Dust: An Elysian Tail

Dust: An Elysian Tail
N/A
Metacritic
95
Steam
89.313
xDR
Our rating is calculated based on the reviews and popularity of the game.
Price
$3.74
Release date
24 May 2013
Developers
Publishers
Steam reviews score
Total
95 (13 359 votes)
Recent
93 (44 votes)

Immerse yourself in a gorgeous hand-painted world on a search for your true identity. As the mysterious warrior, Dust, your action-packed journey will take you from peaceful glades to snowy mountaintops and beyond.

Show detailed description

Dust: An Elysian Tail system requirements

  • OS: Windows Vista
  • Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8Ghz or equivalent
  • Memory: 1 GB RAM
  • Graphics: DirectX 10 compatible video card with shader model 3.0 support
  • Direct X®: 10, Windows Media Player
  • Hard Disk Space: 1.5 GB HD space
  • Sound: 100% DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card and drivers
  • Input: Keyboard
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dudeharmonious
dudeharmonious

easily the best game I've ever played. The art is beautiful and the story of dust discovering himself as two souls in one is awesome.

Lune
Lune

Played this on Xbox when it first released, got 100% achievements. Played it again 8 years later on steam for nostalgia, and was every bit as satisfied as the first time I played it.

This is the most satisfying combat of any platformer I've ever played, the story is worthwhile, the voice acting is honestly impressive for the time it came out and the budget it had, and overall is one of those not-too-easy yet not-too-hard games that anyone of any age can enjoy.

For the price there really isn't much to lose, and as someone who hasn't really been able to get into platformers since playing Prince of Persia (the Fallen King) on the DS, this appeals to a pretty wide audience.

I really hope someday we get some version of a sequel, because this game developer deserves more attention.

philadow
philadow

Finished it at 13 hours or so, taking my time and getting the best gear. Very fun, very good game! There's loot, RPG elements, and great metroidvania gameplay.

LeV!@th@N
LeV!@th@N

Fluid combat and traversal, decent story, good music. Boss fights are a bit disappointing. The higher your level is, the more omnipotent you become, to the point you become nigh invincible, which isn't great really.
Still enjoyable to a great extent.

8.5/10

Eowyn113
Eowyn113

furries furries furries furries furries
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furries furries furries furries furries
furries furries furries furries furries
furries furries furries furries furries
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furries furries furries furries

moonshine
moonshine

If you ever wished for a fusion of Disney's Bambi meets furries, and enjoy slamming the same couple of combos for hours on end against the same couple enemy types by the thousands, you might enjoy this game.

I'm so bored I'm just going to uninstall it, which is extremely rare for me halfway through a game.

Joeman
Joeman

A fun experience with a solid amount of replay ability.
On average you can beat this game with all of its quests within 10 hours. If you dont need the bonus exp and only play the story all the way through, you can beat the game within 5 hours.
Very fast paced and fun. I personally think the story isn't very good, but if you can get past that the gameplay is fun and unique.

Panro
Panro

I first found out about this game from a fairly popular YouTuber by the name of Iteachvader. In his videos, he makes a few jokes and references to this game here and there. So eventually, my curiosity got the best of my and I decided to try it for myself. And let me just say, the fact that this game was developed in most part by just one person is honestly astounding. This game does so many things that are impressive on all fronts. The story is amazing (serious tone with plenty of fitting themes such as loss and redemption, but it also knows when to be light-hearted and humorous), the characters are loveable and memorable with lots of great interactions and dialogue (Dust and Fidget make a great protagonist duo, technically trio if you count Ahrah), the environments are all visually breathtaking and fun to traverse and explore, the combat is fluid, responsive and fun to execute (simple and easy to learn, but tough and satisfying to master), and that soundtrack. Oh, that soundtrack. Hyperduck Soundworks and Alexander Brandon really killed it making the music for this game. Each and every single piece does a great job serving its purpose and is absolute ear candy to listen to (seriously, the second I first booted up the game, I just sat there in awe listening to that menu theme. To me, that was the first sign that I knew this game would be something special).

My only real issue with the game is the third area in the main story. For a Metroidvania-inspired title, backtracking is never really an issue in Dust since you can get through areas pretty quickly and have plenty of opportunities to return to the world map from save stations (provided you have the required item to do so) and revisit areas from other entrances for ease of access. But in the third area of the game, getting back to the main section after taking a branching path takes forever, and since said main section is placed right in the middle of the area, warping back to one of the entrances doesn't really shorten that travel time at all. This is especially annoying if you enjoy doing item cleanup when arriving late in the game and have to constantly wander through several long rooms just to pick up one item on one path, only to backtrack all the way to the main section and repeat the whole process on a completely different path. This may seem just like a completionist thing, but doing this is also required in order to beat the main story. And it's the only part of the game to branch out into such long paths with no shortcuts or ways to ease that travel. Personally, that's the only part of the game that kind of bogged down the experience. But that doesn't stop me from loving the game to bits regardless.

All in all, Dust: An Elysian Tail is a breathtaking, heartbreaking experience that stands the test of time thanks to its smooth and responsive controls and combat, memorable story and characters (huge props to the voice director and all actors involved, phenomenal job here), and incredible soundtrack and art design that rival that of most modern day triple-A studios. I absolutely recommend this game to anyone who enjoys Metroidvania-esque titles, sidescrolling hack-and-slashers, or story-driven games. You will have a blast with this one.

Nyrox
Nyrox

Thoroughly enjoyed this game from start to finish. Great story, great characters, really well told. My only issue with the game is the lack of replayability, which is really only a fault with the game type rather than anyone else. Great from start to finish but once the story was over I just up and left the game and had no reason to come back to pick it up again.

Still highly recommend for anyone who enjoys action game of this type.

4/5

Sleepy
Sleepy

Fun Metroidvania with a few quirks I'm not a fan of. Game crashes on map screen if you hold a direction while entering it, Xbox Series X controllers seemingly don't work, and the game is way to easy to accidentally close if you spam escape, all issues I feel like a studio published by Microsoft should know to fix by now.

