Written by Patrick Orquia
Title: Dust: An Elysian Tail
Developer: Humble Hearts; Dean Dodrill (Game Design & Programming); Hyperduck Soundworks (Music)
Publisher: Microsoft Studios (Original Release); Humble Hearts; Limited Run Games
Genre: RPG, Metroidvania, Platformer, Action, Adventure
Number of Players: 1 player
Release Date: 10 Sept 2018
Price: $14.99
Also Available On: iOS, Linux, Mac, Steam, PS4, XB360
Prior to playing this awesome game on the Nintendo Switch, I have to admit that I have never heard of this game, even though it was first released way back in 2012. Before starting the game, I have read online that this is one hell of a good game, albeit underrated, that’s why I and a lot of other people never got to play it. But from the first minute of playing it, I realized that it deserves the accolades. It is indeed really, REALLY good.
The game is about the titular amnesiac character Dust, an anthropomorphic feline warrior (all the other characters in this game also resemble animals of different kinds and accents). One day, he stumbled upon a mysterious magical sentient sword, the Blade of Ahrah, being guarded by a Navi-like, talkative flying Nimbat called Fidget. Together, the team has to traverse the many areas of the land in order for Dust to regain his memory and to save it from an imminent threat. These many areas vary in climate, terrain, and environment. Out to stop the team are many different enemies also with varying attack types and could be walking on the ground or flying on air. It’s up for Dust and his companions to succeed in their mission and to free the land from evil. This plot may have been overdone before but the way the game executes it, along with a very well-done voice work, makes the story very engaging from start to finish.
Now, like in all metroidvanias, these areas have some sections closed off at the start, like a portion of them may be only reachable by climbing vines or need to be crawled from underneath a small crevice or located up high an out of reach platform. As you progress in the game, Dust will one by one acquire many different types of attacks, skills, weapons, armor, and other accessories in order for him to reach every noon and cranny of these areas, revealing all sorts of secrets, treasures, and hidden areas. The map is divided into enclosed areas with an entrance and exit to the other end. Reaching the end allows you to open up other areas which you can reach by selecting it on the map. But reaching the other end is not that easy.
Along the way, enemies of different sorts, with some hitting much harder that the others, will try their best to stop you on your tracks. Dust can use the Blade of Ahrah as a weapon (it is a sword, after all) to slash away on enemies. Slicing enemies to bits give experience points to Dust, and thus he will eventually level up upon reaching a certain number of experience points. Upon leveling up, Dust will acquire a gem which you, the player, can put on slots for health, attack, defense, and for Fidget, to make her attacks stronger. Aside from leveling up, different gears and accessories will also increase these stats. Located at different points in areas across the lands are merchants that sell food items, pendants, rings, armors, and crafting materials. Yes, there is also a crafting mechanic in the game, with which you can use to craft different accessories and equipment. Defeated enemies drop not only money but also crafting materials, such as leather or metal scraps, and also body parts, like fingers or teeth or hide. You can sell these materials to the merchant for them to be catalogued and the merchant will acquire more of these materials over time to be made available for purchase, alleviating the need for grinding for them. This combination of crafting mechanic and the interchangeable equipment makes customization in this game very expansive. It’s fun to see Dust become overpowered as you progress in the game, making battling with enemies a breeze. That is, until new sets of enemies that hit much harder than the previous one come along the way.
Aside from sword-slashing, Dust can also perform a Dust Attack, wherein he spins the Blade of Ahrah very fast, making it like a big, powerful spinning propeller that damages nearby enemies. He can also do this while on air, allowing to Dust soar to and fro across the screen while heavily damaging flying enemies and he is also able to catch them mid-air and slam them to the ground. Complementing this attack is Fidget’s attack. Fidget can shoot out projectiles to hit enemies. They are not very powerful on their own, but combined with the Dust Attack, these projectiles can hit many enemies on the screen at once, and hit them hard. Again, Fidget’s attack power can be increased, and as you progress and defeat bosses, Fidget will acquire new projectiles that you can switch from one to the next at a single click of the R button, defending on the situation and you play style.
