Dust an Elysian Tail is an amazing game an and one that deserves all the praise it's received. I'm glad to see people are still playing it to this day and loving the experience.

THE GAME
So what is Dust? A hack n slash, metroidvania, beat'em up! If you love Metroidvanias, you'll be at home with Dust, with plenty of places to explore across various stages of the map, plenty of resources to collect to upgrade your equipment and a straight forward upgrade tree to improve Dust's skills and Fidget's own. While the combat is rather simple with really only three or four different combos you can pull off, I feel it's easy to learn and use combat plays into the positives of this game, you don't need to be a big brain fighter-meister to pull off awesome attacks and its great when revisiting years later. Using Dust's whirlwind ability and combining it with Fidget's various elemental attacks that get unlocked as the game progresses is always satisfying to pull off, wiping out a screen full of enemies with a firey hellstorm! Dust's maneuverability and agility plays nicely into the platforming sections of the game, able to double jump in the latter half of the game allows him to get some serious air especially when combined with his whirlwind ability which darts him across the map! This gameplay loop is a staple of the Metroidvania formula.

THE ART
Perhaps one of the most striking parts of the game, the art direction and animation is beautifully cohesive and designed. With gorgeous and fully detailed hand-drawn backgrounds for every area and smooth animation cycles, I believe this game still holds up in that aspect.

THE STORY
We follow Dust, a mysteriously powerful, mysteriously vague character who awakens in the forest. From there, we meet Fidget, our companion for the duration of the game, along with Ahrah, our second companion and our legendary weapon. The setup of Dust seemingly suffering from Amnesia and later discovering his identity (and his purpose) its a great one, and with this game's story in particular, i feel the pacing is fantastic. While the story itself is rather simple, with the main objective of Saving the Moonbloods from the wrath of General Gaius, sometimes the best stories are the simplest. The only thing that Dust really leaves to be desired is the worldbuilding itself, we can assume that General Gaius and his imperial forces are some sort of expeditionary army from a powerful Empire foreign to these lands, but that is never really built upon which should come as a surprise to no one if you're familiar with the Developer's other project the 'Elysian Tail' film which has never seen the light of day. Despite that, DAET offers a cast of lovable characters and a clear and precise story that'll tug at your heartstrings in the end.

OVERALL
I give this game a solid 8/10, one of the most solid hack n slash, platforming, metroidvanias i've had the pleasure of playing and i highly recommend it to anyone looking to take their first steps in the genre.

Dust an Elysian Tail is an amazing game an and one that deserves all the praise it's received. I'm glad to see people are still playing it to this day and loving the experience. THE GAME So what is Dust? A hack n slash, metroidvania, beat'em up! If you love Metroidvanias, you'll be at home with Dust, with plenty of places to explore across various stages of the map, plenty of resources to collect to upgrade your equipment and a straight forward upgrade tree to improve Dust's skills and Fidget's own. While the combat is rather simple with really only three or four different combos you can pull off, I feel it's easy to learn and use combat plays into the positives of this game, you don't need to be a big brain fighter-meister to pull off awesome attacks and its great when revisiting years later. Using Dust's whirlwind ability and combining it with Fidget's various elemental attacks that get unlocked as the game progresses is always satisfying to pull off, wiping out a screen full of enemies with a firey hellstorm! Dust's maneuverability and agility plays nicely into the platforming sections of the game, able to double jump in the latter half of the game allows him to get some serious air especially when combined with his whirlwind ability which darts him across the map! This gameplay loop is a staple of the Metroidvania formula. THE ART Perhaps one of the most striking parts of the game, the art direction and animation is beautifully cohesive and designed. With gorgeous and fully detailed hand-drawn backgrounds for every area and smooth animation cycles, I believe this game still holds up in that aspect. THE STORY We follow Dust, a mysteriously powerful, mysteriously vague character who awakens in the forest. From there, we meet Fidget, our companion for the duration of the game, along with Ahrah, our second companion and our legendary weapon. The setup of Dust seemingly suffering from Amnesia and later discovering his identity (and his purpose) its a great one, and with this game's story in particular, i feel the pacing is fantastic. While the story itself is rather simple, with the main objective of Saving the Moonbloods from the wrath of General Gaius, sometimes the best stories are the simplest. The only thing that Dust really leaves to be desired is the worldbuilding itself, we can assume that General Gaius and his imperial forces are some sort of expeditionary army from a powerful Empire foreign to these lands, but that is never really built upon which should come as a surprise to no one if you're familiar with the Developer's other project the 'Elysian Tail' film which has never seen the light of day. Despite that, DAET offers a cast of lovable characters and a clear and precise story that'll tug at your heartstrings in the end. OVERALL I give this game a solid 8/10, one of the most solid hack n slash, platforming, metroidvanias i've had the pleasure of playing and i highly recommend it to anyone looking to take their first steps in the genre.