Demon Gaze it is a game that very few will remember here, both because it came out on the unfortunate, underestimated and forgotten PlayStation Vita, the latest portable console from Sony, both because it was received in a lukewarm, or at least discordant, way by players and critics. It was in fact a dungeon crawler, followed by Students of the Round, never out of the land of the Rising Sun, which on the one hand is aimed at a certain type of public due to its aesthetics rich in fanservice, on the other hand to the hard core of fans of the aforementioned genre. Could it be that its ending up in oblivion was due to the choice of the console? Let’s see it together by reviewing DEMON GAZE EXTRA, remastered version released on PlayStation 4 And Nintendo Switch in January 2022.
- Title: DEMON GAZE EXTRA
- Platform: PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch
- Version analyzed: Nintendo Switch (EU)
- Gender: dungeon crawler, JRPG
- Players: 1
- Publisher: Clouded Leopard Entertainment
- Developer: KADOKAWA GAMES, Experience inc.
- Tongue: English (lyrics), Japanese (dubbing)
- Exit date: January 6, 2022
- Availability: digital delivery
- DLC: nobody
- Note: remastered version of Demon Gaze, originally released in 2013 on PlayStation Vita
We reviewed DEMON GAZE EXTRA with a Nintendo Switch code given to us free of charge by Clouded Leopard Entertainment.
Demons and loli
DEMON GAZE EXTRA he does not hide anything from his players: we will have to deal with monsters, demons and fanservice. Lots of fan service. And here already someone may or may not turn up their noses, since it is not bread for all teeth. Additionally, the game has retained its portable nature by proposing hit and run explorations, which could be a winning choice, especially if played on Switch. Add to it all the fact that the experience dungeon crawler brings no novelty to the genre and the obvious question will remain: what remains a DEMON GAZE EXTRA?
There remain many things, in reality, but as long as you are a fan (or at least appreciate), the aforementioned characteristics: fanservice (also of loli), a game structure that inevitably invites the grind savage in hopes of being sucked into the spiral of exploration, killing monsters and selling rewards in order to afford better gear. All seasoned with an in-depth study of characters and situations at our “base” (one inn where we and our group will stop), very often invasive and which on the one hand allow you to breathe between the action sequences, is also forcibly fed to the player, creating a mixture of genres that at that point becomes subjective. The sure thing is that thanks to the alternation between exploration and moment visual novel, the pace of the game benefits, being able to take a break and deepen the stories or secondary missions of the characters involved. However, keep in mind that this aspect of the game is also a double-edged sword for the reasons mentioned above. It is also not to be underestimated that some of these interactions are very important to achieve quest, tips and better items, making it almost mandatory.
Moving on to the combat front, we will immediately notice that this takes place in a classic way: we can be attacked randomly by groups of enemies, we can set foot in an area clearly controlled by the latter or we choose to face a challenge through the use of some gems capable of summoning enemies that will give us specific rewards based on the gems used. This allows not only to plan what we will drop, but then leads to access to a more than discreet but above all multifaceted personalization. The clashes will get a lot more interesting when the time comes summon one of the many demons we have subdued and then equipped. The aforementioned demon will not only be recalled at the right time, but each one has very different characteristics and abilities and which will be dosed according to needs, undoubtedly creating the most tactical part of the clashes, some even quite challenging from the early hours. And it is this growing curve of difficulty that will make the most purists of the genre happy. Furthermore, the possibility of speeding up the turns in battle allows you to create a faster game flow, which is not to be taken for granted given the repetition of very similar random encounters.
To adventure!
Given the premises, it is clear how DEMON GAZE EXTRA has a rather rigid and repetitive structure in the long run, which will soon risk boring the most demanding players. Even the objectives will not be very varied in the course of the game, requiring more than anything else to carry out actions with increasing difficulty. The game is however quite long, especially if you aim for completeness at all costs and the areas to be explored are numerous and large, requiring between three and four hours each to be seen in their entirety. There will also be moments of backtracking in which, having obtained a demon or a particular power, we will be able to return to an area already visited and either find a road that was previously hidden, or cross a previously too dangerous one.
The main character and the group are also fully customizable both in the equipment and in the path to follow when leveling up, being able to distribute a characteristic point among the you are available, going to create a real one build. There are hundreds of items and rewards, allowing for an extra layer of customization and tactics in creating an efficient group for any occasion. It is also good not to underestimate the artifacts, or rather unique items of equipment with a unique ability that will then become available to the character who wears it. If you count that there are five slots available for each character, choosing the appropriate artifact for a dungeon, combat or situation taking into account the strengths of each member of the group will become an integral part of the game system.
The sobs of a remastered
If on one hand DEMON GAZE EXTRA show of sprite colorful, static backdrops all in all detailed (in the face of some clumsy instances on both sides), on the other hand it is also a game from nine years ago, for a portable console and that does not have much to offer from a graphical point of view, although the artistic side does its duty (albeit without ever any real excellence). What is certain is that the sprite some demons are the most successful, being colorful, overflowing with details and ideas, although this is not reflected in the personalities of the same. But the rest is to be expected considering that if the cast is already huge and not always well multifaceted, adding demons to the recipe would have created further problems.
Ultimately this remastered it does not bring with it any kind of noteworthy visual advantage if not in the general cleanliness of the image and therefore in the sprite, although some suffer from some flaws. If you also count the almost total absence of animations, it will be clear how this makeover can be a bit disappointing from a graphic point of view. The soundtrack is in turn very crackling and full of sung tracks, many with a light and easy-going atmosphere to emphasize a mood general a lot souls. However, even among the songs present there are no real peaks of excellence, indeed some will be stale and a little too invasive both because they are repeated for a long time and because of their short duration. The Japanese dub is instead of fine workmanship, with a good number of voices, although not all characters are dubbed.
Who do we recommend DEMON GAZE EXTRA to?
DEMON GAZE EXTRA is a title that is aimed at a very specific audience: to make it “click” with you you have to be a fan of the genre dungeon crawler, willing to carry out as much grind, and at the same time it must also go on to carry on, in parallel, a series of relationships with characters and stories and mini-stories more or less interesting (but not always well characterized) in style visual novel. For sure, if you don’t like even one of these elements, DEMON GAZE EXTRA it won’t make you change your mind.
- Long-lived and demanding
- Lots of customization
- Solid dungeon crawler experience
- The visual novel-style interludes break the rhythm a bit …
- … But they could be invasive
- No major additions
- Repetitive game structure
- Unfriendly artistic side
DEMON GAZE EXTRA
The demonic gaze is likely to get bored quickly
DEMON GAZE EXTRA it is a title with strange rhythms and balances and, on balance, it is not for everyone. When you approach it, you need to know for sure what you are going to encounter, but if you accept to embrace the cycle of kill / reward then you will be faced with an experience dungeon crawler rather classic and satisfying in the long run, even rather difficult from the early stages if you don’t know what you are doing. At the same time, however, there is a section in style to report visual novel almost forced in the player who, if he is not interested, will find himself a skip at the speed of light but that will still have interrupted the pace of the game. This is an advantage in case you get tired of exploration (necessarily repetitive), but a defect if it is exactly what you are looking for.
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