Dust to the End
- August 11, 2021
- Zjoy Game
Get on Steam"Dust to the End" is a sandbox survival game set in a western-themed world. Gather resources, craft tools, build shelters, and fend off hostile enemies to survive. Navigate through a procedurally generated map with dynamic weather and day/night cycles, and make your way to the end of the world. Team up with friends or go solo in this challenging open-world adventure.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game features a fun and engaging trading system that allows players to buy low and sell high, creating a rewarding gameplay loop.
- The art style is beautifully hand-drawn, enhancing the post-apocalyptic atmosphere and making the game visually appealing.
- The developers are responsive to community feedback and frequently update the game, showing commitment to improving the player experience.
- The English translation is poor, leading to confusion in dialogue and mechanics, which detracts from the overall experience.
- The game can become repetitive and grindy, especially in the mid-game, with limited enemy variety and quests that lack depth.
- Combat mechanics are simplistic and can feel monotonous, with many players relying on auto-combat due to the lack of strategic depth.
- story142 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 69 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The story in the game is generally considered weak and serves primarily as a means to progress through different regions rather than as a compelling narrative. Players find the quests straightforward and repetitive, with minimal player choice and poor translations that detract from immersion. While some appreciate the gritty atmosphere and basic plot elements, many agree that the focus is more on trading mechanics and gameplay than on an engaging storyline.
“This is a great game with a gritty atmosphere, simplistic combat, and an interesting story wrapped around a very grindy core.”
“The raiders steal your fellow 'undergrounders' and you start your quest to find your friends and exact revenge.”
“While you don't have much say in how the story plays out, it is still a fun adventure.”
“There's essentially no story.”
“The story is the flimsiest cover I've recently experienced and is best forgotten as a tool to advance regions.”
“With the translation errors and the story being quite run of the mill so far it hasn't really drawn me in, and isn't really the focus of the game except as a means to unlock new areas.”
- gameplay102 mentions
- 16 % positive mentions
- 80 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The gameplay is a mix of caravan trading, turn-based RPG combat, and base-building mechanics, offering a unique experience with depth in trading and crafting. However, it suffers from repetitiveness, a grindy loop, and poorly explained mechanics, which can frustrate players. While the combat and management elements are engaging, the overall experience is marred by translation issues and a lack of automation, making it feel uneven and at times tedious.
“A caravan/trading game with turn-based RPG fights and heavy base-building mechanics.”
“Great trading game with engaging management elements and fair RPG mechanics.”
“The gameplay on the other hand is extremely fun and worthwhile.”
“It's also a visually repetitive mess with lots of stock sound effects, an awkward English translation, hair-pullingly slow dialogue trees, very few settings to fiddle with (my kingdom for faster text speed and borderless window mode, augh), plenty of poorly explained mechanics, and no good basic automation for stockpiling.”
“Halfway through the game, if you're diligent enough in your bunker development, you can safely ignore the central gameplay loop (which is caravan trade) and just rush the disconnected story.”
“There is no tutorial to speak of, and many mechanics are not self-evident (e.g., mercenary personality impact is complex yet entirely opaque) until you learn from experience or trial and error.”
- grinding62 mentions
- 2 % positive mentions
- 2 % neutral mentions
- 97 % negative mentions
The game is frequently criticized for its grindy nature, with many players finding the repetitive tasks and resource management tedious, especially as they progress. While some appreciate the depth of crafting and trading mechanics, they often feel that the grind detracts from the overall enjoyment, leading to a sense of tedium and frustration. However, a few players note that the grind can be meaningful and manageable, depending on playstyle.
“In the end, the game could have been better, but it is a fun setting with smart trading; challenging but not too grindy.”
“Starts off very strong but it gets very tedious with all the grinding and running back and forth.”
“This part is so ridiculously grindy I'd advise anyone playing this game to avoid it.”
“It's decent and has a lot of the core mechanics I was looking for, but overall it suffers from being too repetitive, grindy, and not particularly good at any particular thing.”
- graphics42 mentions
- 48 % positive mentions
- 45 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The graphics of "Dust to the End" feature a hand-drawn, stylized aesthetic that effectively captures the post-apocalyptic setting, appealing to many players despite being described as simplistic or bare-bones. While some reviewers noted the graphics as decent but not groundbreaking, others praised the detailed art style and colorful visuals, highlighting their contribution to the game's atmosphere. Overall, the graphics are well-received for their artistic quality, fitting the game's theme, and are considered satisfactory given the game's smaller studio background.
