DEMONSCHOOL
DEVELOPER: Necrosoft Games
RELEASE DATE: 2023
PLATFORMS: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Demonschool first caught my eye at PAX East: a creepy (but really cool) banner of artwork was hung around a classroom-style demo area. Being able to meet with Necrosoft at PAX West and demo the game was at the top of my priority list, and I’m glad I was able to make it happen.
The Necrosoft/ysbrd games booth wasn’t the only area sporting some cool manga-inspired trippy artwork, it was all over the visuals in Demonschool. The creative director, Brandon Sheffield, continuously mentioned the inspiration the team took from 70’s Italian horror — the graphics perfectly mixed this feeling with manga and comic book styles through the use of stark 2D sprites and 3D effects. The music was chosen to complement that 70’s feeling to give players a unique yet familiar experience.
Demonschool is a new-school tactics game. It’s reminiscent of Fire Emblem but without the hours and hours of planning that battles sometimes take. The teams are small, the abilities are limited, and the stage moves on fairly quickly. This, however, is more of a pro than a con. As the game is relatively story-focused, you can spend more time exploring and building relationships with characters and finding clues. Oh, yeah, clues: Did I mention you’re playing as a demon hunter? And not a regular demon hunter but a pink-haired college girl named Faye whose favorite hobby is kicking ass and generally being intense. She joins up with a team of her classmates to find demons and close the portals they’re coming from.
The team aspect of Demonschool is something that really stuck out to me. The main character, Faye, is able to build stronger relationships with members by selecting different conversation and event options with them which unlock different aspects of the game. Plus, the use of combos is simple but effective — both in attacking and in simple interactions. The small dialogue was also engaging, which is to be expected as Necrosoft Games was founded by a journalist.
Demonschool’s expected release is by the end of 2023 and will be available on all current platforms. As of right now, a public demo is not available which means you’ll have to wait to experience this paranormal tsundere experience for yourself when the game is released. If my experience playing their demo was any indication, Demonschool will be well worth the wait.
Sarah: Hey guys, this is Sarah, and I am here with Brandon, who is creating the game Demonschool. But tell me some more about yourself: Who are you? What are you working on? What do you do?
Brandon: I'm Brandon Sheffield. I'm the Creative Director of Necrosoft games. We're making Demonschool right now. We're really trying to finish it. The game is an RPG with tactical battles that is influenced by Italian horror cinema, Japanese horror manga, and a lot of other weird nonsense.
Sarah: So what got you into indies in gaming?
Brandon: Well, I used to be a journalist for a heck ton of years. I don't remember how many. And then, at some point, I kind of felt like I had reached the limit of what I could do there, and I started writing for video games. And so I wrote a bunch of video games, like writing their scripts and whatnot.
Sarah: Yeah.
Brandon: And after one high-profile game cancellation, I decided to start my own studio so that if ever something failed, it was my fault. And so I started a company called Necrosoft. We've been going for about 12 years. We've put out three games so far. Gun House, Hyper Gunsport, and Oh Dear, which you cannot currently play, sorry. And we're working on Demonschool now.
Sarah: So what made you decide to make Demonschool in particular?
Brandon: That's a good question. It was a combination of thinking that we had the right team to make this kind of thing and also just being really interested in making a unique sort of tactics game. We wanted to make a game that reduced the number of clicks that you have to make to operate the game as a player. Like in most textbook RPGs, you have to select a character, select the destination, confirm it, select their action, confirm that, select the direction, etc. In this game, you select a character, choose what direction they're gonna go, and if they interact with something, they do that; they do whatever their class can do. And if not, then they do not do that. So that was the tip of the spear for that idea, like, could we do something that was very streamlined and fast-paced. And this is what we came up with.
Sarah: Yeah, I definitely see that. I do love Fire Emblem. But that is one of the games that is very much like you said, you are clicking 20 different things to get the same outcome. And I guess the proof in the pudding is that I played this when I died only once, but with Fire Emblem, I'm normally restarting every five minutes. So yeah, it definitely feels a lot easier to navigate, I guess, and a little quicker, too.
Brandon: And I really do like Fire Emblem and all of these kinds of games as well.
Sarah: Yeah.
Brandon: They're just to me, they're more of like a semi — it's weird to say – but kind of like a zen-like experience.
Sarah: Yeah.
Brandon: Where you're just like, I'm going to be in this zone for a while. I'm going to just look at this grid, I'm gonna touch these things. Whereas this is more like your battles are two or three minutes, and you're spending more of your time exploring and talking to people and doing the traditional RPG things. And then your battles are these kinds of quick tactical battles.
Sarah: Yeah, it really marries the tactical aspect and the RPG aspect really well together, from what I saw on the demo.
Brandon: Thanks!
Sarah: Yeah! So, what are you most excited about for Demonschool?
Brandon: Something that I found exciting with people playing the demo, especially when we had a brief public demo, is someone noticed in, like, one of the little side things you can do, that there is this thing called Gunsmith Cats. So, one of our characters has his VHS tapes taken from him.
Sarah: Yes.
Brandon: And it's Gunsmith Cats. He wants his Gunsmith Cats tape back. And this person who played it was like, “Gunsmith Cats, that sounds like a funny name for a product.” because they'd never heard of it.
Sarah: Oh my gosh!
Brandon: And so they looked it up, and then they found that they liked it. And they're like, Wow, this video game recommended me something that I now love, and I'm excited about that kind of thing. I hope we can do more of that. And also, I just kind of want people to… This game attempts to foster some sort of sense of community. Of course, it's a single-player game, but all the characters have had difficult upbringings or weird things going on in their lives. And they come together and sort of forge a new family as friends. And they're, through adversity, forming these friendships and feeling happier in their life. And so I hope that we can impart some of that to people as well.
Sarah: Yeah. So, what was your general experience like working on this game, if there's anything you want to share? Or I mean, I guess you talked about your experience a bit.
Brandon: A little bit, but it's difficult. I'm the director of the game and also the writer. And I don't recommend that anybody ever do that.
Sarah: (laughs)
Brandon: Because it's really hard to be, like, thinking about all the mechanical things that need to happen and how the character should be dressed in the art style and all of these things while also trying to write the story and write the dialogue because those all use the same part of your brain.
Sarah: Yeah.
Brandon: And so you can't really do them all simultaneously. And so you’re simultaneously job-switching and using the same part of your brain. So I don't recommend that anybody do that. That was a hard thing.
Sarah: So you already did this, but if there's anything else, if you could go back in time and change one thing or give yourself a piece of advice, what would it be? And now you have to pick something different because you already told us not to do that (laughs).
Brandon: If I could go back in time, I would win the lottery.
Sarah: Oh!
Brandon: And then I could have as long as I wanted to finish this game, and I could raise everyone's wages. And have a really easy, chill time making this video game. That's what I would do. I'd go back in time and win the lottery.
Sarah: I mean, heck, yeah. Brandon for president at this point, you know? I love that.
Brandon: (laughs)
Sarah: Well, alright, it's been a pleasure interviewing you. Where can people find you or your game? This is your time to plug yourself.
Brandon: Yeah, check out Demonschool on Steam. Wishlist it there, please. It will also be on Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch of course. And if you like hearing my voice, you can also check out my podcast at insertcredit.com. And that's it. That's me.
Sarah: Alright. Well, thank you again, and I hope you enjoy the rest of your PAX.
Brandon: Thanks, you too.
