Demonschool Review

When it comes to Demonschool, I was immediately drawn in by the Persona vibes that it has going on. In this, we play as Faye, an awkward nerd who wants to fight demons, of which she knows far too much. She is one of many students who have come to the island of Hemsk where they are charged with preventing the apocalypse, which is expected in the Year 2000. That’s right, this is the ‘90s. Even though… there are some elements that aren’t quite as ‘90s and a little too modern.

No, I’m not talking about the non-binary character who appears later, I’m talking about the fact that vaping is a thing. That is a very 2000s thing, especially as a term. But I’m sorry, that’s a tangent for another time. There are just a few inconsistencies with the worldbuilding, such as the fact that this is a university, but also very much a high school. Outside of that, many of the characters are far too relatable. There’s Namako, a teen who Faye was immediately drawn to on the boat over, and thus, they became best friends. In that way, it’s very relatable to university.

Other characters include Destin, who yearns to punch things and fight snakes, and Knute, who would like to just watch cursed videos. However, he also thinks most things related to demons are a scam, and it turns out that maybe it’s not that much of a scam. There’s Mercy too, who really loves animals and can battle with them as familiars. These are only a few of the characters, as some will only be revealed the further the narrative goes on. And, in order to respect embargoes, let’s not talk about too much of the story.

I am, however, happy to provide the overall gist of what Demonschool’s about. As I said, Faye is here to prevent the apocalypse, and the other students are also brought in and they all have some kind of powers. Except, some of the townsfolk of Hemsk are just relatively normal people who happened to have been born there. There are numerous gangsters and the police around the island, and the gangsters specifically have a lot of power here. There are several side-quests that relate to the demons, and fighting them. So, let’s talk about that.

The battles all take place on an isometric grid. There are two phases to the combat: preparation and battle. In the preparation segment, you’ll have action points, with each character only allowed to use a certain number each turn. You can also side-step without AP, so if you just need to dodge a little bit out of the way, then no worries. You’ll know where some attacks are based on some red squares with lines on them, and of course, each demon has an affinity, as does your party. Of the four party members you can battle with, they’ll have a different element (based on how you choose, you might wish to just use several of the same attribute to avoid elemental weaknesses). Then, at the end of each battle, you’ll be given a grade.

Grades, as with school in general, do not matter. You could get either A, B, or C. A for when you have reached the turn target and you all lived, B if you’ve accomplished one of them, or C if you survived but nothing else. Battles aren’t the only thing here, because there are mini-games that are very much quick-time events. These include a fishing mini-game, where you need to pay attention to the fish’s shape to catch specific ones. There are also ones where you need to match the symbols when cooking, and little guessing games. But these are just a few examples of them.

Mini-games are primarily important for relationship events. I have to admit, the relationships felt far too easy to accomplish, mostly because there aren’t limits to how often you can cook or karaoke in a day. However, I am also well aware that this will be updated later by the devs, so I’m not too worried about this. I’m hoping that once the game launches, it’ll also confirm which characters you’ve maxed out a relationship with, because some of them will still say that they aren’t maxed out even when I have reached the ending.

The soundtrack is brilliant, somehow being spooky, atmospheric, and oddly cosy at times. With 2.5D animation, I really appreciated the pixel art and the way characters interact with the environments. While I wish that I could have less of a rest time when learning abilities to use in battle, I think that this offers a good amount of challenge. The opportunity to skip boss fights to move on to the next bit is also great, especially if you happen to be stuck.

However, there are some things that did frustrate me. The reason I mention the ability to skip boss fights is that during the final boss fight of Week 5, my copy of Demonschool crashed five times while I was in battle. In the end, I had to literally kill myself to skip this fight and progress. It… It was deeply frustrating. If you do some relationship quests earlier, you will just somehow be brought back to the Start Menu. So, please save liberally, because I had to go back, and now I have to catch some of the fish I need again.

Outside of this, I’ve really appreciated the kind of vibe Demonschool has. The gameplay is fun, characters are relatable, and while the world-building does feel more modern than the ‘90s, I really liked the dynamics. The dialogue with NPCs reveals a lot about the way Hemsk is, and I did love it in spite of the flaws. It’s certainly one I’ll happily play again. Plus, there are several different endings, so there’s some great replayability value here.

Overall, I would recommend Demonschool, especially if you like fighting demons and getting the satisfaction of discovering the perfect strategy to win in a fight. Plus, there’s a lot of non-cringe-inducing humour, and you can decorate your clubhouse (I like the fact that I can make it look like a café or a library).