On the contrary, this game's story does a delightful job luring you into a false sense of security with "rawr XD" era humor and starting out with all of the iconic "chosen one" Mary Sue tropes, then thrusting you into a world where Dust has an apparently-detestable upbringing and our heroes are never guaranteed to do the right thing in time. Bad stuff happens in this game, and you just sort of have to accept it. It's a nice twist on what looks to be another happy-go-lucky furry-made product.

It goes without saying that this game is obviously trying to appeal to furries at the time of its release, with a noticeably "2010 DeviantART" artstyle, Fidget being a goofy *X3 nuzzles* cookie-munching bat creature who I refuse to comment on further, and tons of faux-Japanese tropes that play into the anime uprising of that era. It sounds cringy in a modern light, and just once in a while Fidget will say something along the lines of "evil x of dooooooom!" that makes me want to tear out my ears, but for anyone who frequented the internet space at the time, especially as a young teen, it will definitely come off as somewhat nostalgic to experience a product of that era you might have missed.

There's obvious comparisons to other Metroidvanias like Hollow Knight and Blasphemous, both games which share similar elements with this game's combat, but admittedly this game stands on its own as one of the more unique games I've played. Melee is strong, magic is weak, and your "combo" attack can multiply the magic effects to make them viable in combat. It sounds annoying to do, but experimenting with all of the different spells you unlock is pretty fun. This also long-predates the rapid influx of Metroidvanias using the Dark Souls flasks, which is a huge breath of fresh air for me as somebody who plays a lot of these kinds of games and is growing sick of dropping my fucking healing item because I got slapped in the face while using it.

While some of the digital drawings in this game might have aged a bit (they 100% look like the kind furries were drawing a decade ago, with hard fade-to-black shadows and a hard-on for the blur tool), I actually find myself enjoying a lot of it. The environments are appealing, some of the character designs are great, and the combination of 2D art and a 3D model on the sword just looks cool.

There's a lot here that a lot of people are going to have to put aside and overcome to enjoy this, especially if they're put off by furries, but I won't act all high-and-mighty and pretend this isn't just a solid game. Buggy, but solid. Worth the price, especially on sale.

CometZ
CometZ

Most overrated game. Average gameplay, no precision control, worst environmental hazard in the game. Enemies will attack you from off the screen. In tutorial, they will teach you if you press down, you can look down. That only worked in tutorial. You will jump down to spike alot and they do a lot of damage. This game has either brainless enemies or worst and most annoying kind of enemy. One enemy can teleport enemies and you can't kill him directly. He will spawn bomber man, if you take damage by bomber man, you will be on fire for 10 sec. Overall brainless button smashing game. Not recommended. Still 7/10

InnateX
InnateX

This game is very polished. The Movement feels fluid, the combat system is simple, but it has this nice sort of rhythm to it, which makes for some fun gameplay, the level design is very well thought out, teaching the player about their new movement abilities until the point of mastery, there's a certain charm to the dialogue, the characters are unique in their own ways, the scenery makes each area you explore different in their own way, evoking different emotions on the player.

The Negatives: The Story itself is kind of bland, it hints at things that might make it more interesting, but thee's never really any payout. The lack of a proper fast travel system makes the gameplay repetitive if you are looking for a completionist run. This is made worse by the fact that there aren't really any major shortcuts that you can discover through your progress. This made worse by the fact that the map is not very useful as each block represents a very large area, this in itself wouldn't be a problem except for the fact that you can't label it for posterity. The parry system feels inconsistent, but the payout is too good not to try it, not to mention that it's almost necessary for certain enemies. On the other hand, the bosses were a complete joke, and had very little difficulty with them despite the fact thta I was playing on the second hardest difficulty. Finally, despite how much I liked the dialogue, it has far too much of it for my personal taste.

All things considered, I think it's a pretty solid MV with fun gameplay, but with some questionable design choices.

Final Rating: 8/10

nospek
nospek

you can straight up do 200x combo in just under 5 seconds. and that is just by pressing a few button. 200/10 would press again

Silmitrang
Silmitrang

It's very good, but only in alternate reality where Symphony of the Night never existed.

Combat system is messy and the feeling is soft, (you don't feel the impact),
balance is weird, first boss took me like 20min to kill while having a simple and boring patern.
hand painted graphics are enchanting so I would rather put it on Ultra Easy mode and let it play as a visual experience.

If you are a true gamer from the old ages, you will feel it's severly overated.

ClairFarron13000
ClairFarron13000

Dust: An Elysian Tail is in a genre I've previously had great difficulty getting into; Metroidvania. But a combination of stunning art, compelling gameplay, strong music and excellent controls make this the closest I can think of to baby's first Metroidvania.

The story's pretty simple, which isn't a bad thing. You're Dust, an amnesiac swordsman chosen to defeat an evil force terrorizing the land. The game's anthropromorphic cast, which ranges from cute to uncanny to downright disturbing, is enjoyable to watch and there's a neat twist to the story that I won't spoil. The writing's also surprisingly solid, with some very good jokes sprinkled in. The banter between Dust and Fidget is the highlight. The biggest thing to note about this game isn't the story, but how the story's told. Everything in this game was hand-animated by one person. Everything. From the cutscenes to all gameplay animations and background elements, it's hand animated. HAND ANIMATED! On top of that, the combination of Eastern and Western artistic elements turn the game into a unique hybrid being without an easy analogue.

The gameplay's also surprisingly solid. The game's primarily a metroidvania, with a combination of exploration through segmented 2D environments and new abilities being unlocked to allow for previously-inaccessible zones to be explored. The combat, while basic hack and slash in nature, has some interesting nuances with the inclusion of AOE abilities, juggling that can even be incorporated into navigation, and combo counts which increase experience. Yes, this is also something of an RPG, with leveling and equipment and stats and sidequests. There are also six challenge zones which test your dexterity and speed, but some of these can border on the unfair and I've only completed four with the top score (one was a pure fluke). I think I wouldn't have enjoyed the game as much as I did were it not for the modern and fluid controls. It makes playing the game an actual joy, not the plodding appearence that put me off most Metroidvanias.

