A dark, gothic, mature and sexy action RPG inspired by the Castlevania series.
Demoniaca: Everlasting Night is an indie action-adventure RPG developed by AKI and published by Valkyrie Initiative and released on Steam on September 19, 2019 with releases on Playstation 4 and Xbox One in 2020 and Nintendo Switch in 2021.
The Retraux-style Metroidvania platformer game is based on gothic themed games such as Castlevania and tells the story of the titular Action Girl as she avenges those that brought her unbearable pain and loss. She must explore the Tower of Babel where she gradually obtains new items that are in the height of fashion as well as being useful for combat and survival. In a unique twist on the genre formula, the game sports a fighting system akin to classic arcade fighters; most notably the King Of Fighters franchise.
This game has the following tropes.
- Action Girl: Demoniaca wants to avenge other characters for past sufferings of hers.
- Anti-Frustration Features: While mostly (harshly) averted, boss-fights have checkpoints before them despite there being no other form of autosave. Just don't die after killing the boss or else get booted to last pre-boss save point.
- Area portals can be used as makeshift checkpoints which slightly mitigates checkpoint starvation. Though they will not save progress if you exit the game.
- Awesome, but Impractical: The game has a variety of powerful offensive demonic abilities; but it's often more efficient to spam basic attacks with a high ATK stat on harder enemies, as they are the only ones that can actually stagger the enemy, don't take up the magic meter and dont leave you stunned and vulnerable after using them. The demon attacks are best used to make quick work of groups of weaker mobs.
- The "Possession" effect seems cool in theory but since enemies never break from their often extremely rigid movement patterns you won't get much mileage out of them.
- Beef Gate: In a more literal example; some doors only open when when you do a certain amount of damage in a single attack.
- Checkpoint Starvation: Despite how sprawling most areas are, there is never more than one save point per area. No matter where you are you have to travel long distances filled with dangerous mobs to get to one. Did we mention there is no autosave?
- The Chessmaster: Crow is a self proclaimed one. Fitting as he built the tower. Though we never learn exactly what nor get an explicit reason why he does so. Yet it seems to involve Eva; who he fuses with (to horrifying result) in the Golden Ending.
- The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: Enemies who cause the "Stone" status effect can do it over and over with no cooldown; giving you less than a second to recover and get away. You absolutely want the optional "Golden Cross" in West Tower immediately.
- Damage-Sponge Boss: All of them; and alot of enemies too in the early game. Especially the "special" enemies throughout the game. Even with good stats expect to spam some of them for a conservative estimate of 30 minutes before they croak.
- Early Game Hell: The game is particularly punishing even after a couple dozen level ups (even worse if you don't notice that it's a manual leveling system); but becomes noticably more managable after defeating "Primal".
- Enemy Mine: You can posses enemies and have them fight for you.
- Fandisservice: Fully nude mutilated women are macabre decorations in some areas; including the main character in the opening cutscene.
- Fanservice: Lots of skimpy outfits, full female nudity, and (in the uncensored PC-version at least) even demon-on-human sex.
- Flipping the Bird: Klin does this in her character protrait and the protagonist as well after killing a boss.
- Full-Frontal Assault: Some bosses full on flash you when they first engage. The doppleganger also kind-of does this but they distract more than attack.
- Gainax Ending: Void aborts your fight with him upon defeat, reveals that the Tower of Babel spans across dimensions, and how you are destined to stay there for eternity as it's guardian. Then Crow rips your eye out and eats it. Then the protagonist grows bone "wings", gives a Slasher Smile to the camera and is then seen in future with an eyepatch giving an authoritative look ahead with what looks to be an older Klin beside her. Then we are given a William Blake quote the credits roll with cheery music as our heroine looks to the horizon. Okay...
- The 100% ending is no exception: Upon defeating Ultima, Crow applauds your resolve. Cut to a cutscene of Him and Eva fusing into a horrific Eldritch Abomination, injuring Klin, severing 2 of your fingers before staring you down and cutting to black.
- Hidden Villian: Aside from vague mentions from other characters, we have no detailed info on Void even when we fight and defeat him at the end. He never even shows his face at any time save for the promontional image on this page.
- The Lost Lenore: Played straight and inverted. In "The Core" and later areas, you meet a woman named Eva in who speaks of having lost a loved one to building the Tower of Babel. She then reveals she killed herself because of this and the horrible things she saw take place in the tower; and now it is her spiritual prison. Inverted when we learn Crow was the the lover and architect in her story, and he is shocked and confused when you hint that you know her in the climax.
- Metroidvania: Labyrinthine world: check. Mobility upgrades that allow further exploration: check.
- Perky Goth: Klin is a snarky teenager in stereotypical punk attire who pop up often to tease the player as they make forward progress.
- Pre-Final Boss: Upon entering the final area ("The Peak"); a there is a slightly out of the way alcove that leads to a ominous monster (named "Nefarious") who calls you "fresh meat".
- Retraux: The game has a 32-bit art style reminiscent of the Castlevania series.
- Sex for Solace: We're led to believe Crow is your typical womanizer when discovering his secret quarters where he cavorts with many nude women. But this is challenged when we learn his tragic lost-love story with Eva.
- Shout-Out: One special item called "Old Video Game" is clearly a jewel case of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night but in incredibly low resolution.
- The "Mirror Halls" all but literally have Metroids as their primary enemy type (called "molecules").
- The game opens with a quote from the The Divine Comedy and there are several more later on.
- Some sprites are lifted wholesale from Castlevania (Axe Knights and Giant Skulls) and King Of Fighters (many of the protagonist's combat moves).
- The horned demons in Pivot are called "Bronys".
- The potion merchant in Ruins is a stranded sailor with a close resemblance to Roronoa Zoro. Ironically his name is Frank.
- The legendary Axe Knight is named "Golden Axe".
- The enemy type "Devilman" looks exactly how you'd expect.
- The "Angel Mask" is Lilith's mask from Neon Genesis Evangelion.
- Tsundere: Klin is this, constantly mocking you and boasting about her skills as you continually meet her over the course of the game. Yet once you make it to the final area, she becomes an adoring fan who is too scare to advance on her own and begs for you not to die. She even calls you her only friend. She also evidently becomes your apprentice in ruling the tower in the ending.
- Useless Useful Spell: Using "possession" to take control of mobs giving you a hard time is cool, but since movement patterns are so limited there's only so much the average mob can do to help. Though there are situational uses, such as turning a powerul boss enemy's adds against them.
- World of Buxom: Practically a selling point. The majority of the cast and several enemies sport hefty (and sometimes bare) busoms; even the warrior-nun.
