Humble Hearts

Dust: An Elysian Tail, which came in at number 14 on XBLA Fans’ list ofbest arcade games of all time, has passed an incredible milestone with creator Dean Dodrill …
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Yesterday XBLAFans reported that developer Humble Hearts has some “exciting news” related to its debut effort, Dust: An Elysian Tail, in the pipeline. Humble Hearts hasn’t announced what …
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One-man development studio Humble Hearts will soon be announcing some news about last August’s Summer of Arcade title, Dust: An Elysian Tail. A Humble Hearts Facebook post states that studio head Dean Dodrill has “some exciting news to share over the coming month. The dust hasn’t settled yet!”

Dodrill has made no mention on Facebook, Twitter or the game’s official website as to what the news will be, leaving gamers and XBLAFans alike to speculate as to what it could be. Our best guess is that Dust is going to be getting some downloadable content, but a sequel or a PSN and/or Steam port are also possibilities at this time, as is just about anything else anyone can imagine.

A port seems unlikely given that Dodrill took the opportunity to also mention that yesterday marked the 6-month anniversary of his game’s release on XBLA and that he wanted “to thank everyone who has followed me and helped make the game a great success.” Certainly those statements don’t entirely rule out a port, but the XBLA callout would seem to imply that the news is XBLA-related.

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It’s that time of year again — SPIKE TV’s annual Video Game Awards. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the tribute show, showcasing the big names …
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Gamasutra put up an excellent article today in which Dean Dodrill, developer of Dust: An Elysian Tail, recounts the successes and failures of this summer’s most popular Summer of …
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Humble Hearts’ Dust: An Elysian Tail wrapped up this year’s Summer of Arcade yesterday, and in just over 24 of your standard Earth hours the leaderboards have jumped to …
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UPDATE: Video’s here. Right there! Look! Click it! – Todd

As we come to a close on this year’s Summer of Arcade, it seems like we’ve saved the best …
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Dust: An Elysian Tail was developed by Humble Hearts and published by Microsoft Studios. It was released on August 15, 2012 for 1200 MSP. A copy was provided for review purposes.

Dust: An Elysian Tail opens with a lone figure awakening in a forest with no memory of his past. The mystical, obviously powerful blade he comes into possession of assumes the dual roles of death-dealer and imparter of wisdom; its cagey words imply that it knows more about the main character and the quest he is destined to embark upon than it is willing to reveal just yet. A cutesy and somewhat annoying sidekick flies alongside, providing help and occasionally pointing out the obvious. Once the opening scene closes, players move left to right and merrily hammer away at face buttons to dispatch beasties marching towards them on a 2D plane, all of it accomplished in stunning effect thanks to gorgeous hand-drawn art. There are peaceful villages besieged by overpowering forces and inhabited by locals in need of a hero to carry out various quests, and it’s not long before the environment betrays the fact that the completionist player will be revisiting areas later on to accumulate all of the hidden goodies once more skills have been unlocked.

It all sounds fun, right? Of course it does, but it’s probably also sounding a bit familiar at this point. Here’s the good news: there is much more to Humble Hearts’ Dust: An Elysian Tail than can be summed up in a handful of broad sentences about its action-adventure game tropes. Yes, it shares much with other throwback side-scrollers, and the sole member of the game’s development studio, Dean Dodrill, is unlikely to hear any complaints about that fact. But his studio’s debut effort also establishes an excellent identity all its own. Dust is a joy to play and the star of Microsoft’s 2012 Summer of Arcade lineup. There are some issues with pacing, voice work and the framerate hiccup, but wonderfully charming artwork, a wealth of content and a combat system that just feels right will allow gamers to look past the issues and enjoy Dust for many hours.

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A new launch trailer has been released for Dust: An Elysian Tail. The game, which marks the end of this year’s Summer of Arcade promotion, comes from the one …
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If you aren’t excited about Dust: An Elysian Tail yet we don’t know what will get you excited. This trailer shows some serious action combined with some of the most …
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