Demon Gaze

[ZeronHitaro]

The impression I got from the review is, unlike titles such as Conception II, Demon Gaze doesn't even 'try' to have anything resembling a story or structure. Making the overkill fan service more intolerable than usual since there's zero justification or substance to help balance it out. Additionally combined with zero game depth or, again, structure to make up for it on that front either. Basically saying 'Here, let me scream in your ear and kick you in the groin. A cutscene of a boob joke makes up for it yes?'

At least, that is the vibe I got from the review.

[Darilon]

I was surprised by the review. I'm not that far in yet so I may not have come to all of Kyle's issues yet. The dungeon crawling aspect seems fine so far. Dungeons seem to look nice although I am only judging it by other dungeon crawlers. I can see how he can be bothered by the character designs but the voice acting seemed fine to me, pretty good even. I am guessing the fan service was what dragged the story score that low. Not a fan of fan service myself but I was surprised at the 10%. Especially since he said there were positives about the story behind the fan service.

The Persona knock off anime confused me though. I don't think I completely understand what he meant. I haven't heard much of the music so far but I don't think it has made me think about Persona. I could be horribly wrong about it though. I am horrible at spotting musical similarities.

[deathsaber]

Here we go again, with another game using "OMG anime fan service!" as a criticism. 

Honestly, I can't really say much about this game.  If the consensus says its mediocre, I accept that.  I've only played just enough of this particular genre of RPG (little bit of Etrian Odyssey, little bit of The Dark Spire, gave SMT: Strange Journey about 10 hours of the "old college try") before it sunk in that these kinds of games just aren't for me.  Don't like the extreme difficiulty, minimalist environs, mazes, having to map, etc.  mixed with minimal plot (save maybe the mainline dungeon crawlSMT games, which I acknowlege have deep plots, but still its interspersed between uberhard 1st person dungeon gamelay).  Don't torch me, I just prefer decent stories, enjoyable characters, and some good humor above all else.  I can take basic, functional gameplay if my previous needs are met.  Hecked I loved the orignal Hyperdimension Neptunia despite broken gameplay because I found it so damn entertaining.  Also, give me Persona 3&4 over mainline SMT, or even earlier Persona games without the highschool social simulator aspects. 

But I digress, my point is- if this were another generic "serious medieval style" rpg I really could care less, but the fact it does have some colorful anime flair to it and some bawdy humor between dungeons, is the ONE thing that makes me somewhat have a passing interest.   I still wouldn't jump in because its an uber-hard first person dungeon crawl, but if anything, its  style sounds like a positive and not a negative to me. 

[Zendervai]

The story score does seem really low. If I saw that part of the score without context, I would assume the game made no sense whatsoever with incomprehensible writing and no consistency with the characters. If the story makes sense and the characters are consistent, I would think it would get at least 50-60%. 10% makes it seem like the story is broken in some very fundamental way.

[Belmondo of Blood]

I've only put in an hour or so but I've enjoyed what I've seen so far.  I definitely like the music and the Demon Summoning mechanic.  And yea, so there's fan service, but that doesn't really bother me much.

Reviews are making me want this, but I have the first three Etrian Odysseys and have never made it past the second level in any of them. I'm terrible at making good characters/parties in these types of games, and I doubt this would be any different. Still tempting, though.

I've heard it isn't as hard as Etrian Odyssey and also has difficulty modes.

Edit: It is up on PSN if anyone is interested. You have to use search to find it though. Filesize is 463 MB.

That's good to hear it may not be as hard as the first 3 Etrian games, hah!  I'm not that great at Dungeon Crawler games, in terms of patience; despite my interest in the genre.

[Elegance]

Kyle is not the right person to listen to if you're remotely interested in JRPGs.  His staff page shows some of his favorite RPGs being Planescape, Mass Effect, and Fallout, which is fine, but it's obvious he wasn't going to enjoy this (or Bravely Default for that matter).

[Darilon]

Kyle is not the right person to listen to if you're remotely interested in JRPGs.  His staff page shows some of his favorite RPGs being Planescape, Mass Effect, and Fallout, which is fine, but it's obvious he wasn't going to enjoy this (or Bravely Default for that matter).

I think that is a bit harsh man. Those are some of my favourite games and I also love JRPGs. People have different tastes and it is as important to hear those that dislike the game as it is those who like it. I was surprised Kyle reviewed this but more so because I had never seen him review a modern dungeon crawler before. Thought all the dungeon crawlers went to Ashton, Tooker or Hussey.

[Klutz64]

That's good to hear it may not be as hard as the first 3 Etrian games, hah!  I'm not that great at Dungeon Crawler games, in terms of patience; despite my interest in the genre.

I'm actually happy you posted this, because it represents something about myself that I'd like to change. I gave in and bought the game and felt bad about it the whole time because I knew I'd probably not get very far in it. But after reading that comment I had to remind myself that it shouldn't matter.

I love grid-crawlers, especially the Japanese variety of grid-crawlers. I love the emphasis on exploration, and the unique character designs. I love the quasi-lite-life-simulation aspect of the hub area. I just love the games despite not being good at them. I feel the same way about fighting games.

I realize I have to stop worrying about backlogs and 100% completion and experiencing every bit of every game I own. I really need to just play games that I enjoy playing for as long as I enjoy playing them and then not have any regrets about just moving on.

Sorry if that was kind of me hijacking the thread for a personal soapbox moment, but it was a bit cathartic to say all that.

