This year’s Summer of Arcade has been a pretty standard affair. Between HD remakes, Angry Birds for Kinect, and some stock-standard zombie and shooter titles, Microsoft has failed to really showcase the ingenuity and vision that makes the indie/downloadable scene so exciting. However, if there is any game of the 2012 lineup that looks like it could live up to the legacy of past entrants like Braid and Limbo, then it’s Dust: An Elysian Tail. Don’t let the cheap pun in the title fool you.

Dean Dodrill’s Elysian Tail is an interesting multi-media experiment. With both a film in production and this game, the brand encompasses the adventures of different groups of characters in the magical world of Falana. This universe is populated mostly by anthropomorphic animals, although regular fauna appear to co-exist with their bipedal counterparts. Are the bunnies and bunny-men related? We may never know.

Dust tells the story of the eponymous amnesiac warrior, who travels with a talking sword and a comic relief bat-girl to find out who he is and save the day. It may sound as if I’m purposefully underselling the premise for comedic effect, but I assure you that this is it. There is one–and only one–plot twist thrown into the mix, but the basic gist of it can be guessed using only the title and a passing knowledge of mythology. Luckily, Dust is not a game you’re going to play for plot.

It only gets prettier from here.

When it comes to game graphics, I’ve gone on record before to say that I’d rather play Zork than Modern Warfare 3. However, like I mentioned in my Trine 2 review, beautiful visuals can become the selling point for a piece of interactive software if given a suitably compelling artistic vision. To that end, Dust is achingly gorgeous. Every environment, location, sprite, and animation is meticulously hand-crafted and fluid, which is even more awe-inspiring given that the game was almost exclusively crafted by one person. This is an infinitely more impressive graphical showcase than anything currently being done in the realm of photo-realism.

While my opinions on the plot and visuals are unequivocal, my thoughts on the actual gameplay are more nuanced. Between the lush art and wandering swordsman narrative, the game bears more than a passing resemblance to Muramasa: The Demon Blade. Similarly, Dust is largely a “MetroidVania” style action-adventure platformer, with a heavy emphasis on building up long sword combos. When I saw that there was an achievement for sustaining a 1000-hit string I buckled myself in for a bumpy ride up a steep difficulty curve. An hour later I was already routinely pulling off 1500-hit combos.

This looks so good in motion.

It’s not that this is an easy game–enemies hit like Mack trucks–it’s just that there is no meaningful evolution of the core gameplay. You’ll be using the same combos at the end of the game that you learned in the tutorial. You gain a few new spells along the way, but they are all functionally identical. There is something to be said for the accessibility on display here though. With only two buttons for sword attacks and one for magic, the barrier for entry into this beautiful world is low. However, Dust is a lengthy experience, and the lack of depth and complexity in the combat becomes grating after half a dozen hours.

The only things that breaks up the monotony of the swordplay are exploration and the occasional puzzle. The former is surprisingly well done. I saw the end credits with a mere 75% of treasure, locations, and Easter Eggs found, which implies several full more hours of game to be found. That, and the helpful and clear map screen, make searching for every last treasure chest (and indie game cameo!) a genuine treat. The latter is problematic. On one hand, there are some very clever sequences in which Dust has to maneuver a bomb from one area into another. On the other hand, that is the only kind of puzzle. A bit of variety can be found in some optional challenge areas, but the critical path would greatly benefit from some other puzzle types.