Many of my fondest gaming memories stem from playing the wide range of 3D action platformers on PlayStation 2; an era where the genre reached new heights with releases such as Jak and Daxter, and Ratchet and Clank. These titles captured an uninhibited childlike wonder through tight combat and precision platforming in colourful, awe-inspiring worlds.

But where countless developers have misunderstood what made these titles special, Spanish studio Weird Beluga returns with their sophomore game, Duskfade, to aspire to recreate what makes the genre so unique.

Duskfade follows a youngster called Zirian, on a coming-of-age adventure through a cloudpunk fantasy world that's plunged into mortal peril when a mysterious tower appears in his town. But when his sister, Allira disappears inside the tower, a small clockwork bird named Cuckoo joins Zirian on his quest to break the four hulking chains to unlock the tower. Now teammates, Zirian and Cuckoo must travel from a perilous volcano to an abandoned academy and beyond, in order to save his sister and the very world itself.

From the first few nicely animated cutscenes that setup the game, Weird Beluga puts onus on the central storyline of grief that underpins the whole narrative. The developers don't waste any time in letting players loose in the hub world called Tick Town. The perfect location to allow players to explore and get accustomed to Zirian's movements. I immediately thought of Sora from Kingdom Hearts; a fluid motion with a slight skiddy momentum.

Within a few minutes of jumping around the impressively particle heavy environment, I could tell Weird Beluga had nailed the feeling of platforming from older 3D action platformers, like South of Midnight recently did. It gave me the confidence that it would feel precise enough to withstand the full length of the game.

But before I had chance to experience the other half of Duskfade's gameplay, I was seriously impressed by what the team have managed to produce visually for a relatively small studio. Everything is perfectly in-tune with the cartoon and anime aesthetic. Stylised textures make the clockpunk environments sing, as clockwork gears turn above a beautifully lit reflective floor.

Yet it's the skyboxes that are truly impressive. Looking in each direction foreshadows which regions Zirian's adventure will take him to dismantle the chains and try to save his sister. But none of this would work without compelling character design, and both NPCs and main characters are thoughtfully designed. NPCs are cartoon styled clouds, and Zirian has an emotive 3D character model that reminded me of the style of the late Akira Toriyama of Dragonball and Dragon Quest fame.

After being directed to the first of the four chains, Zirian can follow the linear path, or explore Tick Town and talk to NPCs for additional world building. But before leaving town, Zirian can purchase upgrades and abilities from the merchant, and over time, unlock other side objectives to complete. These vary from collecting rainbow ingots to unlock sword designs, catch elusive cats to unlock costume designs, completing mini games to collect music boxes that unlock songs, collect coins hidden around levels to trade for cards.

Then, Zirian journeys to the first region: a farmland with yet another striking vista. You immediately spot a bell and strike it with your sword, summoning a distant bright light to show you where to go. This begins Duskfade's foundational level design: explore new linear environments with some optional paths, complete precision platforming sequences, battle enemies in combat arenas, and then, fight multi-phased bosses.

First, Duskfade introduces the combat as purple clockwork creatures spawn at predetermined points around each level, which breaks up the traversal challenges. Initial enemies use simple melee and projectile attacks. Luckily, Zirian is equipped with his trusty sword. He can do light attacks to hit enemies or deflect projectiles back, dodge or perfectly time a dodge to slow down time, jump or double jump. All while Cuckoo assists with auto attacks - a basic setup that evolves throughout Zirian's adventure.

Swinging Zirian's sword feels reminiscent to the key blade in Kingdom Hearts mixed with the melee combat in older Ratchet and Clank games. Although the movement does feel a little sluggish and repetitious, with and without lock-on for a few reasons. That doesn't mean it isn't solid, as it is. I just found it a little rigid, especially as it takes a little too long to unlock the heavy attack and extra abilities. Nothing is a deal-breaker, it's just little things like lock-on that doesn't constantly feel intuitive in terms of the enemy it selects, and how at times, attacks feel too fixed to their line of sight.

But when Zirian eventually unlocks the heavy attack, he can perform combos to hit a wider berth of enemies, destroy previously unbreakable crystals and enemy shields, and even jump and slam down. Helping to make combat encounters less predictable and more entertaining. Weird Beluga also include four difficulty options to make the combat accessible for a wide age range; an excellent choice as the anime style cutscenes, characters and story about grief and acceptance with doses of light-hearted humour feels right at home with both children and adults.

The other biggest gameplay mechanic in Duskfade is the platforming. Zirian can run, jump and double jump up to high places, grab onto marked ledges, and dodge dash through the air to cross larger gaps. Yet it's how Duskfade's levels change and new environmental challenges emerge to test players that make the difference. Immersive features that fit the environment such as flowers that turn into bounce pads, stone pillars that sink when touched, spurting water that pushes you into the air, and so much more.

