Dustborn
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 This game should certainly be left in the dust.
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Dustborn is an action-adventure game released on August 20, 2024, on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
Plot
Pax joins a ragtag group of friends masquerading as a punk rock band while being pursued by the police force Justice.
Why It Should Be Left In The Dust
- While adding comic book visuals for Dustborn isn't a bad idea on paper, the execution is less than stellar. It almost looks like the developers attempted to blend realism with a comic aesthetic, making everything look creepy and uncanny. XIII, a FPS game released in 2003, managed to handle this concept much better.
- There are also minor graphical mistakes like an officer getting hit by traffic heading in the wrong direction, Pax eating pineapple when her mouth isn't connected to the fruit, an a bizarre art piece of the POW effect you see in other comics.
- Horrible camera. The camera is slow and feels unresponsive. It also seemingly has a mind of its own, snapping into angles you don't want it to be.
- The game is riddled with bugs, such as Theo instantly warping in front of Pax in one cutscene. It also has poor optimization and frame rate issues even for higher PC.
- Horrible music. The lyrics are offbeat and the lyrics contains awful lines such as "We're the new porn, our kind is newborn."
- Speaking of the gameplay, a majority of the gameplay relies on slow-paced interactions with your crew. Given how forgettable to unlikable they are, it's very questionable to call this an action-adventure game.
- Awful combat that plays out like a wannabe copycat of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order or Survivor. Pax's bat lacks impact and feels more like she's slapping enemies with a wiffle bat. The bat is the only weapon you get in the game, and it doesn't come with light or heavy attacks, nor does it have combos.
- Taunt, which allows Pax to deal heavy damage, feels stiff, has poor attack animation, and leaves you open for getting hit. The idea of taunt words being used as attacks is also stupid.
- Pax's powers, the ability to her words as a weapon, feels like a poor man's dragon shouts from Skyrim. Push, for instance, is a weaker variant of the Fus Roh Dah shout.
- For some reason, the combat suddenly switches into a turn-based RPG for a section near the end of the game. Not only is this out of place, but adds nothing to the plot other than filler.
- The reason why the combat is floaty is because Pax is pregnant. Little mind the fact that this is a video game and being pregnant doesn't excuse the combat being crappy. Look at Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. Anya was able to take on three Nazis and a Panzerhound while topless and pregnant.
- Atrocious voice acting. Everyone sounds like they're phoning it in for a paycheck.
- As mentioned above, the characters are unlikable or forgettable.
- Pax is annoying and causes problems rather than helping.
- Sai frequently curses to prove she's a complete edge lord.
- Noam doesn't have much character in them, with their only trait being that they're non-binary.
- Theo doesn't have much personality other than the fact that he's the only guy in the band.
- It isn't helped by the fact that the character designs look atrocious and unappealing, especially Sai and Pax. At least they are better than Concord, though not by much.
- The plot is also so uninteresting that you wouldn't even be bothered to understand what's going on.
- Most of the dialogue are incredibly annoying to listen and cringeworthy, especially the taunts.
- After the game came out, Red Thread Games released a statement condemning the harassment they received for this game. Needless to say, this didn't help in their case as this is proof that the developers couldn't handle any form of criticism.
Redeeming Qualities
- The graphics are passable, despite looking off.
- Some voice actors are okay, despite the voice acting is atrocious.
- The concept of an action-adventure game with a comic book aesthetic is very interesting, despite the bad execution.
Reception
Dustborn received mixed reviews from critics and it was panned by gamers.
It is so bad that this game has become a commercial failure (it was even funded with EU and national taxpayer money). Only 83 players had been playing this game at its peak.
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