On the sound front, all is well. The voice acting is more than servicable, adding real life and energy to Dust and Fidget especially. The sound effects are also sound, if generic in places, and fit the odd mixture of Eastern and Western in this game. The music, co-composed by Alexander Brandon of Deus Ex fame and music group HyperDuck SoundWorks, is atmospheric and enjoyable, with a few standout tracks such as "Aurora" and "The Blackmoor Mountains".

This game is an absolute steal even at its standard price. Please support this incredible creator. We need more games like this, combining slick controls and a fascinating bled of genres with stunning art and enjoyable music. It's also technically a very sound PC port, with no framerate drops, crashes or glitches. The only minor critiques I have are its simple story, some fiddly elements within its navigation, and the sometimes-unfair challenge rooms. I don't say or feel this often. This is an absolute must buy.

9.5/10.

Mikey
Mikey

[b] I can never get tired of listening to Fidget's Cute voice

TanukiGamer
TanukiGamer

Quite a fun game, I'm surprised to see an xbox arcade exclusive make it to steam and continue to do well.

While the game may not have aged quite well, and the art style may be off putting. Its a game of its time, and quite a fun hack and slash at that.

sadaraine
sadaraine

Really fun, simple game that is a fun platformer reminding me of gaming way back in the day, but with gorgeous graphics and interesting mechanics. I really enjoyed this on the Steam Deck!

maxnum1
maxnum1

Im not into metroidvania's very much but i do like a good action game from now and then. First off i highly reccomend the game, besides its highly artistic art style it has great fighting and traversal options. Lets begin with the fighting style//options the basic premise is making combo's wich will increase you xp. The combo meter can be interupted if you get hit and can reach very very huge numbers. Sword fighting is youre main cause of damage combined with a small number of magical attacks. There is ground combat but youre jump is very high and you can fly a tiny bit for air combos. The story has some twists and turns you will not expect and might be one of the better stories for a metroidvania. You have a magical sidekick named fidget wich is a " little" sarcastic and a "little" pessimistic but is a great aspect of the story! The pro's of this game are really the combat and story since they fell like heaven, traversal could be better but its certainly not bad upgrades are good aswell. But play this game for the heartwrenching stoy bc the story and combat makes it worth it!

Coolgum15
Coolgum15

I disliked every single aspect of this game.

Combat is boring. Magic spam followed up with the same melee combos over and over (I beat this game on the hardest difficulty). This wouldn't be a big problem if the enemies were interesting, but all enemies and bosses are mindlessly easy to dispatch. You're also essentially invulnerable, as you can't be killed in one hit if you're over quarter health AND you can pause the game to use healing items instantaneously.

I also did not enjoy any amount of exploration in this game. Environments that you visit are dull and uninteresting, as well as the music paired along with it. Navigating these environments was also pretty boring no real challenge or interconnected-ness. Movement in this game is very jank as well, with the dash being tied to your mana meter and a whirlwind move that is so jank that it will fling you into space.

The characters have to be the worst part. Not only do the characters look like they were ripped straight from DeviantArt, but the voice actors sound like they were ripped from your average anime English dub. I would've muted the dialogue, but there was no voice audio slider. This lead to me skipping all dialogue, as I could not stand the voice acting.

I fail to understand why this game is rated so highly. I love Metroidvanias, and I still despise this game.

Lemonocle
Lemonocle

Not on the level of other phenomenal metroidvanias like Ori or Hollow Knight, but well worth playing. This game is a little more hack & slash than typical metroidvanias and this plays into the story. By the end you feel super powerful, slicing through hordes of enemies like a hot knife through butter. The store is pretty engaging as far as games in this genre go, but it seems to try too hard to add depth/nuance to the antagonist who is just a racist war criminal plain and simple.

MadCowOnCrack
MadCowOnCrack

Charming one-man title. Nice endorphin hit enemy loot drops. Pretty chill. Good for an old button masher like me.

roseglam98
roseglam98

This is a fun hack and slash platformer with some RPG elements sprinkled on top. It's entertaining from start to finish, the story keeping you playing all the way to the end. The voice acting is fantastic, the visuals are beautiful, and while the combat might be slightly button mashy, the parry and limitations on the Dust Storm and Fidget's abilities requires some skill in order to properly master and use to your advantage. Overall, a solid 9/10 game which deserves to be more well known that it is.

bubba
bubba

very epic reminds me of the xbox 360 days

zenuxyz
zenuxyz

played it for the first time on the xbox 360. Its still good

A Gosh Dang Potato.
A Gosh Dang Potato.

if you like ori and the blind forest you will definitely like this one!

Mr Fantastic
Mr Fantastic

Great metroidvania, I replay it every couple years, finally got a steam copy as well

Big Boss
Big Boss

This game is great

Gameplay
Its a mixture of a hack and slash with a metroidvania, and it does it VERY well, a new powerup is always used to its fullest extent and will have you going back to pick up all that extra LOOT, combat is mindless is a goodway however you want a challenging experince go on the difficulty above tough, as tough was pretty easy

Story

Really falls off in the final act, its really good up until that point, heres a basic summary without spoilers, A guy named Dust wakes up in a forest and he has a awesome ass sword, find your purpose

overall like 6.9/10 the third act really hurts the rating so I can't put it past a 6, get on sale for sure

FudgePuppy_
FudgePuppy_

Great Game would 100% recommend it to just about anyone.

wichitajayhawks
wichitajayhawks

It's difficult to find a good action game for the PC. This one does it. I also like that it's difficult to get stuck. Even if you waste all your money on the wrong thing, the monsters are still out there to make money from. Of course that doesn't apply to me. We have 7500 coins and a couple keys. The conversations are fun to watch.

