Demonschool is a Promising Tactical RPG

Demonschool is a tactical RPG from Necrosoft Games. The game is described as a “new-style tactics RPG where motion equals action.” I’m not sure what that means at the moment, but I’ll find out once I try the free demo.

What I know about the plot

After playing the tutorial, I can say that the plot is pretty cool. You play as Faye, the last practicing Demon Hunter. She’s a college student and has recruited her three university friends to help her. One of their teachers gives them assignments, and there appears to be a rival group of demon hunters or something like that.

The story takes place over a semester of school, roughly 12 weeks. At the end of it is the Apocalypse. Since the game takes place in 1999, this made me smile a bit.

I grew up playing a bunch of games that used this year as a backdrop for end-of-the-world scenarios. It makes for great stories like this. When the game is released, it will be cool to see how things end up.

Not Sure about the Gameplay

There are two things I want to mention here. Demonschool plays a little like a Shining Force game, where you have freedom of movement outside of the battle screen. The other is how the battles play out.

In most Tactical RPGs, you move to a location, have a battle, and then you get a cutscene to advance the plot. You don’t normally have the opportunity to explore locations. Demonschool is a little different.

Outside of battle, you’ll be able to move around and talk to people like in a traditional RPG. It’s like going to a town and speaking with all the NPCs, but you have a visual indicator of which conversation will advance the plot. This is a little different, but I think it works for a game like this.

The battle screens in the tutorial look a little small. It isn’t that big of a problem, and it works for the combat system the developers are using. At first, I didn’t like the combat system, but I think it’ll grow on me as I figure out what I should be doing.

The way the battles play out is that you set up your actions for each character, and then they play out once you click the action button. It’s like ending a turn, but you see the impact of your actions, and then watch the demon’s response. I can see it growing on me, but I wasn’t too sure about it at first.

This isn’t like a traditional Tactical RPG. It plays a little like X-COM, where you have action points, which let a character move and attack more than once. All the characters share action points. The first move is one point, the second is two, and so on.

It looks beautiful

The pixel art is very good, and I like the way each character’s portrait looks on the dialogue screen. The battles and cutscenes look good. There isn’t too much to say at this point.

I couldn’t think of what game this reminds me of, but it looks familiar. It kind of reminds me of how the characters in the first Persona game looked.

Demonschool uses 2.5D graphics. Your characters are 2D sprites, and the background is 3D. It looks very good and is a little different from the other Tactical RPGs I’ve played.

Once I see the full game, I’ll have more to say. Right now, the graphics are beautiful. I love how everything in the game looks.

Wrap Up

I’m really digging the story, setting, and the graphics. The gameplay is something I can see growing on me throughout the game, especially after I figure out the finer points. I’m also looking forward to seeing how the plot unfolds.

The game’s website says the game will be out in the Summer of 2025 (Link), and the Steam Page says Q3 2025. Unless there is another delay, I’ll be picking this one up.

If you liked this post, please check out my other preview for Marvel Cosmic Invasion.