Demon Gaze II (PS4)

While NISA's "Demon Gaze II" isn't the profound spectacle that a lot of their mainstay titles are it possesses a simpler charm that incorporates a mixture of first-person dungeon crawling, and interactive storytelling to great effect. Two elements which come together quite nicely in a not so overbearing, or chaotic kind of way. The story this time around which is fairly much standalone in itself leans only a little on the previous game, and uses the lore of the established Demon Gazer as a means to set the stage for the fight against a tyrant who is burning up the souls of the citizenry for star power in order to build up an army of subservient demons. The game opens up abruptly throwing a lot of confusing conversation pieces at you, but as you play onward your created character's role in the plot is made known. As it turns out you were a revolutionist who was a part of a revolutionary party that was trying to overthrow Asteria's current ruler, Lord Magnastar. Before the game even began your character was abducted by an unknown individual, and bestowed with the power of the Demon Gaze. A power that allows you to capture demons in your eye, and control them. Upon rescue by your comrades you, and your amnesia stricken self are brought back to Stella's Place. An HQ of sorts, and base of operations for the previously mentioned revolution. A place where your memory, and purpose will slowly return as the fight before you is engaged ...

It is at Stella's Place, in particular where you'll get reacquainted with your ragtag group of friends who come in an odd, and uniquely outspoken variety. The main characters of interest come in the form of two sisters named Prim and Muse. Muse acts as the mastermind behind the Asteria revolution while Prim uses her vocal talents in a radio broadcast called, the "Overthrow Radio Show" to gain the citizens' trust in a somewhat subliminal manner. Along with Prim and Muse's presence you are accompanied by, and catered to by three different shop/service providers within the group. This includes Prometh who acts as the broadcast coordinator, and Cassel who is the arms dealer. Also included is a fat elf by the name of Lezerem who comes into focus a little later on as the 'Maintenance' service provider for the demons you capture. Offering a sort of dating service for you, and your demon companions. Not forgetting Toma, he also plays an important role in that he is the groundskeeper, and caters to everyone's needs.

Without getting too far ahead of myself though what you really should know is that the game is broken down into two base sections of operation with a world map made for travel between each. Part of the game will be spent forwarding the story through character interactions at Stella's Place, and in surrounding areas on the world map. It is in these animated art panel inclusive conversation areas that you'll be given the option to select from multiple responses to statements, and asked questions. Depending on your choice the dialogue between your character, and the other key characters will change, and sometimes impact the plot as well as your standing with that character. It is through these intermittent interactions that you'll unlock different options, and features within Stella's Place.

Stella's Place, as it were is a multi-floor theater with a 20's vibe that has character rooms, shops, a tavern, showers, demon barracks, and the hidden radio broadcast center. By visiting these exclamation mark highlighted locations you will trigger character conversations, and can also partake of the various services and features within. The rooms are mainly allotted for character conversation, and later the demon interactions that come with services like 'Maintenance' which opens up a sort of dating sim for perks sake. One of those touchy-feely mini-games that have your trying to hit the demon's "sweet spot" to open up demon skills, and improve compatibility through likability. The shops on the other hand are fairly much self-explanatory in that they are the usual RPG places where you can buy items, weapons, and equipment for your character and his/her team of demons. What's not so self-explanatory though is the gems you can buy, the artifacts, and the lottery. Cassel's store which is the base shop includes gems, artifacts, and a lottery option as well as a bargain bin. The gems which come in an assortment of weapon, and armor types as well as enhancement gems are used as a means to get rarer gear when playing through the dungeons. By selecting them when you happen upon a floating gem in a dungeon you can select three gems of any type, and win random gear rewards when you finish fighting the enemies within that gem. Getting ahead of myself again it is those gems which you'll need to beat a certain number of before to can face the main demon, and capture them.

Artifacts which are also key component to properly equipping for the increasingly difficult battles ahead are used to gift your character, and the demons additional abilities outside of their base techniques, and skills. Getting artifacts requires that you either purchase them through Cassel, or use rare artifact gems that are gifted to you to obtain them. As far as the lottery goes you can pay Cassel 1,000 gold for one try at a random item, or 10,000 gold for 10 tries. The items are random, and their rarity varied. Hence the name, "Lottery". The bargain bin is also a monetary store option that can afford you some decently discounted gear. It's good for when you're running low on currency, and need something to equip your new demon partner with.

Getting back to the whole Stella's Place breakdown you'll also find Prometh's lab which acts as a place for character revival, and a means to strengthen and upgrade gear through broken down gear. By breaking down duplicate gear you'll get the material needed to enhance gear or weapons up to 10 times. Other not so involved locations include the showers, and the tavern. The showers act as a means to change character, and demon appearance. It is in the showers that you can change your own character's name, voice, and appearance if you like. You can also change the demons' appearance to that of a more demonic version if you prefer. The tavern, Prim, and Muse's rooms which are also located within Stella's Place are mainly there to forward the plot through character interactions, and conversations. After defeating a demon you will have to visit Muse to obtain said demon as a party member. Also to note is the basement floor radio station in which you'll sometimes be a part of the "Overthrow Radio Show", or watch as the other characters do their part in the broadcast. To little added effect after a broadcast your audience reach, and retention will be shown in percentages along with a base audience count. It plays into the whole winning over the population for revolution sake theme. Lastly the demons barracks, and rented rooms that come into play later on allow you to interact with the demons, and add bonus stats through equipped room furniture. As with your room the demons' rooms have a single slot for purchased or obtained furniture pieces. These pieces of furniture add bonus stat points to the base RPG stats of the demons and main character. Also to note is the inclusion of the usual bestiary, hint guide, and in-game reference guides included in the main character's room.

