Dandara: Trials of Fear Edition

Dandara is a mix of platformer and metroidvania genres, developed by an independent team of Hat House – developers of well-received Magenta Arcade. It was released on many platforms, including PC, SWITCH and etc..

Plot

Dandara takes us to surrealistic world full of mysteries, where basic laws of physics like gravity don’t apply. Titular heroine – Dandara – is awoken to restore law and order to the world. The story takes some inspiration from Egyptian mythology and modern history, and is expanded with new plotlines as we play, mainly through dialogues with non-playable characters.

Game mechanics

Dandara for PC, SWITCH and etc. uses side perspective, and its gameplay doesn’t differ from typical games from the genre. It focuses on exploration (based on jumping from platform to platform, avoiding countless traps and chasms and finding various secrets) and collecting new equipment and powers that give us access to previously unavailable locations. We will also stumble upon more or less complicated puzzles from time to time. Our progress is saved in special camps, where we can also get useful items, like health potions.

Travelling through maps is more enjoyable thanks to unique movement system. Our heroine can shoot herself at short distances, stick to surfaces and move in any direction. The same applies to fights with enemies, which we attack with various kinds of projectiles. There are both regular foes and bosses, and the latter require coming up with proper tactic, using powerful equipment and sometimes outstanding manual skills.

Technical aspects

Unusual visuals are one of selling points of PC, SWITCH and etc.’s version of Dandara. Two-dimensional graphics use good-looking pixel-art style, complemented by catchy soundtrack composed by Thommaz Kauffmann.

Last updated on 16 November 2023