When comparing Dust: An Elysian Tail vs Valdis Story: Abyssal City, the Slant community recommends Dust: An Elysian Tail for most people. In the question“What are the best metroidvania games for PC?” Dust: An Elysian Tail is ranked 10th while Valdis Story: Abyssal City is ranked 12th. The most important reason people chose Dust: An Elysian Tail is:
Hand-drawn graphics are pleasing.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Gorgeous visual aesthetic
Hand-drawn graphics are pleasing.
Pro Very emotional and funny
Cut scenes are deep and expressive.
Pro Spoken storyline
No need to read, just listen to the narration.
Pro Great combat system
The combat system is smooth and entertaining.
Pro Nice soundtrack
Pro Amazing depth of combat and character build customization
There is a level of combat akin to fighting games in the amount of combat control. The game is considered an RPG because of the intense customization available for how the player builds the main character. Character growth includes finding and equipping spells, armor and weapons that can be upgraded through a blacksmith in towns, reuniting with various crew mates that each offer unique buffs or auxilliary attacks, and in depth character skill trees and attribute stats.
Pro Multiple characters with unique storylines and playstyles
Offers a level of replayability not seen in a lot of other metroidvania games. Seeing the story event from four unique perspectives gives great depth to the world.
Pro Beautiful artstyle
The game looks amazing. The world and lore build an awesome story and it all ties together to create an immersive and engaging experience.
Cons
Con Saving Issues
You can only save at fixed places, and sometimes it takes multiple tries to save a game.
Con Cheesy
Both character design and dialogues are incredibly cheesy. This may work well for kids though.
Con Super challenging combat
This could be taken as a pro or a con. There are a few difficulty levels but even on normal the game requires players to make full use of all their character growth options and expects quick reaction. I found a secret boss that actaully grows in power based on an untracked counter throughout the entire game. By the time I challenged the boss she was ridiculously powerful but i made it a point of pride to beat her. I'll attach a video capture of my fight to the media section.
Con Challenging, almost frustrating platforming
There are puzzles, often timed, that require a precision only obtained by repeated failure and mastery of the given situation.
Con Map is bad
To really find your way around you will likely end up using a map from an external site, as the ingame map only shows your current area.