However, this truly expands when Zirian discovers new gadgets for traversal. Items like a grappling hook and the ability to grind on rails, instantly freshens up each levels' platforming challenges, and encourages players to further explore to locate hidden items and collectibles, such as objects to permanently level up Zirian's health, gears and massive Star Shard deposits that are needed to purchase upgrades in Tick Town.

After saving up enough Star Shards, you can hit the mid-level clock-shaped checkpoint to find a large circle on the floor that acts as the game's fast travel system. On returning to the merchant, you can spend your gears and shards on helpful skills like a counterattack, or upgrades like increasing the strength of Cuckoo's attacks.

These pit-stops create a feeling of constant progression. As each new gadget can be upgraded like the grapple hook which can be used to grab enemies during combat. So they work on dual fronts, improving both the combat encounters and the platforming sections. Weird Beluga have also made sure players feel the resistance of using the grappling hook on the PlayStation 5 controller's haptic triggers.

This feeling of progression is an area where Duskfade shines and stumbles. On one hand, each new level incorporates new gadgets and sword abilities, such as a time explosion that can open crystal doors as well as destroy enemies - a feature that's sadly underused on the linear path. New additions that keep you engaged, but sometimes feel like much earlier introductions would've improved the game.

Fortunately, as a good majority of the game is platforming, the difficulty rises at a good pace. More complex environments feature more advanced obstacles: Zirian must jump between walls, cling onto walls that move horizontally and vertically, time jumps over waves of lava, and much more. My only complaint is new gadgets took too long to be introduced. As equipment unlocked later in the game isn't given long enough to shine before the end. But some later parts do combine everything you've learned to make an exciting challenge.

But it was the boss fights where Duskfade impressed. I particularly enjoyed how each one had multiple phases that rotated between focusing on combat and traversal. But not only that, it's traversal sections and bosses always used the specific gadget or ability you acquired in that level - a smart way to mesh story and gameplay mechanics. Such as when you hurt the volcano boss, it slams down and fills the arena with lava. Forcing Zirian to mantle onto a platform to race against the rising lava before propelling into the air to grapple onto switches to lower the lava and continue the battle.

Although I would've preferred the more mobile gadgets being unlocked earlier in the game, Duskfade is still a game where the experience improves as it progresses. For better or worse, at no point does it abandon it's inspirations. But there were a few later game inclusions shown in the game's trailers, that I thought improved the overall experience. Grinding feels fast and fluid as you switch tracks, jump, crouch and flip switches to solve mini rail puzzles. But it's also improved by the advanced platforming manoeuvres, like ringing a gong to show up an invisible path to follow before it disappears.

Although Duskfade is a linear game, you'll often spot collectibles off the main path, or at the end of platforming challenges. Aside from upgrade materials, these can be story centric Echoes: narrative collectibles that embellish an areas story via text entries. You'll also sometimes spot collections of shards to pick up. These are seen during the Timeflux Chambers, which are platforming challenges that act as a conduit between areas. You often need to avoid lasers or projectiles while counteracting the movement of giant clockwork mechanisms, to make your way to the end of the chamber to receive a new ability.

All of which is backdropped by an atmospheric score, and good sound effects. The music does what all of the best 3D platformers used to do. It isn't just additive to the beautifully rendered landscapes, it's symbiotic. Environments gain personality, spurring you on during combat and boss fights, and keeping things light-hearted or serious when necessary. Much like Zirian's vocal combat efforts that keep him and Cuckoo feeling present in the fight to save his sister.

While conversations with Cuckoo or the cloud-like NPCs in Tick Town aren't voiced, the voice acting during the cutscenes cements Zirian and Cuckoo's personalities. And while the script is a little less nuanced than it could be, it's a well-intentioned, endearing tale enhanced by solid voice work. But when you combine this with the cutscenes, Duskfade feels like playing a cartoon or anime in the form of a good 3D action platformer.

But outside of the story, I found myself enjoying the gameplay as Weird Beluga have accomplished what they set out to do. It might have a few downsides, but it finds the formula to recreate the fun element from the action platformers of the past.

In an ode to the 3D action platformers of the PlayStation 2 era, Duskfade mostly succeeds in bringing a classic feel to the present day. Not needing to reinvent the wheel, Weird Beluga trickle in a few modern sensibilities. They've created a strong platforming foundation, a competent combat system, and well-designed bosses. All of which is elevated by a heartfelt story with a cloudpunk aesthetic that makes Zirian's journey worthwhile for players of all ages.

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