Dust: An Elysian Tail (PS4)

Dust is part of a new breed of MetroidVania games where the emphasis is on fast paced combat and stressing out the GPUs, CPUs and CPAs with all the crazy graphics and physics and whatnots.  If you’ve played Muramasa Rebirth or any similar titles you’ll know what I mean.  Platforming elements abound with levels taking you in all four possible directions (four because it’s 2D).  The “I can’t get to this place yet because I don’t have the correct skill/item” features of a MetroidVania style game are also well represented here.  What do you mean I can’t climb on vines yet?

Anyway, you play as Dust.  He’s currently got a wicked case of amnesia to go along with a sentient sword and badass hat.  And there’s your companion who just happens to be a small pixy like foxdragon thing that has all the subtle, near sexualized curves that we’ve come to know and love in our anthropomorphized female cartoons.  Put that all together and of course we’ve all reached the same conclusion.  This is a game about a protagonist who discovers himself in the midst of a crap ton of carnage.  Throw in some RPG clichés (such as: The mysterious and brooding female probable love interest, or the tough as nails female who is the probable secondary love interest) and so far I’ve made zero headway into the goal of telling you how this game stands out.

I mentioned that there’s the occasional fetch quest right?

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What’s been cleaned because we have company tonight:

• The game is pretty.  While a bit on the cartoony side, the levels are made with obvious care and attention to detail.  Background details are impressive and manage to stand out in the midst of gorgeous scenery. Even the foreground gets into the act on occasion with elements that would seem like obstructions on first glance, but add to the allure.
• Dust has an amazing soundtrack that offers tons of atmosphere.  Many of the combat sounds “just happen” to go along perfectly with the music.
• The voice acting is well done.  Maybe nothing special in and of itself but implementation is done exceedingly well.  Your foxdragon friend adds magic into the combat and can be hit with “silence.” Rather than explain this and other elements the traditional way, the game will pause whenever certain things occur the first time and deliver a short dialogue with the characters. As a result, I found myself engaged in the “tutorial” elements.
• Gameplay mileage will vary as it’s a style that’s not for everyone. It’s very well put together for what it is.  Combos are fun and strategy (see below) can play as much a part as skill.  A bigger combo will maximize your experience gained (nothing new to see here).  Overpowered skills are limited creatively.  Instead of running out of stamina doing “Dust Storm” (a whirling dance of swordy death through the sky), our hero instead falls prey to “physics” and “centrifugal force” and receives injury if you overdo it.  Mixing in the magic of Fidget (the foxdragon thing) leads to beautiful and impressive displays of murder.
• Character progression is limited but compelling.  You have only four stats and the game enforces a balancing act in which your highest stat can be no more than four points higher than your lowest.  This meant that when my attack got to level four, I had to level the other stats before being able to slice things better.  Back to my promise from above, by making attack as overpowered as I could, I naturally limit my combos as things die in less hits. 

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What will make you sneeze if disturbed:

• As mentioned above, the characters and many story elements are cliché as all get out.  That’s not to say they’re not done well.  I find myself genuinely interested in the characters and story, but I have the distinct feeling that the ending will not Shymalan me in any significant way.  Unless it was The Happening or The Village or Signs which were all pretty predictable.
• Remote Play is the single greatest thing for anyone who owns a Vita AND happens to be me since I think I’m the only person with a Vita.  Therefore, the makers of Dust did not have me in mind as the Vita controls are not optimized.  They use the default control mapping (fine by all accounts actually) but did not test it out in “the real world” from the looks of things.  Namely, the right stick controls dashing left or right.  This can be done at any point in time, even in mid attack, and it launches Dust a good way across the screen.  It’s very useful when you need it.  It’s less than useful when the right thumbstick on the Vita is so sensitive that I believe I coughed and sent Dust careening off a platform a few times.  But seriously, I have on many occasions brushed the stick in such a way as to cause zero discernible movement and thought to myself “Why the hell did Dust leap to the right like that? Ah yes…the insanely sensitive right stick.”  Don’t get me started on the over-sensitivity in the menus either.  It doesn’t help that “R2” and “L2” are mapped to the rear touchpad, are also sensitive and ALSO control dash.

How far did I get: I’m a good few hours in already and plan on finishing. I’ve actually contemplated going for the Platinum Trophy which is a sure sign I love a game.  I currently only have four Plats and three are Souls games.

Who is this for: If you have Plus it’s a must try game.  There’s a little bit of something to love for almost everyone.  If you’re not a subscriber you should still go for it if you like platformers with fast combat or anything MetroidVania-esque.

More nervous than a longtail cat in a room full of copyright infringement lawsuits

Pix the Cat (PS4 and Vita)

Why did the chicken cross the road?  Oh you’ve heard that one before.

Knock knock.  Who’s there?  Orange… You’ve heard that one too.  Ok, here’s a new one.

What do you get when you cross Pac Man with Centipede?

Pix the Cat.

You didn’t get that one?  Yes you did, it was part of October’s PS+ lineup (and if you didn’t get it, I can show the math on the current structure and why you should but this is a review not an ad).  Anyway, PIX the Cat is the culmination of years of science on crossbreeding small yellow circle men with centipedes for our amusement.  Apparently it makes a cat with an affinity for ducks.

I swear I’m not making any of this up.  You play as an adorable electric cat that runs around Pac Man-esque levels smashing into duck eggs.  These eggs turn into ducklings that follow you.  You must then drop off ducks into circles on the board because that’s what electric cats do.  You get bonus points for collecting all the ducks without dropping off any first.  This leads to long chains of ducks (I feel like I’m writing “ducks” way too often) much like centipede in which your cat cannot run into ducks lest you destroy all the ducks in a way very much like crossing the streams in Ghostbusters.  Stir in a heavy dose of colors only seen in dimensions not called “ours,” and the conclusion is that there is no such game as “PIX the Cat” and I’m reviewing a hallucination.

Should you ingest whatever the hell I had, here’s what to expect:

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What’s the Cat’s meow:

• Despite Pac Man looking to start a class action suit with centipede, the format is incredibly fun.  Smashing into your ducks (or not turning in time for a wall) leads to a slow motion, overly dramatic mode where you get to see exactly what’s happening to your fun little cat in a precise and somehow satisfying way.  I just vaporized a small legion of ducklings out of existence?  Well yeah, but man was that AWESOME!  It’s fun when you win, but it’s just as fun to fail miserably.
• Simple graphics can go either way but this retro style shows plenty of charm.  The madhouse colors are captivating and there’s many little touches that show a high degree of polish.
• The music is a big plus and you’ll find yourself bopping along like a cat with ducks in no time.

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What’s the Cat’s ass*:

• Like most arcade games, unless you’re obsessive about scores, the game will quickly become too repetitive.  These ducks again?  Not these ducks again!  Groan…
• Controls can be a little tough to manage at times.  It’s mostly solid but a game like this almost completely hinges on precision controls.  Even one or two times feeling like you “shoulda” made that turn is a major frustration.

*I know this term can also mean “something good” just like the phrase “the cat’s meow” does, but for purposes of this article let’s assume “feline anus” refers to something as awful as what it really sounds like…what a weird phrase.

How far did I get: This one was more the spirit of the ten minute review.  I went a few rounds with this game and unlocked a new mode or two in the process but that was it.

Who is this for: Arcade style game fans or retro fans will love the mashup of game ideas in this one.  All other players will find an amusing pick up and play game.  It isn’t likely to usurp whatever you’re currently playing at the moment, however it’s an easy one to electric cat slide into your lineup for a few minutes.