Independent games are still a rather recent addition to the video game industry. In their infancy, many indie games were developed by incredibly small teams. One of the most iconic ambitious early indie games isDust: An Elysian Tail, developed by lone developer Dean Dodrill. AsDust: An Elysian Tailturns 10 years old today, Dodrill has shared a special comic commemorating the occasion and possibly teasing a sequel.
Dust: An Elysian Tailfirst launched on Xbox 360 in August 2012. The game was published by Microsoft as an Xbox 360 exclusive after it won an event called the Microsoft Dream.Build.Play Challenge that resulted in the company picking it up for publishing. The game is a 2D platformer with Metroidvania and RPG elements similar to games from Vanillaware likeOdin SphereandMuramasa: The Demon Blade. The game features a heavy emphasis on 2D combat and exploration, on top of a voice acted story. The game was later ported to PS4 in 2014 and received a Nintendo Switch version in 2018.
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Since releasingDust: An Elysian Tail, Dean Dodrill and his studio Humble Hearts has developedNever Stop Sneakin', astealth game inspired by theMetal Gear Solidseriesthat launched on PC, Nintendo Switch, and iOS in 2017. Since then, the studio has been silent on what it has been developing for almost five years.
Dodrill may have finally broken his silence today however, as the developer posted a comic celebratingDust: An Elysian Tail’s 10th anniversary on his personal Twitter account. The comic features the game’s two protagonists, Dust and Fidget, as they break the fourth wall, reflecting on the game’s legacy and development a decade on from its release. The comic ends with Dust claiming that he believes that the future has great things ahead for them before looking at the sun rise in the final panel.
Many fans have already begun to interpret this comic as implying that a sequel is in development, which would make sense considering Humble Hearts' nearly five year break since releasing any new titles. A newDustgame would likely be huge in scope, building on the developer’s decade-long experience since releasing the title. It would also have to compete with the slew of action RPG/Metroidvania indies thathave grown in popularity over the past few years such asHollow KnightandOri and the Blind Forest.
Dust: An Elysian Tailis available now on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and Xbox 360.
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