Dust: An Elysian Tale
Dust: An Elysian Tail is a mesmerizing game that uses both its beauty and action to bring an entertaining game to new players on Nintendo Switch. Dust: An Elysian Tail is an enjoyable 2D action adventure game that focuses on the story of Dust whom is suffering from one of the most common tropes that a lot of other video game protagonist suffer with, amnesia. Dust quickly learn that the world he inhabits is plagued by monsters that attack innocent civilians. It becomes clear what Dust has to do, drive the monsters back and save who he can.
The game’s story is firmly rooted in the RPGs of yore. Using the time-honored tradition of amnesia-stricken lead characters, the gameplay opens, after a brief interactive cutscene, with the game’s titular character, Dust, awakening for the first time. He doesn’t know who he is, why he’s in the middle of a forest or why there is a magical sword talking to him. The sword, Ahrah, is there to help Dust answer those questions and perhaps find his purpose. Coming with the sword as part of a package deal is Fidget, the fuzzy, winged guardian of Ahrah. Fidget is there to aid Dust on his journey, assist him in combat and provide some comic relief from time to time.
The art style of the game is truly beautiful. The visuals are amazing What’s even more amazing about the art-style of Dust: An Elysian Tail is that every character is hand drawn by only one person. I have to say, this game looks phenomenal and is even better than a number of other games and movies that are developed by a large number of people. The game draws the player in with the art design that was presented to them. The game contains dimly lit ice caverns, creepy dead forests, snow covered mountains, and more. Each location pops into life with a beauty that is rarely seen in many games. The dynamic weather effects and use of ambient lighting provide the mood in each environment visited. The smooth animations of Dust and the rest of the cast make the aesthetics of the game mesmerizing.
The combat is equally as good and is fluid. Jumping, slashing, hacking, and dodging works when controlling Dust. The gameplay controls feel right when playing as Dust and it keeps the game fresh.
The game is big on rewarding exploration and taking down enemies . Fidget, who is a anthropomorphic sidekick that assist in the game, notifies Dust when there are hidden objects. Once the player puts everything together it creates a sense of wonder, knowing that a new area is open for exploration. Every enemy that is killed, rewards the player with XP. The game only has four attributes, but once the player collects enough XP, these attributes can be powered up. Some attributes are clearly more important than others. Health is superabundant in the game, so up grading heath is not as important as up grading strength. Dust: An Elysian Tail also has a crafting system, but it is very distracting to hunt down the material needed to make something useful.
The voice acting is solid in the game, each character is done well and provide them with some personality, instead of feeling like they are hollow characters.
There are many peaks and joyful moments in Dust: An Elysian Tail. Dust is not a great character, poor crafting system, and the story is not very compelling, but there are more positives in this game than negatives. The gorgeous environments, fun progress, enticing exploration and fun combat makes this game a pleasurable experience. Dust: An Elysian Tail struggles at times, but it is filled with charm. This game is KASANOVA APPROVED!
