Dandara

 PC
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 38 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 38
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 38
  3. Negative: 6 out of 38

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  1. topoidecmh
    Feb 10, 2021
    3
    I think the Idea is good but i felt the game boring or slow or jus frustrating the more you advance. I think when i compare it with rogue legacy, it seems to me the same idea but Dandara has a gameplay you don´t enjoy.
  2. MindWanderer
    May 3, 2023
    4
    Dandara is a unique Metroidvania, in which you do not jump or even walk, but instead zip between surfaces; there is no difference between floor, walls, or ceiling. Unfortunately, while it's an interesting experience, this game has so many flaws that I have a hard time recommending it.

    Played with an analog stick, the game will attempt to zip you to the surface closest to the one you    Dandara is a unique Metroidvania, in which you do not jump or even walk, but instead zip between surfaces; there is no difference between floor, walls, or ceiling. Unfortunately, while it's an interesting experience, this game has so many flaws that I have a hard time recommending it.

    Played with an analog stick, the game will attempt to zip you to the surface closest to the one you point to, but with some oddities. If you point at the floor you're standing on, your angle will "reflect" and point away from it. This can mean going in unintended directions when moving quickly. Frequently I found this meant diving into enemies headfirst.

    Your weapon takes a moment to charge. This encourages thoughtful play, which I approve of, but the level design often trends towards enemies that appear quickly and in great numbers, and move erratically. If the only trajectory you can move in is blocked, this can leave you with no way out but to block. Unfortunately, blocking (once you unlock the ability) drains your Energy quickly, so you can't do it often.

    Speaking of difficulty, most of the game is pretty reasonably balanced. There are a few challenging areas and bosses, but I beat most of them in 3-4 tries. The problem is that failure is often pretty punishing. One area features a macguffin that makes you backtrack and restart if you get hit even once. Several puzzles require your sub-weapons to solve, which expend Energy, which can only be refilled at save spots, which are far between. And the last boss is a colossal difficulty spike over anything before it: I died over a dozen times, barely depleting its HP by half, before I decided to turn on the infinite Energy cheat... and even after turning that on and abusing it like mad, it took me more tries than any other boss or section in the game.

    How about exploration? The world has some very attractive pixel art, and decent music, but navigating can be frustrating, as I mentioned above. The map tries to show you the different obstacles blocking your path, but most of them are simple lines in various shades of red or brown, and it's hard to tell what's what. It takes a long time to unlock fast travel, and you fast travel only by location name, so you have to memorize or guess the names of the locations you want to travel to. Also, I beat the game with 100% map completion but only 62% chest completion, so clearly many of them are very, very well hidden.

    Regarding the story: there's clearly some very deep lore here. The Salt is a unique environment, and before being ruined, seems to have had a long history and interesting characters in it. Unfortunately, none of this is ever explained in-game. Even after beating it, it remains unclear what the place was like, what happened to it, who was involved, and really almost anything that's going on.

    While there was a lot I did enjoy about the game, so much of it is sullied by poor design decisions at every point that I came out of it feeling very bitter and disappointed. I tried very hard to have a positive attitude about it, and did not succeed. The final boss sequence — which took me 2 hours out of a total play time of less than 11 hours — followed by a very dissatisfying ending, was the nail in the coffin.    … Expand
  3. Dutch9373728
    Feb 4, 2021
    1
    simplesmente horrivel, a gameplay é pessima, para quem joga com teclado e rato é ainda pior so nao dou 0 porque foi dado de graça na epic games

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
70

Mixed or average reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. GameCrate
    Feb 23, 2018
    75
    Dandara proves that there's still originality in a decades-old genre. It changes the way you control the player character, breaking from Metroidvania traditions, and creates new types of puzzles and methods of progression along the way.
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  2. Shacknews
    Feb 12, 2018
    60
    On one hand, Dandara is a perfectly serviceable romp through a series of well-designed and attractive environments; on the other, it's a deliberate yet confusing sidestep of well-established gameplay conventions.
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  3. Meristation
    Feb 12, 2018
    70
    Although excellent for a debut title, Dandara fails to reach its potential, instead lingering ever close. A fairly good game.
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