One of the most common bits of praise I hear about the Switch on almost a daily basis, centers around how portable the console is. The second most common bit of praise is how easy the Switch makes couch co-op and multiplayer. Dusty Raging Fist is a prequel to PD Design Studio’s Dusty Revenge, and showcases just how much fun couch co-op can be on the Switch.

Before we dig deep into what Dusty Raging Fist is, you should know that it is available on the PlayStation 4 as well. Personally, I think this Switch version is the better investment, if only because of how easy multiplayer is on Switch. Since the machine comes with two controllers, you can pick it up and immediately play with a friend.

Dusty Raging Fist is a beat-em-up that can be played alone, or with up to two other people. Set during an unspecified amount of time prior to Dusty Revenge, you play as Dusty, Kitsune, or Darg as they attempt to stop an ancient evil that has resurfaced in their homeland. Children are going missing, and there are unsavory characters coming out of the woodwork, so it is up to Dusty and his friends to save the day.

Interestingly enough, Dusty Raging Fist does things differently than most games in the genre. Instead of just giving you all of your abilities at the start, you acquire new things as you play, much like a Metroidvania. As Dusty and his pals explore, not only do they make new friends that support them in combat, but they also acquire elemental powers, which are used to solve puzzles and change up combat a bit.

The first support character is a sniper who allows you to use part of your support gauge to shoot enemies that are out of reach of your regular strikes. Another supporting character is more suited for puzzle solving and shoots artillery to blow up blockages in your path. You can use the Artillery in combat, but it is difficult to do so without taking a lot of damage in the process since you are vulnerable while you are aiming it.

Aside from utilizing support characters, Dusty and his pals tend to control the same way. Each of them has strengths and weaknesses, but their combos are very similar. Each character has a light attack, a heavy attack, and a ranged attack, bound to different buttons which you use to make combos. To add another layer to this, as you progress you unlock elemental powers, which allow you to add elemental effects to your combos.

Each elemental power allows you to do different things to your enemies. Ice allows you to freeze enemies, lightning provides a stun effect, and so on. As you unlock the Elemental Powers, you also unlock elemental summons, which you can use to deal massive damage to all enemies on screen. This leads to another aspect of the progression system that is different from most beat-em-ups on the market.

Dusty Raging Fist has a progression system independent of the abilities you acquire over the course of your journey. In each level, there are chests that give you health, experience points, or upgrade crystals. Upgrade crystals allow you to increase your health, summon gem, or support gauge, once you collect 3 of a certain type (tied to each bar.)

For example, the red upgrades increase your health once you collect 3 of them, the blue increase your support gauge, and green increase your summon gem.

This progression system, which encourages exploration rather than just mindless punching, is what sets the game apart from others in the genre. However, for all the good parts of the game, there are always things that could be implemented a little better. One of those things is the camera.

The major issue with the camera is that when you are playing with friends, it is easy to cause other players to die if you get too far away from each other. The camera zooms out as you get farther apart, so sometimes platforming can be a challenge, especially if platforms are moving. The worst part of this though, is that if you miss a jump, your character dies completely.

In a multiplayer game, you’ll have to wait until the next checkpoint before you can revive a fallen ally. In single player, there are no “lives” or continues. If you die you start back at the last checkpoint, and in the case of bosses, you have to just try and kill the boss until you win.

I was very disappointed by the discovery that Dusty Raging Fist suffers from a common problem in the beat-em-up genre. Playing solo is practically impossible because there is no balancing between 1 player and 3 players. You get attacked by the same amount of enemies, you get hit for the same amount of damage, and you get stunned just as often.

Most enemies have a stun or interrupt effect with their attacks, so players that are solo will find themselves locked in a stun animation and unable to dodge away. On top of that, the platforming still can kill you if you miss a jump, and is very unforgiving.

I played on the easiest difficulty (of the 3 total) and I cannot imagine what playing solo (or with friends) is like on any difficulty higher. I wanted to throw my joycons across the room MULTIPLE times during my solo session, and playing multiplayer proved that the balancing really doesn’t change. In fact, the experience isn’t distributed equally amongst all participating players, so you wind up having to remember who opened the last experience chest so no one is left behind without upgrades.

Dusty Raging Fist is fun playing with more than one player, but solo play is an exercise in frustration. Add in the fact that the voice acting is bugged and often can’t be heard over the music, and you have a recipe for disaster. I want to love Dusty Raging Fist more than I do, and there is a lot to enjoy if you’re going to play with friends.

Sadly, there is also a lot to dislike about the game as well, and I would suggest that if you aren’t going to play this with siblings, family, or friends, perhaps you might want to buy this one on sale. Dusty Raging Fist is a different sort of beat-em-up, but at the end of the day, it suffers from the same balancing and difficulty issues as other games in the genre.

A Nintendo Switch copy of Dusty Raging Fist was provided by PD Design Studio for this review.

Phenixx Gaming is everywhere you are. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Dusty Raging Fist

$9.99

6

Score

6.0/10

Pros

• Great Progression System
• Beautiful Visuals
• Interesting Mechanics
• Lots of Upgrades
• Great with Friends

Cons

• Unbalanced Difficulty
• Camera Acts up in Multiplayer
• Voice Acting is Bugged