Demons' Night Fever

It’s deeply unfortunate, but Demons’ Night Fever misses the mark in every way. The narrative is bland, unfunny, and pathetically earnest in developing a main character I’d rather see shot into the sun. The combat sacrifices tactical depth for randomness, and the dull map design leaves much to be desired. The in-between mission management lacks interaction and has far too many numbers and stats to be readable in any meaningful way. This is one party I wish I RSVP’d “no” to.

Demons’ Night Fever is a bold step in changing up the SRPG genre, largely in part thanks to the peon acquisition and sacrificial mechanics. The designs are vibrant and stark enough to turn some heads, but some of the humor might be too on-the-nose to be fully appreciated. Either way, it’s a devilishly good time that will whet the appetite of an SRPG player wanting something new.

Demons’ Night Fever is not a comforting game, and it’s not meant for everyone. But it is one of those damnably fun titles that bring a breath of fresh air to a genre that had long since begun to feel stale.

The roughly 20 hours it took me to reach the credits the first time flew by and I’m still motivated to keep optimizing my runs. For me, Demons’ Night Fever is one of the biggest surprises of the year and Sōhei Niikawa proves in impressive fashion that he’s still very much at the top of his game. The game’s visual style is fantastic, the soundtrack is memorable, the story kept me thoroughly entertained and the learning curve while consistently challenging never felt too hard.