Demonia: Everlasting Night | Test – NMag

Metroidvania style games have been popular for some time. AKI and eastasiasoft integrate the well-known genre components of Demoniaca: Everlasting Night.

Dark walls, buildings reminiscent of Gothic, ghosts and action battles – at first glance, the atmosphere of Demoniaca: Everlasting Night is reminiscent of Castlevania, making it one of the most obvious models for AKI and eastasiasoft’s Metroidvania. The action platform manages to reconcile with the chic retro-style ambience and atmospheric metal soundtrack and create a gripping gothic atmosphere. However, the biggest strength of Demoniac is here, which shows a lot of potential, but often leaves it unused.

The ghost tower of Babel

After the destruction of our village, we wake up as Demonia in the unholy tower of Babel, which the demons want to use for their evil plans. Finding a way out of the dark walls is now in our hands. On the way we wander through areas connected by portals and long loading times, meet different characters, face action and crisp fights, collect and balance all kinds of items. When it comes to the game, Demoniaca: Everlasting Night allows for less surprises, but Metroidvania sets itself apart from the competition.

Demoniaca: Everlasting Night still makes us believe in terms of atmosphere, graphics, music and story, signs of weakness and wear and tear quickly emerge in the gameplay. It starts with a somewhat asymmetrical difficulty, which is even more demanding on an even easier level, and goes on to fluffy, sometimes obvious fatigue controls. The jump jumps that come up especially often never feel good and after a while they annoy us. If we have to jump the wall several times first to start jumping on the wall, it is clear that something is wrong. In addition, the animations are often a bit slow, which gives the impression of not always being late and having complete control.

Unbalanced

The latter is especially embarrassing in fights. Demonica always seems to be very slow to attack and react. We are not accustomed to getting unnecessary victories in fights because the defensive process is not started properly. Cheating is more of a grip, because our character only retreats when he raises his hands to defend himself. If we push in one direction too soon, Demoniaca will spin in that direction and we will move away instead of heading towards the opponent. Accordingly, fights do not really feel intuitive. Many combos do not help much, especially since they are often not properly recognized. It would certainly have been less if a little more subtlety had been expended for the operation of the controls.

When that is not enough, it is very easy to lose track. Although the most detailed areas are well-designed within themselves, the level design invites us to explore and reward, but at the same time lacks a reliable map. Minimap only provides information about our immediate environment. The Babel Tower map shows the different areas and how they are connected to each other. Not just once, we felt like we were always wandering in search of the next destination or a save point. Although it is part of the intended game experience, it also has the potential for frustration.

In addition to experience points for defeated enemies, it gives us level ups and skill points, and we also collect souls. In addition to new action options, these can also be invested in basic products such as cures. In addition, we get a coin called Dust, with which we can buy equipment. Here, Demoniaca: Everlasting Night clearly shows the impact of playing a well-matched role for the film as a whole, but can not be more than a weakness. The action platform is not fun enough for that. This is unfortunate, especially in view of the successful foundation of story, atmosphere, graphics and soundtrack.

Written by Alexander Keisler

Conclusion:

Metroidvanias and Demoniaca: Everlasting Night’s style reminded me of Castlevania, so I was eager to see what to expect from the action-platform. Unfortunately, AKI and eastasiasoft use only a limited amount of existing capabilities. If the game is optimistic in terms of optics, music, story and atmosphere, the gameplay and controls that give a real crack to good attitudes. Fluffy action fights and jump paragraphs are not fun and often cause more frustration than anything else. The level of difficulty also seems a bit unbalanced which doesn’t really help. This is Demoniaca: Everlasting Night is far behind the possibilities, but it’s not a completely failed game. The type of fans that can comply with the restrictions will get a good metrodvania.