Demon Tides Review — Rag-Na-Rock

Demon Tides was an absolute treat.

That might not be the best way to start out a review, but it’s true. Like with most games, I tried to go into Demon Tides with little to no expectations; I didn’t really look at the game’s store page, and I wasn’t familiar with the game that came before, Demon Turf, so my first impression would be just that. It did not take long for the game to charm me with its delightful characters, bountiful style, and cleverly designed, expressive platforming.

But what exactly is “expressive platforming,” you might be wondering?

The term seems to be one coined by the developers themselves and refers to the unique way in which they’ve designed the multitude of platforming segments of the game, which players can access freely as part of a pretty massive and relaxed open world. The “expressive” part of “expressive platforming” refers to how the game doesn’t overtly design each platforming puzzle with one solution in mind, which is the traditional way of doing so. Where most games would introduce a mechanic, teach you how to use it, and then apply some kind of twist to it before moving on to another, Demon Tides gives you everything at once and gives you the freedom to use them as you see fit, with each platforming puzzle not necessarily requiring the specific use of one mechanic or another to clear.

To quote the developers:

“Simply put, it’s a platformer where every solution is the right one! We want you to express yourself through the game’s movement, and to do that we’ve created a highly customisable move-set with nearly unlimited combinational depth. The further you get into the game, and the more comfortable you get with the movement, the more unique your gameplay will become!”

Said movement is pretty great. Nothing feels incredibly reinventive, but everything is implemented well and ties in with the demonic shape-shifting power of our main character, Beebs. You can pull off such maneuvers as mid-air dashing, jumping from a spin, wall climbing, and other such tricks that combo into each other in clever and comfortable ways. The movement of the game captures a great sense of speed and feels complex and intuitive without actually being all that hard to master.

While the game’s movement mechanics are indeed solid, and this is an incredibly important part of a platforming title, the real appeal of the title is the world, art, and characters.

Demon Tides follows the protagonist Beebs after her journey becoming the Demon Queen in Demon Turf, though you don’t necessarily have to be familiar with that story to enjoy this one. As newly appointed royalty, Beebs receives a letter to come meet with the king of another demonic nation, promising the orphan that said king is, in fact, her long-lost father.

The kingdom of Ragnar’s Rock is a vast, open-world ocean that Beebs can navigate incredibly quickly, but always at the player’s own pace. The game really invites you to explore and make time to interact with your crew of carry-over characters from the first game. My favorite of which is Luci and her relationship with Beebs herself.

These characters are expressive, well-written, and just so full of personality that they felt like they could pop at any moment. I instantly fell in love with the cast, even the ones I didn’t like quite as much as the others. Even though this was my first introduction to them, I felt like I was interacting with a well-established family of characters from a beloved anime. I almost felt a sort of Toriyama influence in the cast and world, and if you told me that was intentional, I would not be surprised at all.

The palpable flavor of this world and its characters is no doubt helped by the fantastic art direction of the game. Though the entire game is 3D, the character models and color palettes capture a lot of gorgeous 2D stylization that, again, gives everything a lovely anime, slightly Akira Toriyama flavor that I absolutely adored. This style also fit the personalities of the characters incredibly well, with a lot of the writing and visuals in the game having this really hip, modern, and relaxed vibe to it that I certainly could get with.

While more of a cherry on top of everything else Demon Tides had to offer, the game has some pretty fun community features that make the world feel more alive. Players can leave graffiti around, marking locations they’ve been with unique player art for all to see. Going out of my way to see and rate the decor left around by others, which I assume were mostly staff since I played the game before release, was like a little side objective in the back of my mind with each new location I discovered.

The game’s photo mode is also a fun, albeit fun addition that adds to the overall chill, exploratory vibe the game has going.

Demon Tides is special. It’s not the most complex or reinventive platformer around, but it shines through with a uniquely expressive and relaxed approach to platforming that encourages exploration and mastering the mechanics you like the most. The open-world map can be navigated with a great sense of speed, and the art, characters, and writing are all fantastic elements to engage with that really make the experience its own. I can’t recommend Demon Tides enough, both to an audience looking for a more casual experience and to those drawn in by the absolutely magnetic personalities of the game.

Try Hard Guides was provided a Steam code for this PC review of Demon Tides. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles on our Game Reviews page! Demon Tides is available on Steam.