Demon Skin

Demon Skin is a game that tries; it shows potential but fails due to missed opportunities and a lack of refinement. The combat is decent – though it can suffer from movement issues and unfair AI - and the game features good environments, but everything else proves to be a letdown. The story is incomprehensible, with no buildup, engagement or payoff, and the level design features far too many annoying, inexplicable, and often cheap instakill traps. It's not impossible to find some good aspects, but they're fighting a tidal wave of nitpicks and negatives.

2.5 dark fantasy hack’n’slash on PS4

Dark Hack & Slash game with simple but challenging combat system. Just a bit short and with weak story.

Demon Skin isn't a bad game, but it is ropey and certainly needed more work where the animations and menus are concerned.

The barebones story of this game is that you were some great warrior fighting some evil necromancers, but they hit you with a spell to erase your memory and powers. Now you have to fight to get it back. I’m not going to condemn a story just for its concept, but for Demon Skin, it’s as unoriginal as it sounds.

Demon Skin cherry-picks mechanics from your favourite games and presents them in a deliciously gory fruit salad.

At its core, it has a plot they seem to be trying to do something original with, and a combat system that makes blocking more engaging. They could have done so much more, but at the end of the day I cannot recommend getting this.

Aside from a small handful of mechanical drawbacks, Demon Skin delivers an action-filled adventure worthy of attention, especially for those seeking a challenging experience

When Demon Skin works, it works pretty well – it’s a nice-looking title with an interesting story and some combat mechanics that set it apart from other similar games. Unfortunately, its missteps are just too impactful on the overall experience to ignore. If you have the patience of a saint, you might find enough here to enjoy. If time is at a premium, and you don’t fancy the slog, I just can’t recommend it. A real shame.