@@abyzzwalker The Dustforce soundtrack would be remixed by Marshmello, despite being sung by Linkin Park. I'm sure that the company has been lost rights to Dustforce in the many regions of the world between 2017 and 2019, despite both Tom and Jerry and Looney Tunes have been not related to Dustforce itself.
Coming back 5 years later to say that I still can't play platformers, but that I've recommended this to all my friends who do. Each of them thats tried it loves it, and knowing that their second game will not be like it has me so excited to finally give them some playtime
Excellent video. I agree with everything you said here, but there's another thing that made me love Dustforce so much more when I discovered them: secret areas. The whole game is set up to have you getting through the levels via the path they've laid out for you with the dust/leaves/garbage/slime, and it feels soooo great when you finally string it all together and it looks so effortless. But what's this? If I just leave the dust trail behind, let my combo break, and explore the levels, I can find this cool little place off to the side. Maybe the music changes while I'm here. Maybe the camera zooms out and lets me see the starry sky. Maybe the whole screen changes to black silhouettes on a pink background. What's the point? This is my favorite part. There is none, gameplay-wise. They can be tricky to get to--and even trickier to find--but you as a player gain nothing from the secret areas. In fact, getting to them almost guarantees you won't be getting that SS rank on this run. But they weren't meant for you as a player. They were meant for you as a person. You get to see this cool little thing and wonder how many other people that have played this level got to see it, too. You can already feel that Hitbox Team put a lot of soul into the game just playing through it, but the secret areas push it above and beyond. Make the game feel that much more alive.
The mechanics governing your movement, especially the way you "earn" more jumps, are perfectly designed. It's such a gratifying game for those who enjoy working out efficient pathing.
Matt, I can assure you I knew nothing of this game whatsoever. I have only recently found your videos, and the first video of yours I ever watched was the Oddworld comparison one, because Oddworld is my all time favorite game. I can easily tell you that your video did its job very well, because I have bought Dustforce exactly right after watching your video about it. Thank you for introducing me to this awesome game. Anyone reading this comment, I urge you to do the same.
Ironically enough, this video ended up being a video I often overlooked from your channel. Watching it now, I'm pretty satisfied I gave it a chance, and will probably be just as kind to Dustforce now because of it.
I gotta say, not many youtubers that I get ecstatic to see a video from, despite the content. Love what you do here, will continue to recommend to everyone that will listen.
I swear if they release this on switch it would take off, I don't know what would be required to port it to switch but seems like it would do well there
You prolly dont give a damn but does anybody know of a method to get back into an Instagram account? I stupidly forgot my login password. I love any assistance you can give me.
holy crap a friend randomly mentioned this game a few days ago, i'd never heard of it before, i got it, SS'd all the main hub worlds, and am working on the difficults right now. and i wouldn't even consider myself a big platformer or speedrunner. i just like good games, and this one is almost perfect. it's scary how similar our thoughts were. i'm really happy to see you spreading the word
Thanks for this review, it made me go out and buy the game. In fact every single one of your reviews is a pleasure to watch. Because every single second is filled with intelligent thought. This is no exaggeration, you seem to have a penchant for brevity, others would take 5 times as long to deliver the exact same content. The length of your reviews reflects a refreshing depth I don't see anywhere else, rather then the usual pointless drivel so common on youtube. In any case keep it man, you're stellar. And I hope you get more successful.
I think even the whole "dust" theme of the game is particularly inspired. It's like the developers took that satisfying feeling of running your finger over a dusty surface in one motion and made it into a game. I'm very glad I was able to discover this gem through videos like this. I've always been a huge fan of the Sonic the Hedgehog series, and Dustforce really scratches that itch for fast-paced, performance based platformers. It's not aping Sonic by any means, but it hits a lot of those notes that drew me into that series.
I knew I loved this channel for a reason. Dustforce is one my favorite games and definitely my favorite platformer. Really glad that it's getting more attention and I hope more people who want a mechanical platformer will hear about it from you.
I know it's been almost five years since you posted this video, but it just so happens that I bought Dustforce somewhat recently and played a fair amount of it, and I can say without hesitation that it's one of the very best 2D platformers ever created. I'm glad to see there were some people who truly apreciated this game when it came out, as much as I do now (although the replays in the game speak for themselves). It's truly a shame that a gem like this will be missed by so many players due to biased reviewers and some people who judged it without understanding it.
I completely agree with your analysis. I came to Dustforce a long time after once I found the sound track and decided to play the game it came from. I was blown away at how good of a job it did with challenging me and making me still calm. If I want to restart a level, let me restart the level, not watch an opening sequence, you get right into the gameplay with Dustforce. The early levels still have a difficulty to me and while I'm horrible at it, I still recommend it to anyone who likes platformers since it seems to do such a fantastic job at it.
LIFEFORMED, follow that musician. He's extremely good and its sad this game is underrated, I bought the game because of his music, and seeing the long development hell of Tunic, a Legend of Zelda-style game about a fox wearing a tunic and wielding a sword really is going to have superb music.
If I recall correctly, the developers made a post on their subreddit quite some time ago expressing surprise with how many players were actually able to complete the game's final challenges with double S ranks. If ever there was a sign that a game is tough-as-nails, it's when even the *developer* doesn't think you'll be finishing any time soon.
ERT WETW did he? I can't wait to be able to see the leaderboards on that level so I can check! (For those that don't know, the last few levels don't let you watch other players runs until you complete the level.)
ERT WETW did he? I can't wait to be able to see the leaderboards on that level so I can check! (For those that don't know, the last few levels don't let you watch other players runs until you complete the level.)
