World of Demons Review – A Cut Above

Developer Platinum Video games’ fashion is immediately recognizable–flashy, fast-paced motion that oozes with character and aptitude. World of Demons brings that signature fashion to Apple Arcade, providing you with management of a samurai named Onimaru and thrusting you into, nicely, a world of demons. That profitable Platinum method interprets nicely to iOS units, with easy contact controls and fast motion that appears and feels nice on the smaller display screen. There are some points mendacity underneath–mostly within the digital camera system–but these issues aren’t sufficient to derail this in any other case stable motion expertise.

World of Demons follows Onimaru, a lone samurai combating towards a military of vicious demons referred to as yokai. Our hero is constructing a military of his personal, nonetheless, as each enemy he defeats will be part of him within the battle towards the sport’s major antagonist, the demon king Shuten Doji. Onimaru himself controls precisely like a Platinum Video games protagonist, deftly operating round phases whereas slashing together with his huge katana. Consecutive presses on the assault button will lead to fashionable combos, with higher rewards given for increased combos on the finish of a skirmish. Holding down the button will sluggish assaults down, making strikes extra highly effective however making you weak to enemy counterattacks.

The yokai Onimaru battle is available in all sizes and styles, from small bean farmers to huge pink blobs, every with its personal assault talents. Every yokai is assigned a shade (pink, blue, or inexperienced), with every shade having strengths and weaknesses over the opposite in a rock-paper-scissors system. Defeating a yokai provides it to your assortment, and earlier than every chapter you can equip two yokai for the next mission. Different yokai defeated throughout the chapter are added to a “deck” and disappear after one use.

Permitting you to have two yokai you’ll be able to all the time rely on, whereas additionally including extra all through a mission, creates a dynamic battle system that basically shines. Listening to every enemy’s well being bar and attacking with corresponding yokai provides a layer of complexity to every battle that feels pure and enjoyable, making the yokai extra than simply glorified summons. You may by no means know which yokai you will encounter in a mission, however the rock-paper-scissors component mitigates any detriments attributable to that instability.

Mixing Onimaru’s sword assaults in with the supporting yokai provides you loads of choices in fight, encouraging strategizing earlier than each enemy. Boss fights particularly require this method, as it is advisable gauge when you’ll be able to swap from fast sword strikes to the extra highly effective blows whereas additionally utilizing yokai to inflict extra injury. It is quick and it is frantic, however most significantly, it is loads of enjoyable, emulating that signature Platinum Video games fashion impressively nicely.

It is not an ideal translation nonetheless, as I discovered one main annoyance throughout my run with the sport: the digital camera. As World of Demons makes use of a touchscreen management scheme, character motion and digital camera motion are assigned to the display screen itself. The left half of the display screen controls character motion, whereas the appropriate controls digital camera motion. The issue with that is the digital camera half of the display screen is obstructed by the remainder of the contact controls, providing you with solely half the quantity of display screen for digital camera motion that you’ve got for shifting Onimaru. This makes the digital camera awkward and complicated each out and in of battle. An auto-targeting system tries to counter this by zeroing in whichever enemy you are attacking. This works to some extent, however the digital camera is definitely essentially the most irritating half of what’s in any other case a stable sport.

World of Demons appears to be like fantastic, with each stage trying prefer it was taken straight from a ukiyo-e wooden print (most paying homage to a sport like Okami). Every space jumps off the display screen with shade and sweetness, and even darker phases function character, with blue waves crashing within the background or swelling darkish clouds blocking your path within the distance.

You may have the chance to absorb the sights, too, as the sport encourages checking each nook and cranny for gadgets and loot. Every map is split into sections, with every part that includes a sure variety of battles to battle and treasure to search out. As soon as all the things in a bit is accomplished it can flip gold in your map with a pink “Full!” stamp, letting you already know there’s nothing left to search out.

This map format does result in one minor grievance, nonetheless; missions can typically really feel repetitive, with the sport’s solely selection being discovered within the yokai that seem throughout battles. Once you begin a mission, you will see a purple cloud marking your first battle level. You may method the cloud, and a dramatic two-second pause happens earlier than yokai seem. You may battle the yokai and a statistics display screen pops as much as provide you with a grade for the battle. As soon as that goes away you’ll be able to proceed to the subsequent level, and rinse and repeat till the ultimate battle of the chapter. There’s some exploration thrown in, however the bulk of every chapter follows this very same construction, and after just a few prolonged gameplay periods, it begins to really feel a bit of stale.

One function that I actually recognize is the convenience through which World of Demons means that you can get again into the sport in between play periods. Say you are attempting to discover an space however your consideration is pulled elsewhere, forcing you to shut the sport and stop enjoying. Once you load again up you will be within the actual spot the place you left off, and the map will even pop onto the display screen to remind you what you have explored up to now. With the ability to belief this sport to take me proper again the place I left off is a large aid, and one thing I want extra cellular video games would do with such precision.

World of Demons proves that Platinum Video games’ trademark motion can flourish on small cellphone screens. The yokai mechanics are neatly carried out, whereas boss battles are intense and rife with adrenaline. The digital camera points might be annoying, however they don’t seem to be sufficient to smash the thrilling expertise onscreen. A Platinum Video games title working nicely on iOS seems like a protracted shot, however World of Demons isn’t solely a enjoyable cellular motion sport, however a stable title no matter what platform it is on.