[Belmondo of Blood]

That's good to hear it may not be as hard as the first 3 Etrian games, hah!  I'm not that great at Dungeon Crawler games, in terms of patience; despite my interest in the genre.

I'm actually happy you posted this, because it represents something about myself that I'd like to change. I gave in and bought the game and felt bad about it the whole time because I knew I'd probably not get very far in it. But after reading that comment I had to remind myself that it shouldn't matter.

I love grid-crawlers, especially the Japanese variety of grid-crawlers. I love the emphasis on exploration, and the unique character designs. I love the quasi-lite-life-simulation aspect of the hub area. I just love the games despite not being good at them. I feel the same way about fighting games.

I realize I have to stop worrying about backlogs and 100% completion and experiencing every bit of every game I own. I really need to just play games that I enjoy playing for as long as I enjoy playing them and then not have any regrets about just moving on.

Sorry if that was kind of me hijacking the thread for a personal soapbox moment, but it was a bit cathartic to say all that.

I totally fall into that too!  I've never been a completionist by any means, but I've gotten much better at recognizing whether I either have the time or interest to check out a game.  Example, finally played Xenoblade, clocked in at 60ish hours.  I didn't even touch the side stuff and got plenty of enjoyment from the game.

  I wanted to make time for Demon Gaze though as the ascetics seem to be in the right places for me: Most of the art, music, general game play and something else to play for my Vita!  I hope people can find something to enjoy from these kinds of RPGs.  I was brought in by the art and went from there. 

I still wish more games had the Etrian style of Character building as opposed to just levels and stat distribution though.  7th Dragon gets pretty close though (the first, not 2020.)

[Elegance]

Kyle is not the right person to listen to if you're remotely interested in JRPGs.  His staff page shows some of his favorite RPGs being Planescape, Mass Effect, and Fallout, which is fine, but it's obvious he wasn't going to enjoy this (or Bravely Default for that matter).

I think that is a bit harsh man. Those are some of my favourite games and I also love JRPGs. People have different tastes and it is as important to hear those that dislike the game as it is those who like it. I was surprised Kyle reviewed this but more so because I had never seen him review a modern dungeon crawler before. Thought all the dungeon crawlers went to Ashton, Tooker or Hussey.

I mean no disrespect to Kyle or RPGFan.  My point is that the review would be beneficial to more people if a fan of Etrian Odyssey reviewed it to see how it compared.  People with similar tastes as Kyle probably already know that Demon Gaze isn't for them or don't even know it exists.  As it stands, Kyle's review is practically useless to me.

[Blace]

Kyle is not the right person to listen to if you're remotely interested in JRPGs.  His staff page shows some of his favorite RPGs being Planescape, Mass Effect, and Fallout, which is fine, but it's obvious he wasn't going to enjoy this (or Bravely Default for that matter).

I think that is a bit harsh man. Those are some of my favourite games and I also love JRPGs. People have different tastes and it is as important to hear those that dislike the game as it is those who like it. I was surprised Kyle reviewed this but more so because I had never seen him review a modern dungeon crawler before. Thought all the dungeon crawlers went to Ashton, Tooker or Hussey.

I mean no disrespect to Kyle or RPGFan.  My point is that the review would be beneficial to more people if a fan of Etrian Odyssey reviewed it to see how it compared.  People with similar tastes as Kyle probably already know that Demon Gaze isn't for them or don't even know it exists.  As it stands, Kyle's review is practically useless to me.

On the other hand, it is nice to get a fresh approach from someone who normally doesn't review these type of games. Kyle's review reaffirmed that I would not like this game and I'm thankful for that because we have similar tastes. If Tooker or Ashton reviewed it and gave it a good score I would have wondered whether I would like it, but obviously wouldn't completely jump in because they usually like these kind of games. If the criticisms or praises in a review are valid, it should not matter what their tastes are.

[TiamatNM]

Edit: bah nevermind

[Kyle]

For the record, I love Etrian Odyssey IV:

http://www.rpgfan.com/features/go2013/Kyle.html

[Tintaglia]

I've already noticed my opinions and RPGFan reviews don't often match, so I'm buying this. I love the gridder genre and I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy this one too, even if I don't care for the fanservice.

I completely disagreed with their Might & Magic X: Legacy review too. I think they just don't really 'get' gridders.

[siveon]

I've already noticed my opinions and RPGFan reviews don't often match, so I'm buying this. I love the gridder genre and I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy this one too, even if I don't care for the fanservice.

I completely disagreed with their Might & Magic X: Legacy review too. I think they just don't really 'get' gridders.

Gridders? I thought the were called Blobbers. Granted both sound pretty darn silly. I also think you're being a bit rash here, Kyle liked Etrian Odyssey. If that game isn't a good example of a modern Blobber I don't know what is. Other than Legend of Grimrock. Haven't played M&MX but I am counting on it.

As for the game, well I have no idea. I personally adore Etrian Odyssey but that had two demos for two different games, so I knew I was gonna like it. This one doesn't, and doesn't really have a concept I can grant worthy of putting down some cash to try. Sad, but I hope to see more of the genre in the future. I love dungeon crawling and I love revisiting some of the older ones from time to time. I can definitely see a game like King's Field, Ultima Underworld, Might & Magic, Eye of the Beholder or even the Gold Box games working beautifully on a 3DS or Vita.