When comparing Dust: An Elysian Tail vs SteamWorld Dig, the Slant community recommends SteamWorld Dig for most people. In the question“What are the best low-spec PC games?” SteamWorld Dig is ranked 66th while Dust: An Elysian Tail is ranked 84th. The most important reason people chose SteamWorld Dig is:
As you dig deeper, you receive new items that make progressing increasingly more fun, until you hit the end.
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 Fun, steady progression
As you dig deeper, you receive new items that make progressing increasingly more fun, until you hit the end.
Pro Lovely art style
Pro World is permanently altered as you play through it
To navigate through the world of SteamWorld Dig, you need to dig through the earth, shaping out the tunnels and paths you need to pass through, requiring you to think twice about how to dig so you can get through the tunnel efficiently, and escape when you need to before you run out of power.
Pro Unlimited replayability with a procedurally generated world
Through the use of random generation the game is able to create a different experience not only for each person that plays it but for each time one restarts the game. Which lends to a bunch of replayability.
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 Nice digger, but not really metroidvania
It has stuff to unlock - but you buy most of those options, unlike a metroidvania game.
Also, down is always correct, unlike metroidvania.
Con Beginning of the game is somewhat tedious
Until a few upgrades are acquired and teleporters placed around the map for faster travel, it requires a bit of monotonous mining.
Con Boring
Con Combat mechanics are basic
Combat consists of hitting an enemy with ones pick or drill, which is time consuming and not really satisfying. It is much easier to just go around opponents, even if it takes more time.