I'm not exactly what you'd call a social person. There's just something so much more appealing about fantastic, imaginary worlds, that i'd rather spend my free time getting lost in them, rather than dealing with boring, frustrating social events and bar-hopping. So, as you can imagine, I've been playing video games for a long time. I started at the tender age of two, playing a Cookie Monster game on the Atari 2600; at least, according to my mom. Ever since then, I've been a huge fan of imagination, fantasy, and escapism in general. Fast forward two and a half decades, and you find me on the cusp of my twenty-ninth birthday.

Can you believe that, after all those years, I've never played a game that moved me to tears? And not just tears. I'm talking head-in-my-hands, sobbing uncontrollably from all the emotions i'm feeling. Now, what does this have to do with Dust: An Elysian Tail, you might ask? Well, a lot of things, it turns out, because guess what? This is the first game I have ever played in the twenty-seven or so years of my gaming life that has moved me on that level.

I was having an interesting discussion with my sister about why this game affected me like it did. Being a fan of escapism and fantasy, I've grown up being able to apply empathy to characters that are not only fictional, they're not even human. My sister is the exact opposite of me. She absolutely despises video games. She only deals with "the real world" as she put it, so she's not able to apply feelings like that to fictional, cartoon-y things, since that connection just isn't there. It's an interesting theory, to be sure. I can't think of another reason why it can do that to me.

Well, I seem to have gotten way ahead of myself here. What the hell am I even blabbering on about? Well, here's the thing. Dust: An Elysian Tail is an absolutely phenomenal game. It's sensational. It's astounding. It's enthralling. It's engrossing. Sure, the combat, the RPG mechanics, the exploration...that's all a ton of fun and has been praised on many levels by many different people. But that's not what really did it for me. Remember me saying I love fantasy? Well, this game has an interesting, fleshed out world. It has characters so well written and voice acted that they feel real (at least to me). It has a surpisingly dark storyline, dealing with themes of loss, regret, vengeance, and redemption. But there were two distinct parts of the game that hit me, like a slow, contemplative one-two punch.

HEY, STORY SPOILERS UP AHEAD. SPOILERS, SPOILERS SPOILERS. NOT GONNA BLACK THEM OUT, SO STOP IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS.

The first punch in this emotional salvo was the story of Mudpot. Nestled deep within the Cirromon Caverns, this cute little town has a huge problem: the Lady has cut off their water supply. This would obviously be devastating for any village, but there is an more grave issue on top of that as well! You see, there's a little boy whose father is deathly ill. The water is the only way to save him, but it might already be too late. That doesn't stop Dust, who pushes through the lowest parts of the caverns, confronts and defeats Lady Tethys to get the water brought back, and returns to the village. It's too late, however. The little boy's father has died.

After the burial, the little boy asks Dust for one last wish: to bring his father some snow. It was always his dream to see it, but he wasn't able to find a way to make it up there before his death. So, his little son felt it would be a great parting gift for his ol' dad.

Later in the game, Dust comes upon a "cooler", which is basically a portable mini-fridge. He puts some snow in it, and returns to the little boy. At this point, my stomach is turning with anticipation and emotion. What is going to happen? What's the boy going to say? Well, he delivers one of the best lines in the entire game:

"We had our moment together, me an' Pa. Takin' a walk through the snow, buildin' a fort, watchin' all those flakes fall from the sky...I know none of it were real, but i'll always have this memory now, thanks to you. I've just gotta be strong now, for Momma. Thanks so much, Dust. For everythin'."

At this point, tears welled up in my eyes, and I slowly nodded my head, smiling. Old, forgotten memories from my past came flooding back. You see, my father died a long time ago as well, from heart failure. Almost sixteen years ago now. After he died, I moved from snowy Chicago to blazing Phoenix, Arizona, and have never seen snow since. Great memories of sledding down snowy hills, and digging deep into the three-plus foot thick snow on the ground around Christmas time.

Not only was it a touching, emotional moment of someone saying goodbye for the last time, it also brought back old memories for me, so that I could continue to say goodbye to my own father. To continue to work out old feelings that I've long since shoved under the mat. To remember the good times.

Thanks for that, Dean.

-------

Well, I kind of burnt myself out on writing for now. Not to mention, with the ending still fresh in my mind, i'm still trying to work through it all, so i'll be back soon with my thoughts on the knockout second punch. Seriously. The ending in this game is one of the best ever written.