Pillars of Dust is a "modern retro" JRPG in a similar tradition to Zeboyd Games' catalogue, featuring two heroes who set out on independent yet intersecting quests, playable in any order. It's pretty standard as the "modern retro" trend goes, featuring on-map encounters, significantly reduced grinding, simplified character systems, attempts to make combat more interesting, and a generally detached and ironic tone.

As far as the game system goes, the devs' efforts were kind of a mixed bag. They reduced grinding significantly by having on-map encounters and no XP, just a chance, significantly reduced after you get a few points in any chapter, of gaining a point in a stat after any battle. Likewise, there's only one equipment slot and it only applies to the main characters, not the henchmen that you can hire to fill the second slot, and items are mostly consumables. There's a decent variety of skills you can learn, putting up to four on each main character at any given time.

They tried to make combat interesting by fully healing you after each combat and adding a doom timer where enemies get stronger after a certain number of ticks elapse, but I found that to be a wash. Early on, it makes encounters somewhat annoying because they all take a few rounds, but once you get attacks that hit all enemies, you'll generally be finishing most fights before the doom counter hits its second phase, making it only really matter when it comes to bosses - most of which aren't very difficult if you make sure to have someone who can cast healing and keep their AP up.

Speaking of AP, unlike all the other stats, it only increases at the end of each chapter, as a reward for finding all the secret items, all the powerup orbs, and a sufficient amount of money in each chapter. This rewards rubbing your face on everything or using a guide to a somewhat obnoxious degree, because you need as much AP as you can get for boss fights, where having more turns of staying power before you need to use items is important. On the other hand, the game provides you with a checklist that will tell you how much you've found out of what total in each chapter, so you'll at least know when it's okay to stop searching and go win.

The story, despite my complaint above about irony, mostly works - it's sillier than I would like, but the writers at least know when it's appropriate to make jokes, and it generally comes across as more charming than insufferable.

Recommended. For all my general frustration with the kind of design I'm calling "modern retro" JRPGs here, it's a good example of that design, and never unenjoyable or a slog.

Pillars of Dust is a "modern retro" JRPG in a similar tradition to Zeboyd Games' catalogue, featuring two heroes who set out on independent yet intersecting quests, playable in any order. It's pretty standard as the "modern retro" trend goes, featuring on-map encounters, significantly reduced grinding, simplified character systems, attempts to make combat more interesting, and a generally detached and ironic tone. As far as the game system goes, the devs' efforts were kind of a mixed bag. They reduced grinding significantly by having on-map encounters and no XP, just a chance, significantly reduced after you get a few points in any chapter, of gaining a point in a stat after any battle. Likewise, there's only one equipment slot and it only applies to the main characters, not the henchmen that you can hire to fill the second slot, and items are mostly consumables. There's a decent variety of skills you can learn, putting up to four on each main character at any given time. They tried to make combat interesting by fully healing you after each combat and adding a doom timer where enemies get stronger after a certain number of ticks elapse, but I found that to be a wash. Early on, it makes encounters somewhat annoying because they all take a few rounds, but once you get attacks that hit all enemies, you'll generally be finishing most fights before the doom counter hits its second phase, making it only really matter when it comes to bosses - most of which aren't very difficult if you make sure to have someone who can cast healing and keep their AP up. Speaking of AP, unlike all the other stats, it only increases at the end of each chapter, as a reward for finding all the secret items, all the powerup orbs, and a sufficient amount of money in each chapter. This rewards rubbing your face on everything or using a guide to a somewhat obnoxious degree, because you need as much AP as you can get for boss fights, where having more turns of staying power before you need to use items is important. On the other hand, the game provides you with a checklist that will tell you how much you've found out of what total in each chapter, so you'll at least know when it's okay to stop searching and go win. The story, despite my complaint above about irony, mostly works - it's sillier than I would like, but the writers at least know when it's appropriate to make jokes, and it generally comes across as more charming than insufferable. Recommended. For all my general frustration with the kind of design I'm calling "modern retro" JRPGs here, it's a good example of that design, and never unenjoyable or a slog.