I don’t really want to say much about the story, because spoiling it would be a shame, but I will say that I was surprised at the occasional dark turn it would take. While they start out pretty weak, by the end of the game she could chain-lightning entire areas to death in a single burst. Like Ahrah, she can fly, and in addition to that she can also fire projectiles. She is a Nimbat Sword Guardian, and while she might not be the best at paying attention, she at least sticks to her duty. It can talk (in a nice, soothing voice), it can fly, and it can do wicked damage to monsters. The is the Blade of Ahrah, or just Ahrah for short. Shortly after the sword guardian shows up and says she needs to have that sword back before anyone notices it’s gone. He doesn’t even remember his own name, but a talking sword shows up and tells him that he’s Dust, and the sword wants to travel with him now. He remembers nothing of who he is, how he ended up in that forest meadow, or what he’s supposed to do from there. Dust: An Elysian Tail is filled with easter eggs like this, references and tributes to other games, and somehow it never felt over-done.ĭust himself starts out as an amnesiac. This is our hero, Dust, standing a room that’s a tribute to Bastion. These are mapped to Mouse 1, Mouse 2 and Mouse 3 respectively by default. The normal attack, which can be used to parry if timed right the special attack, which is used in combos, and activates the Dust Storm if not preceded by a normal attack companion projectile, which makes your companion fire a burst of projectiles, that can be combined with the Dust Storm for explosive effect. There’s even a crafting system.Īnd you fight stuff. You gain new abilities at set points in the game that allow you to reach new areas, so you can backtrack for loot and goodies. The map is very Metroid, complete with circles in rooms that have treasure, that turn into dots once all the treasure there is collected. Racking up hit combos gives you bonus experience.
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You get equipment to upgrade your stats, though you only have one weapon. You fight stuff, talk to people and do quests to get experience, and when you level up you can upgrade one of four stats. It’s like an action-RPG with the combat system of a brawler, and distinct Metroidvania elements. I’ve come to a kinda clunky description based on established terminology, since it doesn’t really fit into any one category. I would recommend going into the options and setting portrait quality to High before starting.Īs I have friends who hadn’t really heard about the game at all, I imagine there’s more of you out there pondering just what kind of a game this is. The options screen puts most ports to shame, the controls are tight and responsive, mouse and keyboard work flawlessly, the menus can all be mouse-driven, the visuals are not just upscaled from the XBox version, but done in proper high-def (probably because the original art was of higher fidelity than what the 360 could handle), and even though I got 100% completion I didn’t notice any glitches or bugs.
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And let me tell you, this is one of the very best PC ports I have seen of any game: small-scale, medium or AAA. You can get it on Steam right now, and it’s pretty cheap as well. It’s a shame this design choice has been so maligned, but if I were to search for the game on DeviantArt which I have not done I’m sure I might feel some sympathy for those who disagree with the furries.Īnd now the game has reached PC. Conveniently forgetting that half of the games in the 90s starred anthropomorphic animals, and I’d say Dust proves that this is still a valid choice. Though it also became known as “the furry game” among certain people, because that’s what the internet is like now. It first came out on XBLA in August 2012, and was favourably received as far as I was able to tell.
Sure, he had a co-writer, and hired someone to do the soundtrack, and of course arranged for voice-actors, but even that was driven by his vision and intent. He drew the art, did the animation, coded the engine, implemented the physics and created the world and the characters.
Its development is the product of one man: Dean Dodrill. You could argue it’s one of the best cases for games as art. Dust: An Elysian Tail is a rather special case.