When you hear the phrase Quantic Dream, what do you think of? If you have been a gamer for over a decade, you will probably think of Detroit: Become Human, Heavy Rain, or Beyond Two Souls. If you are a COVID gamer, then you might know of Quantic Dream from the games that they have published.

Since 2020, Quantic Dream has published Sea of Solitude: The Director’s Cut and Under the Waves; they are currently developing Star Wars Eclipse and plan to publish Lysfanga: The Time Shift Warrior (Sand Door Studio) and Dustborn (Red Thread Games). At PAX East 2024, we met with Quantic Dream and Red Thread Games to check out their upcoming game Dustborn. So how was it?

Dustborn Demo Impression

If you are familiar with Quantic Dream, then you know that their games are typically story-driven and are interactive narratives. Like their previous titles, they use Quick Time Events (QTEs) to suck the player in and create a reactive-driven narrative. Red Thread Games Dustborn follows a similar gameplay mechanic as the other beloved Quantic Dream Games.

The cast seems like it is a blend of characters from different walks of life. Joined together as a band, PAX and company set out to change the hearts of the citizens of the Divided States of America while delivering a stolen package.

At the start of the demo, the band is heading to the garage in order to get their tour bus. Upon arrival, they realize that their mechanic is stuck under the bus and is in a dire situation.

With the wifi out, the wifi controlled jack lift is useless and unable to be controlled. Through a mini-game, we were able to reset the wifi and save the mechanic. With the tour bus set to go, the band is ready to roll.

After a stop by the local police, PAX and the band are required to perform a song in order to prove that they are a real band. At this point, the player must prepare to do a QTE event where the band plays a song.

Depending on the success of the song, the band can face some opposition. Once you are back on the bus, we could choose to interact with the different band members or write (unlock) new songs.

Once you arrive at your first stop, you are reunited with familiar faces but that reunion is quickly ruined by the Justice enforcers. Fighting off the corporate overlords and corrupt government, use a bat and your allies to fight them and take them down. You can use a shout called Vox to damage your enemies.

So after playing this demo, I was a bit split. Despite playing it for about half an hour, I felt like I had seen very little. The combat seems very straightforward but seems like dodging and countering will be fairly important.

The game can be off-putting to those who are sick of being beaten over the with the message of government bad/corporations bad. Ultimately, I will be waiting until the final version of the game releases before casting judgment on it.

Dustborn is set to launch on August 20th across Windows PC (via Steam and the Epic Games Store), Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, PS4, and PS5.