Black Dust delivered for me—someone unfamiliar with the previous games in the series and someone pretty demanding of storytelling in games. Story choices are immediately and consistently stat-and-build based. NPC interactions evolve based on choices and actions. And even seeming minor tweaks can and do result in major changes in outcomes. I strongly recommend. Like any game in this format, Black Dust also has limitations. Not every conceivable choice is available, and the third act feels a bit sudden and forced. In that third act, some big climactic fights become plodding and repetitive. On play through 1 1/2, I found myself wondering why I was wandering about with a stockpile of weapons and gems but nowhere to find meaningful upgrades (made it to Act Three on the first play through still wielding a 1 gold weapon from the second Pit fight, only to be presented with a full set of major weapon and armor upgrades!). But those are minor quibbles and I’m excited for further playthroughs to explore different builds and factions. Well done!

Choice-driven narrative branching is nothing new. There are a smaller number of text adventures that create a tiny, tight puzzlebox that unfolds into gorgeous alternative shapes on the richer basis of stat progression. Life of a Wizard and Choice of Robots are among these.Meshing this rare style into a proper RPG is a daunting challenge. Hosted Games’ Lost Heir series tried, but being led through moment-by-moment choices in a very long game with no saves is not amenable to exploring the possibility space.Eldrum addressed that problem in two ways.1. You have free map movement, and can defer and even revisit many challenges as you progress your stats. Black Dust leans into this more heavily than previous Eldrum titles, and it’s deeply satisfying.2. You have a deep stack of both manual and automatic saves, allowing you to rework recent segments until you’re happy with what you’ve achieved.That said, you certainly can’t get all the content in a single playthrough. But in one playthrough you can explore and improve enough of a subspace of a game that you won’t feel compelled to repeat your previous run with minor tweaks. You can allow your second (and third and…) playthrough to be quite different.The series’ combat system has always been ambitious. This iteration commits to training you on the different build options with dedicated puzzle fights in the pit and the arena. It works, and combat customization is a more balanced experience this time around.Although, I will say, the balance between gearing stats for a particular combat build versus for exploration/narrative branching remains a pleasing conundrum.

There are many reasons for my love of this game including how accessible for the blind it is. The rpg works beautifully with voice over, and the music make it just that much better. I wish that there were more cities, and things to do in those cities. It would be greate to see school to improve your fighting abilities, or a doctor. The over all storyline is amazing though, keep up the greate work. And one quick question before I go, what determines your saves for when you die and need to go back?

This game is brilliant, well designed, and completely accessible for the blind. This gave me hours and hours of entertainment to go through the game once. I can’t wait to play it again and again to experiment with all of the different weapons and Storey options. This is my first of the Eldrum games. I was a little shocked that it required a purchase to play, but it’s worth every cent. Now I have to go backwards and play the other two games. I hope they are half of black dust.