In Short:
+Amazing atmosphere
+Great graphics
+Great soundtrack
+Addictive gameplay
-Yet, gameplay gets repetitive, annoying, and boring, to my taste
-Usually not that challanging
-Weak attempt to combine RPG elements in Platform game
-Plot and storytelling are generally not that good
-Soon enough it becomes just smashins buttons and watching the screen goes VOOSHWOOSHIn Short:
+Amazing atmosphere
+Great graphics
+Great soundtrack
+Addictive gameplay
-Yet, gameplay gets repetitive, annoying, and boring, to my taste
-Usually not that challanging
-Weak attempt to combine RPG elements in Platform game
-Plot and storytelling are generally not that good
-Soon enough it becomes just smashins buttons and watching the screen goes VOOSHWOOSH
Artistically, Dust is truly an amazing button-smasher. Oh, no, whooops, RPG-Platformer, what am I saying...
Silly me.
So, yeah, while it feels really (REALLY!) unfortunate to give this game a negative review, I'm going to have to do that, because Dust eventually ends up being, as I just said, a button smasher. Merely and mostly a button-smasher.
And the sad thing about it, is that this is pretty much the only thing about the game that is actually bad, in my opinion. And so, all of Dust's good aspects are going to waste on the final result....
At the very beginning of the game, Dust reminded me of Rayman, and in a good way. Meaning that, it reminded me the glory days of platforming games, or at least that glorious series which had somehow managed to keep some of the first installment's magic in it towards the years.
Dust begins with that magic as well.
It gives you a feeling of an aspiring Disney film.
It has lush and colorful graphics, which seems hand drawn, and seems even more terrific in my opinion with the post-effects turned off, in the so-to-speak 'lower' quality.
It also has a magical soundtrack, combines many sort of genres, catchy and dramatic moments, and it fits the game perfectly.
The different areas of the game are very immersing and seems like there was much though put in their design.
So, really, the developers had prepared a great ground for the actual game. Really incredible atmosphere and environment.
Too bad the game starts to fall short as we reach the actual content.
The plot is nothing special, it isn't too bad but not much good either. It is mostly predictable, it starts alright but then you see it really isn't anything interesting, with the exception of just a few moving moments.
Still, it isn't enough to push you forward AND make you enjoy yourself.
Towards the end, unfortunately, I didn't even care much what the characters were saying, but just kind of wanter to get this over with...
Of course, a game with terrific gameplay doesn't HAVE to have a good story.
But sadly enough Dust won't deliver on this aspect as well.
Dust is mainly a platformer, and therefore its gameplay isn't that complex and you can imagine how it plays out.. Of course, there are some terrific platformers, some mediocre, and some bad ones... Depends on the execution, right?
Well, here the execution didn't go so well to my taste.
The gameplay is basically a simple platforming gameplay, and you'd slowly gain some abilities, and yet it becomes incredibly repetitive and boring, and also somewhat annoying. It isn't even too graceful, as as the game progresses you'd find yourself among more and more HORDES of enemies, and not single enemies. It actually becomes the core of the game pretty quickly. And what will you do then? As I said at the very beginning, you start Smashing Button! Three buttons, smash them with all might. At the very beginning of the game you'll learn the different 'moves' you can do with those buttons but soon enough you wouldn't care, as it doesn't make that much difference. Why, you might ask? Because you wouldn't even see much of these moves. As you amash the attack, jump, and moving buttons, pretty much all at ones, at many times you can't really tell for sure what's going on on your screen. You're just watching Dust jumping from point to point as there are lights and bombings and explosions and hurt enemies faltering anywhere, as even you're sidekick says once in the game: "Seriously, have you seen the screen? He goes VOOSHWOOSHSHWOOSHVOOSH". And that's an understatement.
Last but not least, let's not forget that's a RPG-Platformer. Of course. The devs tried to add some RPG elements, but personally I found them very weak and not integrated to the game so well.
Yes, there are side-quests, there are exp points, leveling up, so-to-speak abilities to improve, some 'crafting', some stats, some clothes which would raise those stats....
All these features just felt very out of place to me, they weren't that interesting or crucial to the game, and didn't add much challange to Dust, which I completed on Normal with all sidequests and most achievements done, and pretty much with ease.
I can't say this is a BAD game. It does have magic in it, and many good aspects. But only halfway through the game I just felt it was more of an annoyance to me than fun. And that definitely shouldn't be that way, so, no, I wouldn't really recommend on this one.
Unless smashing-buttons aimlessly and watching your screen goes VOOSHWOOSHVOOSH is you're thing, of course.… Expand
Dust: An Elysian TailYour Score0 out of 10User Score
