Demonschool Review – Brilliant Combat, Captivating Worldbuilding

Demonschool Review

Fans of Atlus games have been really lucky in recent years. We’ve gotten major new franchises like Metaphor: ReFantazio, and remakes of older titles like Raidou Remastered. A lot of these releases exist in a post-Persona 5 world though. Fans who want newer versions of Atlus’ older games aren’t getting much. Atlus hasn’t made a first-person dungeon crawler or an isometric Strategy JRPG in a long time. Demonschool isn’t made by Atlus, but it’s a strategy JRPG that’s a welcome throwback to older Atlus games like Persona 1 and 2, and Devil Survivor.

Demonschool’s story is about a world where demons are invading, and causing people to lose their memories beyond the present day. Faye, our protagonist, decides to go to the island where the demons are spawning to investigate the problem. She does so by enrolling in the local college. I don’t want to go into any more details of the story, because even its broadest strokes are unfolded to the player like a mystery. There are smaller plots as Faye forms relationships with classmates, and completes sidequests. Demonschool’s story and world are both captivating, and are one of the main reasons to play.

Turn-Based Tactical JRPG Combat

Another major component of why people will want to play Demonschool is its turn-based tactical JRPG battle system. The player gets a pool of action points. They can select whichever characters they want to perform actions. Each character’s first action costs one AP, their second action costs two, and so on. So the more characters a player uses, the less AP their actions cost. The planning phase consists of the player choosing how to use their AP, seeing the outcome, and deciding if they want to undo certain actions. Hold triangle when finished and the action phase plays out all the player commands.

Many character actions move enemies in certain directions, which sets them up for new actions from the other character, based on their new positioning. Taking a single sidestep reduces the AP cost of the follow up action to zero. Special points are gained by performing actions, and at the beginning of each turn. Pressing square uses up the SP meter, and performs a special attack. Faye’s starting special attack, for example, deals two almighty damage points, and costs zero AP if an enemy is killed.

Combo Attacks

Pushing an enemy into another party member results in a combo attack. Combo attacks deal elemental damage. Characters and enemies sometimes have weaknesses and resistances to certain elements. Each battle has a specific objective, like “kill X number of enemies”. Sigils appear when all the battle objectives are met. Combat ends when the player moves to where the sigils appear, and performs an action to seal them. If this is accomplished within three turns, and no characters die, the player receives a perfect score.

A unique aspect of Demonschool’s combat is its deemphasis on stats. Characters and enemies have extremely low amounts of hit points, so every point of damage really matters.  Normal hits often do only one point of damage. Movement, positioning, and combos allow players to increase the amount of damage they do. There’s also no grinding in Demonschool. There are optional battles, but they give drops that can increase stats or lead to new skill tree abilities. There are no levels to grind for.

Balance of Old and New

Demonschool’s combat system works really well. It does a great job of balancing familiar strategy JRPG combat with new ideas. All the systems felt a little overwhelming at first, but the game does a good job of easing in the player before ramping up the difficulty. Mastering sidestepping and creating combos feels great. The school theme giving the player a grade after each battle adds lots of extra value for players who like to play for high scores.

Combat can get tedious though. Every battle requires tons of planning and thought. In some ways, Demonschool almost plays more like a puzzle game than a tactical JRPG, because there’s often a best way to approach each battle. Lots of times, when I was stuck, I felt like I was trying to figure out what the game wanted me to do. The difficulty can get high, and I hit a wall several times, where I was stuck on a battle I just couldn’t figure out. These linear battles may be a turn-off for some, but others might appreciate their puzzle-like nature.

Shin Megami Tensei Influence

Classmates become party members. Faye can have relationships with them. Connections are built by battling together, selecting correct dialogue options, and winning minigames. Building connections unlocks certain side quests. All the areas of the island are found on a Shin Megami Tensei-like static map. There’s also a very Persona-like calendar. Going to an objective moves time forward as Faye balances school life with demon battling. There aren’t many aspects of a school sim in Demonschool though. The main mechanic the game takes from the Persona series is the character relationships. The school life elements are mainly aesthetic.

Demonschool’s aesthetics are breathtaking though. The character sprites are very PS1-era Persona in appearance. Characters have realistic proportions, and when they talk, there are large character portraits over the background action. The isometric environments are gorgeous, chunky 3D. The score is synthy jazz music that reminds me of music that could have been in a PS1-era Castlevania game. Visually and sonically, Demonschool is an incredibly appealing game that stands out amongst modern offerings.

In Conclusion

I loved Demonschool. The tactical JRPG combat system will likely be the make-or-break component for most players. The lack of emphasis on stats is a bold choice that sometimes makes Demonschool feel more like a puzzle game than a strategy JRPG. The battle system won’t be for everyone. But the story, aesthetics, and vibes make Demonschool a real treat for longtime Shin Megami Tensei fans.

***PS5 code provided by the publisher***