“Dust to the end has nice hand-drawn graphics in a post-apocalyptic setting, which is what drew me to the game.”
“I like the colorful graphics and the soundtrack is quite good and atmospheric.”
“Great art (assets are so extremely well made I cannot even begin to tell you how good everything looks in this particular art style).”
“Underneath the low quality graphics lies a decent post-apocalyptic RPG with a resource management game that might turn off the uninitiated.”
“It's pretty bare bones as far as graphics, sound, and story are concerned.”
“Graphics are okay for being modeled pretty old school (re: slightly better than Fallout 2).”
- music10 mentions
- 80 % positive mentions
- 10 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally praised for being awesome and atmospheric, enhancing the overall experience. However, some users note that the selection is somewhat limited, though the quality of the available songs is high. Overall, the soundtrack effectively complements the colorful graphics and engaging gameplay.
“The music is awesome!”
“I like the colorful graphics and the soundtrack is quite good and atmospheric.”
“The arts bring the world to life along with the music and great game mechanics. My compliments to the developer.”
“The music is pretty limited, but the songs it does have are good.”
- character development8 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate that while the game features a basic RPG-like character development system, it lacks depth and engagement, leading to a sense of boredom for players. Despite the appealing character design and immersive post-apocalyptic environment, the minimal character progression detracts from overall investment in the game.
“Don't get me wrong, this game is well worth the price range in my opinion, and there is an RPG-like character development system in the game, but it is very basic.”
“The main reason I am unable to invest myself fully into this game and give it something like a 9/10 is the lack of character development.”
“Don't get me wrong, this game is well worth the price range in my opinion, and there is an RPG-like kind of character development system in the game, but it is very basic.”
“I got bored because character development is nil.”
- optimization8 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The game is well-optimized, running smoothly without lag, which enhances the overall experience. However, players must manage character relationships and various performance factors, such as ability scores, equipment, and food, to achieve peak combat effectiveness.
“It runs smoothly without lag.”
“There are other things to consider too for peak combat performance, such as the food your characters get to eat (more or less action points gained per round), their equipment (along with upgrades), their levels and skills.”
“Meanwhile you have to be wary that all these people get along or their combat performance will suffer (most story characters actually can't seem to stand each other, so you can just leave some of them).”
“Characters have ability scores and class traits/features that can improve their performances, but that's about it.”
“Meanwhile, you have to be wary that all these people get along or their combat performance will suffer (most story characters actually can't seem to stand each other, so you can just leave some of them).”
“There are other things to consider too for peak combat performance, such as the food your characters get to eat (more or less action points gained per round), their equipment (along with upgrades), their levels, and skills.”
- atmosphere6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is praised for its colorful graphics and engaging soundtrack, creating an immersive experience. Reviewers highlight a gritty ambiance paired with sandbox freedom, enhancing the overall enjoyment despite the simplistic combat and grindy gameplay. Overall, the atmosphere is considered a strong point, making the game worth its price.
“This is a great game with a gritty atmosphere, simplistic combat, and an interesting story wrapped around a very grindy core.”
“It has a great atmosphere, offers more sandbox freedom than any game of this kind I've played so far, and would be easily worth the usual 16ish bucks you pay for those games.”
“I like the colorful graphics and the soundtrack is quite good and atmospheric.”
- humor4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is noted to be somewhat overshadowed by its extensive gameplay mechanics, which include various activities like industry building, fighting, and trading. While there are humorous elements, such as a funny board game and a slot machine, the overall depth of the game may detract from its comedic impact.
“I was particularly impressed by the wide scope of the game - building industry, fighting, trading, crafting, getting market shares (with a small funny board game), even a slot machine :).”
- replayability4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
Players find the game enjoyable and appreciate its variety, contributing to its replayability. However, some express concerns about limited replay options, suggesting that future mods may enhance its longevity. Overall, while the game is fun, its replayability may be constrained in its current state.
“The game is fun, interesting, and there are a good amount of variables that make it replayable!”
“I'm having a blast with this game; the replayability options are limited, but I hope mods will help prolong its value over time.”
“I'm having a blast with this game, but I'm only seeing limited replayability options here. Perhaps over time, mods will help prolong the game's value.”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Users express a strong sentiment that stability is crucial in gaming, emphasizing that they prefer to avoid games that are plagued by bugs and technical issues.
“Life's too short for buggy games.”
