Over the past two centuries, American politics has been the source of inspiration for a multitude of cultural products: books, films, TV series, comics and video games become the mirror of a complex and stratified society, a mixture of ideas and values that are constantly in conflict with each other and that only in recent years seems to have reached the breaking point.
While cinema seems to have matured enough to bring works like Civil War to theaters, the video game medium still shows a certain fear in pronouncing the word “politics”, despite the great commercial successes of the last generations being strongly political works. Dustborn is above all a tribute to American comics, especially those of a superhero nature: the references to the X-Men universe are abundant, and whoever is speaking to you, as a former reader of Marvel comics, can only be happy about it. To learn more about the sources of inspiration for Dustborn, we refer you to our interview with the CEO of Red Thread Games.
Hit the road, Pax
The story of Dustborn begins in medias res: the group of Pax, Theo, Sai, and Noam have committed a massive data theft, and government forces are on high alert. The Dustborn’s plan is simple: steal the data, travel from the West Coast to Nova Scotia, deliver it to a clandestine organization, and leave the Divided States of America forever.
The word “united” is just a distant memory: the country has fragmented into several states, each controlled by a dictatorial government in constant conflict with the others and united by their hatred towards the Anomalous, humans with superpowers. And what better way to cross borders guarded by patrols of unsavory enemies than by pretending to be a rock band? Cover that will give us the opportunity to perform in various clubs in the country, rhythm game-style sessions where we can show off our repertoire, specially composed between one trip and another. Thus begins a journey lasting sixteen hours, during which we will meet numerous characters: some of them will decide to stay and join the cause, others will just be passing through; most of them are almost always forgettable, while only a few manage to stand out for their writing and psychological characterization. With the exception of the original group, the supporting characters we recruit along our journey are often static and uninspiring, characters who do have a background and an evolutionary arc, but which almost never lead to interesting developments.
One gets the feeling that these are with us only to be able to exploit their abilities in combat or to diversify a cast that from the beginning is perfectly functional to the needs of the story – albeit with some exceptions. It almost comes naturally to ask why the developers have invested time and resources to implement characters in the game whose impact on the general economy is equal to zero.
The management of some supporting characters is a mirror image of the game’s story: extremely dense, to the point of not having time to develop their potential. Concepts, stories, subplots, characters are introduced, yet only half of these are fully developed or even just outlined. It is in the small moments that Dustborn gives its best: a chat around the fire, a book to give to your best friend, comforting your companion in a moment of fragility.
The voice of the people, the voice of God
During our journey, words will not only be the tool we use to shape relationships with companions, but also an extremely effective weapon. Whether it’s a dialogue or a melee, Pax can use his Vox to force enemies (or allies) to perform certain actions: we can use our powers to sow discord between two people, or to convince them of something that doesn’t exist.
Each character is equipped with different Vox: Noam, for example, is able to reassure people if they are altered, while Sai can make his body as hard as rock. Theo, on the other hand, is the only member of the group who does not have powers, but his computer science and burglar skills will come in handy on more than one occasion. For every eventuality, there is one or more members of the group who can resolve the issue: here Dustborn expertly develops the theme of friendship and collective action, reminding us through simple game mechanics that no man is an island and that, even if we have superpowers, we need to help each other. As written above, this also applies during physical clashes: in the middle of a fight we can use a Vox capable of blocking a group of enemies, ordering Sai to crash to the ground causing a huge shock wave. In addition to being able to use Vox, we can also create new ones: using a particular portable machine, we will be able to capture echoes. Once we have obtained a certain amount, we can use them to generate new words, to be used both in combat and during conversations.
Unfortunately, the fights are perhaps the least interesting aspect of the whole game: too botched and also out of place, except in some moments of the story. Most of these are resolved by pressing the attack button until exhaustion, while we confusingly dodge enemy attacks. Given the nature of the game, we would have appreciated a series of interactive sequences – as already seen in the Telltale or Quantic Dream titles -, but these are purely subjective observations, so we will limit ourselves to talking about what Dustborn is in concrete terms and not what it could have been.
In any case, Red Thread Games has wisely decided to limit the number of fights in which we will be involved, placing greater emphasis on the exploratory phases and dialogues between characters. Dialogues in which we can select the desired response, always in line with Pax’s personality and therefore never dissonant with the character of the young woman, as instead happens in other exponents of the genre. Through the dialogue mechanics, we can develop real “paths” with our traveling companions, without however perceiving a real change in the narrative development, underlining once again how Dustborn is more interested in the dynamics between characters than in the story that forms the backdrop to their lives.
A comic in motion
The Norwegian development team has done a more than appreciable job on the aesthetic front: while not reaching incredible aesthetic peaks, the pastel colors help to give life to real vignettes on the screen, which refer to the aforementioned American comics. The music is convincing, at least in part: the soundtrack certainly does not exude originality, if it were not for the songs that we can play around the Divided States of America, certainly appreciable.
We played Dustborn on Steam Deck and, apart from a vigorous battery consumption, there were no problems of any kind: the game maintained a stable 30 fps for the entire duration of the game, even reaching 45 or 60 in the emptier areas. We also point out that the game is entirely translated into Italian, with the exception of the dubbing which is overall well made.