Aura
Aura

I played this game way back around 2014, thought about it again and got curious if it was on Steam and behold, a 10/10 title.

This game is slept on currently sits on my Top 5 list for best games I have ever played. (Currently sitting at #1)
I'm definitely gonna replay this game a 3rd time when I get the chance.

Heavy Fang
Heavy Fang

One of the best games I've played of this genre. Strongly suggest playing this game.

sierrabling
sierrabling

This is one of my favorite games of all time. I absolutely adore everything about this game. I almost feel like reviewing it won't do it justice. The voice acting is amazing, all of the animations are gorgeous, the cutscenes are so well animated, I love the drama as well as the sarcastic humor, the gameplay is great (honestly the combat system is so much fun, I could hack and slash forever), there is a great balance between slice of life and plot driven storytelling, the pacing is great, the twists are so well done (foreshadowing and everything), there are challenges for the more hardcore players (achievements, treasure collecting, difficulty levels, and battle arenas), I adore the ending. I love this game so much and this is the first game that got me into games (specifically the indie scene). Even after years I still enjoy this game and would get new pieces of foreshadowing I didn't notice before. Everyone who worked on this game should be proud of themselves. I really could sing this games praises forever, but it really is a game you should experience for yourself. Don't let the detractors drive you away from this game, I consider it to be a wonderful game that is best played blind. Please just try it for yourself.

WhiteLion_Angel
WhiteLion_Angel

My favorite game, so you can consider me heavily biased. The art style is great, the animations are smooth, the characters are cute. The voice acting is great and the sounds and music are fitting and nice. Upgrades are given at good times and are fun to use. overall game progression is smooth. The gameplay is fun, a good mix of platforming and combat. Speaking of, the combo system is very fun and simple to get decent at. Though, in certain difficulties you can just button mash your way through. The plot is interesting and I enjoy the ways the story is told. Most sidequests are also very interesting and have good rewards. Overall a very good experience!

Goomba
Goomba

If you enjoy playing Sonic '06 you will enjoy playing this; a buggy mess that'l have you falling through the map and laughing at the terrible AI. Wondering "who is this character and why do I care about them". Save points that randomly decide whether they work or not. interacting with objects you walked away from and being unable to interact with objects you are next to. Some enemies require you to time an attack to 'parry' their attack in order to kill them, good luck doing this when they refuse to attack you and you need to exploit the code for them to decide to attack. Some areas are dark, and thus you need a light source to see the places to parkour to; sure would be a shame if the lights didn't work because the screen will not update a change in light sources so you are forced to wait for the game to work. Enemies have no risk, even bosses; it is akin to Dynasty Warriors with how little the enemies matter.

The only saving grace for this game is the charm, characters(mostly fidget) call out things that only the player would question and it teases at the design of games as a whole. Other than that, this game is a waste of money and time.

Heist
Heist

I could have sworn I did post a review about this game before, but my opinion remains much the same about it: It's one of the better platforming exploration titles on the market, and it's stuck with me even to this day with the beautiful visuals, compelling story and characters, and the humor on offer. The combat, while not particularly deep, does a good job at making you feel like a powerful warrior who can combo their way through to the end. Progression is based equal parts on finding new abilities and getting levels combined with equipment. You need equipment that boosts your stats so you can more effectively kill higher power enemies, and you need abilities to reach certain areas.
Metroidvania is the common term if it's to be believed.
Definitely a must play for anyone seeking good story and visuals. Challenge is optional, but rewarding at the very least.

theborg3of5
theborg3of5

An excellent metroidvania, fun combat and reasonably-hidden secrets.

Seeker
Seeker

Need a 2D platformer game but aren't sure about this one. I bought this one blind and did not regret it. Movement in here is outstanding. Never did I feel like i didn't have control. Platforming is well design and secrets to find. Pulling off combos felt amazing. Pick this one up. I wish there was sequel.

Mango88888
Mango88888

Among my favorite of games, wjile i wish a third of the game wasnt scrapped, i do undersand teh tiem crunch, very good game, like bambi and anime, combine. also very good music, thank you dean dodrill, and hyperduck, please make announement in may of a sequal

Scott
Scott

I played this game on Nintendo Switch up until around the end of Chapter 3, got it on PC and only recently found the time to finish it, and let me tell you. Ho. Ly. Shit. This game makes it easily onto my top 5 games of all time, if not top 3.

The graphics, even for a game with a larger budget, would have been absolutely gorgeous. Combine that with the fact that most of the graphics were made by the same guy that programmed the game and I struggle to understand how this man did what he did. This is easily the most graphically impressive indie game that I have ever layed eyes on, and quite possibly one of the best I've seen period.

The gameplay is not held back by the artist's attempts to make the game look good, however. With some minor mishaps here and there, this game's gameplay is extremely fun and intuitive, and makes you feel like a badass even if you really suck at the game. The boss fights can, sadly, be mediocre, but the final boss is the one exception, and one of few examples of final bosses being by and large the best boss fight of said game.

The soundtrack, while not quite on the level of some games, is certainly nothing to sneeze at. The music can get quite intense, which feeds in well to the quick-paced and hectic combat.

The story, for me, is a cherry on top, but a very, very, very large one. Without getting into spoilers, even having spoiled myself beforehand, there were many twists and turns that actually shocked me. If you're thinking of getting this game just for the story, I can promise you, it will NOT disappoint.

My one issue with the game, and this is a big one, the game lacks any and all replayability. Once you beat the final boss, past achievement hunting and getting that fabled 100%, there really isn't any reason to play the game any further. Don't get me wrong, the experience of experiencing the main story is a selling point in and of itself, but I can't help but feel there could've been...more to do?