Let's not forget the 'Maintenance' area as well in which you'll use gathered maintenance crystals to improve demon likeability, and go on dates to gain new demon skills. By paying a single maintenance crystal you'll get the chance to play a two step mini-game in which you move a cursor, and click a certain area of a demon picture to find the perfect sweet spot. The two steps of the mini-game include a live, and practice phase. In the initial practice phase you get 5 tries to find the perfect sweet spot. Spots you click on will range from good to perfect, and level up the demon's likeability meter respectively once hit in the live phase. Once the practice is over you get one click in the live phase, and are rewarded accordingly. Afterwards you can take the demon on a date free of charge. This date is basically a dialogue session that helps you get better acquainted with the demon, and helps to unlock bonus stats and demon skills. The maintenance crystals can be obtained in battle, or bought for a hefty price.

When it comes to your own character, and their creation you are prompted to create your character at the initial startup of the game. While NISA boasted about having customizable characters you are basically given several different character models to choose from that each have multiple color palette swaps. Beyond that you can choose a voice which mostly sound male despite having character model options that appear female. You can also name your character with up to 12 letters, and can choose their alignment. By alignment I mean you have the option to be good, bad, or neutral. The differences between each pertain to how they perform in battle. A good character is purely defensive, an evil character purely offensive, and a neutral character a balance of the two. Depending on your play style you'll want to choose one that best suits your gaming methods. The alignments do effect RPG stats so do be warned.

Along with the character creation your character, and your party of demons (up to four) will level up as they gain experience through battles. Each time you or your demons level up you can add a point to strength, intelligence, vitality, defense, and so forth. Each stat harbors a different effect according to class, and can open up new skills, and techniques if applied properly. One important thing to note is that recruiting demons after defeating them in the dungeons will gift you or that demon a Liberty Skill. Each demon has two Liberty Skills to choose from, and each one acts as a bonus skill for use in battle. Some increase party efficiency, or adds actual support/attack skills to the mix. When it comes down to equipping your character, and the accompanying demons you'll find you can set two weapon loadouts which can be set to off/on. Each weapon loadout consists of two slots. Along with that setup your character, and the demons also get a single armor loadout consisting of headgear, chest armor, undies, accessories, and a cape. While the armor is fairly much static in regards to choice you will have to mind your party's order. By that I mean who takes the front row, and who takes the back row. Depending on which row a character, or demon is in they can only use specific types of weapons. The front row can use melee focused weapons such as swords, katanas, heavy (axes), and special (knuckle dusters) while the back row will be better suited with ranged (bows) or throwing weapons (boomerangs ...).

When it comes to dungeon outings, and battles you will be heading to named designated places on the world map through Stella's Place's "Sortie" menu option. Once the place is selected you will enter a maze-like area in a first-person perspective. Your goal is to seek out demon gems, place gems in them to loot them, and beat the enemies within. In each given dungeon there are a set amount of demon gems that must be found, and defeated in this manner. After you've defeated the required number you'll find a floating icon that will lead you to a demon realm portal where you'll have to solve a puzzle involving floating masks to get to the floating demon head icon that acts as a trigger to the final battle. Once defeated the demon a will be captured with your character's demon gaze, and you will be immediately transported back to Stella's Place where you can obtain them as a party member.

Combat in the dungeon areas is turn based as you might expect. Your character, and demons will be able to make use of their learned techniques, skills, basic attacks, defenses, and stored items during their turn. Most battles are done through the floating gems, but if you linger too long or take your time making your way through the maze you will be hit with random battles that reward you with only dropped items, and experience points. Also to note is the fact that your main character has the ability to "Demonize" your demons. This puts them into their fully demonic state with extra skills at the cost of a depleting star power meter. To build up star power, and use the demonize option you must first attack with basic attacks. When demonize is activated the star power meter will deplete steadily until your demons return to their normal state.

For those of you who are curious this game does have an optional difficulty setting that can be changed at Prometh's room in Stella's Place. The difficulties include luke warm, warm, hot, burning, and infernal (or something like that). I personally played on the default setting of warm, and found it to be a bit too easy.

The verdict ...

There's something charming, and attractive about the story, gameplay, and characters in this latest Demon Gaze adventure. It felt lighthearted, was comical at times, and sometimes even perverted. I actually liked it enough to give it my seal of approval. The fact that it's cheaper than a 'Triple A' release, and can be enjoyed on the PS4 gets some bonus praise from me. The only hold back, if any, is the awkwardly perverted demon dating sim that shows it's lewd self in the 'Maintenance' room of Stella's Place. If you don't mind young demon girls who call you brother doing innocently perverted things then you might like what this game has to offer. I did!