☑ well polished .
☑ A story that keep you amerge with interesting characters .
☑ the side quest are good . they worth doing
☑ you get rewarded for exploring (even sometime you need to get some ability to enter some areas)
☑ the combo system are simple but need time to be mastered
☑ the atmosphere of this game are so gorgeous

Before I start, I have to say something, if you're looking for some short review of this game, this is probably not the right place to search but I'd like to encourage you to read those "few" words I have in my mind for quite some time.

The game itself is a work of art, a masterpiece, practically made by one man who just wanted to show and share his story, it took him almost 4 years to make it real. It's not just a simple platform/slasher game with a pinch of RPG. This game gives you what AAA games don't, when you play it, it stays in your mind and your heart for a long time, you just can't stop thinking about the main characters and their quest until you turn this game on again. Then, after 15-20 hours of playing which is a very long time for an indie game, the end comes leaving us with emptiness and one thought in mind... why it had to end so "quickly"?

But that's enough of my jabbering, lets talk about the structure of this game.

The playthrough gives you a lot of pleasure, both of fighting hundreds of enemies and of finding well-hidden secrets or collecting your "friends". You can reach some of them only before the final bossfight, which is a great opportunity to backtrack a little and find out what we missed during our journey. Exploring the world isn't something that the game force you to do, you just want to do it yourself. Why? Because the environment is just marvelous.

A hand-made graphics and backgrounds are one of the biggest advantages of this production because it looks like a fairy tale that you can live in. You can explore it and admire such a fantastic and well-planned world. Every single location has its own charm and atmospfere without any unneccessary elements that could distruct us. Literally, every little piece of it is in the right place.

Of course this game has some flaws and bugs but it just doesn't matter when you're experiencing such a wonderful adventure.

And lets say something about it. You can't say a bad word about the main plot, if that was a movie, the author would definitely receive an oscar for it. The enjoyable mixture of both main and side quests gives you a wide range of every known and unknown feelings human ever had. I'd like to say it that way... from happines to sadness with sorrow and anger along the way in only 10 seconds.

Let me say something about soundtrack too. Maybe while beating opponents to death, it's hard to pay attention to music playing in the background but when we stop slaughtering everything around, it's nice to hold on for a second, watch the view and listen to those wonderful tracks. This music is magic and it fits perfectly but listening to it without playing Dust is as much pleasurable. Ideal for a quiet, alone night with a cup of tea...

And at the end... what about the fighting system? At the beginning you might think that simple sword-swinging combined with jumping isn't going to drag your interest for long, even if it looks astonishing, but during the game we can find various of unique moves and techniques that can provide new ways of making incredible hit-combos up to 1000 hits!

There's much more I would like to say about this game but no amount of simple words can express the way I feel after playing this, for me, perfect in any aspect, game. I hope my review will give you a proper answer to the question: "Is this game worth playing?"

And one last thing, you may think that 15 euro for this game is a little too much and you may be right, you can just buy it in a bundle or wait for a discount but... this game is worth much more... 15 euro is nothing for such an experience like this that not many games can give you, really, honestly.

Thanks for your time and have fun, you'll have it, that's for sure.

Dust is an impressive game considering it was made by a single person. It's not only longer than most games (especially at this price range,) but more polished as well. While the game does have some rough edges, it remains very high quality overall, much more so than many games produced by larger teams.

The game is made in classic metroidvania style with maps made from sizable rooms and areas you can return to later for secrets once you have obtained new abilities. While the game is split up into a number of different maps, fast travel is very limited, only allowing up to 2 entrance points for most maps. This makes backtracking rather tedious, though you can buy an item from the shop that lets you exit the current map from any save point to get out faster. It's worth going back and searching for all the easter egg characters though.

Dust features some fantastic art and while I'm not really a fan of the anime-style characters, they are very well-made. The larger-sized characters shown in dialogues are obviously low resolution though for some reason which makes them stand out from the rest of the game. The game world and the different graphical effects for combat abilities are just as well done, some of the best I've ever seen even.

The story is also very well-written with a good variety of characters and excellent voice acting. It's not just another cliche "save the girl" story which is a nice change of pace. I don't quite understand why every character seems to have a different accent while living in the same village though.