Either way, minor spoiler, the ending does make a sequel possible. While the game's been out for 10 years now (WOW), and the developer doesn't seem to have done much aside from make another game with...lower than expected reviews, I can't help but hope we get something else in the Elysian Tail universe. A sequel, prequel, completely unrelated spin-off, whatever it may be, be it a game, animation, comic, whatever. I, and clearly many others, are clammering for more, and while I wouldn't hold my breath on it, I can still hold out hope for another installment.

TL;DR, graphics slap. gameplay slaps, music slaps, story slaps beyond belief, you should buy this game, only problem is we need more, and I hope, even after a 10 year hiatus, that we get more.

Lastnight
Lastnight

A little gem you don't wanna miss

MrEntity
MrEntity

Pretty, but otherwise not notable.
Average and tedious Devil May Cry-style combo-based combat with similar enemies where you learn to do the same 2-3 combos over and over.
Dialogue and voice-acting that varies between cringy and bland.
A protagonist who barely exists as a character and never questions anything that's happening.
Music that I legitimately can't even remember. Presumably reasonably effective, but clearly not worth talking about as soundtracks are something I pay more attention to than most people. I will leave movies and talk about the composer. I'm leaving this game and I have nothing to say.
Lots of long back-tracking with less-than-ideal warp mechanics, an unmarkable map, and hidden/purchaseable keys for chests which are just an excuse to hide 2 things to give you one thing, or to waste your money.
Controls are fluid and fairly tight, but remember you're basically going to be mashing the same couple combos for 80% of the game.

The game is meh. I genuinely don't understand how it has "overwhelmingly positive" reviews. It's competent, but unremarkable. Straight 50% on this one. Totally average. And an average game is usually not worth anyone's time.

Kimcheese
Kimcheese

Looks like a cat threw up in a dumpster compared to Ori but just as fun !!!

Fidget
Fidget

Really good game I loved played

ZER0
ZER0

The game is super underrated. The art is spectacular, the story and voices are the best of the best, and the ending is beautiful. 10/10, wish there were more games like it.

NeoKad (Nom)
NeoKad (Nom)

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

A very good Metroidvania with very fun and addicting combat, gorgeous visuals and pretty music, as well as a pretty good story to boot! If you can stomach its (SFW thankfully) furry aesthetics, it is TOTALLY worth playing

Zaldun
Zaldun

Really enjoyed playing this back on the xbox 360 and it's just as good here on pc.

Mad props to the dev for solo'ing this.

BARTSTARS
BARTSTARS

FANTASTIC GAME !
A MUST HAVE :D

jeffreywilner12
jeffreywilner12

very nice. choose normal first. dont bother parrying anything exept giants and blobs.

theBAYWATCH
theBAYWATCH

While the story was fairly decent, if not cookie cutter, the main reason I don't personally like the game is due to issues with certain mechanics not working and not allowing me to finish the game at all due to it.

Aidenmash
Aidenmash

Dust: An Elysian Tail is an amazing game, that was surprisingly made by one guy with a few voice actors, the game is great fun, though i do advise to grind yourself out, and to use most abilities to their max potential, the game's graphics are almost all hand drawn or painted, and its beautiful. 9/10

Willcott
Willcott

Finished on TOUGH. 100% completion on map.

Graphics

Very gorgeous graphics. Hand painted. Ambience and characters alike. Items and everything feel alive and there is a special shine to it.

Sound

The music fits the ambience, it's a sort of exploration and action osts, so it fits the genre. There is enough variation to not get the player bored. The soundtracks are on par and responsive to the player's actions.

All lines are voice acted and are good which gives a plus.

Gameplay

While the game gives you a lot of freedom, controls are very responsible and you will learn more moves skillsets, you will end up doing the same combos and things, because there is barely any need to do fancy stuff. At maximum you will need to hold the button to counter very few enemies but that's it. In other words, it's very repeteable. If you love hack & slash games you will not mind it too much. And some enemy designs are very annoying, like you have to keep doing the same specific thing a lot to kill them (it doesn't feel like a challenge, but a chore), specially because they keep ressurrecting indefinitely. The final boss battle repeats the same annoyance I said before, but since it's the final one, it's passable.

The shops do the basic function of selling things, but they aren't what I would expect of a shop. You would expect new things on shop, like a rare new thing, a certain ingredient, but they sell all the same items, and they resell what you sold. You will be crafting your own gear a lot more. You also cannot sell blueprints for some reason. Think of a shop as a supply of health items/materials. Which kinda is not needed that much because...

The game is EASY. I played on TOUGH because a lot of people were saying there was barely any challenge. And on TOUGH, you can die easily, so I'd say TOUGH is the way to go, you at least need to mind your actions a little more.

Story

Story is allright. It's the cliche of a guy who wakes up and don't remember anything and is in a conflict between evil and good to find about himself. You get barely any choices though. There is one certain quest where you can choose what happens but it's minor. The ending is also... nothing unexpected.

Characters/NPC personalities are very good and distinct. You will feel as they are very different from each other. It's not those games where all of them are generic and you don't care at all.

Bugs / Troubleshooting

This game is quite old, but it ran smoothly to me.

I didn't notice any bugs, although, you CAN keep attacking to reach higher places that you shouldn't yet. I don't know if it's intended, but it doesn't break anything aswell, so I guess it's okay.

Final Verdict

7.5 / 10

Gameplay, while responsible and action directed, is repeteable. Some design choices are questionable/annoying like shops/few monster battles, but everything else is good or great. I recommend it, but wait for a good promotion as there is frequently one.

