Inspired by the likes of Persona and the very finest Italian Horror, Demonschool has today been unveiled at the PC Gaming Show. It won’t just be limited to the PC brigade though, due to launch on Xbox, PlayStation and Switch too.
Demonschool will give you the chance to befriend classmates and send demons back to hell when it releases on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5 and Nintendo Switch in 2023. A school-life tactics RPG with more than a few hints of Persona, Shin Megami Tensei, and Italian horror cinema, it promises to be fast-paced, streamlined combat to PC and console.
It comes from developer Necrosoft Games and publisher Ysbryd Games, as they invite fresh-faced students to a colorful island and its “prestigious” university, where exciting sports clubs, a world-class education, and the impending doom of a demonic apocalypse await!
For freshman Faye, the last living heir to a long-forgotten family of demon hunters, school is nothing like it looks on the brochures. While her peers get to flirt through Freud and dabble in Dante, Faye and her new band of misfit friends get shunted toward supernatural investigations. A woman who lost her face? A summoning ritual in the cemetery? Mailer Daemons!? The underworld inches ever closer to the world of humanity… college is hell!
Demonschool is a streamlined tactics game where movement equals action, decisions can be rewound, and speedy mechanics remove the genre’s traditional cruft. You’ll be given the chance to plan each student’s moves at your leisure, then hit the action button and watch it all play out in devastating, character-based combos. For instance, Destin, a hot-blooded fighter, can knock foes forward into Namako’s debuffing dash, and damage dealers like Faye benefit from shrine keeper Knute’s helpful wards.
Whatever you decide, you’ll be able to adjust strategies for monolithic bosses and unusual battlefields, bucking genre conventions. These will see you unleashing tide-turning special moves to keep the demons at bay, and you’ll need to as well, because if they reach the back line, the human world is lost.
Each surreal encounter brings Faye and friends closer to a dark conspiracy beyond their imagining, but thankfully, student life isn’t all bloodstained butterflies and dolls from hell. Demonschool will have you living out an entire school semester, choosing what to study, who to befriend, and how much trust to share. Plan your team’s class schedule to develop their skills and acquire over a dozen new allies through myriad side quests in a vibrant world of giallo colors and lighting. Foster friendships or fiery romances between them all, strengthening combo attacks and elemental affinities and uncovering new endings. Explore extracurriculars in and around town with a darkly comedic cast of eccentrics.
And if the Persona vibes don’t sell it, Demonschool worships at the ritual altar of classic Italian horror films of the ‘60s and ‘70s, drenched in strange visuals and hellish grotesquery driven by a funky bassline that renders even the most horrific scenario irreverent. It comes with tactical battles which evoke genre giants like Into the Breach, but fluid mechanics with fewer clicks and a generous planning phase make starting this class a cakewalk.
“We wanted to create a game with complete transparency while still allowing for mystery. You’ll never have to guess at numbers or what does what.” said Brandon Sheffield, creative director of Necrosoft Games. “We hope the story carries you through to a positive vision for the future, and what is possible when like-minded individuals work together against a larger evil.”
Enrollment in Demonschool will take place in 2023, playable on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, SteamDeck, Nintendo Switch and PC.
