LUNA The Shadow Dust

 PC
User Score
6.9

Mixed or average reviews- based on 52 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 32 out of 52
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 52
  3. Negative: 12 out of 52

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  1. GamerGuysNGals
    Feb 17, 2020
    8
    “Luna the Shadow Dust”

    Reviewed By: Mouseboy Platforms: PC, macOS, Linux (Steam) Developer: Lantern Studio Publishers: Application Systems Heidelberg, Coconut Island Games Release Date: Feb 13, 2020 Price: $19.99 US (Steam) Players: 1 Genre: Point-and-click Adventure Game reviewed on PC (Steam). Luna the Shadow Dust is the kind of game that you have no idea why you’re    “Luna the Shadow Dust”

    Reviewed By: Mouseboy
    Platforms: PC, macOS, Linux (Steam)
    Developer: Lantern Studio
    Publishers: Application Systems Heidelberg, Coconut Island Games
    Release Date: Feb 13, 2020
    Price: $19.99 US (Steam)
    Players: 1
    Genre: Point-and-click Adventure

    Game reviewed on PC (Steam).

    Luna the Shadow Dust is the kind of game that you have no idea why you’re playing, but you enjoy it every step of the way. A classic point and click adventure, with minimalist design, lacking any narrative, voiceover or dialogue, Luna still manages to get its point across with great animation and superb game development.

    Created by a Chinese team from Shanghai, this game exudes the love of its designers, from hand-painted incredibly detailed backgrounds, to instantly loveable characters to the thought-provoking puzzles in every level. While similar in game design to classics like Botanicula and Machinarium, it’s clearly visually inspired in part by Miyazaki films and the Little Prince and the combination goes well together with the overall art style and direction.

    The music is phenomenal, orchestral and rich, and the sound design is clean, with just the right amount of sound effects (and good use of audio positioning). It’s the kind of game you just want to leave running in the background for the soundtrack alone.

    The game itself follows a boy named Üri and the strange cat-like creature he rescues, Layh, as he climbs a tower full of mysteries. Each room of the tower has different challenges, puzzles that often involve interactions between light and shadow or pattern matching using the environment. Clues to solve the puzzle are often hidden in the background, though sometimes they are too obscure to be very useful.

    There are 24 easy-to-medium difficulty achievements on Steam for those achievement hunters out there, and the game as a whole can be finished in 4-6 hours (with another hour for completionist achievement hunting). Although the game lacks native game controller support, as a point and click game, all that is really needed is a functioning mouse. The settings menu is remarkably simple as a result of this choice.

    Although the game seems short it has a variety of interesting puzzles and a beautiful story told through animated cutscenes.

    Pros: Amazing hand-painted backgrounds, but still low-impact graphics, could play on a computer built out of canvas. Diverse variety of puzzles. Beautiful cutscenes.
    Cons: Some puzzles lack the clues necessary to proceed without random clicking. Occasional mild bugs. Puzzles often require overly-repetitive actions.

