Duskfade has been a long and anxious wait for this reviewer. Fantastic looking level design and great gameplay littered the trailer, and expectations rose and rose. Surely this love letter to some of the best platformers in history couldn’t live up to the hype (admittedly all caused by watching the release trailer on repeat after ingesting any bit of information over the last few years on the social medias). Well, to the absolute delight of anyone who has been keeping track, it does. Duskfadeis fantastic and deserves to be put on the platforming pantheon.
Duskfadethrows you straight into the buddy cop-style drama with the search for the protagonist Zirian’s sister, who has disappeared into a looming tower over Tick Town. Aided in his quest is Cuckoo, a clockwork bird oozing with personality from the outset. Not your normal Navi, Cuckoo likes to get involved, aiding in attacks from the outset. Off you trot, then, looking to break the chains that will open the tower door and hopefully lead to a happy reunion. It’s an interesting setup, with a world focused on clockmakers ranging from enthusiastic youths to wise masters.
Every single environment looks absolutely beautiful. The best way to describe it is those hazy dream worlds you lose yourself in just before waking for the daily rat race. Deep pinks and purples complimented by beautiful blue rivers and wooden architecture. The hub is simple but filled with character, really feeling like a place where no harm can ever come to it, with the inhabitants feeling the same. Guards are just for show and kids play excitedly in the streets before it all starts to come apart at the seams. Essentially, a magical setting for a magical experience.
None of this would matter, however, if the controls didn’t sing. Platforming is the aim of the game and traversal often feels challenging but never unfair. It’s that cutesy aesthetic that always catches out, almost always leading to a mistimed jump. Any errors are only punished with a slight loss of health and a reset quick enough to be barely intrusive. All the tropes are there, with a double jump, mid-air dash, and grapple, all feeling perfect when executed.
Combat also does all the basics right, and Duskfade is happy to wear its inspirations on its sleeve with Zirian wielding his blade in delightful fashion. If you have dipped into any Kingdom Hearts (which you should as they are better than most Final Fantasy offerings), the timed strike-dash-roll sequences will feel right at home. Dodging is also rewarded with a time slowdown, allowing some real damage to be dished out. Hopefully a sequel will appear and this can be enhanced along with some more enemy variation à la Kingdom Hearts.
Kingdom Heartsrears its head a lot, in fact, from the design of Tick Town being hugely reminiscent of Traverse Town to the initial opening evoking memories of where Sora finds himself in the tutorial. Mainly, though, it’s that a game that looks so young in some respects is so delightfully challenging. Nowhere is the challenge more present than in the boss battles. All are larger than life and require some real concentration at times. Boss strategies can change mid battle, and simply hacking away will always end in tragedy. A retry is never a chore, with great designs and arenas being a functional part of the battle often, rather than a meaningless cage to keep you from progressing.
Rounding off the fantastic presentation is the sound design. Haunting at times, tension building the next, every melody seems to match the setting perfectly. Some areas do feel a bit silent and cold, but overall, most hit as they should. Cutscenes also ooze with personality, with great character designs, facial animations and writing that can go from humorous to heartbreaking.
Cubed3 Rating
In these dark times of game ownership and obsolete disk drives, Duskfadeburns brightly as a shining beacon of why we all fell in love with games in the first place. A fantastically fun experience with real heart. Challenging at times, grin inducing most others, here’s hoping this is the first of many. It’s been far too long since titles have been made with this much love and care outside of the big red gaming behemoth and the small moustached plumber.
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Duskfade
Formats: Nintendo Switch 2, PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
Genres: 3D platformer, Action, RPG
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Cubed3 is reader-supported. If you buy through banners on our site, we may earn a commission. This does not influence our opinions/reviews.