I got dustforce in an indie Humble Bundle sale and it is one of the best 2d platformers I've ever played. It's such a high quality game that sits at such a great price. The amount of appreciation for this game that I see online is heartbreaking, because it really is that good. I'm glad to hear that Team Hitbox made enough money from Dustforce to fund the development of their next game. They're obviously a talented bunch that has whatever it takes to make a classic platformer. The replay value is great, too. I've had this game for over four years now and I know I can always come back to it and have an enjoyable experience (especially with the level editor). I've never had a moment where I'm bored with this game, and if I ever put the controller down it's only because I lack the determination to keep practicing and improving. I don't mean to say this game is flawless. It's not perfect, and there are certainly a couple of levels I thought could have been designed a bit better. In particular, I thought the combat-heavy levels where you're enclosed in a small space with lots of enemies were not as fun to play and didn't provide that same experience of flowing through a deliberately designed platforming challenge unless you were a player of the same caliber as those at the top of the leader boards. Despite having a few levels I could have done without, I think Dustforce is an incredible game. It's one that I'll never forget, could recommend to anyone who likes challenging platformers, and I think it will withstand the test of time for as long as people still have a desire to play platformers. If this video wasn't enough to convince you of how awesome dustforce is, then listen to me, and go ahead and get it!
I played Dustforce and reviewed it when it came out a couple of years ago. Thoroughly enjoyed it and gave it a high recommendation. I kinda sucked at it, and got frustrated trying to get past particular levels and such, but it was just so wonderfully made and the controls were so responsive, I couldn't help but love it all the same. Nice review and post-mortem look on how great it is, as well as possible reasons it didn't do so well.
Came over from Rags recommending you in his vid on Polygon article regarding BioShock infinite & Trump, and I have to say I'm not disappointed in the slightest. I played this game WAY more than expected when I got my Vita, and I'm beyond happy to see someone explaining how intricate and truly enjoyable this game is. I can't say this any more genuinely: thank you. Keep up the great work! Time to binge the rest of your vids
Great thoughts on a great game. Much like for you, this game flew completely under my radar a couple of years ago and only picked it up a couple of months ago. It's one of the most exhilarating platformers I've ever played. But you failed to mention one of the more compelling features of this game, the same thing that made the Trials games so infinitely replayable: the level editor! There's a slew of great user-created levels out there for you to try as well, focusing on anything from difficulty to speed to aesthetics. You really oughtta check it out!
Arexion5293 And an official level sharing website with hundreds (has it gone past 1K yet? Not sure) of excellent user created levels. -> atlas.dustforce.com/
After comparing DX and the original, I think the complaints about difficulty comes from the hub world design. DX locks its more difficult levels behind platforming skill as well as keys and has no worlds. The original, on the other hand, divides the map into four distinct worlds and only has key requirements. This can lead to players feeling a need to finish the "first world" before moving on. So, instead of learning the game, players can feel a need to play some of the hardest levels before they can move on to the easier levels of the next world.
As a top dustforce player. Congratulations on being easily the best review of the game I have seen to date. I strongly dislike every review of dustforce I have seen because, at its core, the game was never meant to be reviewed. It is a game about progression as a player, steadily increasing your mastery of the game. whether 4 hours or 40 hours you cannot have reached that mastery yet, it's simply not possible. And that's not your fault either. I just don't agree with ANYONE judging the difficulty curve when they have not reached the levels to reflect on it. It is like judging a book's plot line in it's first 5 chapters. You have gone further then the cover and you may feel you've done your duty as a reviewer. But the real reflection on the book comes after finishing it. That being said you did well to explain what you have experienced in your 40 hours and what you can see others have done beyond that. You might not experience it yourself, but thats okay. Others might be able to see through your experience and decide for themselves. You almost didn't review it at all. You simply stated that the game isn't for everyone but it might be for whoever is watching and that they should give it a chance before listening to what other reviewers think because of the inherent inability to accurately review a game like this.
Man if only you could have seen 5 years ago some of the reviews for some platinumgames games that have come out since. Like for Astral Chain, all the complaints at the "short" campaign length, only 20 hours... The entire bloody point of platinumgames games is to replay them over and over and get better and better rankings, like dust force. It isn't only a 20 hour game. It's hundreds of hours, as you replay it at higher difficulties and unlock things and get better and better at it and it becomes more and more fun. To play it just once is pointless. The first playthrough is the least fun playthrough. Just like with Devil May Cry, and Viewtiful Joe, and Dust force, and the classic sonic games, and Pacman, and so on.
I've been eyeing this game for a while... Thank you for making this video. I wasn't too sure of it. But watching and listening to your review (along with the gameplay clips) I can see this is worth looking at.
Very awesome review. I love when good, thoughtful critics do reviews like that. It was highly informative, and you really did a good case for this game. +1 Sale.
Man I bought this game on release and perfect scored 90% of the levels, and this makes me want to go back so badly... I really hope they make a sequel or expansion, or a spiritual successor, cos they really did it right, and I still listen to the soundtrack to this day. Also, the old man is awesome!
Thanks for pointing this out. I was interested in this game prior to it's release because of the visuals, but I remember reading a review saying it was basically okay but nothing to write home about. Sounds to me like they didn't "get it" like you seem to have. I just bought the game because of this video, it looks like so much fun and I want to support the developers :)
I love these reviews of overlooked games (I bought and played hours of SpaceChem yesterday) but I notice a sentiment you made on this video is the same as the last one: These under looked games are often hiding in plain sight, and their metacritic suffers for being niche. Which is unfair for the game itself, but metacritic is for the average player compared to the niche. Its a tough problem to solve, but its not as though its not predicted based on how often it happens. The best solution I can come up with is word of mouth, and here it is in delightful video form. Thanks again for the quality content MatthewMatosis.
Good review and yeah it feels like a crime that this game didn't get more recognition (even when capcom was porting this game to systems it didn't seem to get much attention) especially since the developers did such a fantastic job at making such a great experience such as this game here. Hopefully their next game will be more of a success and this game gets the recognition it deserves someday.
I had never heard of this game before but recently kept seeing the name pop up and Im quite intrigued, just from watching the fast paced and smooth gameplay mechanics, it made me think of why there has never been a Sonic game with such an emphasis on a good feel of controls and I would be very happy to see something like that...but Sega...
Love your reviews as always, Matthrewmatosis, I really appreciate the balanced and well-reasoned arguments that you always present. I was wondering what your thoughts were on the way Japanese games tend to get overlooked by western media, just like how things like Dustforce do; just look at the recent E3 hype train where literally dozens of high profile japanese games such as Persona 5 or Psycho-Pass got completely overlooked to talk about lots of, sometimes a little generic, indie games. Love the reviews, keep up the great work, it's a delight every time i see one of your videos in my subscription box.
hey man! if you haven't already purchased the game yourself then I could give you a steam key for free (no joke), just send me a message. you can find various ways to contact me on my channel page.
