Dust: An Elysian Tail

Genre: Action-Platformer / Metroidvania

Players: 1

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Review:

Dust: An Elysian Tail is an Action-Platformer with Metroidvania elements released on Xbox 360 in 2012, ported to PC in 2013, then ported to PlayStation 4 in 2014, then to mobile devices in 2015, and then to Nintendo Switch in 2018. This game puts players in the role of an amnesiac warrior, Dust, with a talking sword and a diminutive flying animal companion, fighting against growing hordes of monsters threatening the peaceful people of the land and also trying to discover the secret of Dust’s past.

Despite the game’s age, Dust has an excellent presentation, and the game’s story is works in part thanks to the great voice acting of all the game’s characters, giving them plenty of personality. This is further enhanced by an excellent instrumental soundtrack. For some good examples, check out Aurora, Abadis Forest, Deities, and The Blackmoor Mountains.

The great sound is joined here by an excellent visual presentation, with the game’s characters and environments rendered using detailed 2D, with the game’s anthropomorphic animal characters rendered with good animation and a lot of detail. There are also some really nice touches in the environments, such as changing weather conditions and lighting.

When it comes to the gameplay itself, this is an Action-Platformer with some Metroidvania elements, though I don’t quite feel comfortable just calling this a Metroidvania, as the combat is a large part of the focus here, and the Metroidvania elements are somewhat subdued. And it doesn’t help that the game’s areas are split up to be selected on a map rather than flowing together like you tend to see in a Metroidvania.

Still, while this game may not quite satisfy players looking to dig into a deep Metroidvania, it nevertheless succeeds because its combat is so thoroughly satisfying. Players essentially have standard and special attack buttons, along with a weaker projectile attack. In addition to this, there is of course a jump as well as a few dodge moves and a consumable item button. However, what’s special is how these buttons can be combined.

The special attack button can be used after one or more standard attacks to form a combo, both on the ground and in mid-air. However, on its own on the ground it performs a whirling blade attack that must be discontinued after a few seconds or it will hurt the player. This whirling blade attack can be used to multiply, spread, and redirect the projectile attack, amplifying its power, or to draw closer exploding seeds that are found in some places. The same is also true of the mid-air use of the special attack, which can be used to drill through enemies at high speed. Chain various attacks like these together, along with a spread of projectiles duplicated by your spinning moves, and you can be looking at combo attacks counting up to the hundreds of hits on enemies. And if you encounter a larger enemy that can’t be fazed by such attacks, you can hold down the attack button to stun them as they attack you, leaving them vulnerable.

While the combat system is a delight, there is something of a downside here too, and that is that it’s far too tempting to button-mash your way through battles, trusting that pretty much everything you do in a fight will help, so long as you keep doing a lot of it. In turn, there can be so much happening on-screen, with so many projectiles and enemy bodies flying through the air, that everything can seem pretty chaotic and out-of-control, and in particular air attacks often sent me flying in unpredictable directions.

In short, Dust: An Elysian Tail’s biggest draw may be its combat, but that combat is messy and often feels like it’s something you’re barely in control of. And add to this Metroidvania elements that can be a tad lacking, and this results in a game that’s still a lot of fun, but seems like it could have been a bit better-polished. However, when the game is indeed still quite fun, and features a good presentation, it’s hard to complain too much. Fans of Action-Platformers will definitely want to give this game a try. Even with its flaws, it’s well worth playing.

tl;dr – Dust: An Elysian Tail is an Action-Platformer with Metroidvania elements. The Metroidvania mechanics here leave a bit to be desired, and the gameplay here often feels barely-controlled and chaotic, but despite these issues, this is still a thoroughly-enjoyable Action game with exciting combat and a great presentation.

Grade: B

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