LUNA The Shadow Dust

 PC
LUNA The Shadow Dust Image
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 46 Ratings

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  • Summary: LUNA The Shadow Dust is a fully hand-animated Point&Click puzzle adventure, brought to life through wordless storytelling, beautiful cinematics and a breathtaking original soundtrack.

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 23
  3. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. Washington Post
    Feb 27, 2020
    90
    From the start, its beautiful hand-drawn visuals, dreamlike puzzles, and mysterious story line — which unfolds without a word of dialogue — drew me in and held my interest until the credits.
  2. Ragequit.gr
    Feb 13, 2020
    85
    A small work of art, well-made and compact, flooded with colours and bittersweet feelings. Unfortunately, it doesn't last longer than a Saturday gaming session.
  3. GameOver.gr
    Feb 21, 2020
    80
    LUNA’s design creates the feeling that we are watching a lovely European animation of a simple yet affectionate fairy tale. The slightly easy riddles keep the momentum forward in order to experience it as a one-shot 3-4 hours gaming session.
  4. Worth Playing
    Apr 7, 2020
    75
    In the end, I felt that Luna: The Shadow Dust ebbed and flowed more like a beautifully soundtracked picture book than an actual video game, which is admittedly a refreshing change of direction for this genre. If you're looking for something a little more out of the box than a typical point-and-click experience, then Luna: The Shadow Dust might be the game for you.
  5. GamingTrend
    Apr 30, 2020
    75
    With all its puzzling adventures, out-of-the-box thinking, and stunning hand drawn visuals, it’s a memorable game in its genre. Solving the puzzles offers such gratification that one looks forward to continuing climbing the tower and solving the next. But with a lack of a meaningful story, it lacks complete immersion from the player.
  6. PC Gamer
    Feb 14, 2020
    72
    An enchanting adventure that boasts some magical hand-drawn animation, but will inevitably leave some players perplexed.
  7. Slant Magazine
    Feb 12, 2020
    50
    Its point-and-click adventure elements eventually feel alternately rudimentary and more than a little tedious.

See all 24 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 15
  3. Negative: 6 out of 15
  1. doctor_awesome
    Mar 3, 2020
    10
    This was the first video game to make me cry. I don't mind admitting it. This game is really special. The graphics are beautiful, the music isThis was the first video game to make me cry. I don't mind admitting it. This game is really special. The graphics are beautiful, the music is perfect, the puzzles have just the right difficulty, and the cut scenes really tug at the heart strings in such a sincere way.… Expand
  2. farkasdavid01
    Feb 13, 2020
    10
    LUNA The Shadow Dust is one of the very best indie game I have ever played. Charming art style, beautiful music and great story.
  4. paol0
    Feb 14, 2020
    10
    Amazing illustration style, a bit like Shaun Tan's artwork. Very enjoyable, not-too-hard puzzles, ambient music, overall great family game.
  5. Amanda_R
    Mar 18, 2020
    9
    It's a refreshing game, the puzzles are in good balance and match the overall theme. This game deserves praise for its wonderful music andIt's a refreshing game, the puzzles are in good balance and match the overall theme. This game deserves praise for its wonderful music and art. I am glad I've played it!… Expand
  6. GamerGuysNGals
    Feb 17, 2020
    8
    “Luna the Shadow Dust”

    Reviewed By: Mouseboy Platforms: PC, macOS, Linux (Steam) Developer: Lantern Studio Publishers: Application    “Luna the Shadow Dust”

    Reviewed By: Mouseboy
    Platforms: PC, macOS, Linux (Steam)
    Developer: Lantern Studio
    Publishers: Application Systems Heidelberg, Coconut Island Games
    Release Date: Feb 13, 2020
    Price: $19.99 US (Steam)
    Players: 1
    Genre: Point-and-click Adventure

    Game reviewed on PC (Steam).

    Luna the Shadow Dust is the kind of game that you have no idea why you’re playing, but you enjoy it every step of the way. A classic point and click adventure, with minimalist design, lacking any narrative, voiceover or dialogue, Luna still manages to get its point across with great animation and superb game development.

    Created by a Chinese team from Shanghai, this game exudes the love of its designers, from hand-painted incredibly detailed backgrounds, to instantly loveable characters to the thought-provoking puzzles in every level. While similar in game design to classics like Botanicula and Machinarium, it’s clearly visually inspired in part by Miyazaki films and the Little Prince and the combination goes well together with the overall art style and direction.

    The music is phenomenal, orchestral and rich, and the sound design is clean, with just the right amount of sound effects (and good use of audio positioning). It’s the kind of game you just want to leave running in the background for the soundtrack alone.

    The game itself follows a boy named Üri and the strange cat-like creature he rescues, Layh, as he climbs a tower full of mysteries. Each room of the tower has different challenges, puzzles that often involve interactions between light and shadow or pattern matching using the environment. Clues to solve the puzzle are often hidden in the background, though sometimes they are too obscure to be very useful.

    There are 24 easy-to-medium difficulty achievements on Steam for those achievement hunters out there, and the game as a whole can be finished in 4-6 hours (with another hour for completionist achievement hunting). Although the game lacks native game controller support, as a point and click game, all that is really needed is a functioning mouse. The settings menu is remarkably simple as a result of this choice.

    Although the game seems short it has a variety of interesting puzzles and a beautiful story told through animated cutscenes.

    Pros: Amazing hand-painted backgrounds, but still low-impact graphics, could play on a computer built out of canvas. Diverse variety of puzzles. Beautiful cutscenes.
    Cons: Some puzzles lack the clues necessary to proceed without random clicking. Occasional mild bugs. Puzzles often require overly-repetitive actions.

    Overall: 8 of 10
    A beautiful work of art to point and click through.    … Expand
  7. bayada9727
    Feb 24, 2020
    4
    The art is charming but the game is scattered, clunky, and very unrewarding. This game would have functioned better as a series of nonThe art is charming but the game is scattered, clunky, and very unrewarding. This game would have functioned better as a series of non sequiturs because the story seriously does not work on any level.… Expand
  8. mavey98855
    Feb 24, 2020
    0
    bad puzzles, no story, meh art. That's all there is to it but here's some more words to make this review at least 75 characters long.

See all 15 User Reviews

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