Duskfade is perfectly built for the Ratchet & Clank/Kingdom Hearts generation

Y'all remember Blinx: The Time Sweeper? It was an action-platformer from the original Xbox era that was Microsoft's version of the character platformer genre Sony would go on to completely own on their platform, with titles like Ratchet & Clank, Jak & Daxter, and more.

Well, those types of games, as well as similar-ish titles like Kingdom Hearts, feel almost entirely absent from the gaming landscape these days. In fact, it feels like some of the only times we get games in that classic genre is when we get another nostalgic entry in one of those series, like Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, or the upcoming Kingdom Hearts 4.

Well, Duskfade may be familiar – and perhaps even a bit derivative – but it's here to settle the score. This is proof that you can, in fact, make a new character action-platformer in 2026.

Duskfade makes it clear what it's trying to do almost immediately. You play as a young boy with brown hair, anime eyes, and some weird ass proportions. And then you get handed a sword that's also – take a breath here for me – a key. A bladed key, if you will. You then jump around an ethereal world while listening to the exposition and tutorial that starts the game.

If that sounds familiar, yeah. I mean. Yes, you are correct. But the thing about Duskfade that I respect a lot is that it A) is obvious about its inspiration and B) pulls it off.