Duskfade Review: The Best PS2-Inspired Platformer So Far?

This is a condensed summary of The Golden Bolt’s sponsored video, Duskfade is the Best PS2-Inspired Platformer So Far. It is not a transcript. The reviewer completed the game at 100% in roughly twelve hours and says the opinions remained his own despite the sponsorship.

A platformer marketed like an action RPG

The review’s first complaint is not really about the game. It is about the sales pitch. Duskfade’s trailers lean on the Kingdom Hearts-like costume, sword and combat, while the finished game is closer to a PS2 action-platformer with light hack-and-slash sections between much larger stretches of movement and exploration.

That confused emphasis colours the opening hours. Combat arrives early but takes half the game to develop interesting enemy combinations. The movement that eventually defines Duskfade is handed out slowly. The grapple is the first sign of what is coming; the rail-grinding sundial, unlocked much later, is where everything finally clicks.

Why the rails stand out

The Golden Bolt calls Duskfade’s grind rails some of his favourites in any game. They are not passive rollercoasters. Routes stack vertically, obstacles demand jumps and ducks, and Zirian can launch away from a rail independently of the jump button. Pulling back reverses direction, which turns missed pickups and barely visible side rails into small navigation puzzles.

The best secrets use all of that at once: reverse, launch, catch a grapple point that flashes briefly, then land on a hidden route. Duskfade teaches the idea almost immediately after the ability unlocks instead of saving it for a tutorial room.

The catch is timing. This high point arrives about seven hours into a game that may take ten to finish without a completion sweep. The review wishes the abilities appeared faster, especially because platforming and exploration account for most of the playtime.

Combat earns its place in the bosses

Regular encounters are described as serviceable rather than essential. Enemy windups can be hard to read, attacks are not reliably interrupted, and the lock-on often makes camera control worse. Potions are common enough that stray hits rarely become a serious punishment.

The late game improves once enemy types finally mix together. Bosses are better from the start. Each major fight moves through distinct phases and tests both the chapter’s magic attack and its new traversal ability. They give the sword, perfect dodge and temporal-energy loop a reason to exist even when ordinary arena clearings feel attached to a stronger platformer.

A simple story with more underneath

Zirian begins as an unwavering optimist; Cuckoo carries a loss she cannot remember. Their early bickering feels forced to the reviewer, then gradually reveals two characters filling gaps in one another. The wider clock motif becomes a story about grief, healing and the danger of surrendering limited time to helplessness.

Returning to Tick Town also pays off. NPC conversations change as the adventure moves forward, and Echo recordings fill in the disappearance of the Master Clockmakers. The reviewer found himself talking to everyone on each visit even though the hub initially seemed sterile.

The recommendation

There are rough edges: tiny landing lag, no map, collectibles with weak practical rewards, heavy Unreal Engine bloom and occasional loading hitches on PC. None of them overturn the verdict.

At $29.99, the reviewer considers Duskfade fairly priced and recommends it. It does not match the greatest PS2 platformers, but it captures the appeal of the era’s second-tier favourites—the odd, ambitious games people kept hoping would get sequels. By the end, he wanted New Game Plus, harder challenge rooms and another playthrough. That desire for more is the review’s strongest endorsement.

For other viewpoints, browse the Duskfade review archive or read the broader Duskfade review overview.