LUNA The Shadow Dust Reviews
Beyond the poetic eloquence of such delicate handmade animation and moving musical compositions, the main tour de force is hidden into the puzzles that subtly reflect the story's themes. A modest, yet humbling luminous piece of art.
Review in French | Read full review
A lovingly animated and clever point-and-click which, despite issues with pacing and signposting, is still likely to capture many hearts.
LUNA The Shadow Dust is a beautiful game in a mysterious world. While not for those seeking a strong story or intimately clever puzzles, it provides a fun, whimsical experience.
The care and attention that’s gone into even the smallest details is plain and clear to see. While its puzzles can be quite obtuse at times, any video game enthusiast will be happy to turn a blind eye to experience what this game has to offer.
Lantern Studio shows great potential with their debut game and I believe they'll develop even better adventure games in the future.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
For all my disappointments with what LUNA The Shadow Dust could have been, there was a fair share of impressive moments that kept me going. I did want to see what each next puzzle would look and play like, and the mysterious tone did keep me wondering if there was going to be a big payoff at the end. I think that with a proper story, perhaps with some dialogue or written text, LUNA could have been a far stronger game. It feels like the puzzles are the lengthening elements to what could have been an epic narrative. But as it is, LUNA The Shadow Dust is very pretty, plays well, but unfortunately doesn’t do anything meaningful with its high production values.
Luna The Shadow Dust looks and sounds beautiful, and it’s a neat little adventure to have, so long as you can put up with some slow, trial-and-error puzzling.
As an experience, LUNA The Shadow Dust is genuinely profound. An intriguing, mystery brimming story brought to life through fantastic, whimsical aesthetics. Its brilliance is only marred by its missteps in gameplay, which cannot be ignored. The price of around $20 (US) for about five hours of play may discourage, yet the abundance of talent and imagination more than make up for it. If you’re willing to open yourselves to this encompassing experience, then the rich cinematics, the sheer force of the visuals, and the immensity of the sound score will all immerse and awe. Embrace it, and Luna The Shadow Dust may just leave you speechless.
Its point-and-click adventure elements eventually feel alternately rudimentary and more than a little tedious.
Too easy, too simple, and more often than not, too dull and slow, LUNA The Shadow Dust counts on its beautiful, fairy-tail, dreamy graphics, and soothing OST, a bit too much than it should. It's not a bad point-and-click adventure, sure, and those who can look past its heavy flaws will be entertained for about two to three hours, but if it weren't for its stunning hand-painted world, few would give it a second look.
Luna: The Shadow Dust has a beautiful art style, and the early puzzles are fun and interesting, but it falls short of becoming a truly great game. Players who are adept at out-of-the-box thinking might find more to enjoy here, but many will be put off by the levels of frustration prompted by later puzzles.
From its winning art to its calming music and puzzle design, Luna has a lot going for itself.