Duskfade Review – Wearing Its (Kingdom) Hearts On Its Sleeve

I vividly remember when I received Kingdom Hearts 2 for my birthday in sixth grade. I hurriedly booted up my PlayStation 2, and for the next few weeks, I played the living hell out of it. It’s now one of my favorite games of all time. Since then, I’ve been looking for a game that scratches that same unique blend of magical whimsy and floaty action combat.

Enter Duskfade, the debut action platformer from developer Weird Beluga. It’s the closest game I’ve played that emulates Kingdom Hearts, sometimes even teetering on copying similar gameplay mechanics. Duskfade certainly isn’t ashamed of its influences, but it does enough to stand out from its inspirations.

Game Name: Duskfade
Platform(s): PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, PC (Steam)
Reviewed On: PC (Steam)
Developer(s): Weird Beluga
Publisher(s): Fireshine Games
Release Date: August 13, 2026
Price: $29.99

You play as Zirian, a young boy who’s on a journey to save his sister Allira from a devious entity called Despair, while also uncovering the mystery behind the sudden appearance of a clocktower that has cast eternal night over the land. Duskfade’s themes of grief and loss aren’t the most profound, but they fit the more child-friendly aesthetic it has going on. It reminds me of early Kingdom Hearts, when plotlines weren’t as sophisticated or confusing, which makes Duskfade an approachable and lighthearted adventure.

The carefree atmosphere can also be attributed to Zirian, who’s definitely more on the naive and aloof side. His design and attitude had me feeling nostalgic, as he’s reminiscent of Kingdom Hearts protagonist Sora. Except he has fewer zippers on his clothes, and he actually has normal-sized shoes.

But Duskfade establishes its own identity by heavily leaning into the concept of time and clocks. His companion is a mechanical owl named Cuckoo, and instead of a weapon shaped like a key similar to Sora’s Keyblade, Zirian wields a more traditional-looking sword in the shape of a clock hand. Zirian also unlocks more weapons and tools later on that cleverly follow the same theme, such as a pendulum for his heavy attacks and a sundial as a skateboard.

At times, Duskfade comes dangerously close to reheating Kingdom Hearts’ nachos. But by the end of the story, it manages to come into its own, like the satisfaction of pushing the microwave stop button before the counter hits zero and beeps, potentially waking the whole house at 2 AM.

Zirian has his standard light and heavy attack combos, but he also has a plethora of different time-based abilities. He can attack from mid-range with Chronoblast, as well as plant clock gear-shaped mines that explode when enemies trample over them. Zirian also slows down time when pulling off a perfect dodge, giving you an opening to attack enemies. While the combat isn’t the deepest, it fulfilled my need for Kingdom Hearts-esque gameplay.

However, it takes a while for Zirian to gain all of his combat abilities, as many of them need to be bought from the shop. Duskfade isn’t an RPG, so there isn’t any leveling involved. This can make fights feel stale if you don’t take the time to explore and search for the collectibles needed to upgrade Zirian.

Duskfade also separates itself from Kingdom Hearts by being much more of a collectathon platformer like Ratchet & Clank and Banjo-Kazooie. As part of the story, Zirian unlocks various traversal tools like a grappling hook and a set of wings, encouraging you to revisit previous areas to reach places you couldn’t access the first time. The platforming feels tactile enough, but Duskfade’s biggest oversight is the lack of any map.

Story progression is linear enough that it’s not a big issue, and Duskfade is nice enough to show you how many collectibles you’re missing in each area. But tracking down the remaining ones is an absolute nightmare. You can waste hours trying to find the last one in an area without success.

Verdict

Duskfade is a love letter to early 2000s platformers as well as Kingdom Hearts. Like clockwork, there will always be imitators that try to recapture the magic of what made certain games so beloved, but Duskfade does it better than most. Despite a somewhat slow start, it’s a fun yet brisk adventure that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

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Review Disclosure Statement: Duskfade was provided to us by Weird Beluga for review purposes For more information on how we review video games and other media/technology, please review our Review Guideline/Scoring Policy.