Dust: an Elysian Tail Review for Switch

Game: Dust: An Elysian Tail
System: Nintendo Switch
Developer: Humble Hearts
Publisher: Humble Hearts LLC
Age Rating: EU 12+| USA E10+
Price: £ 11.69|€ 12,99| $14.99
Release Date: 10 September 2018
Overall Feeling: I like it a lot!
The game is also available on all other systems.

Review Code generously provided by Humble Hearts/ Noogy

Dust An Elysian Tale is an Action RPG published by Humble Hearts and devoloped by independent designer Dean Dodrill. It is truly a work of love by one man who made it all from scratch, and was able to release it on the Xbox in 2012, followed by Steam, PS4 and mobile. And now, the game has come to the Switch.

Storyline

Our lead character Dust awakens in a forest where he meets a talking sword called the Blade of Ahrah and a fox like creature called Fidget (she is in fact a Nimbat) who is the guardian of the blade of Ahrah. The both of them explain to Dust that he apparently has summoned the sword. The three of them set out in the mysterious world of Falana on a quest to find out Dusts true identity.

They come upon a village called Aurora where the Mayor tells them that the village is over run by monsters. The mayor asked Dust and friends to help rid the village of monsters and of course, Dust is willing to help.

The trio set out and find an creature called Fuse who, just before Dust kills him, he reveals he is a Moonblood. Moonbloods are a race of creatures that are victims of a killing spree by a mysterious character named General Gaius.  Who is General Gaius and what is Dusts true identity? That is for you to find out in the game.

Controls are quickly learned

The game leads you through the controls and menu well and if you’ve forgotten, all of this can be found explained in the ” how to play section” on the pause screen.

Gameplay is side scrolling and linear though you can choose where to go via the world map at points in the game. Elements of RPG, platform and hack and slash are also used throughout the game.

Saving can be done at save monuments and if Dust should happen to die he will be brought back to the last save monument he passed through. The trio can also teleport with the help of teleport stones which are a one time use.

Combat and collecting

Combat is quick as Dust uses his sword for attack through a combination of X and Y button presses to build up combos and special attacks. Fidget also has her own attacks of projectiles which help Dust.

When they work together is the Dust-storm special attack enemies had better beware!  Dust to spins his sword while hitting enemies dozens of times and a quick press of A allows Fidget to add her firepower. She shoots small projectiles which get caught up in Dust’s storm attack and fly everywhere which makes quick work of defeating enemies.

To level up, you need experience points. You earn these while fighting and the longer your combos, the more experience points you earn. Be careful though: if Dust takes damage you lose those points again. Dust has an energy meter which fills automatically over time or by attacking enemies with normal attacks or combos.

If you do manage to level up you get skill gems which can then be used to increase Dusts attributes of Health, Attack, Defence, and it can increase Fidgets strength.

There are chest’s to find through out the levels which you need keys for. These can be bought from vendors or found throughout the game. Opening chests includes a short mini game. Pressing the right button at the right time will get you to the treasure inside.

These treasures can be healing items, money, crafting materials and blue prints. Blueprint, materials and money along with the blacksmith are used to craft new equipment throughout the world. Aside from finding them in chests, all these items are also dropped by defeated enemies as random loot.

Cages can be found in the world and 4 keys are required to unlock these but I won’t spoil what is found in them. You’ll have to play Elysian tail to find out!

Another way to get more experience points to level up, and get more items, is by going on quests. There are many villages in the world of Falana and Dust can interact with NPC’s there. Some of them have quests for Dust to do.

Graphics, Designs & Soundtrack

The graphics are bright and crisp and very pleasing to the eye. Locations are crafted well and all the characters/animals, are expressive with great animation. Weather and sound effects just add to the animation. There is a slight slowdown during fight scenes in handheld mode but it’s not to noticeable and there is a lot going on during fight scenes.

Dust an Elysian Tail is fully voice acted and I found this to be very well done. When Fidget appeared on screen I had a flash back to other games with full voice acting where the sidekicks voice can grate after a while but thankfully that didn’t happen.

Conclusion

Even though An Elysian Tale is available on other systems for a lower price I hadn’t played it before. Compared to other console, I do think it suits the Nintendo Switch well. I found I was able to pick it up and play for short bursts around other things I was doing or sit down and play for longer times.

I liked Dust A Elysian Tale a lot and would definitely recommend it to those who haven’t played it before. It’s even worth a double dip for those who have played it on other systems!

I like it a lot!

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