Humble Hearts’ Dust: An Elysian Tail, developed by a single indie designer Dean Dodrill, has been announced for the PlayStation 4. Through a very ham-fisted and somewhat adorable speech delivered by side-character Fidget, it appears that the game will run at 1080p resolution and 60 frames per second.

The game takes place in the world of Falana where the central character Dust wakes up in a forest one day with no memory. With the help of his weapon, the Blade of Ahrah, and its guardian Fidget, Dust sets out on a quest to discover his identity and find out just what’s going on. The game released on Mac, PC and Xbox 360, and has received rave reviews for the quality of its combat, gameplay and visuals.

Though no information was provided regarding a release date, Humble Hearts promises more details in the coming months. Are you excited to see Dust: An Elysian Tail heading to the PS4? Let us know in the comments.

Though it’s yet to hit the Xbox One, Microsoft’s Games With Gold program is still going strong on the Xbox 360. Two new games have been revealed for the month of May – Dust: An Elysian Tail and Saints Row: The Third, the former available on May 1st to 16th while the latter will be available on May 16th to 31st. Both games are free to download and keep permanently.

Dust: An Elysian Tail comes from Humble Hearts and is renowned for being a game made by a single individual – with a lot of help on the soundtrack and voice acting. Regardless, it’s a beautiful side-scrolling beat ’em up with light RPG elements and some fantastic characterization and dialog. Saints Row: The Third is Volition’s open world third person shooter and marks the period when the series truly found its calling as a romp in insanity. Dr. Genki, furries, predator drones, futuristic aircraft and tons of chaos all combine together to make one of the best open world games yet.

Head here for more information on both releases.

Humble Hearts has finally launched Dust: An Elysian Tail on Steam a few days ago. The game is currently 10% off according to Steam store and the official Facebook states that the discount ends on May 31st. So if, you want to get it for cheaper than the $15 full price-tag then buy it now.

Dust: An Elysian Tail is published by Microsoft and surprising doesn’t support Games for Windows Live and instead the game is fully Steam based that supports achievements and clouds just like the majority of current titles.

Dust: An Elysian Tail is a beautiful hand-painted 2D game that packs in an engaging combat combo based system. The PC version also includes performance options and full mouse, keyboard and gamepad support.

Let us know if you will be buying Dust: An Elysian Tail for PC, in the comments below.

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You play as Dust, a man with no memory of who he is. Suddenly, a mysterious blade named Ahrah beckons to his side, with its guardian nimbat Fidget tagging along. It may appear as a typical cast of clichés but the treatment is quite fresh. Fidget is annoying, but she’s adorably sarcastic and biting in her fears and flights. Dust is the socially awkward yet courageous hero but you can sense the inner conflict between being who he is and who he previously was. Ahrah is the wise, all-speaking mentor but there’s obviously more than meets the eye.

Note to casting directors: If your actor’s delivery and expressions convey character so well that one willingly sits through cut-scenes and conversations, you’re doing things right. The dialogue is similarly wonderful, full of humour, drama and a helping heaping of fourth-wall breaking comments. Lip-synching isn’t totally up to snuff half the time, but that’s a small nuisance.

It’s not just Dust’s voice acting that deserves props. The music is, in a word, excellent. It captures the grand sweeping epic scale, but on a more personalized level. Certainly it assists in giving battles their proper ambience – it changes accordingly, from enemies suddenly approaching triggering a high tempo to the relative calm and peace of an open field or the calm foreboding theme as you traverse underground caverns. Combine this with the visuals, which are a clean mix of 2D and 3D. It’s also animated lovingly, especially when battles devolve into screen-traversing antics.

Yes, not screen-filling, screen-traversing. Dust functions as a 2D side-scrolling, action-RPG. You can pull off combo attacks with X, launch enemies into the air with Y, and special combinations of both allow for downward slashes, throws, and more. Things really hit up when you unlock Dust Storm, an ability that allows you swing your blade in a circular motion while remaining stationary.

This, combined with Fidget’s magic and the latter Aerial Dust Storm, make for insane highlight reels of multi-hit combos. You could launch a few enemies into the air, follow up with an Aerial Dust Storm and Fidget’s projectiles (which multiply as they come in contact with the Dust Storm), and reach a higher level wherein you do battle with another set of enemies. Just when it may seem to get repetitive, you’ll be introduced to Dodges, Parries and different types of magic. Parries especially become essential when taking on larger foes. The combat may seem intimidating but the responsive controls make it easy and fun.

There’s so much more to say about the sense of exploration that has you going out of your way to collect keys, “Friends” (that offer free stat boosts), treasure chests and take up Arena challenges. Somehow, Dust manages to bridge the gap between frantic action and in-depth adventuring – your constant tirades around the screen won’t unlock secrets any faster and the items gained don’t render your foes too much weaker. The developer also took care to separate the over-world map into distinct areas that can be accessed quickly via teleporters. Nonetheless, each region feels large and packed with a good number of secrets.

Can a case be made against Dust? The action can get a little repetitive at times but there’s always a new upgrade, story twist or humorous conversation around the corner. Quite frankly it’s hard to make any negative points about the game. It’s fun, addictive, visually appealing and services a nice long playthrough even without the secrets. Genres like 2D side-scrolling action RPGs may seem like a niche, but Dust rises above that to provide a stellar story and adventure that will appeal to all. If you’re looking for the current top pick of this Summer of Arcade, look no further than Dust: An Elysian Tail.

This game was reviewed on the Xbox 360.