The combat system is where the one-man development team shows its weakness however. While the combat looks and feels good, the controls aren't terribly responsive. Executing combos requires you to press the attack buttons much faster than the animations play so I frequently found myself attacking several times after defeating a group of enemies due to queued up actions. The main problem though is that the combat is just too easy. Dust feels like a god, able to stunlock the majority of enemies in large groups with basic attacks and block almost any attack, even from bosses, though blocking it's pretty unnecessary for most of the time. The game tries to compensate for this by making enemies hit very hard, which is a poor design choice shared by most modern games. In addition, airborne attacks will lock on and dash towards any nearby targets so it's not really necessary to aim and you also have a very powerful airborne spinning attack which helps you dodge attacks as well as doing heavy damage.

The combat system starts to show more balanced and challenging combat near the end of the game when enemies start using more varied attacks and dodge your attacks more. Unfortunately by this time you will have obtained snowballing gear and a full-screen stun attack which when combined, makes quick work of any enemies short of the last level. The only actual challenging part is the final boss fight which makes for a very sudden change from the rest of the game.

The other big weakness of the game is the loot system. The items themselves are well thought-out, though mostly direct upgrades. Some of the late-game items are ridiculously powerful though, causing a massive snowball effect which can be enjoyable, but just makes the game even easier. Where the item system really shows its weakness, however, is in the drops. I have never had such a big case of "what the hell do I do with all this money" in an RPG. Gold and crafting materials drop nonstop, and by selling a crafting material to the shop, you cause it to be stocked, gaining one in the store every couple minutes. By the end of the game there were more than 200 copies of half the crafting materials stocked. What could I possibly do with them? Later in the game, you will also find tons of blacksmithing blueprints, the vast majority of which will be useless or not craftable until after you can already buy the item.

Despite having a lot to say about the weaknesses of the game, they are only very small marks against it. The game is still fantastic overall and one I would not hesitate to recommend. Even though the combat is very easy and the controls a bit unresponsive, it's still fun. Overabundant loot and useless blacksmithing recipes don't affect the game much, though it makes me wonder how much better the game could have been if these things were improved.

As a last note I did run into a few bugs in the game. There's a persistent stutter every couple seconds while playing that seems to pop up whenever you enter a new map and clears up after a couple minutes. It's a bit annoying. The game also crashed trying to play the ending cinematic which is a first for me.

This is everything an action rpg sidescroller can offer! Fluid combat, gripping story and characters, nice music, good voice actors and a good gear system for upgrades and armor.

This is a game that I highly recommend to anyone. It's major selling point is actually it's combat that is so fluid, smooth and makes you feel like a total badass when chopping up your foes.

Worth mentioning is also that only one guy made this game (not counting voice actors and artists working on music) in only four years!

(Full review follows below)

• Game Name: Dust: An Elysian Tail
  
• Original Release: 2013
  
• Genre Tags: 2D; Action; Adventure; RPG; Metroidvania; Platformer
  
• My Overall Grade: A-
  
• Estimated Playtime (Campaign): 14-21 hours
  
• Multiplayer Aspect: None
  
• Recommended To: Established fans of the genre; Those intrigued by the genre; Aesthetes; Casual gamers

Dust: An Elysian Tail is an interesting little item. It plays as an exploratory 2D-sidescroller / action-platformer— a genre colloquially dubbed “metroidvania.” Captivating, hand-painted artwork and a stellar soundscape merge with solid gameplay mechanics and a trope-riddled, but well-told, narrative to form the end result of a pretty enjoyable game experience. Be aware: this game was designed to be kid-friendly, and does have an overall essence similar to what you may find on children’s Saturday morning cartoons.

The gameplay essentially boils down to 2D hack-and-slash combat and mild exploration. The combat is fast paced, fluid, responsive, and quite fun at first. But, to be honest, it does grow stale as the game goes on. You have the same attack abilities by the end of the prologue that you have at the end of the game— and it isn’t that many. You will quickly see the best strategy is to just spam a few buttons while hopping around, and that’s basically what the combat becomes. The various difficulties spread the gamut from “for children” to “for masochists,” with some sweet spots in between. Although, even on “Hardcore,” with some grinding you can raise your stats to a point where it becomes easy… if you have the patience.

Furthermore, there are a lot of secrets to discover and treasures to find throughout all the levels, which to me was more exciting than the combat. You will unlock new movement abilities as the game progresses, which allows you to reach new treasures in all the levels. This also was slightly annoying because often times throughout the game you will spot a treasure that is tantalizing you just beyond your reach; but it then becomes that much more satisfying when you return later to collect it with your shiny, new double jump ability.

