Exercising the demons

When I heard that Inti Creates was building their next game I was already on board. When it was shown and described as their take on Castlevania, much like Azure Striker was their take on Mega Man X, I was even more excited. Grim Guardians: Demon Purge is the latest 2D adventure from this team and it retains that iconic look and style the developer is known for. While borrowing a lot from familiar genres Grim Guardians does add a twist with two characters to control simultaneously or enjoy in co-op and while it has its moments, it does fall short of pioneers in the genre on some levels.

The story is pretty barebones and involves the sisters being thrust into an alternate demon world where they are tasked with taking out the demoness Kurona, rescue their classmates, and of course return to their world. It isn’t rocket science, but it plays a decent catalyst for the action. The game is overly cute with some ridiculous dialogue that plays out like a quirky anime. It is entertaining, but if you roll your eyes at overly cutesy anime girls, this game will grate on your nerves quickly.

MSRP: $24.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, Switch, PC
Price I’d Pay: $24.99

The biggest bullet point here are the two playable characters. Each sister is equipped with a unique move set focusing on different aspects as well as a set of secondary weapons they earn throughout the course of the game upon defeating bosses. Shinobu Kamizono uses ranged attacks in the form of a gun. It uses bullets which can be replenished by tapping down on the d-pad. This allows her to fight enemies from a distance. Her sister Maya Kamizono uses melee attacks which are much more powerful, but opens her up to more damage. Maya also can crouch and reach smaller areas while Shinobu has a larger health pool.

Switching between characters is simple and mandatory as each one has their own life bar. When one depletes the other sister can take over and do a corpse run to revive the other sister. It is an interesting dynamic that rewards knowing when to use which sister and keeping both up as long as possible. Losing one isn’t an instant game over though, so think of it as an extra life. If both sisters perish though it is back to the checkpoint.

Grim Guardians ditches the traditional leveling system for a more item-based style. As mentioned the sisters will obtain new secondary weapons along the way as well as new utilities to use in battle. It is a nice push/pull method juggling both characters and their powers. There is also no grid-based map as found in most Metroidvania style games. Instead this is a more linear approach with side areas mostly hidden away that can be discovered with some light exploring. Finding everything is ideal, but not required.

The game is also brief enough that a second run is recommended. This adds new powers to the bosses and some minor adjustments to other pieces. The game is not exactly challenging either as building up a healthy stack of extra lives is relatively easy and the casual mode is so brainless it borders on boring at times, but as always I appreciate letting players choose their own style of play. Being able to see the entire game with minimal effort is always appreciated. I still recommend playing on Veteran though if you want the true experience.

Visually the game is a treat. With solid pixel work that Inti Creates is known for. The macabre levels are highlighted with charming colors and the animations of the enemies are fantastic. This is a good looking game and it runs beautifully. I am not the biggest fan of the sound effects and the music was easily forgotten, but as a package it looks and plays fantastically.

Grim Guardians: Demon Purge is exactly what I thought it was going to be and sometimes that is a good thing. Games don’t have to change dynamics to be fun and while the dual sister mechanic is fun, it isn’t game changing. I had a lot of fun with this title as I do most Inti Creates jams. I definitely recommend it if you enjoy anything they put out, or classic homages to games like Castlevania or Mega Man. This developer has done a nice job of taking the torch from Capcom and Konami respectively.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.