DEMONSCHOOL
This snappy, stylish RPG makes a strong case for less being more
Sometimes the difference between success and failure comes down to a single step. In these brisk, grid-based tactical battles, positioning is vital: as such, creative director Brandon Sheffield tells us, “sidesteps are very important”. This micro-adjustment won’t cost you any action points until you complete the movement, potentially putting you within reach of an enemy you otherwise couldn’t hit. One small step for man, in other words, can result in one giant problem for demonkind.
This is a game, then, in which little things have a big impact. Necrosoft isn’t calling Demonschool a ‘tactics RPG’ but rather an ‘RPG with tactical battles’; that distinction, Sheffield says, is down to the fact that “our battles are pretty short. They’re like three minutes once you know what you’re doing”. And the numbers involved will stay small: in the build we play, the four party members have three hit points each, and though Sheffield says it’s “not 100 per cent” decided, that figure might only have doubled by the story’s end.
This approach flies in the face of the traditional numbers-go-up design common to the genre, but it makes perfect sense here. On the one hand, it lends extra tension to encounters: a skeleton boss’s powerful attack can outright kill a party member on full health (the grid spaces telegraphed a turn in advance, so you’re at least given fair warning). By the same token, it means buffs, debuffs and the like can make a significant difference.
To wit: ‘photography nerd’ Namako can pass through enemies to lower their defences, meaning de facto leader Faye can thump them for a second point of damage. Couple that with healer Knute’s ability to provide an attack-up buff when allies are at full health with no negative status effects, and that one point of damage has now become four. Factor in that knocking enemies into allies can result in combos that produce elemental effects, and suddenly you have a system whereby you can devastate a larger opponent, or take out multiple smaller ones in a single turn.
All of this can be fine-tuned during a planning phase, as you plot out the party’s movements, undoing and rearranging the order of actions before hitting ‘begin’ once you’re satisfied with how you’ve spent your action points. (With the AP cost increasing per movement, you’re encouraged to act as a team rather than leaning on a potent damage-dealer.) And once you’ve wound them up, it’s thrilling to watch them go: units zip into position, launching blows with speed and precision, a well-oiled machine in motion. Indeed, the interface has been designed to take friction out of that process, reducing the number of inputs involved. You need only select your character’s destination; if there’s an enemy in your path then you’ll attack them automatically.
That sense of pace extends to your offbattlefield activities, giving Demonschool the feel of a Persona game on fast-forward. Here as there, you can socialise with other party members: certain choices and interactions allow you to improve your relationship with one of them, generally by picking one to side with. Yet it’s made clear which pairing will be boosted, and there’s no negative impact on your relationship with the others. “Though as relationships level up, you will increase your combo strength and also get additional story and potentially new endings,” Sheffield teases.
The result is a game with a keen momentum that also boasts a distinctive sense of style, with influences ranging from giallo horror to manga: Sheffield cites the work of Lamberto Bava and Lucio Fulci as well as Chainsaw Man and Jujutsu Kaisen. That might sound like an unlikely combination, but with them Necrosoft has fashioned something that already feels in the vicinity of greatness. All that remains is to see whether it can make that final step.
One small step for man, in other words, can result in one giant problem for demonkind