The leaked trailer for Bloodborne looks fantastic and is what I'm most excited for. The Zelda reveal was a bit lackluster but I really like the cel-shaded style and Aonuma was saying all the right things to sell me on the game. If they deliver on what he was saying I might have a new favourite Zelda on my hands, only time will tell I suppose. Aside from those it was mostly some smaller things that caught my interest like Splatoon and Abzu.
Matthewmatosis Speaking of new Zelda, your guess on the new look? Your Skyward Sword review did have an aside on how Nintendo thinks anything other than how Link appears in OOT as an adult would make people complain. Though personally, I'd say it's a fakeout, and that that's either a tutorial/New Game Plus costume a la Wind Waker, or not Link.
***** Is no one going to mention that they put lasers and mechs in the new Zelda? I was hoping that the new Zelda would convince me to buy a Wii U in the hope it finally had some games worth playing, but then Link gets shot by lasers and it just doesn't make sense for what is supposed to be Nintendo's interpretation of a traditional, medieval fantasy world.
Matthewmatosis Agreed about Bloodborne, It looks incredible. I'm liking the idea of more offensive combat a lot. I actually stumbled across the leaked gameplay before it was on youtube. Uploaded it first, then 2 hours later someone else threw their watermark on it, did the same and got all the views because that's how youtube works :P What's weird though is I found it on one of those anonymous file upload sites, I guess whoever leaked it just left it there for someone to find. Mysterious!
As someone who has enjoyed playing internet platformers for a while now. I look forward to giving this a go. Especially as its received high price from both yourself and Sexbad. Two of my favourite reviewers on youtube.
Great video, as always. I've been looking for an excuse to play Dustforce since its release, and I think that this informative video has finally given me enough confidence in the game to do so. :)
As someone who's got double-S on all regular levels as well (and good effin' gods the final levels...), I think you've done a good job describing it. It is indeed not a game for everyone, but for all the people out there who love to run through Mario or Sonic games at high speed, I urge you to take a look at Dustforce.
Truth be told, I feel like you need to make these videos more often, they are very informative and fun to listen to, at least that is what I feel. Not sure what you're doing, but I wish you luck on your stuff
Fabulous video - Dustforce is an absolutely brilliant game and one which almost precisely achieves what it set out to do. It's rare to see a platformer with things like cancels and precisely timed elements in them, but Dustforce has it!
played the demo and spent more time on it than the total fans spent on ground zeroes. Unfortunately, college graduates without jobs are the bane of support. Year later, still looking, this brings pleasant memories.
The first time I heard about this game was while I was in a skype call with two friends. One of them mentioned they were thinking of buying the game. The other friend told them it wasn't a good idea because it was just another artsy indie platformer. The first friend said, "yeah, you're probably right" and didn't buy the game. I thought of that conversation when you were talking about why the game is under rated.
dustforce is love dustforce is life, i also ever felt that the game never received the deserved praise, people like to compare with super meat boy but in the reality the games are much different. Meanwhile repeating SMB levels were a pain in the ass for me, dieing in dustforce never made me rage quit the game or anything praise hitbox team
I have a friend who played this game and streamed it for a few weeks. He pretty much said the exact same things about the game and it showed in the stream that the game valued tight gameplay and challenge. It's a shame that critics bashed irrationally and not a lot of people bought it.
I've got nearly 300 hours in this game, and I still boot it up to play custom levels almost daily. The only real criticism I have for this game is the underdeveloped multiplayer, which is unfortunately local only. Also, get it on PC, the console ports are bad.
Having done an in-depth review on this game myself, I'm glad we have some mutual grounds. It's a shame reviewers panned it just because of the game's difficulty, because diving into the game more, and there are so many pluses ready to be dug. The chilly music really fits into the fluid platforming the game is trying to focus on, fanning frustration is also true. Camera works, mechanics that have layers, awesome theme. Man I hope more people will give it a try despite it being an old game now.
This guy's opinion on games are so thorough and well thought out that if he told me he to buy a game because it was good, I would probably do it on the spot...just like I did with dust force :P Its not even really my kind of game, but hell its $10 and its fun and it supports indie developers so why not.
I tried the PS3 demo when it came out, but due to financial difficulties was unable to pick it up. I think I'll give it another try though. I do like hard (but fair) platformers, and getting that perfect run is the reason I poured more hours into Sonic Unleashed and Generations than I'm proud of. I'll recommend it to my friend too. He likes to perfect his technique, so maybe there's something in here for him. God video as always Matthewmatosis.
Having watched your video on it inspired me to redownload the game. One of the reasons for that is I never knew that that quickfall mechanic exists in the game. I have yet to be able to figure out how to do it on my own after ten or so minutes of attempting it. People in the comments here lampooning folks who like Super Meat Boy/Dark Souls but dislike this game probably don't really get the criticisms thrown at it. Super Meat Boy is an extremely mechanically simple game: you press one button to jump, have a directional input, and can hold a trigger to make yourself run faster. Your only context-sensitive input is wall-jumping, which uses the same initial jump button, and is immediately intuitive. Dark Souls, while esoteric in terms of progression at times, never hides something as vital as its control scheme: you get every bit of information you need out of the Northern Undead Asylum, and it's up to you to remember them all, which honestly is not too difficult a task. The true difficulty in Dark Souls lays in its immediately unique nature, relative to other action games. It's much more passive, and about making smart, quick decisions that are about time micromanagement. It never doesn't tell me I can jump by hitting the run button while running. Dustforce, contrarily, hides something so seemingly vital as the quick hop, or being able to wall jump and reverse your jump to quickly ascend a wall. My impression of this mechanic was that it involved either having a parallel wall to quickly ascend, or using one of your broom swings to afford yourself another jump, which you can then use to jump back into the wall. Apparently, judging by some of the footage in your video, I'm incorrect. I haven't yet watched any footage of how one can pull off one of these more seemingly-advanced maneuvers, but I don't really feel like in 2014 I should have to. I think the problem with the game is in its presentation, but not visually or in terms of sound design. Its about the game's inability to clearly communicate to the player what it is. If I'm playing a platformer, why do I have manually map controls to my 360 controller? Why am I constantly getting lost looking for new levels in the mid-game overworld? How come I still don't seem to have a complete grasp on the simple act of playing this game? I think these are lessons the Hitbox team have probably learned a lot about since Dustforce, and I hope they can make Spire a more fluid experience, because I'm just not sure Dustforce is worth the hassle.
