Dust: An Elysian Tail

Beautiful art design, amazing characters, amazing sound and music... Dust has always been a game that I would always recommend even non furry fans to play as it's such a fun and interesting experience to have. I cannot recommend this game enough especially if you're a fan of metroidvania type of games.

An amazing game that continues to hold up even in the year of 2024.
The only bad thing I could ever say about this game was that we never got a sequel for it.
I desperately want a sequel.

It is hard to put into words the impact this game has left. This game is the ultimate answer to the "are video games art?" question. Every single thing about this game is perfection in a game.
The story is one of the most engaging and interesting I have ever come across. I genuinely loved every single second of it from start to finish. Certain moments will hit you like a shotgun slug to the chest and hit the feels button hard. Simply impeccable.
The Gameplay. Simply put, its the greatest gameplay I have ever seen in my entire life. Everything works so well. It is fluid without fail, smooth as butter. In some games, the gameplay will sometimes lose you or cause you to make a mistake and die. Here, however, I have never once had it do something like that. It is an outstanding achievement in how to make a proper combat system.
The voice acting here is world-class work from every single VA. The direction and performances on display to me are the gold standard when it comes to voice acting in any creative medium, not just video games. Many of these VA's have gone on to great success in the industry and for good reason. D-Mac and the crew shine like the sun here.
The art direction. I already said this is the ultimate answer to the "are video games art?" question, but it bears repeating. The art and level design is top notch. Promoting exploration and having no areas where it feels tedious. Every screen, which looks like a masterpiece, gets you hyped up for either a fight or the amazing exploration that comes. It really adds to the immersion of the game. Which leads me to-
The Music. One of the best video game soundtracks of All-time. Chris and Dan of HyperDuck hit every level of excellence possible in a soundtrack. Somber, spooky, awe-inspiring, hype, and happy. Every emotion is on full display here and they are placed perfectly throughout the game. Pure auditory bliss. (I'm a musician myself as well LOL)
To sum it up, This is the Best Video Game Ever Made. I say this with no hyperbole whatsoever. This is what gaming should be. Gold standard doesn't begin to sum it up. This is the DIAMOND standard for gaming. Next to the names Miyamoto, Kojima, and Meier. Dean Dodrill's name will stand tall among them. Thank you, Dean for giving us this Holy Grail of gaming.
TL;DR. Best Game of All-Time. Get it. You will love every second of it!
(Been playing this game for a Decade to this point too lol)

Still the most impressive XBLA-era game. The fact one person, with exception to voice acting and narrative, made this entire game is absolutely incredible especially when it was done at a time indies weren't booming the way they are now.

A fun, metroidvania-like romp with a gorgeous art style and a simple, but satisfying combat loop. I played this in 2012 on my 360 and 100%'d it then, did it again this time round on Steam. My only gripe is in windowed mode, your mouse can sometimes click out of focus, but that's not the end of the world.

Well worth the money, even if like me, you're not necessarily a fan of anthropomorphic characters/furry characters. Now that Microsoft have delisted it, Steam/GoG are your only ways to play this labour of love.

I remember discovering and subsequently buying this game during an Xbox Live Arcade Summer event/sale where you had to buy up to 4 games in order to support newly released indie games and you'd also get some MS credit (MSP) back for completing the punch card or whatever it was.
Everything about this game was really well done. The art, the story, the voice acting, the combat was simple and addicting, the pacing was well done and grinding for materials was really satisfying. The worst part about this game was finding out that there was a fair bit more to the game than actually saw the light of day because it was cut for some reason or other. The "end" of the game we got was actually rushed (iirc) and meant to be the 3/4 point of the game, or second to last section that was supposed to lead to the eventual end of the game which would have taken Dust to the Moon and wrapped up his origins and backstory in a neat little bow. That never saw the light of day in the form of a "definitive" edition or DLC or anything which is still a huge disappointment all these years later AND there were rumblings about a movie (for whatever reason) that nobody asked for, that never ever materialised either.
I don't know what happened to the dev and why the original game was rushed and had the ending cut and why he thought that making a movie about the game was a good idea, but it's not too late to update the original game or rerelease a definitive "HD" version with the content that was cut out.

Awesome game from the time, I've played through this game a total of five times between my Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, Laptop, and Desktop. I have about 60-80 hours of this game off of the Steam site. Playing through it again recently. I just love the fighting and controls, nothing too crazy or complex in-depth or anything, just simple and fun.
It's about 20 hours in length, if you're a completionist. There are 2-3 secrets in the game that you MIGHT be able to find without guides, but they can be pretty secretive. There's nothing major in the game that gets locked off as a result of progressing the main story too quickly, so you're always free to backtrack to locations whenever you want to.
The game can get difficult at times, but usually backtracking and getting better levels and equipment will help offset it. Especially on hardcore mode, if you play that. I say this as someone with a lot of experience with the game, so take it as you will, but I can say pretty certainly that any situation you're having trouble with is either a stat issue (which will be very obvious, and I don't think will usually be a problem unless you're playing Hardcore mode) or is a skill issue, meaning that with enough practice you could get through it. Save points are usually pretty plentiful, so you're never losing more than 3-7 minutes of progress when you die, in my experience.
One of my favorite games out there and I will buy it again on every future system I get, lol.

100% Achievement Review: A quick review based on my experience completing all the (available) achievements.
Title: Dust: An Elysian Tail
Summary: Hack n slash metroidvania game
Personal notes: Dust is a fun hack and slash adventure. You are Dust, someone who cannot recall who or what they are. You are awoken by a mysterious sword that leads you on a well produced story along with a handful of interesting side quests. This story takes place in a beautiful hand drawn world with loads of different biomes and characters. I had a blast with the combat and thought learning all the new skills over time(as standard in metroidvanias) was implemented very well with not excessive amounts of backtracking. I played this years ago on xbox 360 as I believe it was free but I never got far so I decided to complete it fully and i'm glad I did. I would also like to point out that this game was made pretty much by a single person which I think is crazy considering how well made it is. Achievement wise, this game isn't too crazy. Most are story related with a few excluding. You do have to complete the game on Tough or Hardcore which can be a bit of a struggle but considering you can grind levels it should be not too challenging. The arenas are also an area I struggled, they are hidden time trial areas but with practice is also attainable. You will also have to find twelve hidden friends from some other Indie games which I thought was a super cool addition. Overall this game is a fun short and beautiful metroidvania....Yes the characters may be furries but don't let that take away from a great game. I would recommend this game full price but It does go on sale often. Sequel when?
Time it took to complete: 18hrs
Most difficult achievement(s):
- Above and Beyond the Call (Complete the Game on Tough or Hardcore setting)
- The Stuff of Legends (Earn a Four-Star Rating in EVERY Challenge Arena)
- Baker's Dozen (Hang out with Twelve Friends in the Sanctuary)
Difficulty rating:
★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆ 5/10
Overall rating:
★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 7/10