I’ve been following the development of Demon Turf for well over a year now. I love 3D platformers, especially ones with a unique style and personality. Demon Turf is developer Fabraz’s attempt at the genre popularized by games like Donkey Kong 64 and Banjo Kazooie. I am happy to say that like A Hat in Time, Demon Turf has its own clear vision and is a classic in the making.

Demon Turf puts you in the role of Beebz, a demon who wants to overthrow the evil Demon King and take control of the Demon World. However, in order to overthrow the Demon King, Beebz will have to take down the leader of each of the various turfs and collect all of the batteries in each realm. Each level has a single battery, then after you complete a Turf by beating the boss, you can do “return trip” levels which are unique levels that showcase how the turf has changed under Beebz’s rule.

This is very similar to how the worlds evolved in A Hat in Time as you completed them. However, what is really interesting about Demon Turf is that Beebz gains new abilities with each Turf boss she takes on. Instead of getting new abilities early in a Turf, most of the time you get a new one at the end before a boss. This turns boss battles into interesting puzzles, where you are simultaneously learning to use a new ability, while also taking on a new challenge each time. Return trip levels also change drastically, making them almost completely new.

By default, Beebz can double jump, punch (or charge her punch) enemies to knock them back or deflect projectiles, spin to either glide or stun enemies, and a few other moves. The jump and spin can be combined to do a long jump or jump and glide. You can also wall jump and do a variety of other tricks. The amount of freedom in Demon Turf’s platforming lets you pull off some crazy skips and platforming tricks if you are good enough.

At the same time, Demon Turf isn’t just for the people that like to speedrun or enjoy precision platformers. The difficulty curve is built so that you can carefully make your way through levels or try to pull off impressive feats if you want. Some elements are tricky, but I never felt like the game was too hard, especially thanks to the checkpoint mechanic.

In Demon Turf, Beebz can place multiple flags in a level. By default, this is three flags, but you can get a mod to increase it to four or alter your difficulty. These flags serve as checkpoints and can be placed almost anywhere in a level. As such, you can try to complete a level in a single run without checkpoints, or strategically place them before parts that give you trouble or after time-consuming parts so you don’t have to spend the time going back over things you’ve already done.

The levels also have a variety of elements involved. In each level, there are 3 cakes to be found, and in each “return trip” level, there are lollipops to collect. Both of these are used as currency in shops such as the dye shop, to change the color of Beebz’s clothing and hair, or the magic mod shop where you can buy mods that can change various abilities that Beebz has.

There are a lot of different things to do outside of the main levels too, there are mini-games, challenge levels, hidden collectibles in the main hub, and even photography missions where you follow various clues and take pictures. Visually speaking, Demon Turf is a feast for the eyes. The environments are done in 3D, while the characters are drawn in 2D then animated. It is really interesting to see a Paper Mario-esque concept performed this way.

My only real complaint with Demon Turf is that sometimes the levels are so vibrantly colored and so bright that, even with the brightness turned down, they can be a little hard on the eyes. Overall, I’d actually say that Demon Turf has something for everyone. It has challenges for people who love platforming and want to really test their skills.

On the other hand, for a more casual experience, it has great characters and voice acting, a really cute yet almost punk-like aesthetic, and smooth controls. Personally, I find that it can sometimes be a little hard on my hands, but the average person won’t have those issues. Even if you do have those issues, playing a few levels and taking regular breaks won’t hurt, it just might not be a game you can play for long stretches of time.

In truth, I really like Demon Turf. The Fabraz team did excellent work crafting a unique 3D “collect-a-thon” platformer that really feels good to play. I love the visual design, the level design is clever, and the characters are interesting. With the sheer amount of side content to play alongside the main levels, Demon Turf was definitely worth the wait.

A PlayStation 4 review copy of Demon Turf was provided by Playtonic Friends for this review.

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Demon Turf

$24.99 USD

9

Score

9.0/10

Pros

• Lots of Side Content and Challenges
• Smooth Controls
• Beautiful Visuals
• Challenging but Fair Gameplay
• Great Level Design

Cons

• Brighter Levels can Cause Headaches
• Can be Hard on the Hands