Video Review Located here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcN66VJZf3M
Link to Source: http://gamedefy.com/dust-an-elysian-tail-2/review/
Dust An Elysian Tail developed by HumbleHearts is a action adventure RPG set in the hand painted word of Falana. Falana is a world full of lore, surprises, and danger. Most areas of the game are large enough to encourage exploration, full of enemies of varying types and attributes. While the enemies are not the most challenging you definitely cannot let your guard down.
You play through the game as the character named Dust. Who finds himself without an identity or much recollection of his past. He is aided by Ahrah a majestical talking sword, and Fidget, a squeaky orange Nimbat with her own set of powers, both of which aid Dust in finding purpose. As the story progresses the main objective becomes very clear. A tyrannical General named Gaius has been conquering the lands, and performing genocide on a particular species known as Moonbloods. Dust and his companions finds themselves morally compelled to put an end to these monstrous actions. While the plot of the game and its characters in a whole are really nothing new, the presentation and the qualities of the characters, make them endearing and hold your interest until the game’s conclusion.
The RPG elements are there but are very simple. As you progress Dust will acquire better equipment and weapons, and will also level up. You can use this progress to enhance your health points, attack rating, defense rating, and Fidget’s magic skills as well. The streamlined RPG elements are arguably one of the charms of the game. Some will wish that the RPG elements were more in-depth, while others will be thankful for this more simplistic approach. With each level comes a sense of empowerment, as foes who used to take 5-6 strikes before falling will now take 1-2. Chaining Dust’s attacks into a furious fray is an awesome spectacle and you are the catalyst. As higher combinations are strung together the experience bonuses become significantly greater. What is superb about the gameplay is your control over Dust. You feel agile, responsive, and efficient. Your movements are swift and exact, and it is up to you to put these excellent controls to proper use.
Primarily everything we have against the gameplay are just small gripes. Arguably the biggest issues are the boss battles and the game’s ending. Bosses are essentially just enemies that have increased health points, and can be easily dispatched by spamming your attacks. It would have been great to have some more added complexity, or more cinematic qualities to these particular battles. It is unfortunate, as most quests lead up to these fights with a sense of urgency, only to be let down that you can spam the bosses to death.
Also the game’s ending feels rushed, and the ending cinematic adds more confusion than conclusion. In the grand scheme of things the finale does not feel nearly as polished as almost every other aspect of the game. A meaningful conclusion should have been a major focus, as this is a more character driven story than just a straight brawler.
The quality of the animation will leave you with an appreciation for this style of art design. You can see the weight of the sword as Dust heaves to throw a strike. You feel the weight of an enemy as you grab onto them to slam their body into the ground. All of which leads to a satisfying triumph as you take on hordes and hordes of enemies.
The game’s score deserves your attention as it was composed by Alexander Brandon and HyderDuck Studios. Each musical composition matches and enhances the tone of the situation being presented to you to great affect. We are happy to report that the cast all fulfill their roles very well, and while the style of acting will not please everyone, as it is overly dramatic at times, you still get the sense that the actors were determined and purpose driven. As they do well to convey the game’s themes; hope, despair, forgiveness, love, hate, and redemption. The game while lighthearted does deal with mature themes.
Depending upon your skill level and desire to be a completionist makes a determination on how long your playthrough is. The game is roughly 10-20 hours based upon the aforementioned criterion. Each area you visit is re-playable, in that you can complete the main mission for the selected level but come back and grind for better equipment, more experience, or find more secret chests and areas to platform to. At the time of this review the game is currently $14.99 on Steam or GoG.com, with this amount of content the game is indeed a bargain.
On a technical level, the game was originally developed for the Xbox 360 and ported over to the PC. The PC port was handled with great care, plays fantastic, and has many settings that often go missed by other studios when converting a game from console to PC. The HUD is customizible, in that you can increase or decrease the size of your health and status meter, as well as the map, and turn on or turn off the enemy stats. The game also runs great on a mouse and keyboard, but a controller is still recommended.
Dust an Elysian Tail is not without it’s faults: the rushed ending, and pacing issues, can definitely pull you out of the moment. However it is an amazing achievement, as one person developed the game over the course of four years. There are games that have full development teams that cannot get the controls to feel this slick or responsive. Throughout the experience I was compelled to keep going forward without feeling like I was just grinding to win, which is a design achievement in itself. Overall games like this are a rarity and should be discussed as a possible classic as experiences like these are timeless.
An 8 out of 10