Save points are strategically located in an area. This save points also serve as teleport points, allowing you to save time when backtracking or getting to the nearest exit, or go all the way back to the world map if the going gets too tough for you. But teleporting require you to use a Teleport Stone, and this item is very expensive, so unless you carry a lot of these things, you are better off traversing the area section on foot. Yes, you will have to battle enemies again (enemies respawn after you leave a section) but it’s really fun to do plus you acquire experience points so it is really not in vain. But of course, if you are careless and unprepared, you can get killed. Dying makes you respawn at the last save point, but some save points are located too far from the next, so you may end up losing quite a lot of progress. Unless you have a Resurrection Stone, which allows Dust to respawn right away where he died, with a full bar of health, that is. But, like the Teleport Stone, Resurrection Stones are also very expensive, so you better not die if it has been a while since your last save and you don’t have a spare Resurrection Stone in your inventory. Also, be on the lookout for our health bar. You may acquire an accessory or two that will gain you the ability to regenerate health, but only for a few points, so you better be ready to consume a food item to regain lost health in real time during battles. There are different types of food items, with the more expensive ones giving back more health points. You can assign which food item to readily consume (which you can do so by pressing the L button) and choose well.
Like most RPGs, this game also feature sub-quests from NPCs. Most of them are simple fetch quest, but they are there for you to re-visit areas, especially once you have acquired a required skill to reach previously closed-off sections. Accomplishing quests awards you with experience points and some special equipment and/or weapons, so it is really not much of a chore to do them.
Overall, this game is definitely one of the best games that I have played on the Nintendo Switch so far. Its engaging story, expansive customization, easy-to-learn battle mechanics, and awesome audio-visual presentation makes it truly a top-notch game that everyone with the console should play. Whether you play it on a big TV screen or on the go, you will definitely find enormous amount of fun from the opening minutes to the tense final battle and all the twists and turns and wild revelations in between. I highly recommend this game, whether you are a fan of metroidvanias and RPGs or not. Let Dust and his team lead the way, and enjoy the ride.
REPLAY VALUE: Very High
PROS
CONS
Now, like in all metroidvanias, these areas have some sections closed off at the start, like a portion of them may be only reachable by climbing vines or need to be crawled from underneath a small crevice or located up high an out of reach platform. As you progress in the game, Dust will one by one acquire many different types of attacks, skills, weapons, armor, and other accessories in order for him to reach every noon and cranny of these areas, revealing all sorts of secrets, treasures, and hidden areas. The map is divided into enclosed areas with an entrance and exit to the other end. Reaching the end allows you to open up other areas which you can reach by selecting it on the map. But reaching the other end is not that easy.
Along the way, enemies of different sorts, with some hitting much harder that the others, will try their best to stop you on your tracks. Dust can use the Blade of Ahrah as a weapon (it is a sword, after all) to slash away on enemies. Slicing enemies to bits give experience points to Dust, and thus he will eventually level up upon reaching a certain number of experience points. Upon leveling up, Dust will acquire a gem which you, the player, can put on slots for health, attack, defense, and for Fidget, to make her attacks stronger. Aside from leveling up, different gears and accessories will also increase these stats. Located at different points in areas across the lands are merchants that sell food items, pendants, rings, armors, and crafting materials. Yes, there is also a crafting mechanic in the game, with which you can use to craft different accessories and equipment. Defeated enemies drop not only money but also crafting materials, such as leather or metal scraps, and also body parts, like fingers or teeth or hide. You can sell these materials to the merchant for them to be catalogued and the merchant will acquire more of these materials over time to be made available for purchase, alleviating the need for grinding for them. This combination of crafting mechanic and the interchangeable equipment makes customization in this game very expansive. It’s fun to see Dust become overpowered as you progress in the game, making battling with enemies a breeze. That is, until new sets of enemies that hit much harder than the previous one come along the way.
