Dust takes place in the world of Falana, a land populated by..well...animal people. There are fox-people, rabbit-people, what seem to be mouse-people, and some other hybrids that I cannot identify which all call Falana home. The story follows the game's titular fox-person hero, Dust. Dust awakens in a forest clearing with no memory of who he is. He is soon confronted by a floating, and somehow talking, sword calling itself Ahrah. Ahrah explains to him that he must travel and defeat an evil encroaching on the land in order to learn his true identity. Knowing well not to argue with a magical talking weapon, Dust agrees to wield Ahrah on his journey. Just as Dust is about to set off, a (less than) fearsome flying cat thing (a Nimbat, apparently) flies into view, chastising Dust for stealing the ancient sword which she is apparently the guardian of. Once learning that the flying feline is not going to give up on watching over the sword any time soon, Dust agrees to allow her to accompany him on his journey. The Nimbat forces Dust to agree to return the sword once he is done with it and introduces herself as Fidget. Luckily for Dust, Fidget has powerful magic in addition to her loud mouth which will help greatly on the road ahead.
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| I've heard that the deer was an unlockable bonus character originally, but was removed after the developer realized she was too over-powered. |
Dust's journey takes a turn for the worst as he nears the village of Aurora. The outskirts of Aurora have visibly been overrun and destroyed by attacking monsters. After making his way to the mayor of the town, Dust learns that the monster attacks are just a symptom of a much bigger problem. It is this problem which Dust must remedy in order to help all of the innocent inhabitants of Falana. In seeking to make things right, Dust will travel to every corner of the land, and assist multiple people with their problems through sidequests.
The first thing that players will notice about this game is that the art is beautiful. Each new area I encountered blew me away with its quality of animation. Disney-esque woodland creatures frolick in forests, horribly-toothed monsters hobble around in caves with beautiful crystal stalactites dripping water onto the ground. Every new place is a treat to explore. Every new creature you encounter is wonderfully creative and unique. The game's story is mainly told through scenes in which the person talking becomes featured on the screen along with a text-box containing their dialogue. It is in these close-ups that you can notice inconsistencies in the illustration quality, but the fact that one person did all of this is absolutely amazing.
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| I wonder if eating these glowing 'shrooms causes the animal-people to see each other as normal humans? |
Dust: An Elysian Tail plays as a side-scrolling platformer/action game. While wielding Ahrah, Dust can unleash a variety of combos on his enemies. Fidget has the ability to fire magical projectiles, and when her powers are combined with Dust's special attack, can unleash gigantic special magic moves on baddies. The combos are relatively simple to utilize and there are both ground and aerial moves available. The simplicity of the system allows Dust to have a tool for nearly every situation without the game's controls becoming too complicated. The ease of pulling off combos is great as Dust becomes stronger by collecting experience from defeating enemies. Bonus experience points can be gained by pulling off larger combos. The more hits you can make within a few seconds, and while not taking any damage from enemies, the more experience you will be rewarded with.
Upon leveling up, Dust receives one skill gem which can be spent to increase one of his four different attributes (health, attack power, defense, and magic). Additionally, items can be equipped to give his stats an extra bonus. These items can be found throughout the game, purchased from vendors, and even crafted by a friend Dust meets on his journey. Monsters in Falana drop materials which can be collected and either sold for some extra cash or used in creating new items to equip once a blueprint for the item has been found. To make the possible grind for crafting materials less tedious, any time Dust sells a new type of material to shop keepers the material is cataloged and can from then on be purchased from shops. While adventuring, Dust will also find skill orbs which grant him a new ability such as a sliding attack, or the ability to tightly grasp and climb vines. These abilities will be necessary in order for Dust to progress through the game.
Exploration of Falana is a huge part of Dust: An Elysian Tail. Each area is made up of multiple "square" areas. Dust can follow his progress through the location by looking at his map. On the map, areas with undiscovered treasure appear as a circle within a square. This notification focuses the search for riches to one specific location, rather than running blindly through the world. There are many different treasures to uncover, including new equipable items, treasure keys which are used to unlock both hidden treasure chests, and cages containing a few familiar faces from other Microsoft Studios games which, upon release, grant Dust a 5% health boost, and many other fun items. Not all treasures are available upon Dust's first visit to an area. A good portion of secrets require Dust to return after gaining a new ability required to reach the hidden item. Fans of the Castlevania and Metroid series will be familiar with this style of exploration.
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| As the prophecy foretells, when fox-person a winged cat thing combine, fire shall rain from the heavens! |
Not only does exploration uncover treasures for Dust to reap, but also unveils challenge rooms. These rooms are marked by flags outside their entrances. Upon entering a challenge room, a timer and score marker appears in the top right of the screen. Dust is given a star rating upon finding the exit of the room based on the time it took to reach the exit, the amount of damage he took, the number of lamps destroyed, and the number of enemies defeated. Once completed, Dust is rewarded by a (usually more powerful for that area than what is available elsewhere) item. I was disappointed to find that the quality of the item did not change based on star rating. Instead, the game gives you the option to upload your times and ratings to a leaderboard in order to challenge your friends to beat your score.
There is so much charm to Dust: An Elysian Tail that it is easy to forgive the strange animal-people infested world. While some of the dialogue is extremely cheesy, the game's excellent voice-acting allows the writers to pull off the jokes extremely well. I find it so extremely hard to believe that one person put nearly the entirety of this game together. I had so much fun exploring Falana that I didn't want it to end. I completed the game in around 15 hours after collecting 100% of items in the game. For those just rushing through the story (please, don't do this to yourself!), the game may take closer to 8 hours.
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| Fidget's observational skills are an indispensable asset to Dust's journey. |
The game's achievement list is mostly made up of easy, "use this feature of the game", achievements. There are a few side-quest related achievements as well as achievements for completing the different acts of the story. The final few achievements are awarded upon finding treasures, pulling off a huge combo, and completing random tasks. Overall a very nice list, though there could have been more achievements which add to the game's replay value.
I would highly recommend that gamers drop the 1,200 Microsoft Points ($15) on this game. I purchased it while it was on sale during a deal of the week special, but I would very gladly have paid more for this wonderful game!
Amulets and Ale Rating:
EVIL KNIFE HANDS!! That's in the lexicon now.
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