Dustforce DX

The game's soundtrack is a perfect fit for the style of gameplay they're going for, and that style of gameplay can work really well. When you hit all the jumps and ricochets just right it's like entering a meditative trance. Sadly the game's controls are sluggish and unresponsive. The game's design is fine, with moments of real brilliance shining through at times, but underneath all the level design there are some controls that just don't allow the player to control the character. It feels like there's a delay on the inputs, and it really destroys what would otherwise be an enjoyable platformer. I really wanted to like this game, but the controls really need to be tighter.

This is a platformer focused on terrain contact. To dust, you must enter in contact with specific terrain tiles, avoid visible traps (spikes) and "fight" ennemies. This originally "aired" as a Game Maker demo prototype (check Youtube). I immediately loved it thanks to the complex and original control scheme, high difficulty and nice background"chiptune-esque" music. The controls allows you to make elaborate moves through dashing, double-jumping, wall jumping/running and more. You really feel "in control" when you do all these actions, unlike games like POP the Sands of Time which have a much, much lower control. The final game is the same as the prototype but on a bigger scale and with great polish and better code - they dropped Game Maker and rewritten their game engine entirely. The controls have a "lighter" feeling (better in several ways), there is a great variety of levels, reliable leaderboards, replays, and even a level editor and a level portal. The level portal allows you to sort levels by ratings, difficulty, etc. it works great. I have not used the level editor myself, but people have done fantastic things with it, and continue making more quality levels even today. It makes up for countless more hours of high quality gameplay. Despite the developpers lowering the difficulty a little bit after release, the levels shipped with the game are aimed to skillful or persistent players. But if you are skillful/persistent enough, this is simply a must buy.

Two big disclaimers I wish I would've known before I bought this: *NO NATIVE CONTROLLER SUPPORT THROUGH GOG, YOU WILL NEED TO USE JOY2KEY OR SOME OTHER SIMILAR APPLICATION TO CONVERT CONTROLLER TO KEYBOARD INPUTS*\ This fact is dissappointing but it actually does play super well on keyboard, still it is disappointing. **IF YOU HAVE A 144 HZ MONITOR OR HIGHER LIKE ME YOU NEED TO SET IT TO 60HZ OR 120 HZ FOR THIS GAME TO INPUT PROPERLY** Full disclosure have not played on ton of the game yet but from what I have so far it's well worth it's price. Such a cool premise, great advanced movement techniques, fun gameplay loop and stellar soundtrack (think a combo of Chillhop and 8 bit influences). This review is purely to help potential buyers avoid serious frustration Only found out after lots of frustration as to why my inputs felt off and got a hail mary with a random reddit thread on google search. The game responsiveness is tied to frame rate so if you're monitor isn't at 60Hz or 120Hz (an even multiple) the game will eat some inputs which is not good in a game where you need to be this precise.

I have this game on Steam... Awesome precision platformer! Tight mechanics, smooth flow, great move set, great music & visuals, clever level design, custom map editor, and great commmunity. It's safe and accessible for young folk, yet it's depth, difficulty, and mechanics make Dustforce worth buying over Super Meat Boy and other precision platforming greats. I just SS'd all the normal levels after over 70 hours, and have barely touched the difficult levels or custom user made levels... I feel like I am just getting started. With this kind of depth and replayability, Dustforce is easily worth the asking price! Great for speedrunning also! Highly recommended!