EvilTomato
EvilTomato

Rating - 9/10

This is the ori game before ori game even existed

Award-winning musical score by Hyperduck Soundworks did an amazing job....background music is so relaxing,i can listen those all day
very kid friendly game..everything is cute from npc to rabbit to nature to enemy (bloms)...also very cute story and dialogues and side quests
Rpg mechanics is good
I Used to play this pirated in my college days....i bought this in 2022 to see that is this game is same enjoyable as it was in 2013...
-- yes. it is

cjsharp1546
cjsharp1546

Tight responsive controls, decent length for $15, fun to move around, enjoyable explanation, AWESOME STORY, CHARACTERS, ART, and SOUND. I want more. 8.25/10

Plorthos
Plorthos

The combat is more fun and satisfying than bayonetta, but half of the enemy designs are boring or sucks (especially the zombies and the necromancer, I hate that section so much). Map design is generally good, could be better, and platforming is pretty tight. Plot is decent enough, but I just wish we had more character interactions outside of dialogue/cutscenes and got to learn more about the world and the antagonist.

Overall it's one of my favourite games. Not quite my favourite, but it comes close.

BLUEMARK
BLUEMARK

GOOD GAME BUT NOT HARD IN tough the hard boss was the last one the rest WERE VERY EASY COMPRE TO THE LAST ONE

Laser
Laser

I remember enjoying this game... Beat the Final Boss while my family is having Hot Pot back when I was in Middle School.. I might redownload and replay this again.

Jelmpi
Jelmpi

Great game with a solid story.

Deminok
Deminok

Story is good, worth a playthrough.

HugZ
HugZ

I started to like furry 'cause of this game

10/10

<Caeris↝
<Caeris↝

A nice short game with good comic graphics and a very cute little helper (Fidget :D)
Story is ok, because it´s nothing new and the end was seenable.

Got a gamebreaking bug and couldn´t finish a sidequest, but still was able to finish this game.

play outer wilds
play outer wilds

The combat makes my brain go weowieowoieoieowioiewoiowow

Acquire
Acquire

Great metroidvania even with the furries.

HKShawn
HKShawn

An amazing experience from start to finish
Get it (especially on sale), you won't regret it

Wolf Line
Wolf Line

it's pretty banging honestly (if you ignore fidget's voice then it's a great game!(JK))

Bruno
Bruno

okey i love this game but i think the only flawless it has is that you can remember everything after you beat it
and the story was really good for its age...
Combat 9 / 10 for enough time
Story 11 / 10
Game 10 / 10

therealvolker1
therealvolker1

cringe story, and the gameplay isn't good enough to justify playing it imo

Kittentheboss
Kittentheboss

An amazing game with an emotional story, action packed gameplay and more. I highly advise buying this and playing it.

endy
endy

this game could be turned to juice and it would be a relatively sweet liquid

pibaxj
pibaxj

An absolutely beautiful and charming game.

Deflation (Good Ending)
Deflation (Goo…

Please oh lord buy this game it’s way too good

Ella Mayo
Ella Mayo

I love this game. It's a metroidvania that feels so incredibly smooth to play, the art is incredible, the voice acting is amazing (iirc this was Lucien Dodge's first major role), and the music is also good (made by the same team behind some kingdom rush stuff). The writing is cute, the characters are fun, the story is satisfying, and the progression is excellently paced. 10/10.

Gilgamesh Death-bringer
Gilgamesh Deat…

played this game when i little so it has to be good if i am playing it not.

Tempest386
Tempest386

This game has one of the best stories I've ever played and it keeps pulling me in to replay it countless times

MaxRaids
MaxRaids

Don't believe people telling you otherwise, this game is over 9000% furry. Also annoying that you have to install a mod to turn off voice acting. Gameplay wise is allright but I just didn't find myself immersed as with other metroidvanias.
Buy on sale, just be prepared for furry stuff.

Memonero
Memonero

I played this on Xbox 360,
I remember how simple things where before.

Its a Gem of a game!

Aguaral
Aguaral

AHHH AHHHH AHHh hh .. ... Ahh.. A e
what a rollercoaster
game is a bit slow at first, but story picks up a LOT at the end, it's worth toughing it out
cool furries!

specific details:
+ ---------------------------------
+ banger soundtrack
+ decent (though edgy) story
+ nice character design (fidget, my beloved)
+ LOADED voice cast = good, spine-chilling voice work
+ stellar sound design
+ some good-looking korean food :)
+ cool-looking mechanics
+ SUPER satisfying ending

- ---------------------------
- difficulty comes from enemy stat numbers as opposed to difficult-to-execute strategies
- mechanics feel too assisted at times (auto-aim on some attacks throws me off, no way to turn it off)
- bosses near end become gimmicky, because player is so overpowered
- story very slow in the middle
- repetitive group combat against hitstunnable enemies
- pls nerf mysterious wall chicken, i buy 50 of it because it's barely more cost-efficient but it feels weird

PunkyPineapples
PunkyPineapples

People are always drawing stupidly large amounts of fidget, but what about the MAIN CHARACTER of the game?! Dust is hot too, change my mind.

The story starts off slow, then gets interesting by the second half. Voice acting isn't perfect, but it's servicable. Most of the comedy made me sigh or slightly cringe. Sometimes these characters don't SHUT UP. Speaking of characters, most side characters are pretty bland at best. Some of the environments in this game are surprisingly atmospheric, the OST is GOD TIER, and the gameplay is buttery smooth :3

I'd say the game is a 8/10
But the OST is a 10/10 :3

Enik
Enik

This game was a passion project created by a very small team. The passion shows, the small team does not. At the time of writing, this has an "Overwhelmingly Positive" score on steam, and it is well deserved.

The story is quite good, with some unexpected turns. The voice acting is quite good (most of the time) considering this wasn't created by a big team with a lot of resources. The game plays really smooth, and overall is very fun.

Give the game a chance; It's worth it.

Seal
Seal

from what i can see every negative review so far is just "furry bad" and honestly dnc game is still hella good even a decade later

Sharkbait ooh haha
Sharkbait ooh haha

great game you should play it its a childhood favorite of mine ive played it for years on xbox

B E D M A R
B E D M A R

Dust an Elysian tail is an Action game that mixes metroidvania with Hack N slash elements, creating an unique gameplay that I never seen before. The level design is really good, It's not as labyrinthic as Metroid or Castlevania, but it does the job done, offering you some alternative routes, secret passages, skills and other stuff to access new areas.

