Dust: An Elysian Tail

Dust looks beautiful. If you use the first visuals of this game to determine it's maturity you'd be mistaken. With it's lush, scenic woodland environment, including cute little animals in the background the first idea that comes to mind was Bambi. But Bambi had it's own adult moments and that shouldn't detract from this solid platforming experience. Dust is a someone who wakes up in the middle of a field with a talking sword and seems to have forgotten who he is. With a trusty flying half fox half bat furry sidekick he embarks on a journey to recover his memories.

For only three main characters the voice acting is done extremely well. Dust and Ahrah, the talking sword are usually very serious but it's complimented by Fidget's playful, comic relief personality, who sometimes at points is very aware that this is a video game when she tells Dust to "mash the buttons". The witty dialogue definitely adds a bit to the overall feel of the characters. While some of the voice acting is strange and a bit over the top with different accents in some characters the voice and personality fit perfectly. Things never get to slapstick or feel like something out of the ordinary... whatever is ordinary for talking animals in a made up fictitious setting anyways.

As for the gameplay, you start off with 3 main attacks, your regular melee, a limited whirlwind attack, and energy projectiles that Fidget uses that increase with power when combined with the special attack. At the start of the game you won't have much use for the projectile attack though as a mixture of button mashing and special attacks are usually efficient on their own in dispatching enemies. Further along in the game you'll face enemies that are hard to hit without Fidget's help so don't neglect leveling up her ability. You also discover more abilities allowing you to travel further in your journey like any other Metroidvania type game.

While I consider this largely an action platformer there are RPG elements as well. You can change and craft equipment as you gain materials. Power up attributes after leveling up. There is also no shortage of side quests to keep you occupied between progressing the story. You have your standard fetching quests you'll gain from the town's many eclectic inhabitants but it does mix it up on occasion and give you tasks that have to be completed urgently. There is also a secondary side quest where you have to discover the locations of "friends" who happen be making cameo appearances and provide Dust an HP boost. It would have been cool if they could fight alongside you but a lot of these characters aren't in plain sight and a challenge to find. Though the game does give hints to their whereabouts in cryptic notes you find along your journey.

I played this game on normal and found it fairly easy. But for those who love a challenge there are two harder difficulties. This game is also optimized for gamepad. Although the controls though can't be configured it makes great use of the vibration feature in my wireless Logitech F710 with massive jolts when you get hit or level up for that matter. With it's excellent graphics, solid story and gameplay, with an entertaining and lively cast of characters Dust: An Elysian Tail is a great time killer worthy of the dozen or so hours you'll put into it.

Find Dust: An Elysiain Tail on Steam