So much content it’s dizzying. A review of the turn-based RPG Demonschool.

In Demonschool, you need to help a group of demon hunters prevent the apocalypse. To do this, you’ll have to make the most of every day, just like in the Persona series.

Dark Prophecy

In ancient times, cruel demons threatened humanity with total annihilation until they were exterminated. An ancient prophecy states that in 2,000 years, the demonic portals will open again, unleashing apocalyptic hordes of damned beings. This event is only a few weeks away, and with each passing day, the chances of survival become slimmer.

Portals are destined to open on an island remote from civilization, where evil is already making its presence felt. People have begun disappearing everywhere, and those who remain are blissfully unaware due to permanent memory loss. Here, power is held by brutal gangsters and government officials who protect anyone but the innocent. The evil happenings are treated like old wives’ tales, and those sounding the alarm are dismissed as madmen and paranoids.

The game begins with the arrival on the island of a girl named Faye, disguised as an ordinary student. In reality, she belongs to a long line of demon hunters and is doing everything in her power to prevent the invasion. To accomplish this, she must establish contact with independent demon hunter groups—only together will they have a chance to confront the threat.

The game is designed in the style of the early 2000s, when DVDs had only recently begun to replace video cassettes. The characters’ appearances also reflect the time period, but their behavior and group composition are more in line with modern standards of “diversity”—at the end, a character with vitiligo (a skin condition covered in blotches) even appears.

Due to my general tolerance, I began to worry that demons would be portrayed as victims of circumstance—a fear heightened by my recent playthrough of Possessor(s), where the game evoked pity with the fate of infernal creatures. Fortunately, Demonschool doesn’t have this flaw—the demons are portrayed as very evil, and their destruction isn’t dramatized. There are four exceptions throughout the entire playthrough, and even then, they take a rather neutral stance.

Doomed Island

Ten weeks remain until the promised apocalypse. Each day is divided into three segments, giving the player complete freedom to move around the locations. Convenient points of interest mark places where you can pet a dog or donate a coin to a shrine—ordinary actions that can have consequences. You can also simply interact with people and witness amusing incidents.

As time passes, the situation will only worsen. Regardless of the player’s actions, the merciless statistics show that the population continues to decline. Demonic appearances become routine, people continue to forget their loved ones, curses and monsters from legend appear everywhere. The saddest sight is the proud father sending his large family off to school. With each passing week, his family grows smaller, and due to the demonic influence, he is unable to even comprehend the tragedy.

A growing squad of demon hunters offers hope for a brighter future. They engage in side missions that often end in a skirmish with demons – after the battle, the situation on the island improves slightly. The hunters are based in their own club, the appearance of which can be customized to suit your taste. Daily activities reward items such as chairs or rugs, which add a touch of richness to the ambiance.

You can strengthen your friendship with all the hunters. Increasing your friendship meter is achieved by choosing certain dialogue options and playing minigames. The latter include karaoke, cooking, guessing your comrade’s mood, and are also incredibly crude—in “rock, paper, scissors,” the opponent always chooses only one option in each round. And you’ll have to play a lot of minigames to win the hearts of all the hunters! But I was captivated by the game where you have to drift, hit (or not hit) deer, and reach the finish line before the fuel runs out. It seems simple, but the process is incredibly enjoyable!

You can spend as much time as you like on daily activities and side quests—time will only pick up after activating the main story. Each activation is accompanied by a large amount of dialogue and almost certainly leads to a confrontation with demons. Each week, you’ll have to defeat a unique boss, whose fight will be featured in the local newspaper. If you rent VHS tapes, one of the characters will write funny reviews of the films the team has seen. All this adds to the sense of presence in this world.

Battle with the spawns of evil

As with Defender’s Quest: Valley of the Forgotten, encounters with enemies transport hunters to an alternate dimension where characters are able to move along a specific trajectory. Each hero’s action consumes action points from a shared pool—each subsequent action consumes more points, encouraging balanced use of team skills. To win, hunters must destroy a certain number of demons and then begin sealing the portal—all survivors are automatically eliminated. The demons simply need to exterminate the hunters or break the barrier blocking access to the real world.

Opponents can boast of diversity:

• There is a group of demons that are throwing all their forces into destroying the barrier;

• Demons that explode after death cause damage to those around them. The sound of the explosion creates the impression of something bursting, which is quite nerve-wracking;

• There are standard fighters who go towards hunters with aggressive intentions;

• Specialized enemies take over the body and heal demons, paralyze or jump a long distance towards the heroes;

• Traitors to humanity kick, use magic and firearms.

Demon Hunters are divided into standard fighters and support warriors, whose role is focused on healing, buffing allies, and weakening enemies. For example, there are specialists who excel against particularly tough enemies. Each hunter has an element that is strong or weak against enemy elements: if the element is strong, damage taken is negated, while if the element is weak, damage is doubled. The system is similar to that in Persona.

During the gameplay, you’ll have to survive dozens of skirmishes. You need to line up your enemies so that each attack has maximum impact, and also find ways to perform combo attacks. Unfortunately, most challenges are best handled by a fighter-support combination, which emphasizes eliminating large numbers of weaker enemies. Those who specialize in taking down tougher enemies rarely get the chance to shine.

Bosses have impressive 3D models, and their appearance is usually accompanied by a short cutscene. Each boss battle is unique and more like a puzzle than usual. During the battle, you’ll often have to avoid massive attacks or find a way to inflict maximum damage on your turn.

Each victory rewards skill points and opals. To maximize the reward, you must complete the battle within a set number of turns and avoid losing anyone. Opals can be used to purchase skills and interior items in the store. Skill points allow you to unlock perks that modify the hunters’ abilities or provide passive bonuses.

Diagnosis

Demonschool has a wealth of diverse content, and that’s undeniable. Yes, the minigames and the character development for many of the games leave much to be desired. But the fact that the developers managed to create a tense atmosphere of an approaching apocalypse and added a huge number of unique and engaging battles is impressive. Let me remind you that this is an indie project that has survived multiple delays and, apparently, production hell.

It’s great that the restrictions here work as intended – they force you to approach each battle creatively and thoughtfully to complete the allotted turns. At the same time, you don’t have to go out of your way to complete every battle perfectly – the points you earn will be enough to unlock all the skills by the end of the game. These relaxations allow you to avoid frustration during the gameplay, without chasing the “best” result, and simply enjoy the game.

Pros:

• The oppressive atmosphere of the apocalypse

• Restrictions can be adhered to purely for the sake of interest

• Visual style and setting of the early 00s
• Engaging battles with both regular enemies and bosses

• Music

• Mini-game “Oh, Deer!”

Contra:

• The characters’ personalities don’t match the early 00s setting.

• Little opportunity to use specialized fighters

• “Raw” mini-games

• Lack of translation into Russian