Aborted Arc: Haley seems like a potential Love Interest to Dust in that she acts like she's attracted to him, but that doesn't go anywhere beyond Fidget talking about it early on.There's no getting around doors requiring Resonance gems though. Quite a few bits of treasure that normally require special skills can be accessed with clever enemy placement and the Aerial Dust Storm's homing effect. Ability Required to Proceed: Resonance gems and Dust's climbing/jumping/sliding skills serve as barriers before you get them, forcing you to play ahead and get those things so you can come back to claim whatever secrets were blocked off by the lack of those skills.Gaius' soldiers are also partially CG, most notably the armor and weapons. It actually helps their aesthetic most of their details are still hand-drawn, and the result is that they look shiny, polished, and just a tiny bit unnatural, which is entirely fitting for the only mechanical enemies in the entire game. 2D Visuals, 3D Effects: Most noticeable is probably the Blade of Ahrah, though the airborne gunships used by Gaius' army are also plainly CG.Blop, an elder character in Mudpot, is similar to the classic woodsman example, desiring vengeance on the monsters inhabiting the Cirromon Caverns.You also get an achievement for completing all of them. They're completable from the enemies in the Abadis forest, but you can make a profit from simply buying the requested materials from the nearby shop. Full completion of the game even yields a 117% progress bar. 100% Completion: If exploring every nook and cranny of area while helping the needy in various side quests and making items from every last blueprint you find is your thing, then get ready to do a lot of that in this game.The beautiful yet dangerous world of Falana is host to the following tropes: But it won't be his next game, as he is working on another project unrelated to Elysian Tail.įor a similar 2D hack'n'slash with heavily stylized and hand-drawn graphics, see Muramasa: The Demon Blade. The game was originally released on Xbox LIVE Arcade on August 15th, 2012 as part of the 'Summer of Arcade' titles, and has since been released on Windows, Macintosh, Linux (via Steam, GOG, and Humble Bundle), PlayStation 4, iOS, and the Nintendo Switch.ĭean has confirmed that a sequel to the game is in development. Aside from the game's music (provided by Hyperduck SoundWorks ), voice acting, and parts of the story, the game has been developed entirely by Dean Dodrill himself.ĭust: An Elysian Tail is also part of a series set within the An Elysian Tail universe the series currently consists of this game and an animated film titled Elysian Tail that is also currently in production. The game was first planned as an Xbox LIVE Indie Games title during its early developmental stages, although after the submission of the game at Microsoft's contest at PAX East of 2009, Dean Dodrill won the grand prize of a contract with Microsoft to release the game as an Xbox Live Arcade title at the event. Just don't let the hand-drawn scenery distract you. Along the way, Dust can gain XP and raise his stats, pick-up raw materials to craft items, and accept side-quests from various villagers. The core gameplay of Dust: An Elysian Tail is essentially a Metroidvania-styled game where players explore the vast world of Falana, fight various monsters, and gain special abilities to access new areas. Eventually, he becomes involved in a conflict with a genocidal dictator who seems to know something about his past. Along the way, he must also help various villagers in need of a hero. He sets out on a quest to find the answers he's looking for with the ancient Blade of Ahrah in hand, along with the sword's guardian, a nimbat named Fidget, to aid Dust during his quest. The story of the game centers around the eponymous protagonist, Dust, who has no recollection of his past memories. NoogyToad) of Humble Hearts for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, Windows, Mac, and Linux PCs, and iOS on the App Store.

Dust: An Elysian Tail is an independently-made, side-scrolling, Metroidvania, action RPG Fantasy game by former Jazz Jackrabbit animator Dean Dodrill (a.k.a.

Dusk video game platforms