Dyad Review

       I always heard that Dyad was awesome, but I wasn't totally sold when I played the demo. Many months later, I tried the demo again and really got addicted to it. It may be that it is such a different game that you need some time to get used to it. Kind of like when you listen to new music. You may not like it at first, but when you recognize its pattern again months later, that's when it really syncs up with your brain.

       Dyad is a bit hard to describe. It's like tempest, sort of. You are in a tube moving forward. By “you” I mean this weird ball with lots of flowing tentacles. You propel yourself forward by hooking enemies. You do this by pressing X when they are in front of you in this long wavy channel that extends out in front of you. That is the basic building block of Dyad's gameplay, but it wastes no time introducing new elements and goals. Soon, hooking pairs of like-colored enemies will give you a speed boost. Then, later, it creates zip-lines in the tube between the enemies you hook that greatly boost your speed. You are also introduced to grazing. When you hook an enemy, a shape extends out on either side of it. If you move through, or graze, this shape, you fill up a meter, and when the meter is full, you can press square to lance. While you are lancing, you move very fast and can smash right through enemies. There a quite a few more enemies and mechanics introduced, including enemies that create zip-lines when hooked but also attack you, invincibility shields that last as long as you can keep colliding with enemies, and bullets that fly down the tube at you, as well as several others.

       Just like the enemies and power-ups populating the tube frequently change, so do the goals of the levels. Some are time-trial style races to the finish. Others require you to hook certain amounts or types of enemies within a certain time limit. A few levels have more exotic goals, like reaching a high maximum speed, staying invincible for as long as possible, and lancing large numbers of enemies in only a few lances, just to name a few. The varied enemies, objects, and goals keep the levels feeling fresh and interesting and keep you guessing as to what is coming up next.

       Things get even more outlandish in the game's trophy levels. Each level has an alternate version you can unlock by getting a 3-star ranking on the normal level. These are called trophy levels as you get PSN trophies for beating them. These levels usually have a different layout than the original level and feature a different goal. The goals in these levels are usually not as straightforward; some involve doing a certain action a lot within a time frame and some have totally unique goals, such as one that starts you at high speed and wants you to slow down. These trophy levels are the only way to earn trophies in the game, which is pretty cool. Unfortunately, the dedication needed to beat these levels exceeds my desire to work too hard at them. It's certainly fun and worthwhile to play around and grab a few of these trophies, but the gameplay is not compelling enough to inspire a few dozen hours of practice needed to get these levels perfect. That said, I am very proud of the trophies I did earn: Tune in, Dyadic, Danger, Line 'Em Up!, The Light Spectrum, Winds of the Dawn that is My Crown, Becoming Purple, Giraffes? Giraffes! In Outer Space, I Really Missed Jack, and Perpetuation. The other trophy levels were just too much for me. A lot of the levels I didn't get a trophy for I couldn't even earn the three stars needed to unlock the trophy level. But I felt a great sense of accomplishment earning the ones I did get. There is a nice guide on PlaystationTrophies.org that gives some general useful tips and advice on each level that helped me out quite a bit. Also, did you notice how awesome the level names are in this game? If I remember correctly, from the interview I heard with the game's creator, some of those names come from a philosophy his friend invented or something.

       The game's audio-visual design is pretty special. Each level has a different color and pattern scheme. Many of them are pretty trippy, and when things get chaotic, they can get to the point of blurring so crazily that you can't see what's going on. This is done quite well though, because at that point you aren't supposed to be able to control things properly or see what's going on, such as when you reach a blisteringly fast speed or the screen becomes over-crowded with enemies. The music is great electronic stuff that leans more towards ambient sounds than club music. The sound is drastically affected by what you do. Every hook, every lance, and every interaction cues different sounds and tracks in a way that most games that have reactive music can't match. The sights and sounds are beautiful, and you are shaping both as you go.

       The menu design rivals the Wipeout series. It's visual and audio design is simple and beautiful. Navigating the menu is a joy. In fact, one of the best experiences you can have with the game is scrolling through the level select screen and seeing how the music builds on and subverts itself instantly as you highlight each level and look at all the changing solid colors. There are also some great graphs and charts that show you your progress during levels and on a results screen. These are easy and fun to read and give you a good sense of how much you need to improve to get better scores.

       I've heard that Dyad is kind of defined by its final level, and I would have to agree. The game itself shows you the name of the final level, Eye of the Duck, right on the main menu, which gives you this great sense of building up to some grand finale. If you think you've seen it all in the arena of beautiful trippy graphics, you need to play Dyad through and check out this final area. I won't go into detail since you have to experience it for yourself. I'll just say that, despite that fact that Dyad is a totally abstract game, Eye of the Duck is a beautiful, emotional, profound, and moving experience that left me with eyes a little moister than when I started. It's a great way to do an ending that's different and interesting and really a legitimate piece of artwork.

       Dyad is a unique game that has a great flow to it due to it's constantly shifting set of goals and interactions with it's otherwise identical tube levels. The beautiful visuals and unique reactive music keep pace, making every level a totally new experience. The final level is stunning and really leaves you with a great impression. It would be better if the basic gameplay was compelling enough to warrant the dozen or two hours it would take to get all the trophies. But Dyad's audio-visual design and wonderful ending really edify it into a must-play experience. It's a great game, tier 2.