REVIEW: ‘Duskfade’ Wants To Look Forward By Looking Backwards

At this point, indie revivals of previous decades of gaming’s history are their own cottage industry. If there’s a console generation that has any fans, there are at least several games trying to recreate those memories. Duskfade, from developer Weird Beluga, is such a game. In this particular case, Duskfade wants to remind players of the millennial golden egg of games: the PlayStation 2 platformer. 

Duskfade follows Zirian, a young boy who finds himself on a quest to rescue his sister from a massive clock tower that appears in their town and freezes time all over the world. Together with a mysterious mechanical cuckoo bird and his late grandfather’s clock-themed sword, Zirian has to travel the world to unlink the tower, discovering the secrets of the clockmakers his family descends from. 

Normally, it would be trite to focus too much on a game’s inspirations, but Duskfade wears every influence on its sleeve. Pretty regularly, games like Jak and Daxter, Treyarch’s Spider-Man 2 adaptation, and especially Kingdom Hearts spring to mind. These games helped build the fundamentals of 3D platforming and action from the ‘2000s: wide spaces, tall ledges, and a sense of fluidity to the motion. 

There’s a freedom to exploration in Duskfade.

When it comes to motion, Duskfade showcases a mastery of its fundamentals. In an act of true wisdom, Duskfade doesn’t lock movement behind upgrades or unlocks. Instead, Zirian can double jump and dive right from the start, with more tools earned to expand on this freedom.

As a result, it is easy to get into the groove of just moving through Duskfade’s thoughtfully designed biomes. Each area is designed to guide the eyes to accessible locations, and there’s nearly zero friction navigating through them. Each expedition is a joy just to run around in. 

A reasonable amount of collectibles are scattered around for going off the beaten path. Most aren’t critical but do unlock the classic kinds of unlocks – music, costumes, and the like. Some of these have small mini-games tied to them that are probably unnecessary, but they’re fully optional.

The vibrancy and lush colors of the world are a major highlight.

Upgrade resources for Zirian’s abilities are also out in the world, but these critical resources have to be found and collected. Just as the biome’s main paths are generally discernible, these side paths are often simple enough to discern for those willing to take in the sights. 

Those sights are a wonder to behold. Duskfade‘s environments are lush with color and excellent light that evolves as Zirian’s quest continues. While there are only four biomes to explore, each is made up of smaller sections that each have their own personality. Going to the early volcanic area doesn’t just put Zirian on a mountain to climb, but at the village sitting at the base, only for him to fall into the abandoned mines below. 

Moving from section to section often requires a moment to take in the new environment. Most bring their own color palettes and atmosphere that fit together through a cohesive overarching art design. Balancing unique environments with the need to make a believable whole is tough, but Duskfade makes it look easy.  

Duskfade struggles to maintain its initial energy once combat is introduced.

Something changes when Duskfade moves away from exploration and into combat. Once Zirian has his grandfather’s sword Minutero in hand, he begins moving like a lead ball. Every combat action has several animations, opening Zirian up to damage for the crime of fighting back. There is a dodge available, but it also takes a little too long to wind up. The promise of a perfect dodge does not offer relief. 

Combat encounters do feature interesting enemies with various elements to manage, but they slam against the wall that is trying to manage combat. Often times it’s best to just rely on Zirian’s run speed to divide and conqueror as opposed to the keyblade swinging of Kingdom Hearts that Duskfade is going for.  

In particular, this robs the excellent boss designs of their full impact. Each main boss offers a drastically different challenge to solve and are distinctive visually. Mid-bosses have a thematic tie between them that lead to some shared patterns but they too are striking. All bosses come with some very strong musical tracks that help soften the frustration brought by Zirian’s combat skills. 

The story makes a point to show a character outgrowing his limitations. 

Zirian is also just frustrating in general. True to the nature of its inspiration, Duskfade‘s lead is a bit idealistic and has his head in the clouds. However, he lacks the charm that helps these kinds of characters (see: Kingdom Hearts protagonists) avoid being grating.

Multiple times, especially in the first few hours, Zirian demonstrates disregard for those around him. Not intentionally so, but more in an immature and dense way. As the game progresses it becomes clear the point is to outgrow these limitations. That still requires caring enough to want to see that growth, and Zirian spends a lot of the game lacking that level of appeal. 

Thankfully, it also becomes clear what Duskfade is doing with its story, and that makes up the difference. The emotional maturity Zirian lacks does exist in the actual narrative structure. Instead of trying to find its big boy pants by leaning into edginess, Duskfade looks inside for harder emotions to process. In particular, grief.

Zirian’s appeal is in bridging the past to the present.

Time is a cruel master, marching forward without much care about us and what we want. Throughout its story, Duskfade explores the kinds of grief and regret that come with the inability to change the past. Some characters live with regret, others disconnect from the world around them.

At certain moments, what is otherwise a fun and fanciful game intentionally hits the brakes to let some real stuff sink in. That said, there’s nothing so dark as to not be appropriate for an eleven year old. 

In fact, that might be worth considering regarding Zirian’s appeal – while Duskfade very much wants to trade on millennial nostalgia, there’s also appeal for younger gamers who are the age fans were when they first picked up Jak and Daxter. To that point, the story and Zirian might be even more appealing to that audience. 

Weird Beluga celebrates PS2 classics but could afford to instill fresh innovation.

For a game about time and its march forward, Duskfade looks backward often. It’s impossible not to for a game like this. But even though the Weird Beluga team shows a strong understanding of why these PS2 era games are so beloved, they haven’t done much iteration upon it.

That doesn’t have to be a necessarily bad thing; the joy is found in how close to being like its heroes Duskfade is. It also means there’s not much else. For fans of those PS2 games, Duskfade is the kind of darling worth protecting. Others wanting a real evolution of this type of game aren’t going to find what they’re looking for. 

Duskfade is available now for purchase on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.