I somehow found the soundtrack of the game a few years ago on youtube. I really like it and still listen to it. This is the first time I see gameplay and I have not imagened a hard jump´n run when listening to that music.
I got this game in one of the Humble Bundles. I really didn't expect to get into it as much as I did, but eventually I managed to S rank all of the main levels and unlock the secret world. I would rank it among my most satisfying achievements in gaming. I could only beat one of the secret levels though. Damn they were hard...
Another great review, Matt. Opened my mind to some of the things I'd never really thought about what with the hypocrisy in reviews. Was this game selected from the list of indie games that you got from your Twitter followers a while ago? Just curious, because I'd love to see you review some of those games.
No it wasn't from the list, I chose this one manually. I thought it might be nice to do something more positive after the Dark Souls 2 video. I'm hoping to get around to more of those small games soon but it hasn't been going well. I'm not sure they're conductive to my reviewing style.
It's great how much the sales and Humble Bundle helped, the sad part is that now people rarely buy games that are not on sale (I got it with the Humble Bundle). They were lucky to get the startup money from the competition and I wouldn't mind if they did a small Kickstarter for Spire, a good indie game can secure a bit of funding to make it to the release date and also gage the player response :)
Wow, I didn't know Dustforce did so poorly. That is a real shame. I absolutely loved this game, and I watched a couple of speedruns and they are jaw-dropping. Real shame to have to call this game "underrated", what the hell is wrong with the games journalism scene?
Sales-wise its done alright. Critics have not like it though. Every few months there's another bad review from someone with no understanding of the game complaining about "slippery controls" when the controls are some of the tightest I've ever seen in a platformer.
Rewatching this review again after having played and adored this game for years, and it's still as good a look at this game as it was back then. This really is an excellent game, and it remains one I find myself always going back to. While I doubt you'll notice a random comment on an old video, I wanted to throw this at you anyway: Have you tried Umihara Kawase? Like Dustforce it is a rather difficult abtract platformer, though unlike Dustforce it's far more free form, down to allowing the player to select their progress path through going to different exit doors in stages. I find some folk who appreciate Dustforce also tend to find value in Umihara Kawase, even though the two games are very different.
Watched this video ages ago but I'm finally getting the game now it is on sale on EU PSN.The demo was great and all of the DLC is free too. I'll probably look into the DX version on PC as well.
Total biscuit brought me here and i must say Matthew is one of many youtubers that give me the pro consumer information that only improves our gaming community as a whole...Thank you I really listen to all your videos and make sure i take off ad block to try and help you out a bit, you deserve it mate =]
I bought this game on your recommendation and really wanna get into it, but am having trouble getting used to the controls which feel very digital. I'm not used to my guy in platformers feeling so... sticky? I really wanna like this game and am gonna keep giving it a try, but the controls aren't what I'm used to in platformers.
Okay you know what I'm making breakthroughs. My thumb hurts like hell, but I'm SSing levels. I can see this being a fun game to play for a few minutes to an hour in between doing other stuff.
What are the odds, I bought this game not too long on GOG's summer sale today. I really enjoyed it, though I think the controls feels floaty, not as tight as I thought it would have been. I am still getting used to it.
I believe I heard about this game through /v/ right around its release. Its an incredibly fun challenge though I am not dedicated enough for the later or even midgame levels.
The Dustforce OST is one of my favourites. It helps reduce my rage at failing to S rank every level.
Jorji!
@@abyzzwalker The Dustforce soundtrack would be remixed by Marshmello, despite being sung by Linkin Park. I'm sure that the company has been lost rights to Dustforce in the many regions of the world between 2017 and 2019, despite both Tom and Jerry and Looney Tunes have been not related to Dustforce itself.
Emia means presence in blood
@@r3zaful I know, but why doesn't Dustforce have anything to do with Tom and Jerry, Looney Tunes and Linkin Park?
@@staspastukh2005 what the hell is this comment
Coming back 5 years later to say that I still can't play platformers, but that I've recommended this to all my friends who do. Each of them thats tried it loves it, and knowing that their second game will not be like it has me so excited to finally give them some playtime
Excellent video. I agree with everything you said here, but there's another thing that made me love Dustforce so much more when I discovered them: secret areas.
The whole game is set up to have you getting through the levels via the path they've laid out for you with the dust/leaves/garbage/slime, and it feels soooo great when you finally string it all together and it looks so effortless. But what's this? If I just leave the dust trail behind, let my combo break, and explore the levels, I can find this cool little place off to the side. Maybe the music changes while I'm here. Maybe the camera zooms out and lets me see the starry sky. Maybe the whole screen changes to black silhouettes on a pink background.
What's the point? This is my favorite part. There is none, gameplay-wise. They can be tricky to get to--and even trickier to find--but you as a player gain nothing from the secret areas. In fact, getting to them almost guarantees you won't be getting that SS rank on this run. But they weren't meant for you as a player. They were meant for you as a person. You get to see this cool little thing and wonder how many other people that have played this level got to see it, too. You can already feel that Hitbox Team put a lot of soul into the game just playing through it, but the secret areas push it above and beyond. Make the game feel that much more alive.
The mechanics governing your movement, especially the way you "earn" more jumps, are perfectly designed. It's such a gratifying game for those who enjoy working out efficient pathing.
This video introduced me to my favorite game of all time, and for that I am forever grateful. Thanks Matthew.
Matt, I can assure you I knew nothing of this game whatsoever. I have only recently found your videos, and the first video of yours I ever watched was the Oddworld comparison one, because Oddworld is my all time favorite game. I can easily tell you that your video did its job very well, because I have bought Dustforce exactly right after watching your video about it. Thank you for introducing me to this awesome game. Anyone reading this comment, I urge you to do the same.