    Overall: 8 of 10
    A beautiful work of art to point and click through.    … Expand
  2. paol0
    Feb 14, 2020
    10
    Amazing illustration style, a bit like Shaun Tan's artwork. Very enjoyable, not-too-hard puzzles, ambient music, overall great family game.
  3. farkasdavid01
    Feb 13, 2020
    10
    LUNA The Shadow Dust is one of the very best indie game I have ever played. Charming art style, beautiful music and great story.
  4. doctor_awesome
    Mar 3, 2020
    10
    This was the first video game to make me cry. I don't mind admitting it. This game is really special. The graphics are beautiful, the music is perfect, the puzzles have just the right difficulty, and the cut scenes really tug at the heart strings in such a sincere way.
  5. bayada9727
    Feb 24, 2020
    4
    The art is charming but the game is scattered, clunky, and very unrewarding. This game would have functioned better as a series of non sequiturs because the story seriously does not work on any level.
  6. fexat13605
    Mar 3, 2020
    0
    You'd have to hate both puzzle games and yourself to play this slog all the way through. This game is worth $20 the way that a post-it note with the words "twenty dollars" written on it is worth $20.
  7. billspcplay
    Mar 16, 2020
    0
    A great game for exactly no-one. Bad puzzles, needlessly slow animation. If you're trapped on a desert island, maybe this game would entertain you, but it's also the last game I'd recommend taking with you.
  8. notherone
    Mar 16, 2020
    0
    I went in looking for "a fully hand-animated Point&Click puzzle adventure, brought to life through wordless storytelling, beautiful cinematics and a breathtaking original soundtrack," but sadly what I got was Luna: The Shadow Dust.
  9. mavey98855
    Feb 24, 2020
    0
    bad puzzles, no story, meh art. That's all there is to it but here's some more words to make this review at least 75 characters long.
  10. MCmetacritic
    Nov 10, 2020
    0
    1990 called and they want their boring, melodramatic, underwritten and overwrought attempts at games back. Also, they say that even their puzzles didn't suck this bad.
  11. Jingyu
    Feb 25, 2020
    10
    Totally enjoyed playing this game! Especially enjoyed the amazing illustration and beautiful music!
  12. Qiao123
    Feb 25, 2020
    10
    amazing experience. Beautiful music, stunning animation and challenge puzzles, all together created a wonderful journal for players.
  13. AnnoyingPlastic
    Feb 25, 2020
    10
    Overall, This is a good game that gives me Ghibli nostalgia and does not overstays its welcome. Positives:
    1. The art work has a story book quality to them and are amazingly hand drawn. It is a rare breed in todays game industry.
    2. The music is excellently composed which is a great asset to any puzzle game. 3. The puzzles are not the most difficult in the world but they are well thought    Overall, This is a good game that gives me Ghibli nostalgia and does not overstays its welcome. Positives:
    1. The art work has a story book quality to them and are amazingly hand drawn. It is a rare breed in todays game industry.
    2. The music is excellently composed which is a great asset to any puzzle game.
    3. The puzzles are not the most difficult in the world but they are well thought out and avoid pixel finding like some of the other games in the genre does quite often.

    Negatives:
    1. The control does take some time to get used to when the 2nd character is introduced as you will need to control both of them separately.


    Spoiler Bonus: the Main character has 4 fingers. Is that a reference to the famous Mickey Mouse or is it also a cost saving measure? Guess we have to decide ourselves ;)    … Expand
  14. Amanda_R
    Mar 18, 2020
    9
    It's a refreshing game, the puzzles are in good balance and match the overall theme. This game deserves praise for its wonderful music and art. I am glad I've played it!
  15. d1izzt
    Sep 11, 2020
    10
    magnifique. 75 characters? come on guys! there are no words for this game, if you like grapghic adventures and symbols, good storie......

    fck you metacritic. simply great game
  16. Cacti-spikes
    Apr 7, 2021
    10
    Very nice, well written game. Gorgeous animation and character design. The puzzles are very entertaining.
  17. yobidi2520
    May 30, 2021
    0
    Real bad on every level. Weak animation, a story that is somehow both overwrought and nonexistent, and above all else, flat, clunky, unimaginative gameplay. This is SHRUG, the game.

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 23
  3. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. GamingTrend
    Apr 30, 2020
    75
    With all its puzzling adventures, out-of-the-box thinking, and stunning hand drawn visuals, it’s a memorable game in its genre. Solving the puzzles offers such gratification that one looks forward to continuing climbing the tower and solving the next. But with a lack of a meaningful story, it lacks complete immersion from the player.
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  2. GameCritics
    Apr 28, 2020
    75
    LUNA The Shadow Dust’s amazingly-integrated package of wordless storytelling, clear gameplay and unique visual style would be even more powerful if not for the clichéd finale. Even so, it’s a wonderful experience well worth anyone’s time.
    Read full review
  3. Worth Playing
    Apr 7, 2020
    75
    In the end, I felt that Luna: The Shadow Dust ebbed and flowed more like a beautifully soundtracked picture book than an actual video game, which is admittedly a refreshing change of direction for this genre. If you're looking for something a little more out of the box than a typical point-and-click experience, then Luna: The Shadow Dust might be the game for you.
    Read full review
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