Learning about the history of the yokai and the surrounding mythology was absolutely fascinating as a westerner who really doesn’t dabble in this sort of thing very often. In this case, the monsters players will be facing are all based on Japanese Yokai. In World of Demons you’re in, well, a world of demons believe it or not. During their presentation in Japan and in subsequent interviews, they repeatedly reiterated that not at any point while playing World of Demons do they want people to feel like they aren’t playing a Platinum action game- A lofty goal that I’m supremely curious how the hardcore gamers who typically follow Platinum titles are going to feel when it’s finally in their hands. Thankfully, the amount of time you spend platforming far outweighs the occasional combat section.The mission that DeNA and Platinum had was simple: Create the best possible action game on a touch device. Whenever a combat section cropped up, we found ourselves rushing through it just to get back to the stellar platforming. It sounds fun in theory, but the execution feels flat.Īs you progress through the game, you’ll gain new abilities like the grapple hook, which can be used for both traversal and grappling onto enemies, but again, utilising this ability never quite feels intuitive or fun (at least, outside of traversal). By default, Beebz is able to shoot out projectiles which force enemies backwards upon impact, meaning you can leverage this and either send them flying off the edge of the arena or right into a wall of spikes.
At various intervals, you’ll come across small, contained arenas in which several enemies will pop into existence you’ll need to get rid of them all in order to unlock the next pathway through the stage. The game does highlight specific areas of each stage that would make convenient spots to plant a flag, but this arguably goes against the whole concept.Īs brilliant as the platforming is, the same unfortunately can’t be said for the combat, which is simply too janky and repetitive, and halts the momentum you gain during the platforming segments. Staking your turf is a fun idea, but more often than not you’ll be so wrapped up in making your way through each level that you’ll forget to plant flags at all, meaning that any eventual mistake will send you right back to the start. In essence, however, being able to set your own checkpoints doesn’t really add a whole lot of value to the experience. You can also teleport between the checkpoints if need be, though we rarely found any requirement to do so. You only have a certain number of flags you can use, so deciding where to use them can either make the levels a cakewalk or a downright nightmare to navigate. Rather than dole out standard checkpoints like every other platformer on the market, you’re required to set your own checkpoints by planting a flag in the ground at whichever point you choose. The stages themselves can prove to be tricky at times, so this is where Demon Turf’s unique checkpoint system comes into play. There’s a bit of a learning curve involved when you start out - moving what is effectively a 2D sprite within a 3D world can be a bit jarring for the first few levels - but after a short while you’ll settle into a nice rhythm. Before long, you’ll be pulling off ridiculous feats of athleticism that would make a certain plumber beam with pride. It’s clear developer Fabraz has taken a few notes from Nintendo's premier platformers, with Beebz able to pull off triple jumps, backflips, and long jumps, all of which feel easy to execute and string together. The platforming controls feel remarkably tight. Your goal is to collect batteries in order to unlock the gateway to the zones’ boss characters defeat these and you move onto the next set of stages. You’ll spend the vast majority of your time utilising Beebz’s various abilities in order to get from A to B, leaping across platforms, bouncing on trampolines, and dispatching various foes who happen to be standing in your way.
Thankfully, Demon Turf pulls it off for the most part. Getting a 3D platformer to feel authentically ‘retro’ can be a tall order.
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