Ironically enough, this video ended up being a video I often overlooked from your channel. Watching it now, I'm pretty satisfied I gave it a chance, and will probably be just as kind to Dustforce now because of it.
I gotta say, not many youtubers that I get ecstatic to see a video from, despite the content. Love what you do here, will continue to recommend to everyone that will listen.
I swear if they release this on switch it would take off, I don't know what would be required to port it to switch but seems like it would do well there
for sure
I'll never beat "Backup Shift" or "Hideout"
This was the last plase i expected to see a comment of a stop motion mincraft youtuber
You prolly dont give a damn but does anybody know of a method to get back into an Instagram account?
I stupidly forgot my login password. I love any assistance you can give me.
@Omari Walter instablaster =)
@@omariwalter3539 my question is. How did you end up asking a randon yourube comment section insted if youre frends
@@matsthecat3401 it’s two bots trying to trick people into using a scam service
holy crap a friend randomly mentioned this game a few days ago, i'd never heard of it before, i got it, SS'd all the main hub worlds, and am working on the difficults right now. and i wouldn't even consider myself a big platformer or speedrunner. i just like good games, and this one is almost perfect.
it's scary how similar our thoughts were. i'm really happy to see you spreading the word
ok proud dad moment my step son made this game :)' im glad you gave such a good review
it's truly a great game
your son has made one of my favorite games of all time, please send him regards from me!
Sends him regards from me
Thanks for this review, it made me go out and buy the game. In fact every single one of your reviews is a pleasure to watch. Because every single second is filled with intelligent thought. This is no exaggeration, you seem to have a penchant for brevity, others would take 5 times as long to deliver the exact same content. The length of your reviews reflects a refreshing depth I don't see anywhere else, rather then the usual pointless drivel so common on youtube. In any case keep it man, you're stellar. And I hope you get more successful.
I think even the whole "dust" theme of the game is particularly inspired. It's like the developers took that satisfying feeling of running your finger over a dusty surface in one motion and made it into a game. I'm very glad I was able to discover this gem through videos like this. I've always been a huge fan of the Sonic the Hedgehog series, and Dustforce really scratches that itch for fast-paced, performance based platformers. It's not aping Sonic by any means, but it hits a lot of those notes that drew me into that series.
I knew I loved this channel for a reason. Dustforce is one my favorite games and definitely my favorite platformer. Really glad that it's getting more attention and I hope more people who want a mechanical platformer will hear about it from you.
DX update took away your complaint about lack of easy levels which are still fun to speedrun.
I know it's been almost five years since you posted this video, but it just so happens that I bought Dustforce somewhat recently and played a fair amount of it, and I can say without hesitation that it's one of the very best 2D platformers ever created. I'm glad to see there were some people who truly apreciated this game when it came out, as much as I do now (although the replays in the game speak for themselves). It's truly a shame that a gem like this will be missed by so many players due to biased reviewers and some people who judged it without understanding it.
I completely agree with your analysis. I came to Dustforce a long time after once I found the sound track and decided to play the game it came from. I was blown away at how good of a job it did with challenging me and making me still calm. If I want to restart a level, let me restart the level, not watch an opening sequence, you get right into the gameplay with Dustforce.
The early levels still have a difficulty to me and while I'm horrible at it, I still recommend it to anyone who likes platformers since it seems to do such a fantastic job at it.
LIFEFORMED, follow that musician. He's extremely good and its sad this game is underrated, I bought the game because of his music, and seeing the long development hell of Tunic, a Legend of Zelda-style game about a fox wearing a tunic and wielding a sword really is going to have superb music.
If I recall correctly, the developers made a post on their subreddit quite some time ago expressing surprise with how many players were actually able to complete the game's final challenges with double S ranks. If ever there was a sign that a game is tough-as-nails, it's when even the *developer* doesn't think you'll be finishing any time soon.
I think that Lifeformed, the musician, just completed it SS+ for the first time a few months ago.
ERT WETW did he? I can't wait to be able to see the leaderboards on that level so I can check! (For those that don't know, the last few levels don't let you watch other players runs until you complete the level.)
ERT WETW did he? I can't wait to be able to see the leaderboards on that level so I can check! (For those that don't know, the last few levels don't let you watch other players runs until you complete the level.)
dragoslove
You can watch the replay if you put Yotta in your custom map folder ^^
Badger the SS+ achievement is for ssing giga though :P
I can't wait for whatever they make next.
Sounds great.
Sentay0 That does sound really cool
that LOOK really good too www.gfycat.com/ElatedQueasyBabirusa
@@graviiax I hope it can run on my potato when it comes out in 70 years!
New game is cancelled. Rip
Awesome video as usual. You really do inspire me as an English major who is interested in teaching the critique of various mediums of pop cultures.
I got dustforce in an indie Humble Bundle sale and it is one of the best 2d platformers I've ever played. It's such a high quality game that sits at such a great price. The amount of appreciation for this game that I see online is heartbreaking, because it really is that good. I'm glad to hear that Team Hitbox made enough money from Dustforce to fund the development of their next game. They're obviously a talented bunch that has whatever it takes to make a classic platformer.
The replay value is great, too. I've had this game for over four years now and I know I can always come back to it and have an enjoyable experience (especially with the level editor). I've never had a moment where I'm bored with this game, and if I ever put the controller down it's only because I lack the determination to keep practicing and improving.
I don't mean to say this game is flawless. It's not perfect, and there are certainly a couple of levels I thought could have been designed a bit better. In particular, I thought the combat-heavy levels where you're enclosed in a small space with lots of enemies were not as fun to play and didn't provide that same experience of flowing through a deliberately designed platforming challenge unless you were a player of the same caliber as those at the top of the leader boards.
Despite having a few levels I could have done without, I think Dustforce is an incredible game. It's one that I'll never forget, could recommend to anyone who likes challenging platformers, and I think it will withstand the test of time for as long as people still have a desire to play platformers. If this video wasn't enough to convince you of how awesome dustforce is, then listen to me, and go ahead and get it!
Fantastic review as always! You really sold me on the game, I never even knew it existed until now unfortunately.
I played Dustforce and reviewed it when it came out a couple of years ago. Thoroughly enjoyed it and gave it a high recommendation. I kinda sucked at it, and got frustrated trying to get past particular levels and such, but it was just so wonderfully made and the controls were so responsive, I couldn't help but love it all the same.
