And so begins Dust: An Elysian Tail. A story in which some guy wakes up in the middle of the woods, gets a sword, and is then joined by the gal who’s supposed to be guarding said sword. The trio quickly begin doing cool, physics-defying stunts to kill the many monsters that plague the land. All-in-all, a pretty good first day for our heroes.
Now that she’s in the past, it seems Enid must be the one to take down Artorias. But if it’s his fate to die here, then just who’s going to deal with the Abyss?
(I mean it’s also going to be Enid. She’s got a bit of protagonist syndrome going on right now.)
We’re approaching the end of Chapter 4, but it turns out there’s a bit of a curveball at the end here: In the last few periods, the Worst Nerd has decided to make his move. Lezard has been committing numerous kidnappings, all in an attempt to summon Valkyrie herself. And, well, maybe it IS time to stomp his entire ass.
Well, the mayor asked us to stop whatever is leading these monsters, so we’d best get on that. And while we’re at it, we might as well find new mysterious about Dust and his identity.
Artorias is dead, but there’s still time to honor his memory by killing the guy in charge of the Abyss! Though surprising no one, the master of the Abyss isn’t exactly a pushover.
Continuing on in Lezard’s Tower: Valkyrie and her crew get dunked on by dozens upon dozens of orbs.
On the trail of the strange beasts attacking Aurora, Dust and Fidget discover the village of Mudpot deep undreground. It seems the locals have been having water troubles, which may well be connected to the strange monsters. And so, as a noted “person with a cool sword,” it’s up to Dust to solve this water crisis.
Manus may be down, but Enid’s time in the past isn’t over yet. Because for some reason, she’s decided she really wants to kill the Black Dragon Kalameet. It’s no easy task, but I guess if you inherit dragon-slaying equipment, you need an excuse to use it.
We continue on in Lezard’s Castle. But thanks to the power of abusing the space-time continuum, things go a little quicker this time. Not smoother, though. There’s nothing smooth about getting that item off the table.
Dust races against time to get the water flowing through the underground again. And by “races against time,” I do mean I explore every nook and cranny I can reach to find stuff. Look, Dust needs his upgrades. I think Bopo would understand.
Hey I hope you like Kalameet, because he’s going to be here for a bit.
Now that we’ve met Lezard, he has unfortunately bled into the rest of the game as well. Today, we bear witness to Mystina, a… friend(???) of Lezard. And as expected from someone who can stand to be around Lezard for five minutes without stabbing him, she’s kind of the worst.
On Cora’s request, Dust continues exploring mansions to find simple artifacts. But just what are these for? And why do we keep getting chased by a ghost with a punk hairstyle?
Oh no, I’ve accidentally inserted a haunted disc into my PS1, and now I have no choice but to play a number of lo-fi, horror-aesthetic games before I die horribly. On today’s stream, we cover:
Sorry, We’re Open, by Oates: A 2D RPG with perhaps the most terrifying setting imaginable: a retail job. You’re the manager. You must survive your shift. And while there are plenty of warm bodies to hire, it’ll take a careful balance of utilizing their abilities and sacrificing them if you actually want to earn that paycheck.
Future Reality, by Future Reality Softworks: A high-speed racing game set in a fleshy world, where you’ll be piloting bio-organic vehicles called SHELLs. While you’re racing at breakneck speeds, make sure to pick up the floating meat; it can be recycled to either give you a boost or repair your SHELL.
… apologies to the devs for how badly I play this one.
We’ve calmed the soul of a war profiteer, so now we’ve got to climb a mountain. As you do. But just what will Dust and Fidget find when they reach the peak? And what’s with Dust’s sudden sense of déjà vu?
Alright, we’ve fought Kalameet for long enough. Let’s kill him, and that one random fire dragon for good measure.
Welcome back to the mall! There’s another instance of a game that isn’t running well, but other than that we cover:
Nowhere MI, by Feverdream Johnny: A first-person metroidvania. James is looking for his brother Alex. While that might sound serious and straightforward, I cannot possibly imagine why the rest of the world is like… that.
Dead Letter Dept., by Mike Monroe: Have you ever wanted a job typing up transcripts of letters in a dingy working environment? Probably not, but that’s where you are in Dead Letter Department! But as it turns out, you might be in more danger than you normally would be in a soul-crushing dead-end job.
So as it turns out, you can’t complete cleanup without an ability from the final area, (unless you’re very good with sequence-breaking tech.) So, we’ll be doing some cleanup, and dipping our toes into the finale. Which does its best to convince you you’re running out of time, so have fun breaking that immersion if you want 100%.
It’s the finale of Dark Souls! ENid has reached the Kiln of the First Flame, so all that’s left is to defeat the greatest war criminal hero of all: Gwyn, the Lord of Cinder. No matter what happens in the kiln, the world will likely change forever. So just who is going to be the one to steer Lordran to a new future?
We return once again to the mall, and in an amazing turn of events we actually manage to get through three games this time. Games such as:
Mortal Meal, by Goblin Council: It seems you’ve died. Unfortunately, you have no idea where or how you died, and your identity is a bit of a mystery. Also unfortunate: you’re being stalked by a ghost with a penchant for stealing the forms of lost souls. There are also a bunch of weird monsters and oddities in the woods, but those seem like less of a big deal.
House of Necrosis, by Warkus: Hey, do you remember Resident Evil? Well, House of Necrosis’s foundation certainly looks like the PS1 classic, but it’s a mystery dungeon game instead. Can you make it through all seven floors while juggling your inventory and taking down zombies?
Gob, by Gamma Girl: Gob is a stylish, wordless adventure game, in which you play as Gob on his way to get a midnight snack. But it won’t be easy to reach a vending machine with all these adventure game puzzles in the way. Not only will Gob need to find items and figure out where to use 'em, but he’ll need to be clever and smoosh 'em together. Or take a few things apart, if their pieces look like they could be used elsewhere.
It’s the end of Dust: An Elysian Tail. After gathering the last items and getting 100% on every map, Dust returns to Everdawn Basin to finish his battle against General Gaius. But, being born in part from Gaius’s trusted assassin, can Dust truly be the savior of the Moonbloods?