If I had to describe Demon Turf in one word it would be bloated. For every bit of charm and solid platforming that exists it is crippled by its needlessly large levels and extremely tight requirements for beating the game. I still overall liked my time but wished I could call it one of the greats of the collectathon genre.
Demon Turfs most distinct feature is its artstyle and I have nothing but positive things to say about it. Everything from the cutout models to the area design is top notch and I absolutely loved seeing each area (especially when they got changed in the revisits). Platforming for the most part is also solid, with plenty of maneuvers alongside some pretty fun abilities to spruce things up (though I found the final ability completely worthless). If I had any major complaints with this section it'd be how rigid the air control can feel, as you tend to drop very fast which doesn't let you course correct (the glide somewhat fixes this but it still never feels right). One mechanic I did adore was the custom checkpoint system and mods, as these really let levels feel more personalized and freeform.
Demon Turfs has two incredibly awful mechanics that truly stop it from being great: progression and scale. Demon Turf has a neat mechanic that after every boss defeat the hub gains new levels that give you new batteries to find (the star equivalent). This is a really cool idea and I would love it more if THESE WEREN'T BASICALLY FORCED. In total you need to complete 50 batteries out of a possible 56, which leaves so little wiggle room that you might as well complete the game fully. You can skip levels with the in game steal mechanic which does cost resources (which are pretty plentiful) but this still feels like a weird band aid on a game that needed to be toned down. As for the scale so many of the later levels feel way too fucking big and are filled with so much needless busy work that it turns into a slog. Everytime I was forced into the games shitty combat zones I dreaded it because all of them boil down to holding the attack button down and waiting for the weird physics to ragdoll the enemy into the insta kill spikes (attacks do no damage on their own). Other level gimmicks are also here, ranging from alright (collect keys) to fucking dogshit (curse sections or going through rings ala Superman 64). These make some of the later revisits feel miserable and I happily skipped them because of how unfun they got.
Regardless of these issues I'd still say to give Demon Turf a shot if you enjoy platformers. For all its bloated design is a solid enough game oozing with charm. Going through Neon Splash next because I've heard it trims a lot of the fat so its good to know that developer Fabraz has learned from his mistakes.
7/10
Demon Turfs most distinct feature is its artstyle and I have nothing but positive things to say about it. Everything from the cutout models to the area design is top notch and I absolutely loved seeing each area (especially when they got changed in the revisits). Platforming for the most part is also solid, with plenty of maneuvers alongside some pretty fun abilities to spruce things up (though I found the final ability completely worthless). If I had any major complaints with this section it'd be how rigid the air control can feel, as you tend to drop very fast which doesn't let you course correct (the glide somewhat fixes this but it still never feels right). One mechanic I did adore was the custom checkpoint system and mods, as these really let levels feel more personalized and freeform.
Demon Turfs has two incredibly awful mechanics that truly stop it from being great: progression and scale. Demon Turf has a neat mechanic that after every boss defeat the hub gains new levels that give you new batteries to find (the star equivalent). This is a really cool idea and I would love it more if THESE WEREN'T BASICALLY FORCED. In total you need to complete 50 batteries out of a possible 56, which leaves so little wiggle room that you might as well complete the game fully. You can skip levels with the in game steal mechanic which does cost resources (which are pretty plentiful) but this still feels like a weird band aid on a game that needed to be toned down. As for the scale so many of the later levels feel way too fucking big and are filled with so much needless busy work that it turns into a slog. Everytime I was forced into the games shitty combat zones I dreaded it because all of them boil down to holding the attack button down and waiting for the weird physics to ragdoll the enemy into the insta kill spikes (attacks do no damage on their own). Other level gimmicks are also here, ranging from alright (collect keys) to fucking dogshit (curse sections or going through rings ala Superman 64). These make some of the later revisits feel miserable and I happily skipped them because of how unfun they got.
Regardless of these issues I'd still say to give Demon Turf a shot if you enjoy platformers. For all its bloated design is a solid enough game oozing with charm. Going through Neon Splash next because I've heard it trims a lot of the fat so its good to know that developer Fabraz has learned from his mistakes.
7/10