Nice review and post-mortem look on how great it is, as well as possible reasons it didn't do so well.
Came over from Rags recommending you in his vid on Polygon article regarding BioShock infinite & Trump, and I have to say I'm not disappointed in the slightest. I played this game WAY more than expected when I got my Vita, and I'm beyond happy to see someone explaining how intricate and truly enjoyable this game is. I can't say this any more genuinely: thank you. Keep up the great work! Time to binge the rest of your vids
The soundtrack from this game is master piece.
Great thoughts on a great game. Much like for you, this game flew completely under my radar a couple of years ago and only picked it up a couple of months ago. It's one of the most exhilarating platformers I've ever played.
But you failed to mention one of the more compelling features of this game, the same thing that made the Trials games so infinitely replayable: the level editor! There's a slew of great user-created levels out there for you to try as well, focusing on anything from difficulty to speed to aesthetics. You really oughtta check it out!
A Solid review from you can convince me to buy pretty much anything, you're my favorite reviewer for video games, keep on doing what you do :)
Aww, no word about the level creator? It's remarkably efficient and fun to use.
There's a level creator?! Damnit, where's my wallet!?
Arexion5293 And an official level sharing website with hundreds (has it gone past 1K yet? Not sure) of excellent user created levels. -> atlas.dustforce.com/
Arexion5293 Yes, that too!
Kuroonehalf Seems the amount of maps submitted so far ranks in at 1290.
And great new levels are almost coming out on a daily basis.
I think it's the first (major?) mistake he did so far. Sorry Matt, All you get is a SS rank.
After comparing DX and the original, I think the complaints about difficulty comes from the hub world design. DX locks its more difficult levels behind platforming skill as well as keys and has no worlds. The original, on the other hand, divides the map into four distinct worlds and only has key requirements. This can lead to players feeling a need to finish the "first world" before moving on. So, instead of learning the game, players can feel a need to play some of the hardest levels before they can move on to the easier levels of the next world.
Nice! I'm always pumped when you upload a video man.
GREAT information. Buying this right now - thanks TB for sending me your way and you've got a new subscriber for sure!
Beautiful review of a beautiful game.
Just found your channel and I am so very glad I did.
Great review. Happy to see more content here...
As a top dustforce player. Congratulations on being easily the best review of the game I have seen to date. I strongly dislike every review of dustforce I have seen because, at its core, the game was never meant to be reviewed. It is a game about progression as a player, steadily increasing your mastery of the game. whether 4 hours or 40 hours you cannot have reached that mastery yet, it's simply not possible. And that's not your fault either. I just don't agree with ANYONE judging the difficulty curve when they have not reached the levels to reflect on it. It is like judging a book's plot line in it's first 5 chapters. You have gone further then the cover and you may feel you've done your duty as a reviewer. But the real reflection on the book comes after finishing it.
That being said you did well to explain what you have experienced in your 40 hours and what you can see others have done beyond that. You might not experience it yourself, but thats okay. Others might be able to see through your experience and decide for themselves. You almost didn't review it at all. You simply stated that the game isn't for everyone but it might be for whoever is watching and that they should give it a chance before listening to what other reviewers think because of the inherent inability to accurately review a game like this.
Man if only you could have seen 5 years ago some of the reviews for some platinumgames games that have come out since. Like for Astral Chain, all the complaints at the "short" campaign length, only 20 hours... The entire bloody point of platinumgames games is to replay them over and over and get better and better rankings, like dust force. It isn't only a 20 hour game. It's hundreds of hours, as you replay it at higher difficulties and unlock things and get better and better at it and it becomes more and more fun. To play it just once is pointless. The first playthrough is the least fun playthrough. Just like with Devil May Cry, and Viewtiful Joe, and Dust force, and the classic sonic games, and Pacman, and so on.
I'm almost certain Matthew is referring to Super Meat Boy's world 7 @ 4:34
Great review as always, definitely going to try this one out.
Great video, this game deserves more exposure.
When you present into the emergency room
I've been eyeing this game for a while... Thank you for making this video. I wasn't too sure of it. But watching and listening to your review (along with the gameplay clips) I can see this is worth looking at.
Very awesome review. I love when good, thoughtful critics do reviews like that. It was highly informative, and you really did a good case for this game.
+1 Sale.
Fantastic review. I saw videos on this and didn't care much until this well thought out review. Definitely going to purchase it when i get the chance.
Man I bought this game on release and perfect scored 90% of the levels, and this makes me want to go back so badly... I really hope they make a sequel or expansion, or a spiritual successor, cos they really did it right, and I still listen to the soundtrack to this day. Also, the old man is awesome!
Thanks for pointing this out. I was interested in this game prior to it's release because of the visuals, but I remember reading a review saying it was basically okay but nothing to write home about. Sounds to me like they didn't "get it" like you seem to have. I just bought the game because of this video, it looks like so much fun and I want to support the developers :)
Thanks Matthew for informing me of this game's existence. Hopefully this will be on the Steam summer sale
I love these reviews of overlooked games (I bought and played hours of SpaceChem yesterday) but I notice a sentiment you made on this video is the same as the last one: These under looked games are often hiding in plain sight, and their metacritic suffers for being niche. Which is unfair for the game itself, but metacritic is for the average player compared to the niche. Its a tough problem to solve, but its not as though its not predicted based on how often it happens. The best solution I can come up with is word of mouth, and here it is in delightful video form. Thanks again for the quality content MatthewMatosis.
Bought this in a humble bundle once and never looked at it but now I'm most certainly interested due to the insight you provided.
Good review and yeah it feels like a crime that this game didn't get more recognition (even when capcom was porting this game to systems it didn't seem to get much attention) especially since the developers did such a fantastic job at making such a great experience such as this game here. Hopefully their next game will be more of a success and this game gets the recognition it deserves someday.
I had never heard of this game before but recently kept seeing the name pop up and Im quite intrigued, just from watching the fast paced and smooth gameplay mechanics, it made me think of why there has never been a Sonic game with such an emphasis on a good feel of controls and I would be very happy to see something like that...but Sega...
oh the joy when I see a new upload by you
Wow... I am so glad that I found your channel. Amazing and balanced review.
