Demon Gaze PS Vita review

Demon Gaze is a lengthy dungeon crawler RPG, published by NIS America and takes place thousands of years after the events of its predecessor, Students of the Round. Check out this review by long-time gamer and fan of all that is gadgety, Rich Hodson.

The main protagonist, Oz, is a young man that possesses the power of a magic eye capable of sealing demons. Oz’s objective is to kill the demons and gather treasure before returning to town with his loot. Loot can then be used to pay rent at the local Dragon Princess inn or it can be used to buy weapons, items and to improve your party. You can also rest, revive or build relationships with other characters at the inn. In Demon Gaze you will be exploring dungeons and encountering spontaneous battles.

My first impressions of the game weren’t exactly great. Right at the beginning you have to choose an avatar, a voice and a class. As soon as you confirm your decisions you are informed that you will be referred as a male regardless of what avatar you chose which may be a concern for the females out there considering buying this game.

The first-person perspective is a nice change from the more common third-person view in modern RPGs, although it would have been nice to see the team I put together through hours of gameplay I put in. Also it’s cheap looking 3D environments, irritating soundtrack and long, long dialogue segments left me uninspired and highly unmotivated to carry on.

But putting down the Vita early on would’ve been a mistake.

I soon realised that Demon Gaze is a game that you have to be patient with and accept at times that you will be taking one step forward and two steps back as its difficulty level is truly unforgiving.

I even found the easiest of difficulties was a challenge and often frustrating. Although the hard difficulty, the feel of happiness and relief after grinding away at the same section for hours and hours really feels you’ve accomplished something which you have to say lacks on other RPGs. Demon Gaze has executed this perfectly.

The game also has a very enjoyable progression tree and a very rewarding loot collection enticing you to go back and revisit locations making Demon Gaze a very satisfying experience.

Conclusion

Despite its poor visuals, Demon Gaze has very clever level designs and its addictive gameplay will keep you glued to your PS Vita for at least 40 hours or perhaps more.

People who aren’t fans of the genre won’t find anything new to change their minds, but the experienced RPG fans will be right at home with its challenging battles and rewarding progression.

Rich’s review – 7/10