Dammit Arc, leaving me to start the threads. Buy DustForce you guys.

[Aldurin]

Ok so it's a nifty little indie game that is on first glance a janitor version of N+. (http://dustforce.com/)

TrpXgmoa21I

It is simultaneously better and worse. With each level you get a double S rank on, it drags in more of your soul, forcing you to reach deeper into the game to cling to it. Arcanum and I are already on the road to Giga Difficult and we don't know when we will be back.

In short, you can choose from four different janitors with some variances in movement and attacks in order to conquer levels that are strewn with trash and trash-possessed enemies. Getting a double S (completing everything and chaining a combo from start to finish) gets you a key you can use to unlock any level in the next difficulty tier, and so on and so forth.

It's a very addictive platformer that I personally feel outdoes almost every other "jump and more jumps" game because, fuck, you're a janitor ninja.

Multiplayer currently exists as local only, but there are online features including a planned level editor, and special leaderboards sharing where your best run of each level is automatically uploaded in replay form for anyone to watch, and you can easily filter it to friends only to keep the competition on.

I wanna see more than just Arc's and Karesh's scores competing with mine, so buy it on steam and join us in the rage. The sweet, sweet rage.

[Arcanum]

I wanna see more than just Arc's and Karesh's scores competing with mine

Aldurin: Ramary has the game now too
Arcanum: You sure? Steam says he doesn't have it. Kerensky has it though.
Alduring: Oh, fuck, yeah, I always get those two confused.

Apparently Al confuses Kerensky with everyone.

Anywho, to elaborate a bit on what Al means when he says "Getting a double S." First thing, there are two things you're scored on when you complete a level, "Completion" and "Finesse." Completion is easy, and is just about getting every speck of dust and killing every enemy. Do that and you have your first S rank. Finesse is what makes Dustforce hard. As you collect dust your combo goes up and to get an S rank you need to beat the level without breaking your combo. Go too long without cleaning some dust or hitting an enemy? Combo broken. Get hit by an enemy? Combo broken. Fall into a pit, or land on some spikes, forcing you back to your last checkpoint in the level? C-c-c-c-combo breaker.

In other words, to get a Double S you need to play the level almost flawlessly. I say almost because there is still room for error depending on what level you're playing.

"Why should you care about your rank?" I hear you ask your monitor while the person nearest to you wonders what the hell you're doing talking to your screen. Well if you get an SS then you get a key. SS a regular level, you get a silver key. SS a level unlocked with a silver key and you get a gold key. SS a gold level and you get a red key. Get all the red keys and you have access to the hardest level in the game. Giga Difficult (that is literally the level's name).

Anyway, enough with the info dump. If you love games like Super Meat Boy, or N+, then Dustforce is definitely for you. I've had the game for two or three days and I've already put over 10 hours into it. Best $10 I've spent all year.

Edit-- One last thing. This game has absolutely fantastic music. Give it a listen. (http://lifeformed.bandcamp.com/) While the songs in the link fade out at the end, in-game they all loop seamlessly. Unless you're paying perfect attention to the music (which won't happen considering how hard the levels can be) you won't know how many times the song has been looped.

[Aldurin]

Listen to Arc, he even has a DustForce avatar, so you know it's legit.

[A Zarkin' Frood]

I've seen this game and thought hey, this might be cool, but I'm still not sold. Mostly because I still have other stuff to play right now.

[Locke cole]

I played the demo. This game is tricky, tricky, tricky. I keep forgetting when I'm allowed to double-jump, or misjudging the distance of my jump, or my ability to retain momentum for certain moves.

I may buy the full game, but I'mma wait until I have Boot Camp working, and therefore have a computer that can reliably play the game.

[Arcanum]

Wait demo? Did they recently add the demo (because it was something they were working on last I heard) to Steam, or did you dig up the old old old prototype of the game? Because I heard the old prototype is really outdated.

Also, they're working on a Mac and Linux version, but no word yet on when that will be ready and available.

As for jumping it works like this: Once you leave the ground (either jumping or dashing/running off a ledge) you have a single* aerial maneuver, which is either a jump or an air-dash. This single aerial maneuver only "recharges" when you touch flat ground (or ground on a 45 degree angle at most) or when you clean an enemy. You can still jump or dash off of walls, but wall-running/sliding does not reset your aerial maneuver.

*Unless you're the purple character, in which case you have two (though her jumps/dashes are weaker).

But yeah it can be a bit tricky to get a hang of the platforming/timing/momentum, but once you do and start pulling off some flawless maneuvers (like wall run -> ceiling run -> dash to a wall -> run up, wall jump a few times -> ceiling run -> kill an enemy -> ceiling run) it's pretty great, and you feel awesome.

[Locke cole]

It must be the prototype, then. I found some kinda free download thing, that clearly is a demo rather than a complete game (you only have the broom users availible, though it teases you with the other two), combos aren't always shown, but rather announced as you achieve them and displayed in the form of auras around you, and you have no AOE move.

However, outdated though it is, it was a nice way for me to get an idea of what the game is like, and I feel like getting it when I can reliably play it. I need to stop buying Steam games before I can use them...