The story is overloaded with tropes and clichés. Right from the start: you are greeted with a main character with heroes amnesia, but a great power within; you are greeted with a cute-but-ditsy, comic-relief sidekick; and you are greeted with another sidekick who knows your destiny, but won’t just come out and say it… just to name a few. From there, the story does develop into something more substantial and decently interesting, yet still quite cliché. Also, as I alluded to earlier, the game has an overall identity akin to what you find in children’s cartoons. And the characters and voice acting do not stray from this identity. Thus, some of you may find some of the dialogue and acting to be annoying or childlike. Although, personally, I thought the voice acting was pretty well done and enjoyed most of the scenes— but I am easily amused, and am unquestionably a child-at-heart.

Dust: An Elysian Tail is definitely a good game. There are a lot of great elements at work making it a true gem. It does get a little stale towards the end of the game if you are returning to previous areas to 100% it, but if you just play through the game and don’t bother with that stuff then you will probably finish before it goes flat. I highly recommend it to any fan of the genre and would say it is a safe bet for the average all-around gamer.

Follow my curation page to see more of my recommendations!

Great game. I really enjoyed it. The game looks really nice. Even though there is one weapon, you are able to do a few different moves and fidgit attacks. The game is metroid styled and you will have to return to some areas if you want to get the extra stuff. But just have fun hacking and slashing your way through.

The voice acting isn't too bad and the characters look nice. The soundtrack is beautifull. It's really great.

Though the game isn't that long and there isn't really a replay value. It's worth picking up for a good experience. If you don't have anything against furries atleast.. Because the game is full of them.

I would pick it up when you get the chance. Maybe during a sale if you really prefer. But no matter when you pick it up.. You should pick it up if you enjoy a metroid styled game that looks amazing. Just hack 'n' slash to the end~

New review because my old one didn't do it justice:

I haven't been playing it for long, but my mind often drifts to it. It's one of the few games in recent years I almost played through twice (my Steam library grows almost daily, so that kinda means something) and which I have very fond memories of.

It's a very special title because it was designed with much love and confidence and shows so in a variety of ways. If I had to name a game that not only looked like a charm but worked and felt just the same it would be Dust: An Elysian Tail. It was backed up by Microsoft as an original XBox Live Arcade game and took almost four years to make but was created mostly by just one guy.

Dust: AET is a Metroidvania action platformer (meaning you discover new powers along the way and do some backtracking with them) with a clean interface, gorgeous art, fantastic music, nice story, adorable characters, great voice acting, solid combat, rudimentary leveling/gear/crafting/shopping mechanics and platforming of mild/average difficulty.

Despite what some other reviewers/players/press people say: I love the voice acting. It's warm and colorful and fits the equally colorful style of the game (which does not mean it's an immature game; although some young deers running past me gave me some Disney vibes and some overarching topics include classic "teenage"-ishy things like the protagonist and his sidekick growing with their responsibilty along the journey there sure are some darker moods and themes too like war and genocide). Some people don't like the VA or certain characters but I think they are being unfair or misunderstand something. I think the VA is nailing it down and just like it was meant to be. it's cute and sweet and just nice, with much heart and soul that could be credited to a set of relatively new/inexperienced but maybe even more so passionate VAs. This is one of the few games where I had urges to look up contact data of the voice actors only so I could thank them for their efforts. I think I know bad voice acting when I see it and Dust: AET has none of that.

The music is fantastic. Again, in this game specifically, I noticed a behavior I don't see too often, least not that I would've been aware of it in other games as much: Some levels I loved to roam a couple of more times, or stay in them for a bit longer than I really had to, so I could keep listening to the powerful tracks running along some more. The always very beautiful art even in the somewhat "gloomy" levels added to it and made the game, with all the other things it has to offer, a constantly enjoyable and remarkably well-rounded experience from start to end.

The story is kinda interesting and ends fairly conclusive. Some questions remain unanswered though. Apparently there was more planned to it, what turned out to be game was originally meant to be an animated film called "Elysian Tail" and you can tell by some lore ideas that are sometimes brought up but not elaborated too much. Like what exactly the talking sword you're wielding is (there were meant to be seven of those, it seems, but the game never brings that up) or how your funny and adorable sidekick "Fidget" came to be a "Guardian" of that sword in the first place.

So, I'd love to see a sequel sometime in the future when the creator feels for it (well, all who appreciate this game as the gem it is seem to do). And maybe a Fidget plushie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbboCU9Gy8A
https://youtu.be/5MdtgOTl60o
Old review:

Fluid and fun combat, beautiful art, great colorful voice acting, well-enough outlined and varied characters and some pretty fantastic music. A very well executed action title. The story holds some interesting points but the overall scheme has been seen before (mysterious hero with no memories of his past helping some rebel faction fighting some evil force). The combat, crafting and leveling seems a bit underdeveloped (only few combos, button smashing was often proving to be enough on "normal") but that didn't really hinder my fun with it. Probably best played on "hardcore" or "tough" difficulty - "normal" felt easy too me except for some boss battles.

