I think I have tried demos of Demonschool every year at PAX East since 2023 and they are now finally nearing their release date so I checked out what was new in this years build. Turns out quite a bit! The developer has fleshed out the world outside and inside of the school and wanted to take this opportunity to show that progress off.

Demonschool is from Developer Necrosoft Games and publisher Ysbryd Games and focuses on a Faye and a group of students who are born into the demon hunter biz learning how to hone their skills. The game is split between turn based battles and persona style day night cycles filled with exploration, social interactions and building up skills.

The Tactics portion of the game is a refreshing take on the genre with moves planned out and then all get triggered when action starts. This allows for rewinds, planning and using obstacles or affected enemies to play a part in actions as they unfold.

It works incredibly well and is presented in a very streamlined and transparent way with colorful characters and environments to battle through. I have tried the combat many times, but this demo was showing off the world exploration and mini-games for the first time so I was eager to check them out.

Although Demonschool is presented in an isometric format different that the third person Persona view exploration felt very similar and I liked the freedom and variety offered in the various areas. Exploring the town, cemetery, various classrooms and the teams hideout brought different mini-games up as optional events.

Things like cooking, beetle races, working out and arcade games were all available to try. Some required luck, others simple QTE games and others the ability to cheat like feeding a beetle a leaf to give it a speed boost.

The mini-games were universally simple, quick and a fun way to build connections with the team or get some bonus items or money. What impressed me more though was the amount of NPC’s scattered around just having simple conversations, oftentimes about the weirdest things that made me chuckle.

I found myself heading to each location to check out what was there, what I could do and also just to chat with everyone. From people dealing with oddball ghosts to a couple breaking up the chatter was consistently entertaining.

In my short demo I barely scratched the surface of exploration, social interactions and mini-games, but what I saw impressed me. Demonschool was already on my must play list thanks to the story and fun tactical combat, but the richness of the world and social side of the game has made me that much more excited for the game.

Demonschool is currently slated for a Q3 release this year, and it will be available on PC via Steam as well as Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 | 5 and Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S. There is a demo on Steam which is a great way to see if you are as excited about this game as I am.