History VideoGame / FromDust

Released on 27 July 2011 on UsefulNotes/XboxLiveArcade, and made available on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} for the [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]] on 17 August 2011 and [[UsefulNotes/PlaystationNetwork PSN]] on September 13, 2011, designed by Eric Chahi, published and developed by Creator/{{Ubisoft}} Montpellier, VideoGame/FromDust is a God Game, [[AGodIsYou placing the player in the role of an unnamed, unseen god]], tasked with protecting and enlightening a nomadic tribe. To aid this undertaking, the player is capable of manipulating the environment in miraculous ways.

!!''VideoGame/FromDust'' uses the following tropes:
* AGodIsYou: The core premise of the game.
* AndManGrewProud: One of the unlockable tribal memories reveals that this is what happened with the Ancients. [[spoiler: They used their awesome power over the Breath to build themselves a paradise... which became so heavy that it sank into the sea. And that's just what happens to your Men, in the end.]]
** [[spoiler: ''And here we are, as on the first day...'']]

* ElementalPowers:
** DishingOutDirt - Breath of Earth.
** LavaAddsAwesome - Breath of Fire.
** MakingASplash - Breath of Water.
* {{Expy}}: The Tribe's [[SpeakingSimlish "language"]], manner of dress, and belief in everything holding a song is very similar that of Australian aborigines.
* TheFaceless: The Men, who all wear masks, male and female alike.
** The masks are actually [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in-game, as they apparently are necessary for the People to play music correctly to manipulate the elements.
* GaiasVengeance: The entire game consists of you trying to hold back floods, tides, tsunamis, volcanoes, geysers, and explosive flora.
** [[spoiler:The ending is an even more extreme version of this, where Mother Nature has simply had ''enough'' of you and tears your entire land apart.]]

* PatchworkMap: Created by you most of the time.

** To be fair, some of the cut-scenes portray lighter-skinned men as well. However, the vast majority of them are dark. The old men become very white as well, oddly enough.

* SdrawkcabName: One of the challenge maps, the description being it's a 'well-disguised homage' to the game's inspiration, is named Xuenylom, or Molyneux (from Creator/PeterMolyneux, creator of ''VideoGame/{{Populous}}'') backwards.
* TerrainSculpting: Pretty much the entire point.
* TimedMission: Many of the challenge maps, where the tasks can range from [[EscortMission making sure that one of your villagers finds the knowledge to repel water before they're flattened by a tsunami]], or laying out a path for your villagers to walk on before ''the entire island sinks in a massive landslide.''

* TomatoInTheMirror: [[spoiler:The Men ARE the Ancients, just BroughtDownToNormal.]]

* VideoGameCaringPotential: The point of the game is to guide and take care of the tribe to protect them from the elements, which means you can divert lava flows and floods away from the villages and several territories have you protect them from tsunamis. However...

** One challenge map ''requires'' you to destroy a village with lava, to clear a path for water to flow.

Released on 27 July 2011 on UsefulNotes/XboxLiveArcade, and made available on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} for the [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]] on 17 August 2011 and [[UsefulNotes/Playstation3 PSN]] on September 13, 2011, designed by Eric Chahi, published and developed by Creator/{{Ubisoft}} Montpellier, VideoGame/FromDust is a God Game, [[AGodIsYou placing the player in the role of an unnamed, unseen god]], tasked with protecting and enlightening a nomadic tribe. To aid this undertaking, the player is capable of manipulating the environment in miraculous ways.

Released on 27 July 2011 on UsefulNotes/XboxLiveArcade, and made available on Steam for the PC on 17 August 2011 and PSN on September 13, 2011, designed by Eric Chahi, published and developed by Creator/{{Ubisoft}} Montpellier, VideoGame/FromDust is a God Game, [[AGodIsYou placing the player in the role of an unnamed, unseen god]], tasked with protecting and enlightening a nomadic tribe. To aid this undertaking, the player is capable of manipulating the environment in miraculous ways.

----

* AGodIsYou

** One challenge map ''requires'' you to destroy a village with lava, to clear a path for water to flow.

Released on 27 July 2011 on XboxLiveArcade, and made available on Steam for the PC on 17 August 2011 and PSN on September 13, 2011, designed by Eric Chahi, published and developed by {{Ubisoft}} Montpellier, VideoGame/FromDust is a God Game, [[AGodIsYou placing the player in the role of an unnamed, unseen god]], tasked with protecting and enlightening a nomadic tribe. To aid this undertaking, the player is capable of manipulating the environment in miraculous ways.

Released on 27 July 2011 on XboxLiveArcade, and made available on Steam for the PC on 17 August 2011 (PSN release will be at a later date), designed by Eric Chahi, published and developed by {{Ubisoft}} Montpellier, VideoGame/FromDust is a God Game, [[AGodIsYou placing the player in the role of an unnamed, unseen god]], tasked with protecting and enlightening a nomadic tribe. To aid this undertaking, the player is capable of manipulating the environment in miraculous ways.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/From_Dust_cover_23.png]]

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/From_Dust_cover_23.png

* SecretTestOfCharacter: In a way, the final level. [[spoiler: You're suddenly given many powers that you previously, so it's almost expected for you to go overboard with them. So it comes to no surprise when nature finds your going overboard unacceptable.]]

* SdrawkcabName: One of the challenge maps, the description being it's a 'well-disguised homage' to the game's inspiration, is named Xuenylom, or Molyneux (from Peter Molyneux, of Fable fame) backwards.

* [[spoiler: GroundhogDayLoop: Every time the Men complete the final ritual and end their journey, they're warped back to where they first began, with no memory of what happened and all their work undone.]]

* SecretTestofCharacter: In a way, the final level. [[spoiler: You're suddenly given many powers that you previously, so it's almost expected for you to go overboard with them. So it comes to no surprise when nature finds your going overboard unacceptable.]]

** To be fair, some of the cut-scenes portray lighter-skinned men as well. However, the vast majority of them are dark.

* ArtificialStupidity: The Men's pathfinding is a bit hinky at the best of times. They can run across flat land or gentle slopes but cannot climb steep slopes. The slightest obstacle will often cause them to flip out and take huge detours.

* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: The player can simply drop water or lava directly on villages to watch them die, so long as they keep at least one village alive at all times.

** EverythingsCoolerWithLava - Breath of Fire.

* AndManGrewProud: One of the unlockable tribal mmemories reveals that this is what happened with the Ancients. [[spoiler: They used their awesome power over the Breath to build themselves a paradise... which became so heavy that it sank into the sea. And that's just what happens to your Men, in the end.]]

''From Dust'' is notable for its nigh-unprecedented level of environmental detail. Plugging a waterfall with enough earth will cause the rivers resulting from the cascade to dry up. Lakes at the base of a volcano accrue sediment which increases their viscosity. [[SceneryPorn It's also really, really pretty]].

** DishingOutDirt
** EverythingsCoolerWithLava
** MakingASplash

* GameBreakingBug: Bordering on UnwinnableByMistake, the tides change far too quickly on High Tide for PC users.