I was delighted by the visual presentation when I first saw Demon Turf. The combination of 2D characters placed into a 3D world feels novel. In my preview, I mentioned some worries that I hoped would be addressed by launch. Even still Fabraz has delivered a nostalgic demon dream platformer.
The name of the game is in the title. In Demon Turf you play as Beebz who takes it upon herself to free different worlds. All the while there’s a bigger threat, Demon King, who we eventually face. Much of my time spent here is sprinkled with nostalgia; each level ends with a summary stats screen. At the end of my playthrough I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was playing something from the video game rental era.
Controlling Beebz feels great and responsive. I can appreciate her unique slippery jump feel. As you get more comfortable you’ll start to take riskier jumps. There’s a very obvious drop shadow so you can always easily tell where your jump is going to land.
Even though Demon Turf is mostly jumping there are also four different abilities for you to unlock. My favourite is the glide ability. The levels naturally dictate when it’s time to use a certain ability. Since it’s a select wheel of abilities I was never in a situation where I needed to juggle between them.
I’m in awe of some of the traversal possibilities. Demon Turf is built for speed running. I was timing jumps and combining moves outside of what the game was telling me to do. There’s one final level that I won’t get to anytime soon. You’ll need to collect everything so naturally, you’ll be speedrunning to get there.
What does help with this end game blitz of collecting is the menu screen. Demon Turf lets you quickly warp to any level and its respective alternate this way. Also, it’s a nice touch that there’s an always collectable hint button. Some of the levels you’re unable to backtrack so it alleviated that possibility.
Demon Turf has a notable mechanic that I did find interesting and I hope to see more platformers attempt to incorporate. In this game, you’re allowed 3 additional checkpoint flags that can be planted at nearly any spot. Although it’s my own fault it would’ve been good to have a setting for auto checkpoints. I felt in control of my own pace as I could decide if what I just accomplished was enough to warrant a faux save point.
Throughout Demon Turf you interact with two companions. Neither of these characters has actual things to say about what Beebz is doing. Alongside that, the world itself doesn’t feel like it wants to say anything. From my perspective some of the hubs haven’t been changed for the better. There’s funny dialogue throughout and even the main characters are voice acted. I was left wanting something more meaningful.
One of the best examples that highlight how dismissive Demon Turf can be is the area change from the second hub level. True to its name, Armageddon, there are some levels that fully change. On your first trip, as the game labels it, there are islands surrounded by water on a sunny day. On your return trip, the islands are now ablaze and lava has replaced water.
The way the hub worlds change in Demon Turf isn’t reckoned with. There are townspeople with dialogue and I didn’t run into any mention of how they felt. It’s a powerful message to think about what liberation and its consequences mean for its people. We’re talking about a cutesy platformer but it really was something that stuck with me after rolling credits.
I was surprised by the variety of areas in Demon Turf. My favourite is a city of owls. As mentioned before, once you clear a hub by beating the boss there’ll be some effect. There’s a desert that is now ablaze and sprinkled with dusty storms throughout the level. Sometimes these modifiers would get in the way of playing or visual enjoyment.
Demon Turf struggles at times to run on Nintendo Switch. To be fair this could be more of a critique on that platform showing its age. Most of my time was spent in docked mode as a preemptive measure. The inability to capture video natively also points to this platform not being the best place to play.
I wanted to like what I played more than I actually did. It’s mostly a one note type of platformer. There’s a deeper layer of fun for advanced players. So even though I had moments that shined it’s the overall delivery that misses the mark. Demon Turf is a rough around the edges platformer that struggles between a flat package and a simple spatial playground.
Demon Turf is available now on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox and PC.
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