The Combat resembles hack n slash games, with a Combo system, moves and other elements that gives that charm, as well as some RPG mechanics like Clothes, experience and Stat upgrades.

The Story is Smooth like Silk and really good, at first it looks like a regular story but it really offers a fair amount of depth and some crude parts which I really liked, the main characters as well as the main antagonists are very well made, which it really hooks you, especially Fidget, love that character ngl.
Excelent Voice Acting most of the time, as well as a great OST, thumbs up.

Although, the game has a few issues, for example:
The designs of side characters, NPCs or even enemies are a bit odd? I can't explain why but it kinda ruins slightly the experience cuz It doesn't seem to match the style of other characters such as Dust or Fidget.
Another issue is the animations which feels a bit odd and some color choices.

Considering the fact this game was made by only ONE person It's a titanic step and not to throw hate, but this is a gigantic game that justifies it way more than undertale (since it was also developed by one person)
A great game that deserves more support and recognition.

ULTRA INSTINCT MONKEY
ULTRA INSTINCT…

I normally never write reviews but this game, is really fucking good, you can SEE the passion everywhere you look in this game, and to the man who made it. he did a good fuckin job, i wish he would make more games

OrobaSpyro
OrobaSpyro

Oh whoa, apparently this game turned 10 years old today, and I played it years ago, sooooo...

Yeah, this game absolutely is awesome, I loved it so much I went back and played it on a harder difficulty. It's still the only game on Steam I currently have gotten perfect for so far, so it's undeniable how amazing it truly is.

Also Fidget in function and character is so good, there's hardly any sidekick that stands up to her level.

BloodyBeard24
BloodyBeard24

It feels like you're playing a don bluth film. For a game thats pretty much built by one dude i gotta say its worth every penny. the controls are fluid, the landscapes and artwork are astounding, and the characters are entertaining. dispite being nearly 10 years older than other newer metroidvania titles (such as Hollow Knight, and Ori) it dosent feel dated in the slightest.

(9/10) great buy for the price!

Box-of-Wonders
Box-of-Wonders

Not a huge fan of such genre, but this game certainly made an impact on me. With seemingly ordinary mechanics it menaged to bring me a sincere moments of joy when I had sparkles of realisation of how to get a hidden treasure, or when I was fighting messy and colorful battles.

Dust: An Elysian Tail features a great set of beatiful backgrounds, captivating animations and models, solid soundtracks and voiceacting as well as a story more sophisticated and less trivial than those that gamers quite often get. Forgot to mention the unexpected load of Easter Eggs, which will pleasantly surprise practically each and everyone.

The experience was overall smooth, however I encountered 2 game shut downs near the start of the game, when I was exiting to the world`s map. Also some puzzles/enemies (I`m looking at you, slime) were a bit too hard. It's very clear that the game was meant for a console -- playing on a mouse/keyboard during certain moments was a bit inconvinient.

That said, I`m thankfull to the developer for such an unusual and positive experience, especially given the fact that it seems to be his one and only big game. Aslo it's relatively not hard to 100% the achievements, if you care at all.

PS
Was kinda apprehensive at first, judging the visual style and the needless assosiations with furry fetish, but my anxiety wasn`t met -- the game doensn`t emphysize on the fact, that the inhabitants of it's world are antropomorphic animals.

Cimmerian Chaos
Cimmerian Chaos

Literally the most amazing game of all time. The gameplay is fantastic and well thought out, the storyline is incredible, the soundtrack is one of my favorites and I feel it paved the way for more well-known games like Ori and the Blind Forest, It was created by someone who was originally trained in traditional animation, taught himself programming, and worked with some great people to bring everything together, back originally on the Xbox 360 and a special program Microsoft was running at the time to help promote indie game studios. IIRC they were dealing with some time constraints with Microsoft due to that, hence why the ending feels rushed, and IIRC the dev had to teach himself anime style animation in order to finish one major cutscene, so it looks a bit rough there. But I've seen enough games with beautiful cutscenes and rushed gameplay, that had a much bigger team and budget, that the things done right in this game far outweigh any shortcomings.

I love plastic waste
I love plastic waste

Late game combat is dreadful. Enemies can parry your attacks while stunned, while you are in the air comboing them, while using your drag down move, and while laying on the ground. This does not happen with any consistency either. You never know if pressing a button will punish you or not.
Comboing enemies can be fun, but I wish there were more moves and more routes to take.

Dragamation
Dragamation

I love this game. Its really fun, the combat feels extremely good. The visuals are gorgeous and the way the characters animate is real pretty. I think this was like the first game I got on steam way back when, which is probably why I forgot to leave a review until now lol

One of those games thats stuck with me for years despite only playing it like once. I should replay it sometime.

CrazyAlaskan
CrazyAlaskan

First hack and slash platformer I have played in well over a decade. So I started out on a really easy setting. After a good number of hours and getting back into the feel and play style again. I turned the difficultly up some. REALLY enjoyable game. Really well thought out story line. Good balance of story and action and platformer trials. I didn't go full completionist. But it gave me a good nearly 20 hours to beat the game. And it's goo enough I may start a fresh game on an even harder level now and try another play through.

Zephyr Wolffox
Zephyr Wolffox

Gameplay is decent, but the in-game artwork and visuals are off the chart gorgeous!

johnny_vulpine
johnny_vulpine

Stunning artwork, beautiful music, solid and entertaining gameplay. Dust has it all!

