Just a couple minutes into the Demonschool demo, I caught myself distracted; this game, developed by indie studio Necrosoft Games, packs such a banger soundtrack and appealing aesthetic that those areas alone warrant your attention. Luckily, Demonschool also thrives on a ton of substance to accompany that flashy style.
Demonschool is an upcoming isometric RPG built on tactical battles and war-like strategy. Battles are split between two phases: planning and action. The planning phase requires players to prepare their attacks on the battlefield, select placement, allocate attack points to damage foes, and position party members to drive back opposing forces, which consist of demons, gangsters, and everything in between; meanwhile, the action phase is what results from the player’s strategic planning and the enemy’s response.
Furthermore, the battles have unique elements; player units can only move on the battlefield in a straight line unless they’re using an ability called Sidestep; attacks often push back other characters upon impact, which can work in your favor, depending on your positioning.
A battle reaches its conclusion upon either the player closing a demonic portal and defeating a specific number of demons or the opposition breaching the barrier between the demon hellscape and Earth. If it sounds like there is a lot to the battles in Demonschool, it’s because there is. The mechanics can be a bit challenging to master, and fights can be brutal to win on the first try, so make sure you practice patience in learning this tough yet rewarding combat system. But once things begin to flow, the whole battle experience feels like an old-school strategy puzzle game infused with bits of RPG-flavored mechanics. And, according to Demonschool’s creative director, Brandon Sheffield, that particular feeling was the whole point of the game’s design.
“The core design of the battles came initially from a tactics puzzle prototype – I was trying to devise the smallest tactical game I could,” Sheffield told RPGFan. “Things evolved from there to where the focus became a tactics game where you don’t have to make a lot of clicks or confirmations. That’s how I landed on the idea of moving your character and having them automatically do whatever sort of action is applicable when they reach an enemy.”
Playing the demo reminded me of franchises like Persona with its school setting, a distinctive UI with flared text that recalls Danganronpa, and even Mega Man Battle Network and Into the Breach for the game’s incessant focus on rigid and tactical grid-based combat. Still, even with so much inspiration oozing from this new game, Demonschool manages to create a unique experience that sets it apart from these titles in a fresh, innovative way.
The game’s new demo offers a chance to experience both aspects of school life and combat, with the player controlling a girl named Faye, who leads a group of her classmates, Destin, Namako, and Knute, on a mission to retrieve a demonic paintbrush.
While gaining new levels and abilities were not included in the demo, the game drove home the concept of exploring the real world and demon realm while teaching players how to make the best use of their time during a typical school week. Some side quests introduced the ability to build bonds between Faye and her friends, leading to better chemistry on the battlefield.
Oh! And there are even mini-games in the demo showing off a beloved staple of the RPG genre: fishing. While the mini-game is rather cozy, engaging, and somewhat challenging, the fish designs are pretty horrific, perfectly encapsulating what Demonschool is all about.
The game was first announced back in 2022 but Demonschool will finally arrive on PC, Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series, and Nintendo Switch in Q3 2025.
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