a fight This game would easily be a 5 star for me if only the combat was fixed but as it is I have a hard time finding any enjoyment at all
