There is beauty in the chaos – review of Dandara: Trials of Fear

I have never been big on Metroidvanias, non-linear platform games following in the footsteps of classic platformers like Castlevania and Metroid – I have played the odd one here and there. That’s why I was so surprised to really be quite blown away by one in Dandara: Trials of Fear, developed by Long Hat House and released in 2018. The world the game presents is gorgeous and nightmarish, with the environments and its details polished down to the smallest minutia. That said, the story is as impenetrable as any I have encountered; a very brief prologue explains that some mysterious force arrived to upset the balance of the world. Dandara herself awakened from something called “the Crib of Creation” as a sort of messianic figure to restore the balance; that is just about all the information we are given about her. Also scattered around the world is a substance called the “Salt”, which holds some importance. That is all the setup we are given, and we’re off to the races. Some may be left wanting for more concrete explanations, but I think the mystical nature of the narrative and, by extension, the milieu, works to the game’s advantage, creating this very original, surreal world and mythos that, ultimately, need no explanation.

And what a fascinating world it is! In it, cozy forests and houses, deserts and netherworlds and
urban landscapes that are at once antiquated and futuristic, surreal dimensions made of floating
mountains and giant tubes and eyeballs, all melt into one beautiful chaos that seems to exist
inside a vortex where usual laws of gravity do not apply. This world is inhabited by strange and
fantastical creatures both friend and foe. Sometimes the villains are humanoid foxes brandishing
spears, at other times they are lumps of goo with monstrous faces. One boss battle sees the player
fighting the television image of a hideous golden businessman in a purple suit. Truly, the
imagination of the designers is breathtaking. And yet, none of this chaos becomes cluttered or
overcrowded. It is busy, to be sure, but that is a given with Metroidvanias, and the beautiful art
design is never buried under too much visual noise. A special mention must also be given to the
music. It effectively amplifies the mood in any given moment, alternating from quiet and
atmospheric to exciting and energetic. It is one of those game soundtracks one could easily listen
to outside the game.

The gameplay, too, has an unusual angle to it: the environment is covered with white panels and
Dandara is only able to move from one of these platforms to another. This is achieved by aiming at
a panel and jumping onto it. The game can be played with a controller, but I used a mouse. The
controls are very simple: aim with the mouse, jump with a right mouse click, fire with a left mouse
click, interact with spacebar. This may sound overly simplistic, but because Dandara is able to
jump from wall to wall and floor to ceiling, and because from time-to-time gravity shifts and “up”
and “down” have no meaning anyway, the controls never become repetitive or numbing. To
combat the villains, Dandara is able to shoot blasts of light from her hands. This is all very routine,
and there is little originality brought into it, but hey, it gets the job done. And sometimes you just
want to blast away some bad guys, newfangled battle mechanics be damned.

In terms of the gameplay, Dandara: Trials of Fear is addictive enough that one does not mind playing the game
for several hours in one sitting. What is really the main draw, however, is the magnificent
phantasmagoria of the world in which Dandara has her adventures. It is both dreamlike and
nightmarish, creepy and atmospheric. It is really quite a trip.

 

Basic info
Publisher: Raw Fury
Developer: Long Hat House
Platforms: Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Release date: 6 February 2018
Genre: Metroidvania
PEGI 7
Pictures: screenshots from the game, taken by the author

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