Naturally, I put everything into attack.Р”Вust: An Elysian Tail will be released this on XBLA this summer as part of MicrosoftРІР‚в„ўs 'Summer of Arcade' promotion. Leveling up allows you to allocate skill points into upgrades to health, attack, defense, and FidgetРІР‚в„ўs magic. Dust starts off the game with all of his combos in place, and extra abilities are gained by finding fancy glowing orbs, so I was curious as to the benefits of leveling up. The higher your chain goes, the more experience you get. Considering how weak FidgetРІР‚в„ўs spells were on their own, the battle became a challenge of carefully using Dust Storm to amplify my magic while rolling around to dodge the explosions of fire.Р”Р‡ighting without getting hit builds up chains. He spewed fireballs and would teleport whenever I tried to hit him with melee attacks. There are two main limitations to this method: projectile use is limited by a regenerating meter, and Dust will hurt himself if he continues using Dust Storm for too long.Р”Р„t one point, I was faced with a spellcaster who bore more than a passing resemblance to the Grim Reaper. Capcom), and could still divide and amplify FidgetРІР‚в„ўs projectiles. Holding the button in the air would cause Dust to spin through the air in any direction(think WolverineРІР‚в„ўs 'drill claw' in Marvel vs. Holding Y on the ground would cause Dust to spin his blade in front of him like a pinwheel, and firing a projectile into that would multiply it and spew energy in all directions, lighting up the screen like a bullet hell shooter.

After beating a mid-boss, Dust gained the Dust Storm ability. However, you may recall I mentioned earlier that the Y button didnРІР‚в„ўt do anything at the start of the demo either. In the E3 demo, Fidget, DustРІР‚в„ўs flying companion, would shoot out a few balls of energy, but they didnРІР‚в„ўt do a whole lot of damage.

Projectiles (used with B) feel pretty underpowered on their own. Finally, while melee attacks alone fill the screen with particles and bend the air around you, combat really becomes a spectacle when you incorporate projectiles in the mix. In addition to his dodge roll, Dust can also parry any enemy by timing his attack to collide with theirs, which was a requirement to expose the heavily armored boss of the demo to damage. Attacks in the air will draw Dust closer to airborne enemies, expanding his range of motion to the sky. You have an immense amount of control you have over Dust, and it makes the combat extremely fluid.Р”В«ecause of the level of control, and the sheer amount of enemies youРІР‚в„ўre fighting, combat involves constantly moving all around the screen. Jumping out of a dodge roll can even launch you in the direction youРІР‚в„ўve rolled with more forward momentum than youРІР‚в„ўd have if you were just running. Dodge rolls themselves can be cancelled out of with attacks or jumps. Not quite an Izuna drop, but the same in action.Р”В®very attack animation but one (the end of XXYY, in which Dust grabs an enemy and flips it over his head) can be cancelled out of with a dodge roll, performed in the left or right directions by the respective trigger buttons. Like Ninja Gaiden, XY is a launcher, and XXXY in the air will make Dust grab the enemy with the hook of his sword and smash it to the ground. DustРІР‚в„ўs attacks are limited, but they chain together very well, and the inputs comfortably familiar. At first, the Y button doesnРІР‚в„ўt do a thing in the demo unless itРІР‚в„ўs comboed into with X. The game takes the Devil May Cry approach instead of the Bayonetta approach: it gives you a few combos and expects you to learn what they do.

I donРІР‚в„ўt know what devil magic Dean Dodrill used to make this work, but the game is even faster than Metal Gear Rising.Р”Р‡or the most part, combos are kept simple. Action games often have a challenge balancing complex animation and responsive controls, and one is generally always sacrificed in favour of the other. Outside of the hand-painted art (all done by one guy!), the first thing I noticed during my hands-on time with the game was how fast and fluid the combat feels.

Yes, the titular character in Dust: An Elysian Trail is a blue fox that walks like a person and is accompanied by a smaller flying fox, but if you canРІР‚в„ўt get over that, youРІР‚в„ўd be denying yourself one of the most responsive 2D action games IРІР‚в„ўve ever played.

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