Dress was one of those games that popped up during E3 a year and was immediately added to my Steam favorites list. All I knew back then was that it featured a cute fox protagonist and was some sort of adventure game. What I know now, after struggling to get through the first main part of the game, is that Dress secret is a tribute to games like Souls. Basically, it Elden Ringbut cute.
You will notice the effects of the Soul almost immediately. Our young fox starts empty-handed, but soon finds a branch to defeat the enemy. There are no goals or missions noted in your menu. If you want to figure anything out, you need to explore and pray you stumble across the manual pages. They’ve been scattered all over the world and you won’t pick any of them in order. Most of the notes and things you want to read won’t be in your chosen language. If you find the right pages sooner, there are bound to be some clues. But once you’ve tracked down all the clues you have, you’re back on your own.
Finding the right pages helped me find my way to a real sword and shield. It’s not fun to play without some way to block attacks. Dodging is fine in a pinch, but when your stamina bar is actually two reels and you’re out of breath? As soon as I found the notes leading me in its direction, I ran as fast as my little feet allowed.
Do not get me wrong. I love to explore in games like Dress. But I also appreciate a good quest/goal log, instead of going around and undoing my steps dozens of times. That’s why while I have the thought process behind using a confusing language, what good is it when it’s untranslatable?
Although you may not be able to teleport (as far as I know) through statues the same way you can Grace point at Elden Ring, they work in a very similar fashion. When you die, you respawn at the last statue you rested in. The statues also serve as upgrade points. Upgrading each stat (health, stamina, attack, etc.) requires both cash and exact items picked up from chests. Short selling coins? Rest and let the monsters respawn.
I’m not finished with Elden Ring comparisons are just given. Don’t let looks fool you. These bosses can be a real challenge. The second boss I met, the Garden Knight, kept pushing me into the corners of its garden, where the shards pinned me. Thirty disappointments later, and I did the unthinkable: I turned on No Failure mode. Even with items I bought or obtained through chests, such as dynamite and a magic icy dagger, being in the hands of a Garden Knight required more effort than mine and doing a Soldier of battle. Godrick.
Even with immortality, it was a really difficult journey. After going as far as I could with the pages I had, I wandered into territory I clearly did not intend to exist. No Failure keeps me alive, but loss and disappointment. I ended up turning it off just so I could die and get out of the nightmare. Stress isn’t worth it if you’re not having fun, no matter how lovely it looks. My time and sanity are precious to me.
There’s a reason why I don’t spend a lot of my time playing games in Dresscategory of. Partly because the white hairs are not worth having. But if these adventures are what get you rolling out of bed in the morning and you’ve done everything that needs to be done Elden RingA certain adorable fox is waiting for you.
Dress available for PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X | S.
