Dust was sold over 45,000 times in August 2012 and 83,000 times by the end of 2012. The game received ratings of 83% and 84.20% respectively on the review websites Metacritic and GameRankings. It was composed by HyperDuck SoundWorks and contains 37 tracks with a total length of 1.79 hours.ĭust: An Elysian Tail received mostly positive reviews from critics. The official soundtrack was released on October 1, 2012. Dust: An Elysian Tail was originally scheduled for release in late 2011 but was postponed to summer 2012. The game was originally planned for the Xbox 360 Indie Games channel, but won the Microsoft Challenge in 2009 and was rewarded with a release on Xbox Live Arcade. The inspiration for the final game came from titles like Metroid, Golden Ax and Ys I & II, which Dodrill names as his favorite games. He originally had a Jump 'n' run in 8-bit style planned, the early Castlevania should be similar titles. He calculated a development time of about three months, which in the end turned out to be three and a half years. A Illustrator, formerly graphics for Jazz Jackrabbit 2 by Epic Games has drawn. With the exception of the synchronization, the soundtrack and parts of the story, Dust was entirely designed and programmed by Dodrill. The player can interact with non-player characters, buy or sell items, and receive quests.
Thus, various values, such as hit points or magic points, can be increased. The game also includes elements of role-playing games Dust can gain experience points by defeating opponents and thus level up. In the course of the game, the player can find power-ups that permanently change the game mechanics, such as the ability to perform a double jump or to climb to a previously unreachable level. Fidget, the guardian of the sword, acts as Dust's companion and can fire projectiles. Dust has a living sword, the Ahrah Blade.
The player takes control of the title character Dust, who tries to remember his past. The game world consists of two-dimensional levels.
Dust is set in the fictional world Falana, which is inhabited by human-like animals.