Duskfade Is A Love Letter To The 3D Platformers We Grew Up With

There was a time when 3D platformers were everywhere. Colourful worlds, ridiculous jumps, giant bosses and a helpful sidekick were all part of the package. Duskfade clearly remembers those days, but its clockpunk world gives the formula a darker and more mysterious spin as Zirian sets out to save his sister from an eternal night.

Priced at £24.99, Duskfade launches on Xbox Series X|S, PC, Play Anywhere, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2. Developed by Weird Beluga and published by Fireshine Games, it combines platforming, combat and exploration in a world where time itself has gone badly wrong.

Duskfade begins with a problem rather larger than a broken clock.

Zirian’s sister has been trapped inside a mysterious Clock Tower, while the surrounding world has been plunged into eternal darkness. Accompanied by his mechanical companion Cuckoo, he must venture into the lands beyond, uncover the secrets of the Master Clockmakers and find a way to break the curse.

That journey takes him through a clockpunk world filled with unusual characters, dangerous creatures and some decidedly hostile environments. From ethereal forests to underwater realms, each area promises its own challenges as Zirian gets closer to the truth.

However, there is more to the adventure than simply rescuing his sister, with Duskfade also telling a coming-of-age story about the emotional hurdles Zirian has to overcome along the way.

Duskfade isn’t content to simply have Zirian jumping from one platform to another. His movement toolkit includes jumping, dashing, grappling, gliding and grinding, giving the environments plenty of scope for vertical exploration and increasingly elaborate traversal challenges.

Combat is woven into that movement too, with Zirian able to slash his way through enemies as he explores. The idea is to keep the action flowing rather than separating exploration and fighting into entirely different parts of the experience. Naturally, bosses will be waiting at various points to put all those skills to the test.

Duskfade has been on our radar for a while. We first covered the game back in 2025 when Weird Beluga announced its plans to bring the classic-inspired 3D platformer to Xbox Series X|S, PS5 and PC. Now the wait is over, with the game expanding its reach to Nintendo Switch 2 alongside those previously announced platforms.

Whether Zirian can save his sister and restore daylight remains to be seen, but the journey promises plenty of jumping, swinging, slashing and exploration along the way.

Duskfade is out now for £24.99 on Xbox Series X|S, PC and Play Anywhere via the Xbox Store. There are also PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2 versions.

The clock is ticking. Well, technically it isn’t – that’s rather the problem.

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