A Colourful Return To Classic Gaming
There was a time when platformers ruled the gaming waves. From Donkey Kong to Sonic the Hedgehog, gamers couldn’t get enough of these family-friendly, colourful worlds. It was a time when you could be a cute dragon or a mechanical bear, with collectables and level design that you played again and again until you discovered everything. Then the shooters and survival horror took over in the 2000s, and everything changed.
The colourful platformer has taken a back seat for a while now, but there is a resurgence, and Duskfade hopes to be one of those at the front line. Here’s why.
You play as a young man named Zirian, who looks like he could have been present in Kingdom Hearts. He is a clockmaker in a place called Tick Town, and he has, as a weapon, a large key blade. A mysterious clock tower has appeared in his home and taken away his beloved sister. He needs to go on an adventure to save his sister and destroy the clock tower and the adversities connected to it. To fill things out, there is also a little robot buddy to spend your time with called Cuckoo.
The story is one full of interesting, kid-like motifs and family-friendly entertainment. The enemies aren’t too scary, and the themes are high fantasy without being overly mature in their content. There are lots of characters to chat to in the world, with all sorts of lore and information that you can gather as you go. I lost my way with the plot a few times, but it doesn’t really matter because platforming and adventuring are where the fun truly lies.
Jumping, Exploring And Collecting
So, this is a fast-action platformer where you will be jumping, sliding in the air, attacking creatures with your key blade, and doing a little environmental puzzle-solving. Looking at jumping first, a lot of platformers don’t get this right, but Duskfade has nailed it with its double jumps, air rolls, and slides to give you that extra boost. It feels intuitive to play, and the 3D world that you explore is also vertical as well as horizontal, so it feels like a fast playground when you are spinning around the levels.
There are things to collect; little gems, with larger ones in harder-to-reach areas. There are also health packs to get as you progress, which are much needed depending on the difficulty level you choose to play on. Sometimes the levels feel so large, and I was unsure which direction I was going in, but it also seemed to eventually go the right way. You can spend the collectables on upgrades at vendors around the different levels. There is also a handy feature where you open portals that can take you back to Tick Town mid-level if you should need to.
Combat Can Become A Little Repetitive
Combat itself is something that will happen a lot, so get used to it. Does it overstay its welcome? A little bit. What normally happens is that you get to a certain area, enemies will appear, and you are temporarily blocked into a battle arena until you clear the room. There is a good range of enemies, from ones that just rush at you like little ghosts, to others that fire projectiles. There is even one that blows up if you don’t get out of the way. Combat is easy to pick up, and there are moves and blocks, as well as upgraded moves that you gain along the way. Boss battles are fine, and they normally consist of, like in all good platform games, learning the pattern and then finding the right time to attack back.
Duskfade makes the most of Unreal Engine 5, which is a really good choice. The world is colourful and gorgeous to look at. The different biomes in the four different worlds feature a myriad of locations, from desert to forest to lava to sea. It’s full of complex level design and is a fun place to explore. Character design is also delightful and has that old-school Disney approach to its animation.
In terms of the audio and the sound design is extremely cinematic, orchestral with its score. The music transitions well between the combat-heavy sections and the exploration bits. Effects are solid, and the voice work is good, but does feel like it’s from an older generation of games..
Duskfade Is A Charming Adventure
If you’re looking to go back and play an old-school type platformer, then Duskfade is worth a consideration; it isn’t a retro game but something original and modern. I love the exploration, as well as the platforming around the world. I did get a bit bored of the combat sections after a while and could have done with less of them, but overall, Duskfade is a great new addition to the family-friendly platformers that are present on Xbox. Let’s hope for more.
Important Links
Duskfade Is A Love Letter To The 3D Platformers We Grew Up With – https://www.thexboxhub.com/duskfade-is-a-love-letter-to-the-3d-platformers-we-grew-up-with/
Shatter Time – Classic-Inspired 3D Platformer Duskfade Announced for Xbox Series X|S, PS5 & PC – https://www.thexboxhub.com/shatter-time-classic-inspired-3d-platformer-duskfade-announced-for-xbox-series-xs-ps5-pc/
Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/duskfade/9PJ6LFFJZD2M/0010
