LUNA The Shadow Dust Review

Feb 22

Feb 22 LUNA The Shadow Dust Review

One of the first video games I ever played was Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon. It was a game about a talking car and his pet dog exploring the moon, because media for kids doesn’t need to make much sense. This was also my first introduction to point-and-click adventure games, which were great for my still-developing hand-eye coordination. But once I found new types of games, such as Crash Bandicoot and the forever greatest of video games Final Fantasy Tactics, my passion for Putt-Putt and all other point-and-click games died away quickly. Since then, I’ve consistently stayed away from the genre, though not out of the same hostility that keeps me away from horror games, I just know point-and-click games aren’t for me. But the way to my heart is with adorable little animals, and last week the folks at Lantern Studio released LUNA The Shadow Dust, baited with an adorable cat-orb on the hook.

LUNA The Shadow Dust tells the story of Üri and Layh, but since they are never named in the game and I only learned their names once I was finished and read the game’s achievements, I called them Louis and Rascal and shall be referring to them as such in this review. At the start of the game, Louis falls from the sky into a barren wasteland and is quickly confronted by an enormous, bizarre tower. Like any good video game protagonist with amnesia, Louis immediately enters the strange structure and discovers Rascal, a nearly spherical, cat-like creature. Together, they explore the tower’s many strange rooms, working in tandem to solve puzzles and uncover some frankly startling truths.

I think where LUNA The Shadow Dust stands out is in its visual design, which is good because it’s the main point all of their marketing. The whole game has been hand-animated, leading to a beautiful art style reminiscent of Spirited Away and other Hayao Miyazaki films. Obviously my favorite use of the animation is the adorable Rascal, who appears to be as soft as a marshmallow while also being indestructible, but all of the animations of the various characters are beautifully smooth and expressive, a big bonus for a game with no dialogue. Beyond that though is the game’s enchanting look. The tower has a feeling of whimsical weirdness to it, with features like organic-looking furnaces with shadow creatures swimming inside and bookcases that hold apparently depthless voids that would normally make players uneasy, but is rendered in a way that feels fun while still being creepy. The best example of this is a strange room access by a crawlspace that holds four massive statues of stooped, staring statues and has walls that look like the night sky. When the player gets near these statues, their eyes glow and strange markings appear on their forehead. Normally, I’m scared of enormous magical glowing statues with arcane symbols on their faces, but the art style of LUNA made them feel more like tired caretakers than looming threats. The visual design also does a great job of helping the gameplay, providing hints and clues as players work to solve the various puzzles found in the tower.

Speaking of gameplay, LUNA The Shadow Dust has some cool ideas to spice up the age-old point-and-click genre. The first of these ideas that stuck out to me was how cleverly they conceal the puzzle within the environment. I would say that about 40% of the time players spend on each level will be spent wandering the area, poking and prodding at different things to see what each does, to ultimately figure out what’s required of the player. This works wonderfully, especially thanks to the game’s visuals. Is that crank meant to open a new door which will let Louis and Rascal deeper into the tower, or does whoever lives here just really like cranks so they put some up for fun? It’s especially entertaining when some parts of each puzzle are somewhere else in the tower, which is what brings me to LUNA’s second great idea. Because the player is controlling both Louis and Rascal, the puzzles are designed to need inputs from both characters. Sometimes this is simple stuff like needing one to control a lever and one to press a button, but the game really shines when the two characters are in different locations. Most of the time, this involves Rascal going somewhere Louis is too big to get to and providing information to Louis, and the player, about how to solve the puzzle. I really enjoyed these kinds of puzzles and I was especially appreciated the smart programming the developers did that allowed for Louis and Rascal to be doing things simultaneously.

The last thing I wanted to mention is LUNA’s story because of the way it is delivered. As I mentioned before, there is no dialogue in LUNA The Shadow Dust. The closest the game ever gets to talking is speech bubbles with images in them. Personally, I assume this done to cut down on costs, both on writing and translation, but also does a great job of creating an air of mystery and wonder around the story. There are around 10 in-game cinematics that feature the same art style and lack of dialogue as the main game that tell the story of Louis, Rascal and the strange tower in small pieces as the player progresses. I had some concerns about this going into the game but the facial animations of the characters clearly convey the characters’ emotions and motivations and the story is told through scenes specifically designed to be understood without the use of language. I’m genuinely impressed that the developers were able to communicate as much as they did without using a single word. I loved the story and the world it hints at and, though I did not like the ending, it was still very well done and went a direction I don’t see very often.

I suppose it’s possible that, after being gone from the point-and-click game genre for so long, I’m easy to impress but I don’t think that’s the case with LUNA The Shadow Dust. This game has an incredible visual style backed up by smart and challenging puzzles and a uniquely-told story. It may not be very long but it’s absolutely worth the $20 price tag.