Tries to have complex combat, but even on Tough mode you can just mash attack and everything dies fast. There's no point to using Fidget at all.
Level design is really boring, it's just featureless screens full of enemies and the occasional bomb fruit, and enemy variety is very low.

For a game with such critical acclaim, I'm really surprised by how poor this one played and felt. I slogged through this game to finish it off and get the associated achievements and thankfully I'll never have to play it again.

Coming from Ori and the Blind Forest, I expected a really in-depth metroidvania experience but what I got felt like an indie game devs first project fresh out of uni (and this isn't a solo dev, it was a small local team)

The power unlocks are a good example of this. Normally you'd beat a boss or do something important to unlock a new power or traversal ability, but here you'll just randomly come across them as you play, you'll unlock double jump, slide and your other mechanics as you walk through the story, there's no thematic reason as to WHY you get them, with no dialog between fidget and dust, you just get them and move on.

There's so many half baked systems, like the crafting system. You can make multiple pieces of gear but they all feel pointless, it's just more random stats with no visuals and poor descriptions. I think I crafted 3-4 pieces in my entire playthrough on hard mode. You'll collect randomly the crafted items so it all felt under baked.

The health system has you constantly spamming food with the L1 button, the health Regen is mostly non existent (only coming in at a trickle later) and there's no health recovery between chapters or even during level ups? So many times I was super low on health and had to spam eat 20+ items directly from my inventory just to get my health back (which felt like Skyrim, you shoveling 20 cheeses in to recover)

I really disliked the super cringe dialog between dust and fidget, it felt super off-putting and nowhere along this dozen hour journey did I actually grow to like these characters. I get this was an indie game but you'd think the writing would have gotten a decent pass during development, apparently not.

The combat itself just felt spammy, you'll do huge combos, especially with the dust specific moves on the Y button, but overall it's just exceptionally basic. The only combat moves you'll unlock will be different projectiles Fidget can shoot out.

Im glad I only paid a few bucks for this one because it feels like something you'd pick up on the Epic Game Store for free.

If you're looking for a well balanced, polished and exciting metroidvania experience, this one isn't it 👎🏻

You may be thinking: “All Verse, are you crazy? Why let furries scurry about and let them do their thing?”. I say to you, my good friend, that furries have always been creative with whatever scratches their itchy neurodivergent brains, such as their fursuit’s attention to detail, fanarts, animations, and even video games. Zeekers is an example for creating Lethal Company, and so is Dean Dodrill’s creation – Dust: An Elysian’s Tail.
You play as Dust, an amnesiac Sasuke-esque character who seeks an explanation as to how he comes into existence suddenly. He is accompanied by the wise talking Blade of Ahrah, and Fidget, the typical small flying loud-mouthed sidekick (the trope that I’m not really a fan of *ehem* Paimon *ehem*). And together, they journey to find the answers to Dust’s existential questions whilst saving people along the way.

Do not be fooled by its childish furry artstyle. This game offers a compelling story that challenges gamers to tackle existential dread, identity crisis, genocide/ethnic cleansing, sheer failure, and loss - with hope, resilience, and kindness. I only wish they put the main antagonist more depth because the game hinted at his nuanced feelings about Dust, but was never explored, thus felt rushed

The graphics, artstyle, and animations are just spectacular. The most surprising part is that it was made by one person. The fighting animations are also top-notch. Every swing of the sword and casting of spells have so much weight with its flashes, subtle screen shakes, and aftereffects. The walking animation is so smooth that every step makes you feel like a badass because of how cool Dust’s cape moves, with a big hat that makes him look mysterious. It’s a shame that the cutscene animations are often awkward-looking at times, especially in the revelation part.
The music is not iconic, but it does the job done when matching the mood of the scenes of the game. Although they are not something that I would listen to regularly on Spotify. It's meh at best. EXCEPT at the part where Dust recites his final speech about being justice incarnate to General Gaius, and also when he “dies” – during moments of climax.

This is unfortunately where I think the game is weakest at. You can swing swords like a maniac and spam spells like an Elden Ring Mage user to feel like an all-powerful deity but I cannot deny how it feels repetitive. The metroidvania games in the market have difficult but rewarding bosses to kill, but not this game. It feels tedious, plain, and outright boring. Although, the voice acting of the bosses are just top-notch. To me personally, that helps me look past the shortcomings of the gameplay.

It's a game that made me forgive furries for existing, sure, but nothing revolutionary. To be fair, it was created by one person . I highly recommend this game to those who love to support indie games and would enjoy a really good story.