Demonschool on PC

Before we get into the nitty gritty of Demonschool, I’d like to set the scene real quick: the year is 1999, and you play as a self-professed demon hunter called Faye. She is en route to a strange school on an isolated island, convinced that the millennium will bring forth an apocalypse.

Meanwhile, at the destination, a group of unfortunate students encounter a supernatural force that reduces them to bloody piles of goop. Their teacher notes the results with disappointment, before carrying on.

Such is the world of Demonschool, which treats death with a cavalier attitude. You’ll want to have your wits about you, lest you suffer a similar fate.

The most apt way to describe this game’s vibe would be as Shin Megami Tensei with a coat of gen Z paint. As Faye and a veritable Scooby squad of misfits, you must try to solve the mystery behind the eerie goings on at Hemsk Island, ranging from short-term amnesia to a spurt of disappearances. To do this, you’ll have to visit the various places of interest both at the school and surrounding areas, completing tasks set by the shady faculty and engaging in a whole slew of battles.

While Demonschool’s world is reminiscent of its turn-based sources of inspiration, its combat system is an entirely unique beast. Battles take place on an isometric grid, where you must navigate your party to engage with foes. For every turn, you are afforded a limited number of action points per each move, and using the same character multiple times will increase the AP consumed by one — as an example, using Faye once and then another character once will consume two AP, whereas using Faye twice would consume three AP, and then another three if using her a third time.

This AP system is fresh, and the movement system is downright inspired. You can move in all eight directions, or prior to doing so, sidestep one space horizontally. Positioning is critical, as attacking enemies occupying adjacent spaces allows you to hurt multiple targets at one time through collision damage. Prior to putting your turn into action, you are allowed a “planning stage” where you can undo your inputs as many times as you’d like until you’re satisfied with the results.

Throw in various wrinkles along the way, such as status effects, splash damage, or weaknesses and resistances, and battles begin to take on a puzzle aspect. As a theoretical example, I could send the meathead brawler Destin thataway to wallop a line of zombies, but that would put him in the line of fire for a nearby ghoul that spits poison. Additionally, he is weak to spirits such as the zombies — so if he is in their range for a counterattack, he will sustain twice as much damage.

I absolutely adore this kind of brainteasing gameplay, and considering battles only last a few turns, a party wipe won’t mean you’ve wasted too much time. If you don’t like how things are going, you can restart the battle from scratch until you have a strategy that works. Outside of boss fights, victory is obtained when you dispose of a set amount of foes before reaching the far end of the grid to “seal” the battlefield.

Equally as satisfying as the strategy is watching the results play out afterwards. During the action stage of a turn, all of your combatants will dart about simultaneously in a frenetic manner not unlike setting off a quartet of wind-up cars. The animations are lovely and fluid, and it all feels so alive and energetic.

Your party members are also wonderfully unique, too. You’ll get four in the early game that give you a taste of what to expect, including the aforementioned damage dealers Faye and Destin, the healer Knute, and Namako — a fascinating “phaser” who passes through enemies, incapable of dealing damage with her standard attacks but instead stunning them and repositioning them behind her. Setting off a particularly synergetic string of attacks is what makes Demonschool’s battle system tick, and once you get your head around it, it can grow rather addictive.

Of course, a good RPG should have a narrative just as satisfying as its combat system, and it’s here that Demonschool can prove a bit more divisive. Its tongue is planted firmly in its cheek throughout, with characters great and small spouting non sequiturs at an alarming clip. A lot of it is pretty funny and the main cast members are plenty likeable, but the issue comes when there is so much of it.

When everything is played for laughs, even story beats meant to be threatening or intriguing lose their punch. I found myself engaged throughout, but not necessarily invested. The often bizarre humour and art style felt to me like a love letter to Scott Pilgrim, which works in moderation; not so much as a constant factor in a text-heavy genre like an RPG.

But of course, you can just as easily skip the NPCs and side quests to power straight ahead through the main story. Not everyone is as fastidious as I am with exploring every nook and cranny, after all, and for some folks this might be the best way to play Demonschool. While exploring the map, your destination is always clearly marked anyway, removing any sleuthing you would have otherwise had to do yourself. It’s a somewhat strange design choice, considering so much of the plot revolves around, you know, mystery — it does at least allow you to keep things moving along, if that’s your preference.

If it feels like I’m holding the story to task a bit much, that’s likely because I’m just so damned fond of the combat system. Were Demonschool to better balance the japes with moments of fear, of sadness, and of sensitivity, it would pretty much be an ideal package. There is so much to tinker with from a strategy standpoint, and again, these characters are all perfectly enjoyable and funny. I just want the opportunity to grow more attached to them beyond the lols.

Final Verdict

Demonschool

REVIEW COPY PROVIDED BY PUBLISHER

Release Date: 19 November 2025

Platform: PC (also available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4/5,
Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, macOS, Linux)

Developer: Necrosoft Games

Publisher: Ysbryd Games

Demonschool is a slick and stylish package with a jazzy soundtrack and snappy writing. Its biggest misstep is that it never allows itself to be taken seriously, even when taking its foot off the pedal here and there would elevate its mirthful spirit as a whole. Needless to say, if it’s not your brand of humour, you’ll find yourself exhausted pretty quickly.

Even if that’s the case, however, it is all worth it for the nuanced and satisfying battle system. With so many enemy types spawning in every direction, you practically have to keep your head on a swivel to avoid disaster. The different ways you can play each situation make every fight feel unique, and the animations are a thing of beauty.

This game feels as though it would be most at home on a handheld, so Switch or Steam Deck come as highly recommended platforms.