Dust: An Elysian Tail

GrahamOfTheDead Wed Aug 15, 2012 9:54 pm

Developer: Humble Hearts
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Price: 1200MSP

Sometimes, with blockbuster releases like Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty and Halo stealing all the headlines, you tend to forget what gaming is all about and where it began. Back in the day, there weren't teams of hundreds working on titles.....more often than not you'd be able to count development teams on one hand. Hell, it wasn't uncommon for some of the most popular titles to be the work of one guy programming in their bedroom.

That brings us to Dust: An Elysian Tail. This is the work of developer Humble Hearts......essentially just one guy, artist and animator Dean Dodrill. Initially, the game was going to come out via the Xbox Live Indie Games channel, but after winning Microsoft's 'Dream.Build.Play' contest in 2009 it became a full Xbox Live Arcade release. The game arrives finally in 2012, pride of place as one of the standout titles of the 'Summer of Arcade' promotion.

You control the title character, Dust, an amnesiac warrior in search of his true identity who teams up with sidekick Fidget and talking sword the Blade of Ahrah, on a journey to uncover his past while assisting the innocent citizens of Falana who are under assault from a mysterious enemy. I'll refrain from going in to any more detail regarding the plot as that is one of the games biggest selling points.

It sounds like a standard action-RPG plot...and for the most part it is, but what sets this apart from the crowd is the fact that this is all done as a 2D open world platformer, very much in the 'Metroidvania' mould. Each area you visit gives you more villages and caverns to explore. Handily you're given a mini-map to stop you getting lost and letting you know how much you've explored and uncovered. The game world is deceptively big, but it never feels as though you're running around aimlessly especially as you are given multiple sidequests to carry out alongside the main story. You'll also find regular auto-save points, so while the game is challenging at times there is never too much to repeat if you die.

One important feature in any RPG is the combat and in Dust this is no different. With it being an action game as well, the combat happens in real time. Early on in the game, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the combat is reduced to simply mashing the attack buttons, but that will only get you so far. You pick up the parry skill fairly early and it will become a technique that you will need to master quickly in order to progress. It is a little thing which lifts the gameplay up a notch and stops the game from becoming too repetetive, which is a good thing as you will be facing some enemies several times, maybe a little more than you'd care to in some cases. You've also got the option of calling on Fidget, your sidekick, to deliver some reasonably effective projectile attacks.

Other RPG staples are present and correct here as well. You gain XP via completing quests and killing enemies. XP obviously goes towards levelling up, which in turn rewards you with the option of assigning gems to certain areas.....health, attack, defence and Fidget. You'll also come across a blacksmith which will allow you to craft things such as armour and other enhancements using items you can either buy in stores or find scattered around the game area. None of these things feel overly distracting from the story or gameplay though and at no stage does the game fall into the common RPG trap of at times feeling like a chore to play through.

With the gameplay out of the way, it's time to focus on the presentation. This is what will strike you as soon as you start the game. The graphics are absolutely beautiful....with a distinct anime aesthetic, the characters and backgrounds are all hand painted and the animation is top notch, which is no surprise given the developer's background.

Audio is a mixed bag. The music is atmospheric and never intrusive and the effects are great.....the satisfying clang of a parry a particular standout. However one of the games few flaws lies with the voice work. Most of it is absolutely fine, fantastic in some instances, however several characters can be quite irritating and when one of those is your sidekick then that can be difficult. Thankfully you can skip cutscenes and dialogue, but by doing that it can take away from the atmosphere and the whole experience. Maybe having Fidget as a silent character or a character that communicated through other means may have been better....or simply a different voice. As it stands the character just sounds obnoxious.

While we're talking about flaws, there is one which at times has come close to spoiling the game. While Dust the character is capable of taking on multiple enemies at once, Dust the game struggles to cope. The slowdown when there are more than half a dozen characters on screen at once is really disappointing and does have an adverse effect on the game. You'll be flowing with a really awesome combo then the framerate drops and you'll lose your rhythm. It's also a shame that you there is no way to carry your progress forward to a second playthrough, meaning that a playthrough on the harder difficulties means starting at level 1 with no upgrades or equipment.

Those faults aren't really dealbreakers though and what we are left with is a game which in terms of content and gameplay puts most retail titles to shame. In terms of length, after reaching 6 hours of play time I hadn't even reached 50% completion. This means that those looking for a quick gamerscore fix should probably look elsewhere as it will take a lot of effort to reach the magic 400.

So yes.....while there are obvious issues with Dust: An Elysian Tail, if you look at the big picture the good far and away outweighs the bad. Also, if you consider where this game came from and compare it with some of the big names listed at the start, it really does bring warmth to your heart. Next time you're in Game, or HMV and you see someone looking at the latest Call of Duty or FIFA, politely walk up to them and tell them to download Dust instead. Not that there's anything wrong with those games.....it's just nice to have a bit of variety in your diet. If they take it on board, you'll have made the world a slightly better place.

8.5/10

Colne Crusader Wed Aug 15, 2012 10:09 pm

Good work mate. I played the demo today and really want this, but I've just bought deadlight and i've only got 1000 points left and also am trying to resist adding to my 122 arcade titles until i've finished a few more!!!

Great review though chap! I must admit though, that I found Fidget quite cute and funny actually. I thought the characterisation was quite good, but then it was only the demo and i am a big softie!! Perhaps given time, the bugger would annoy me too!

Tenlo Thu Aug 16, 2012 2:26 am

Amazing review mate, I was going to get this at some point but was debating whether to grab some DLC I needed first. Now I know I'll be getting this tomorrow and loving every minute!

Slayer1189 Thu Aug 16, 2012 9:05 am

Bought this and from what I saw from Choskie playing it... it looks fantastic, this review is full of praise as is every opinion i've heard so far. Not very often a game generates a response like that! Last Metroidvania game I played through was Monster World and that was a few months ago now!

**KENT HAMMER** Thu Aug 16, 2012 11:20 am

Great review mate.

I just got sent a code over Twitter so will be testing it out myself tonight Very Happy

Guest Fri Aug 17, 2012 12:24 am

Good review. I am enjoying this game immensely. It's worth 1200 points for sure.

**KENT HAMMER** Sun Dec 23, 2012 10:40 am

This is now 600 pts today only!

I know because I tried to buy it only to find I already own it!! Embarassed

Guest Sun Dec 23, 2012 12:42 pm

You would be mad to get it at that price.

GrahamOfTheDead Sun Dec 23, 2012 12:57 pm

Brilliant game.

Colne Crusader Sun Dec 23, 2012 6:32 pm

Snapped it up today! Can't wait to play it, but i'm gonna finish off a couple other things first.

Tenlo Fri Apr 05, 2013 4:56 pm

Just finished this game off and loved it. I think they have patched the slowdown issues as it never happened during combat but some of the cutscenes did freeze which meant I had to skip some and miss some of the plot but nothing major. Playing on Tough difficulty gave me a real challenge as some enemies were one-hit killers but it was satisfying by the end of the game to do the mop-up and breeze through them in a killing massacre. It's tempted me to make a start on Castlevania Symphony of the night as well now!!

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