Well, I finally finished this earlier today, and oh man, was that a journey. Right from the get-go, you can see that Dust's movement is so fluid and well animated along with the great art direction in the level design and backgrounds. For the most part, I thought that the characters designs and enemy designs were very good aside from a few villagers which didn't seem to have the same detail and memorable design that Dust and Fidget had.
Then you get to the combat which makes you feel like you are truly becoming more and more powerful as you progress. Once you acquire the mid-air Dust Storm ability, the combat begins to feel surprisingly intricate yet effortless, but above all, it was just plain fun. It never felt like the combat took up too much of my playtime nor too little. Its implementation was seamless and well-paced yet I always wanted more because of how fast and fun I realized that it was.
What I didn't expect from Dust: AET was a surprisingly well told adventure with clever writing. There's a lot of funny and witty dialogue in this (usually from Fidget), but there are also a few emotional scenes that thankfully didn't draw too much attention to themselves though they were effective nonetheless.
brief storyline was probably my favorite of the side stories which wouldn't have been the same had the scenario played out differently or the voice actress was absent. I think you and Alex Kain deserve plenty of props for the writing side, Noogy.
With all of the downloadable games that I play each year, it takes a lot for one to truly stand out among the pack for me. Shadow Complex did that 3 years ago and then Super Meat Boy did that not too long after. Dust: AET rised above the other games this year and last year with its passion, polish, writing, and fun that just oozed from every moment. Hell, it's even better than most retail games that have come out this year!
You crafted something truly great, Noogy. Congrats!
