For Mobile Friday this week is i tried out The Demonized: Idle RPG, from #Gameduo, on my #iPhone 14 Pro.
The video and screenshots on the app store caught my attention. the #PixelArt looked great and the action looked good, too. i was wondering if the game could deliver on what it said in the store, that there are Unlimited Evolutions, Unlimited Items and Skills, Amazing Boss Stages, Amazing Upgrades, and Various Reward Events.
After my hour with the game, it's fair to say i have some thoughts. unfortunately for The Demonized: Idle RPG, there isn't much to praise so lets do that first. the pixel art doesn't disappoint. the monsters, the bosses, the stages, the weapons, the skills, the accessories, it all looks good. as i say in the video, it'd be great if there was a button i could press to clear the screen so i could watch it all in action. The music is limited, but what it does have is good. tho i wasn't sure how appropriate it was for the setting and what was happening on screen. And that's about it.
The Demonized: Idle RPG has many issues but they mostly stem from one big fault, inconsistent game mechanics. for a game with no tutorial, it's not just confusing but also frustrating having to work out how to play it when the rules change depending on what you're doing. for weapons, there's an auto equip, but for accessories there aren't. for minions, combining extra of the same makes them stronger but with accessories they combine any extra into something else. levelling up your character's stats uses Stat Points, but upgrading them uses monster meat.
The Demonized: Idle RPG's translation into English also causes some issues. The Attack Skills are easy to understand but the Buff Skills seem more like magic. Then there's the whole issue with "Level Up" as there was no tutorial to explain it to me i thought it meant levelling up an item, weapon, accessory, etc. but in The Demonized: Idle RPG it refers to the fact you have collected said item and getting a reward. you're levelling up your Collection and getting buffs from having obtained items.
Even making progress in the game isn't straight forward. most idle games like this would have you complete a set amount of stages in a level before coming up against a boss you must defeat to progress to the next level. In The Demonized: Idle RPG, each stage in a level has a boss and to face that boss you have to press the orange boss button as it's separate. it's almost like a boss rush. when you fail to beat a boss, you start playing through that level. so if you fail to beat the boss of stage 6, you play stage 6 on repeat until you chose to face that boss again. None of this is explained so there are times i'm stuck repeating stages as i didn't know about the bosses.
There are many other examples in the video, but ultimately The Demonized: Idle RPG is not greater than the sum of it's parts. Gameduo need to rework or at least unify the game mechanics to make The Demonized: Idle RPG even the slightest bit approachable for more casual players. As it is, i can't recommend it. there really is some good ideas here, but they've failed to make something cohesive.
Version 1.4.6 Played.