This is a game that I had been meaning to play for a while now. The visuals in the screenshots look absolutely stunning. Dust has been out since early 2013 and it has that real polished feeling of a fantastic game. Essentially this is a hack and slash, RPG, side scroller. The combat system is basic, but does exactly what you need it to do. All of the attacks look and feel satisfying, as well as the parry system which normally is something that gets overlooked in a lot of games like this.

The musical score behind Dust is somewhat of a masterpiece too. I am surprised they haven’t released just the sound track as it is beautifully crafted. The level design on offer here is interesting too. Each "zone" is split into separate areas, which can be a little daunting at first because they are all huge. One gripe I did find is that the map in game isn't very clear and can sometimes cause confusion as to where you actually are on it.

As I said above, the combat system is basic, so this means you can master it very easily. There are a few combos to learn as you progress, as well as a welcome addition of a crafting mechanic. I also liked the feature where if you sold something to a shop, they would then stock this in the future so you can buy multiple copies of it; this is really helpful when you are trying to craft your armour and weapons.

This took me roughly twenty hours to complete everything on offer, main story line, challenges and side quests. The game did feel slightly repetitive towards the end of the last chapter however.

I would really recommend you pick up Dust: An Elysian Tail, you can more often than not find it on sale, but I would still recommend this at full price.

If you found this review helpful, please consider giving it a thumbs up. You can also find more reviews over at http://www.completingthebackloggroup.com/

Initially Dust: An Elysian Tail was supposed to be a cartoon, titled Elysian Tail. Most of the work was done just by one person, Dean Dodrill, who was an artist, animator, screenwriter, producer etc. Development lasted 7 years and it seemed that Elysian Tail will never be finished. And may be so would be if Dean Dodrill had not decided to turn his project into the game.

　TOTAL RECALL

　　The protagonist (Named Dust) wakes up in the woods and doesn't remember anything about his past. Immediately he meets new friends who will be with him all the way. Wise and calm speaking Blade of Ahrah and the keeper of this sword, a charming flying little creature (Nimbat) named Fidget. By the end of the game, we'll know who is actually Dust and what hides his past.

　ELYSIAN TALE

　　From 2D game with cartoon furry characters i didn't expect epic or exciting stories. But in fact, everything is different. The story begins with a fairly quiet atmosphere of a small adventure, but ends by epic confrontation between the two armies fighting for their cause. And the personal story of the protagonist is intriguing to the end of the story. I can’t don't say special thanks to the awesome work of actors. I want to underline a terrific job of actors and artist. With their help, the game fascinates and keeps interest until the end.

　DUST IN ACTION

　　Dust: An Elysian Tail is 2D beat ‘em up action RPG. Combat system uses 4 buttons with which you can perform various combos. In the game is not very many kinds of enemies, but their combinations create a variety of interesting situations, making fights interesting enough. Boss battles can be quite difficult, but still interesting.

　DUST TO DUST

　　Quite unexpectedly (at least to me) the game was not just entertainment for few evenings, but very exciting story with charming characters and interesting gameplay. Watching the final credits, i had only the pleasant sensations. Wants to be back to this enchanting world to see more adventurous of the Dust and Fidget.

　　Special attention is worthy of the music written by the composer HyperDuck SoundWorks. Alluring beautiful songs which helps plunge into this fabulous world and enjoy while playing Dust: An Elysian Tail.

　Multiplayer:
　　Online: Θ Θ Θ Θ Θ Θ Θ Θ Θ Θ
　　Co-op: Θ Θ Θ Θ Θ Θ Θ Θ Θ Θ
　Storyline: ☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺
　Graphics: ☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺O
　Gameplay: ☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺O
　


　Complexity of the achievements: All achievements can be easily earned for 10-20 hours (Depending on the chosen difficulty)

　　　　 Surprisingly interesting story
　　about furry, telling us about the inner
　　demons, worthy of the good movie
　　(or cartoon, probably).

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Amazing story and cutest companion Fidget [9/10].

I avoided this game for like two years because I was certain it was going to be cringeworthy furrybait.

I regret doing so, because it turns out it's actually very high-quality furrybait, along with being a fine example of an action platformer.