Dandara

The sense of mastery never quite comes, resulting in a game that flashes its potential in one scene only to undermine that thrill soon afterward. Even with its occasional stumbles, though, Dandara offers enough excitement and beauty to push you onward.

A prickly 2D Metroidvania with a curious twist, Dandara admirably finds something new to do with the genre, but it's tough work to get onboard.

Of what I've played so far Dandara offers a fresh new way to play a very familiar format, with deft design and strong puzzling wit. I just wish it had remembered to give me a reason to do so.

Dandara has a firm foundation, but suffers from inherent design flaws and a lack of direction. Despite its imperfections, I mostly enjoyed my time with it. It treads a lot of familiar ground with its gameplay mechanics, but those were the portions of the game I found myself having the most fun with.

Dandara is a 2D Metroidvania platformer that's admirably intent on doing things differently, from its Brazilian folklore-infused narrative to its unorthodox and touchscreen-friendly controls. It can be a little awkward to play as a result, and it's got its fair share of structural niggles, but Dandara provides a genuinely fascinating world to spend some time in.

The time I've spent with Long Hat House's latest title has forced me to reevaluate my expectations of the Metroidvania subgenre. On one hand, Dandara is a perfectly serviceable romp through a series of well-designed and attractive environments; on the other, it's a deliberate yet confusing sidestep of well-established gameplay conventions. It may be that Dandara's atypical traversal mechanic will click with some players, particularly those who pick up the game for the Nintendo Switch or mobile devices, but others may find that the game's middling charms aren't enough to make up for its potentially-frustrating controls.

Even so, Dandara‘s seemingly-impossible feat at combining elements of platforming, combat and strategy within its explorative template takes some doing and is almost an accomplishment in of itself.

Dandara is an excellent game and I can't believe I haven't heard people talking about it. Its unique movement is accompanied by an equally unique world, soundtrack, and symbolic story that will fascinate lore nerds. While it's controls may not support the precision combat asks of you, the Salt is definitely a world worth saving.

Dandara is the perfect example that it is always possible to innovate no matter how well-trodden a genre is. Taking the well-known bases of the Metroidvania, it manages to give a twist to the formula to be able to differentiate from the rest of the games of the genre. All this is wrapped up in a pleasant and detailed audiovisual section.

A unique but strange game. Great character and art design really make this something special, though the control scheme is truly unique as well.