I’ve been a Kingdom Hearts fan for over two decades. And while we’ve agonisingly had to wait almost a generation for any news on the fourth mainline entry, developer Weird Beluga’s new action-platformer, Duskfade, is an impressive Hearts-like that brings back childhood memories with my PS2. The gorgeous visuals, responsive combat, and engaging exploration remind me of Sora’s original adventure in all the best ways.
Duskfade might make the wait for KH4 easier
Duskfade is equal parts platforming and combat. The former is sublime, with a double jump and dash in the air that feels wonderful to pull off. Seeing the main character, Zirian, fly through the air, flipping a few times after jumping on a bouncy mushroom, consistently provided me with a smile.
While the platforming is thrilling for the most part, it can be quite easy to pull off, so I’m hoping the difficulty is cranked up in the later sections of the game. Nevertheless, it feels fantastic to zip from place to place with a grappling hook and find secret areas that reward you with currency and special items.
Duskfade’s combat has me slightly more concerned in this early look. It’s very snappy, but the enemies don’t present much of a challenge, with some even standing still. There is a roll that stops time for a brief few seconds if you nail the timing, but a block would be fantastic too. Additionally, Zirian’s gadgets can shoot foes in front of him with a shotgun-like ability, which looks sadly underwhelming with a very short animation but is useful overall for damage output.
Other than that, there aren’t any combos to learn. There is the potential for growth in the combat; however, as you do unlock a stab if you gain enough of the currency. Presumably, more upgrades will be available in the full game to flesh things out further.
What seems far more promising are the boss battles. There’s an intense fight at the end that has you fighting a foe named Wrath. After every round of taking down his health bar, there’s a platforming challenge that gets harder as the HP dwindles. It was genuinely a delight.
My jaw dropped when taking in the massive scale of the game’s main hub, Tick Town, for the first time. Huge chains lock a grand, aetherial clock tower in place amongst a stunning community likely inspired by Traverse Town. Themed around time, you can see big cogs of a clock rolling at different speeds and neon lights that stand out among the dark skies (and dawn later on). Mystical cloud-like bodies inhabit the town instead of humans.
Duskfade looks simply incredible. The environmental art and visuals maintain their grand scale as the adventure continues, at least in the demo. At the beginning of the adventure, Zirian explores a dream-like realm that looks inspired by Kingdom Hearts’ Dive to the Heart, with some heavenly music that reminds you of the area as you gaze upon stunning stained-glass windows of the main characters. Whoever is on the art team should pat their own backs.
Though the combat music leaves a bit to be desired, most of the musical compositions are largely beautiful, too — especially the one that plays during Tick Town. It’s unfortunate that some of the instruments the composer has used sound lower quality than you’d expect, though, as these tunes would’ve sounded even more lovely with a full orchestra.
Meanwhile, the voice acting and animation are mostly great as well. Zirian’s lines sound great, with his enthusiastic, charming demeanour making him instantly likeable. His expressive facial animations are wonderful, and I love how he looks when running with his keyblade-like sword behind his back. That being said, some of the side characters give wooden performances, but they don’t detract too badly from the experience.
While imperfect, Duskfade is shaping up to be more than just a sit-in for Kingdom Hearts IV, and I can’t wait to play it when it launches on August 13 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.
In the meantime, you can check out the demo right now on PS5 and PC.