Aside from sword-slashing, Dust can also perform a Dust Attack, wherein he spins the Blade of Ahrah very fast, making it like a big, powerful spinning propeller that damages nearby enemies. He can also do this while on air, allowing to Dust soar to and fro across the screen while heavily damaging flying enemies and he is also able to catch them mid-air and slam them to the ground. Complementing this attack is Fidget’s attack. Fidget can shoot out projectiles to hit enemies. They are not very powerful on their own, but combined with the Dust Attack, these projectiles can hit many enemies on the screen at once, and hit them hard. Again, Fidget’s attack power can be increased, and as you progress and defeat bosses, Fidget will acquire new projectiles that you can switch from one to the next at a single click of the R button, defending on the situation and you play style.
Save points are strategically located in an area. This save points also serve as teleport points, allowing you to save time when backtracking or getting to the nearest exit, or go all the way back to the world map if the going gets too tough for you. But teleporting require you to use a Teleport Stone, and this item is very expensive, so unless you carry a lot of these things, you are better off traversing the area section on foot. Yes, you will have to battle enemies again (enemies respawn after you leave a section) but it’s really fun to do plus you acquire experience points so it is really not in vain. But of course, if you are careless and unprepared, you can get killed. Dying makes you respawn at the last save point, but some save points are located too far from the next, so you may end up losing quite a lot of progress. Unless you have a Resurrection Stone, which allows Dust to respawn right away where he died, with a full bar of health, that is. But, like the Teleport Stone, Resurrection Stones are also very expensive, so you better not die if it has been a while since your last save and you don’t have a spare Resurrection Stone in your inventory. Also, be on the lookout for our health bar. You may acquire an accessory or two that will gain you the ability to regenerate health, but only for a few points, so you better be ready to consume a food item to regain lost health in real time during battles. There are different types of food items, with the more expensive ones giving back more health points. You can assign which food item to readily consume (which you can do so by pressing the L button) and choose well.
Like most RPGs, this game also feature sub-quests from NPCs. Most of them are simple fetch quest, but they are there for you to re-visit areas, especially once you have acquired a required skill to reach previously closed-off sections. Accomplishing quests awards you with experience points and some special equipment and/or weapons, so it is really not much of a chore to do them.
Overall, this game is definitely one of the best games that I have played on the Nintendo Switch so far. Its engaging story, expansive customization, easy-to-learn battle mechanics, and awesome audio-visual presentation makes it truly a top-notch game that everyone with the console should play. Whether you play it on a big TV screen or on the go, you will definitely find enormous amount of fun from the opening minutes to the tense final battle and all the twists and turns and wild revelations in between. I highly recommend this game, whether you are a fan of metroidvanias and RPGs or not. Let Dust and his team lead the way, and enjoy the ride.
REPLAY VALUE: Very High
PROS
- Awesome traditionally-animated visuals and level design
- Haunting musical score
- Easy-to-learn battle mechanics
- Good combination of crafting mechanics and customization
- Very well-done voice acting, utilizing many different accents depending on the area (when was the last time you hear South American and Australian accents in a video game?)
- The onscreen mini-map is always present and shows you where to go next and marks sections with treasures, save points, etc.
- Area puzzles are well-designed
- Consuming food items and swapping between Fidgets projectiles are mapped to buttons to make them quicker to do without having to pause the game
- Opening treasures requires keys that needs to be collected (or purchased) and also needs a quite nifty quick-time button presses
- There are (not-so-hidden) sections where you can test your platforming skills and combatting skills against tough enemies, with a star ranking system depending on the points you accumulated
- Very good use of HD Rumble
CONS
- Most of the boss battles are a bit underwhelming
- Some items are overly expensive to purchase
RATING: 5/5 electro-Dust attack combos
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