Duskfade

The combat feels extremely punishing to the player on normal difficulty and not because combat is hard, but the frames keep missing for simple hits or reflecting projectiles. The pre-rendered cutscenes run like garbage along with the mouth movement being WORSE than the in-game stuff. Movement is horrible because it's either a bunch of float when you don't want it, or you lose all your mobility as soon as any part of you leaves solid ground. There's almost zero reason to go explore because the money to skill economy isn't balanced. None of the characters are really memorable. The light bloom is either overused or not used enough in several areas within the first world. Really, the only enjoyable part happened once you got your first field upgrade for the grapple shot, but you lose all the momentum that should be associated with the character at that point for some reason. Cool idea, but it's got a lot of work ahead of it still.

Duskfade can be compared to Kingdom Hearts and 90s 3D platformers like Spyro. The worlds are beautifully designed, and the level of detail is breathtaking. However, the combat system is a mediocre imitation of Kingdom Hearts. There are only four special attacks—with animations that also recall Kingdom Hearts—though these four are far less spectacular. While there is a wide variety of enemy types, defeating them requires only minimal strategic adjustment; it’s still fun, but lacks real depth. Most of the boss fights were excellent, though two were poorly designed—unfortunately, the final boss falls into this category, as I personally found it underwhelming. There is plenty of unlockable content, and the worlds offer a slight *Metroidvania* feel, encouraging you to revisit areas once you’ve acquired new abilities. I’d currently rate the game a 7/10; it had the potential to be more, especially regarding the combat, and the overall flow feels a bit lacking. The inspirations are clearly drawn almost entirely from Kingdom Hearts—just without the Disney elements and the magic.

Beautiful game, 10/10 I would have happily paid more than the asking price. If you're a fan of the golden/PS2 era, this is for you. I have seen some negativity regarding the platforming, which I kind of understand. I genuinely had an issue with it at the start, but then I relearned a whimsical forgotten skill called learning how to play a game! You won't overshoot your jumps if you actually learn timing/spacing and don't just spam buttons. It's far easier to make exact jumps than it is to try to pull back the air roll to not overshoot. In other words, I don't think the platforming complaints have much ground to stand on. If you don't like platforming games then this isn't for you. The combat is a bit repetitive but it's quite easy if you get the dodge timing down (and it comes with a satisfying counterattack!). There's a good variety of enemies to keep you on your toes. You do get spells/abilities and a heavy combo for some variety, but I personally stuck to quick strikes, mines, and dodge counters while playing on the hardest difficulty. From playing the demo I formed the opinion that this game is a platformer before an action rpg, so I didn't expect deep combat in the full release. I do think that held true so that's how I treated it, and I had a wonderful time. The story is deep, but the characters are fairly lighthearted. This was something else I was glad to see. I'm all for a dark and gloomy game, but once in a while you just want something a bit brighter. The interactions with Cuckoo and the town NPCs were just perfect! I took the time to talk to everyone each time I went back to town just to see if their dialogue had changed. That's something I almost never do anymore, so this was absolutely delightful. Earlier this year I made the remark of wishing someone out there would make something right out of the PS2 era. Something reminiscent of simpler times when games weren't so needlessly bloated trying to have something for everyone or fit every playstyle. Something where we'd get to just run around, explore some cool levels, smack a few enemies around, collect some neat stuff, and have fun! Duskfade turned out to be everything I asked for, and so much more.

¡Qué bien me lo he pasado jugando a Duskfade! Me ha hecho revivir esa infancia llena de Jak and Daxter, Kingdom Hearts, Ratchet… y es que, aun siendo un indie, podría perfectamente competir con estos AAA. Y no solo ha sido divertido, sino que el juego me ha parecido redondo. Es precioso (a un nivel MUY alto, con zonas que me han recordado a It Takes Two por la magia que transmitían), hay muchísima exploración, los personajes (tanto secundarios como NPCs) son carismáticos, la historia es preciosa y, encima, tiene una duración perfecta. Yo solo espero que Weird Beluga venda muchísimo, saquen una edición física (ojalá una figura) y que vuelvan con un Duskfade 2 o algo así de bueno 😍

Been waiting for this game for a while and it’s finally here. I’ve played the demo and already liked it and now playing the full game to really get in to it I can say I love it. The game play is like kingdom hearts. He can get a little floaty at times but it’s pretty calm to where you can work with it. He has a standers 3 hit combo and skills to use with it. He has a sidekick that helps out. The platforming is really good. Like old school Mario 64. The story is interesting. The world is beautiful and colorful. I can easily get lost playing this game with just exploration alone and there’s places you gotta return to when you get new upgrades which is something I enjoy. I can say it was worth the wait and I’m enjoying the game. Something’s I don’t like that the enemies hit hard and the knock back is kind’ve annoying. You can get lost if you don’t pay attention. No map. I don’t think there’s a lock on system which has you going around hitting things you’re not aiming for. Overall it’s a good game and I would give it a 9/10 Sub note: there is a lock on button. That’s on me. Great game still.

Игра очень сильно впечатлила, вернула яркие чувства из детства, когда в игре хотелось исследовать просто каждый угол и собрать вообще всё, что можно! Всё: геймплей, музыка, локации, диалоги - на отличном уровне. Рекомендуется к ознакомлению людям, которые любят геймплей игр Spyro, Ratchet&Clank, Jak&Daxter 💙 Однозначно одна из самых ярких игр, пройденных мной за последние лет 5!

Hace tiempo que tenía ganas de probar este juego. Voy a comentar un poco las primeras sensaciones porque sólo llevo 1 hora de juego. Aunque no está mal, no es lo que me esperaba, se siente sencillo y parece que falta pulir algunos detalles para que se pueda disfrutar. Gráficos; El apartado gráfico es bueno, me gusta que sea así de colorido. No obstante, hay algunos detalles que se podrían mejorar, como el césped o algunos objetos del decorado, pero en general están bien. Audio; Lo peor, sin duda. La música es monótona, no tiene encanto y no acompaña al nivel. Las voces se escuchan por debajo de la música y los efectos especiales se oyen como de fondo. Es como si todo fuera una sola pieza. Historia; Es correcta. No es una gran historia pero sirve para explicar el mundo que nos rodea. Jugabilidad; Llevamos una espada con la que poder hacer algunos combos. El sistema de combate está bien, aunque a veces la espada no le da a los enemigos si están muy cerca, se podría mejorar. Otra cosa que no me termina de convencer es el agarre a los salientes, sólo se sube cuando hay una barra de agarre. En algunos sitios hay paredes invisibles y caer al agua es como morir porque el personaje no sabe nadar. Lo recomiendo aunque con algunos peros.

Happy to see that it fulfills all my expectations. This is not a mid 3D platformer but one of the best ones we got these days. The soundtrack is crazy good, platforming is smooth (although a bit on the easier side), lots of collectibles and rewarding exploration, simple but fun combat...It's an hommage to classic 3D jump'n'runs, just a 2026 version of it with great graphics and a colorful art style. Performance is pretty good as well. 4K 60fps on Epic on a laptop 4070 is solid. I wish it had DLSS though as the only upscaler it uses is FSR and i'm not a big fan of FSR. Still, if you're a fan of the genre, this is comfort food!