Incredible review! Matthewmatosis hitting the nail on the head!
Love your reviews as always, Matthrewmatosis, I really appreciate the balanced and well-reasoned arguments that you always present.
I was wondering what your thoughts were on the way Japanese games tend to get overlooked by western media, just like how things like Dustforce do; just look at the recent E3 hype train where literally dozens of high profile japanese games such as Persona 5 or Psycho-Pass got completely overlooked to talk about lots of, sometimes a little generic, indie games.
Love the reviews, keep up the great work, it's a delight every time i see one of your videos in my subscription box.
I’ll have to check it out. Love to support quality underrated titles
hey man! if you haven't already purchased the game yourself then I could give you a steam key for free (no joke), just send me a message. you can find various ways to contact me on my channel page.
Great review as always, and love to hear you shed light on reviewer mindsets like this.
Your opinion on E3 hype? Anything general or specific?
The leaked trailer for Bloodborne looks fantastic and is what I'm most excited for. The Zelda reveal was a bit lackluster but I really like the cel-shaded style and Aonuma was saying all the right things to sell me on the game. If they deliver on what he was saying I might have a new favourite Zelda on my hands, only time will tell I suppose. Aside from those it was mostly some smaller things that caught my interest like Splatoon and Abzu.
Matthewmatosis Speaking of new Zelda, your guess on the new look? Your Skyward Sword review did have an aside on how Nintendo thinks anything other than how Link appears in OOT as an adult would make people complain. Though personally, I'd say it's a fakeout, and that that's either a tutorial/New Game Plus costume a la Wind Waker, or not Link.
***** Is no one going to mention that they put lasers and mechs in the new Zelda? I was hoping that the new Zelda would convince me to buy a Wii U in the hope it finally had some games worth playing, but then Link gets shot by lasers and it just doesn't make sense for what is supposed to be Nintendo's interpretation of a traditional, medieval fantasy world.
Matthewmatosis Agreed about Bloodborne, It looks incredible. I'm liking the idea of more offensive combat a lot.
I actually stumbled across the leaked gameplay before it was on youtube. Uploaded it first, then 2 hours later someone else threw their watermark on it, did the same and got all the views because that's how youtube works :P
What's weird though is I found it on one of those anonymous file upload sites, I guess whoever leaked it just left it there for someone to find. Mysterious!
KillerKingMusic Oh, so I guess Zelda has been a betrayal since ALTTP, when they introduced Beamos.
As someone who has enjoyed playing internet platformers for a while now. I look forward to giving this a go. Especially as its received high price from both yourself and Sexbad. Two of my favourite reviewers on youtube.
Matt, I want to stand in front of a mirror with you, pumping our biceps synchronized.
This actually looks really good. I'll try it out sometime.
@Fihlippe Luhis I did. I enjoyed it a lot. Very unique and fun game if you enjoy challenging platformers.
I hadn't even heard of this game till you made this video. I just bought it due to your recommendation. Hope you make more of these videos.
Great video, as always.
I've been looking for an excuse to play Dustforce since its release, and I think that this informative video has finally given me enough confidence in the game to do so. :)
Dustforce is on sale for vita right now for 2.99. Definitely picking it up.
As someone who's got double-S on all regular levels as well (and good effin' gods the final levels...), I think you've done a good job describing it. It is indeed not a game for everyone, but for all the people out there who love to run through Mario or Sonic games at high speed, I urge you to take a look at Dustforce.
One of the greatest critiques i've ever seen.
Truth be told, I feel like you need to make these videos more often, they are very informative and fun to listen to, at least that is what I feel.
Not sure what you're doing, but I wish you luck on your stuff
Fabulous video - Dustforce is an absolutely brilliant game and one which almost precisely achieves what it set out to do. It's rare to see a platformer with things like cancels and precisely timed elements in them, but Dustforce has it!
Amazing content as always, Matt
played the demo and spent more time on it than the total fans spent on ground zeroes. Unfortunately, college graduates without jobs are the bane of support. Year later, still looking, this brings pleasant memories.
I love this guy, he is my favorite video game critic on RUclips.
The first time I heard about this game was while I was in a skype call with two friends. One of them mentioned they were thinking of buying the game. The other friend told them it wasn't a good idea because it was just another artsy indie platformer. The first friend said, "yeah, you're probably right" and didn't buy the game.
I thought of that conversation when you were talking about why the game is under rated.
dustforce is love dustforce is life, i also ever felt that the game never received the deserved praise, people like to compare with super meat boy but in the reality the games are much different. Meanwhile repeating SMB levels were a pain in the ass for me, dieing in dustforce never made me rage quit the game or anything
praise hitbox team
Awesome work as always, thanks for bringing this one to my attention.
I just bought this game from Humble Bundle today and was pleasantly surprised.
Also I just wanted to say, Matthewmatosis you're a very good writer.
I have a friend who played this game and streamed it for a few weeks. He pretty much said the exact same things about the game and it showed in the stream that the game valued tight gameplay and challenge. It's a shame that critics bashed irrationally and not a lot of people bought it.
after watching Mathew's review on this I wonder what his thoughts on spelunky is I personally haven't played it I just wonder what he thinks.
this game made my dwindling self-esteem crumble just looking at the leaderboards 😂
I've got nearly 300 hours in this game, and I still boot it up to play custom levels almost daily.
The only real criticism I have for this game is the underdeveloped multiplayer, which is unfortunately local only.
Also, get it on PC, the console ports are bad.
Having done an in-depth review on this game myself, I'm glad we have some mutual grounds. It's a shame reviewers panned it just because of the game's difficulty, because diving into the game more, and there are so many pluses ready to be dug. The chilly music really fits into the fluid platforming the game is trying to focus on, fanning frustration is also true. Camera works, mechanics that have layers, awesome theme. Man I hope more people will give it a try despite it being an old game now.
I love dustforce so much! I played hundreds of hours back in the day and even got one world record, and rank 2 on the tutorial
This guy's opinion on games are so thorough and well thought out that if he told me he to buy a game because it was good, I would probably do it on the spot...just like I did with dust force :P Its not even really my kind of game, but hell its $10 and its fun and it supports indie developers so why not.