ASTROCHRONIC
ASTROCHRONIC

I don't get why the rating is so high on this game. Feels like a demo. Menus are kind of annoying because it doesnt have proper controller support. I am using an Xbox controller but it only sees Xbox 360 controllers, so all the controls are not what it says. No evasion moves at all. Art feels lazy, animations feel lazy. Congrats to the Devs on somehow finding the right demographic of people to like this game. I guess I am just not one of them. So many better choices in the genre...

staterafox62
staterafox62

Great indie action platformer. Holds up well. Memorable characters. Decent voice acting. It has a lot of downsides however. Story is fine, but ending is complete garbage. Difficulty is inconsistent on hardest mode, going from borderline unfair at the very start, to easy at the final boss. The game is pretty fun and smooth all in all. There are a couple hidden secrets. Achievements were fun to unlock. Overall, recommended. 7.5/10

cheezz
cheezz

I like it. fun, relaxing gameplay, world with potential. needs a sequel/more games.

Zounderth
Zounderth

I love the Voice Over Actors in this, they make the Game & Story so enjoyable XD. It's a really nice side-scrolling platformer with RPG elements to it. I would recommend this game to anyone who loves these types of games. Definitely in my top favorite games list.

Arch Stanton
Arch Stanton

Y'know, this was a pretty cool game. It's got its flaws here and there, but it is certainly an enjoyable game overall. The combat is smooth as hell, too.
And, of course, I have to make the obligatory commendation that the whole thing was made by one guy (plus Hyperduck Studios).
I'm Not a Furry™, but I would say you should definitely check this game out if you like metroidvanias, games with pretty eye candy, and/or fun hack-and-slash-style combat.

ur Game Buddy
ur Game Buddy

Oh what a wonderful adventure it was. It reminded me of the PSX title from Squaresoft - Brave Fencer Musashi which I also enjoyed greatly. This game has everything a good adventure should have: splendid 2D graphics, fast paced combat (a bit too easy though, but still pleasant), an intriguing story, secrets and a witty and adorable sidekick. The voice acting in this game should be an example to others how to make believeable and immersive dialogues. The music was up to par as well. Enough reading praise! Just buy it and have fun.

Bob the angry chicken
Bob the angry …

dust an elysian tale is a game i had the pleasure of growing up with and replaying today. I find its story interesting and the combos are incredibly satisfying. the only critsicm i have is how the difficulty spikes in the snow area, though that can be countered by being good
overall 7 nimbats out of ten

Talirium
Talirium

Way way back in the far off year of 2014, I decided to get a gold membership on my Xbox 360. And back in this long forgotten era, you got 2 free games every month when you had a gold membership. (No gamepass yet kids!) I was super excited to get a bunch of free games, and the very first one I got? It was Dust: An Elysian Tail. It was super difficult, and I didn't get very far, but always thought the main character's design was really cool. I gave up around half way in, but watching my sister play it was a lot of fun. And then, 8 years later, I noticed it was on steam and picked it up.

Dust is really easy. This is baby's first metroidvania through and through. Don't let that be a deterrent though, this game is still really good. Just moving through the levels is really fun, with all of the movement options they give you. The progression feels really nice, and while the difficulty never really changes, its pretty easy throughout, getting new moves and watching your damage numbers get higher is always a joy.

Outside of gameplay, the game looks really pretty. Dust is really well animated, as are the effects on all of his moves, making it a spectacle every time you get into a fight. The environments are all gorgeous, and all feel distinct, making it really easy to remember where everything is for backtracking. The enemy designs don't stand out very often, but when you're destroying them in mass, they don't really need to stand out as individuals. The story is interesting enough, and while the writing can be really corny sometimes, its still really charming, and the dynamic the main trio has is really enjoyable.

Overall, it was really cool revisiting a nostalgic game, and while I was kinda disappointed how easy it was, I really enjoyed my time with Dust. If you want to get into metroidvanias but are intimidated by the big guys, this is absolutely worth giving a shot. 8/10

Paper
Paper

Gorgeous hack 'n slash with a decent story and incredible music. If you can push past the furry character designs then there's a very solid game behind them all. The combat is simple, but satisfying. It's even more impressive when you learn that the game was created almost entirely by one person. Definitely worth playing 9/10

SMan
SMan

"ohhh you're a furry!!" yea
but did you ever play this masterpiece?

This Cat
This Cat

This game is a masterclass in design.

From the deep characters to the amazing setpieces, superb animation and storytelling.
What starts off as a fairly generic setup turns into a story of its own and manages to pave a way for what could've been a great series. Sometimes Fidget says something and my soul aches from cringe, 27 hours later and I find it endearing. To reiterate my point, this is a masterclass in making me change my opinion on deviantArt.

James Fox
James Fox

I played and beat this game a few years ago on Switch and decided to give it another run on Steam. It's an excellent game with a lot of love put into it. This game also has fully voiced dialogue, and the VAs do a great job. The characters are charming, the combat is simple but very satisfying, and the world is rich with detail. If you love Metroidvanias, you're sure to have a great time. It's also a good entry point into the Metroidvania genre. It's not too tough or complicated to alienate newcomers, but it's still worthwhile for MV veterans. This is an easy game to recommend, and I think it's worth your time.

Wei Wei
Wei Wei

People that would find this game fun are either kids, furries maniacs, or people that wanted a ride on the nostalgia train. Unfortunately I do not fall in any of those categories.

Gameplay - Button mashing. Spam range attack > spin > air spin = global damage
Graphic - Considered above average for a game made a decade ago.
BGM & SFX - Bland, ordinary, and feels like it's made on really low budget
Voice acting - Sounds like a bunch of kids doing a play in an elementary school
Characters - The developers got some chronic furries fetishes. They probably set r34 as their homepage

Conclusion - If you wanted something similar around the same price range, go play Ori, Hollow Knight, Ender Lilies. Don't waste your time on this outdated trash. FYI replaying pathetic retro games won't bring back your pathetic childhood. Move along.

WKiLLa
WKiLLa

Played for the second time after 8 and 1/2 years, enjoyed every second of it. This game is crazy good, one of the best games I've ever played. Story, animation and music 10/10. I really hope there will be sequel.

TheGreatTave
TheGreatTave

pros

its good

cons

makes other games not fun