Forget "for the price tag" or "for an indie game", Dust: An Elysian Tail is an amazing experience which really reignited a passion for gaming that I wasn't sure if I had any more.

This is not an 'artsy' game, although it does sport some of the best artistic direction that I've ever seen in a videogame, accompanied by a brilliant soundtrack. The story and characters, whilst kept behind gameplay in priority, are likeable and easy to follow. A few inconsistancies here and there, but an enjoyable experience with enough sidequests and secrets to keep you playing for 20 hours, easily.

The mechanics are tight -- if you die, most of the time you're going to feel like it was your fault rather than the game cheesing you out of a death. I only played on hardcore mode, because I found the difficulty on this level was at the perfect point between challenging and tedious.

One of my few gripes about the game is that the save spots could have been more considerately placed. I often found that after dying, I was re-doing tedious but simple parts of the game. The save spots should be after the tedious but simple parts, not before them. I want to re-do the part I died on, not the three screens before it (here's to you, Sorrowing Meadows).

I did run into two possibly Linux-only issues, one was some sound distortion in certain areas of the game which required me to reduce the volume, and another was an issue with one of the secret rooms not displaying correctly. I e-mailed the developer about the latter issue and within an hour, had a response saying it is being looked into this week.

The game's difficulty curve is brilliant, introducing new concepts and abilities as the game goes on so as not to overload the player with one of those half-hour tutorials which most of us skip. The first area is easy, and the final boss will challenge all of your mechanical abilities. I suggest starting on the highest difficulty level and working your way down if it's not enjoyable, it feels like Dust was designed to be played on hardcore.

There is plenty of endgame content, as I'm finding with over 20 hours played that I still find things to do and treasures I haven't found yet. I have thoroughly enjoyed this game, and struggle to recall the last time I had this much fun playing a videogame.

Thank you, Humble Hearts. I look forward to the next one.