I tried the PS3 demo when it came out, but due to financial difficulties was unable to pick it up. I think I'll give it another try though. I do like hard (but fair) platformers, and getting that perfect run is the reason I poured more hours into Sonic Unleashed and Generations than I'm proud of.
I'll recommend it to my friend too. He likes to perfect his technique, so maybe there's something in here for him.
God video as always Matthewmatosis.
watching those dust levels is setting off my allergies
Been playing this game for 10+ hours, did not know you could dash straight down.
Having watched your video on it inspired me to redownload the game. One of the reasons for that is I never knew that that quickfall mechanic exists in the game. I have yet to be able to figure out how to do it on my own after ten or so minutes of attempting it. People in the comments here lampooning folks who like Super Meat Boy/Dark Souls but dislike this game probably don't really get the criticisms thrown at it. Super Meat Boy is an extremely mechanically simple game: you press one button to jump, have a directional input, and can hold a trigger to make yourself run faster. Your only context-sensitive input is wall-jumping, which uses the same initial jump button, and is immediately intuitive. Dark Souls, while esoteric in terms of progression at times, never hides something as vital as its control scheme: you get every bit of information you need out of the Northern Undead Asylum, and it's up to you to remember them all, which honestly is not too difficult a task. The true difficulty in Dark Souls lays in its immediately unique nature, relative to other action games. It's much more passive, and about making smart, quick decisions that are about time micromanagement. It never doesn't tell me I can jump by hitting the run button while running. Dustforce, contrarily, hides something so seemingly vital as the quick hop, or being able to wall jump and reverse your jump to quickly ascend a wall. My impression of this mechanic was that it involved either having a parallel wall to quickly ascend, or using one of your broom swings to afford yourself another jump, which you can then use to jump back into the wall. Apparently, judging by some of the footage in your video, I'm incorrect. I haven't yet watched any footage of how one can pull off one of these more seemingly-advanced maneuvers, but I don't really feel like in 2014 I should have to. I think the problem with the game is in its presentation, but not visually or in terms of sound design. Its about the game's inability to clearly communicate to the player what it is. If I'm playing a platformer, why do I have manually map controls to my 360 controller? Why am I constantly getting lost looking for new levels in the mid-game overworld? How come I still don't seem to have a complete grasp on the simple act of playing this game? I think these are lessons the Hitbox team have probably learned a lot about since Dustforce, and I hope they can make Spire a more fluid experience, because I'm just not sure Dustforce is worth the hassle.
I somehow found the soundtrack of the game a few years ago on youtube. I really like it and still listen to it.
This is the first time I see gameplay and I have not imagened a hard jump´n run when listening to that music.
Incredible video as always
I got this game in one of the Humble Bundles. I really didn't expect to get into it as much as I did, but eventually I managed to S rank all of the main levels and unlock the secret world. I would rank it among my most satisfying achievements in gaming. I could only beat one of the secret levels though. Damn they were hard...
Another great review, Matt. Opened my mind to some of the things I'd never really thought about what with the hypocrisy in reviews.
Was this game selected from the list of indie games that you got from your Twitter followers a while ago? Just curious, because I'd love to see you review some of those games.
No it wasn't from the list, I chose this one manually. I thought it might be nice to do something more positive after the Dark Souls 2 video. I'm hoping to get around to more of those small games soon but it hasn't been going well. I'm not sure they're conductive to my reviewing style.
just found this game on psn , one of my new faves now
It's great how much the sales and Humble Bundle helped, the sad part is that now people rarely buy games that are not on sale (I got it with the Humble Bundle). They were lucky to get the startup money from the competition and I wouldn't mind if they did a small Kickstarter for Spire, a good indie game can secure a bit of funding to make it to the release date and also gage the player response :)
Wow, I didn't know Dustforce did so poorly. That is a real shame. I absolutely loved this game, and I watched a couple of speedruns and they are jaw-dropping. Real shame to have to call this game "underrated", what the hell is wrong with the games journalism scene?
Sales-wise its done alright. Critics have not like it though. Every few months there's another bad review from someone with no understanding of the game complaining about "slippery controls" when the controls are some of the tightest I've ever seen in a platformer.
Is too simplistic, so failure was expected
@@Raylightsen How? Tetris is simple as fuck and it's universal loved.
Rewatching this review again after having played and adored this game for years, and it's still as good a look at this game as it was back then. This really is an excellent game, and it remains one I find myself always going back to.
While I doubt you'll notice a random comment on an old video, I wanted to throw this at you anyway: Have you tried Umihara Kawase? Like Dustforce it is a rather difficult abtract platformer, though unlike Dustforce it's far more free form, down to allowing the player to select their progress path through going to different exit doors in stages. I find some folk who appreciate Dustforce also tend to find value in Umihara Kawase, even though the two games are very different.
Watched this video ages ago but I'm finally getting the game now it is on sale on EU PSN.The demo was great and all of the DLC is free too.
I'll probably look into the DX version on PC as well.
Total biscuit brought me here and i must say Matthew is one of many youtubers that give me the pro consumer information that only improves our gaming community as a whole...Thank you I really listen to all your videos and make sure i take off ad block to try and help you out a bit, you deserve it mate =]
I bought this game on your recommendation and really wanna get into it, but am having trouble getting used to the controls which feel very digital. I'm not used to my guy in platformers feeling so... sticky? I really wanna like this game and am gonna keep giving it a try, but the controls aren't what I'm used to in platformers.
Okay you know what I'm making breakthroughs. My thumb hurts like hell, but I'm SSing levels. I can see this being a fun game to play for a few minutes to an hour in between doing other stuff.
What are the odds, I bought this game not too long on GOG's summer sale today. I really enjoyed it, though I think the controls feels floaty, not as tight as I thought it would have been. I am still getting used to it.
I believe I heard about this game through /v/ right around its release. Its an incredibly fun challenge though I am not dedicated enough for the later or even midgame levels.
Now that was a great review, top job!
Dust Force is on sale right now for $4.99 on steam!
I just bought it because of this review.
I found this game recently. It's awesome af. More people need to know about it.
I will buy this at the end of the month.