Game 1: Demon Gaze

Demon Gaze

Developer: Experience Inc.
North American Publisher: NIS America
Release Date: 22 April 2014

(above info courtesy of Gamefaqs.com)

For this blog's first game, I chose Demon Gaze.  It's a dungeon crawl RPG done in the Wizardry style.

After the install, I immediately changed the voice in the options to Japanese.  NISA games tend to have this option, and I appreciate it.  It's also the case that I am a fast reader, so I would rather read what's on the screen instead of listen to what's being said.  This can sometimes lead to major discrepancies when the localization team takes liberties (see: the first season release of the anime Saiyuki), but it works for me.

Starting the game, it almost seems as if the demon apocalypse has happened, since the town is overrun with demons and the remaining humans (and assorted demi-humans) have gathered in the castle.  Said castle seems to have been turned into a makeshift town.  This looks to be a callback to Wizardry, where the town is the castle.  One of the buildings (maybe the palace?) has been converted to an inn that has multiple floors with the requisite weapon and item shop.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself!  A narrator (listed as ???) says that an unconscious man is found in the town and dragged back to the castle.  Guess who our protagonist is?  And he has amnesia!

In creating the character, you are told that everyone will react to you as if you are a human male.  In fact, that's the only choice for gender and race, though you can take other portraits.  I took a culturally insensitive portrait of an archer with a feathered headdress and matching open vest, cutoffs, and boots in camo patterns.

After a quick intro dungeon with no random encounters (there was one mandatory encounter) where I picked up a few items, I watched a nameless mook soldier die horribly to a demon.  The one encounter was with said demon, and I don't think there's a way to lose that encounter; it did 1 or 2 damage per hit (and my character has 48 hp) and my attacks were in the 20-ish range.

Prior to the encounter, you receive a very light info dump from eyepatch girl whose robe is open and has a scar on her chest.  Said eyepatch girl then tells you to capture the demon (beating it calmed it down), which I then did.  So, I got the first demon out of a listed ten on the menu; I don't know if there are more beyond it.

I then got more infodumps about the set up, saw the opening credits movie, and got a free recruit (I took a fighter since my character has a healing spell).  Comments made lead me to believe that each additional recruit will cost 5000 gp.

I should note that the game has automapping and displays the immediate 9x9 grid around you (unless you turn it off).  As another callback to Wizardry, the levels are 20x20.

My first mission involved going around the ruins and being introduced to the Demon Circles.  You can lay down crystals in the circles to bait monsters/demons into coming and attacking you.  The reason you do this is because they have equipment drops which seem to be the main way to equip your characters and make money.  I received a patched cape accessory which I gave to my fighter friend and a katana +1 that I can't use because I don't have a samurai.  There don't seem to be random encounters (every encounter that I had was either because I summoned them to the Demon Circles or was marked on the map).  I also managed to find a bed that I later installed in my main character's room to give him +1 Vitality.

You can also save in the Demon Circles, making it the other place than your room in the inn that you can do so.  As I cleared the Circles (making them red), I saw notices about how a number of other Mars Circles were remaining; in the Demon menu, there is a demon named Mars, so I'm guessing that when I have turned all of the Mars Circles red, I will have an encounter with Mars.

When I got back to the inn, I was healed to full, but then I was asked for rent!  Every time you return to the inn, you'll be asked for this.  As this was the first time, I managed to talk my way out of it, but from now on, I'm going to have to pay to heal.

I also met the mortician girl.  The game has a tendency for some inappropriate cheesecake shots, as it had her in her underwear.  Eventually, she pulled something else on, but her top was still open.  I fear this is going to be a pattern.