Kingdom Hearts Meets Mario and Skylanders In One of the Coolest New Platformers in Years

The game tells the story of Zirian, a young lad searching for his sister in the otherworldly Clock Tower, which has dropped a veil of darkness over the surrounding lands. Accompanied by his Cuckoo, the heroic protagonist will dash, jump, grind, grapple, and glide his way through numerous environments that look like something taken out of any number of terrific platformers over the years.

You’ve participated in many of the game’s activities in the past, inside and outside of Kingdom Hearts. There are rails to ride, like in the Sonic or Skylanders games (among many others). There are broken walls floating over wide pits, and high vertical shafts that find the hero jumping back and forth between them to ascend toward the unknown. Islands float in the sky. Rooftops overlook bustling villages with giant spinning gears. Boss monsters stand at a distance, firing shots from arm cannons.

The game’s developers call their vision “clockpunk.” The label beautifully describes the aesthetic that looks to elevate this homage to the classic 3D platformers of yesteryear. Here are worlds that beg you to explore every inch of them, but which keep the action coming so you never quite have time to catch your breath. Is it cruel to feel slightly pleased that someone kidnapped Zirian’s sister, just so we have a proper excuse to play the hero on such a gorgeous stage?

Duskfade will be released Aug. 13 on Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X. It can’t replace the game we imagine Kingdom Hearts 4 will be, but it might just let us put that other title out of our minds for a bit, and that’s a magic all its own.