At the end of last week, gamers lost their minds at the reveal of some new footage from the monumentally anticipated “Kingdom Hearts IV,” a title that fans of the legendary Disney franchise have been hoping to play for years now. The clip included not just some nice Goofy and Donald Duck action, but the reveal that the world of “Coco” would factor into the gameplay. The small problem is that we’re probably not playing around in this Square Enix sandbox until the end of 2027, more than a year from now.
Until then, fans should spend some time in the throwback 3d action-platformer “Duskfade,” now available on multiple platforms, and clearly inspired by “KH”. There’s no Mickey Mouse here, but there is a sword that can be used as a key, and combat that feels super “Hearts,” alongside platformer elements that reminded me of formative early PS2 games like “Jak & Daxter” and “Ratchet & Clank.” It’s got some janky combat, but if you’re an old-fashioned (or just old) gamer like me, one who would put the upcoming “Rayman Legends: Retold” high on a list of anticipated games, then this is a good pick-up, especially at a relatively low price.
Developed by Weird Beluga and published by Fireshine Games, “Duskfade” is the story of Zirian, whose sister is trapped in a Clock Tower that has somehow fractured reality. Chains attached to the clock tower need to be destroyed to free her, sending Zirian to different regions to do so, where he learns new powers to navigate the terrain and destroy the enemies in front of him.
The game’s strongest asset is its look, which sometimes resembles Square Enix games like “Kingdom Hearts” and “Final Fantasy,” but also has a hand-drawn, painter-like aesthetic that recalls my personal favorite animation house, Studio Ghibli. Every problem one has with this game washes away in the beautiful backgrounds that the developers keep refreshing in terms of style: In one level, you’ll be deep in a forest; in another, high above the clouds. It’s a game of constant movement, like a lot of platformers, and the space you’re moving through is so lovingly rendered that the clunky aspects don’t poison the overall experience.
To be fair, they’re definitely there. Zirian has a “clockwork sword” that he uses to defeat the mostly blue-hued creatures who come his way, but the combat is truly inconsistent, both in mechanics and physics. As the game progresses, Zirian gets more powerful with new toys and weapons, but the combat, even in repetitive boss battles, never feels as refined as one would hope. It’s a game that works better in exploration—jumping, grapple hooking, riding rails—than it does swinging swords at enemies that don’t feel particularly 3D.
As for the storytelling, there are some strong cut scenes that shift “Duskfade” into a coming-of-age story, a tale of a young man forced into heroism for the first time, and it’s effective for the game’s relatively modest ambition. At first, I didn’t care much about the story, but it develops nicely, especially for a game that seems slight on storytelling to start.
At $30, this isn’t something meant to take over your life for the long term, but it’s a nice appetizer to one of the busiest gaming seasons in history. As “Wolverine,” “Control Resonant,” “Grand Theft Auto VI,” and a dozen more titles of interest loom on the horizon, it’s nice to have a game that reminds players of the worlds that made them gamers in the first place.
The publisher provided a review copy of this title.
