Argomenti trattati
Demon Tides, an indie 3D action-adventure platformer developed and published by Fabraz for PC, was released on February 19, . The game sends players across a chain of islands to investigate why the floating monarch Ragnar summoned the protagonist. Press review code was provided by Fabraz via PressEngine. The title wears its inspirations—The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker and A Hat in Time—on its sleeve, combining cel-shaded visuals with island exploration and platforming challenges.
Core offering and immediate impression
The game’s presentation sets a lively tone from the first minute. A cel-shaded palette, expressive NPC animation, and character designs that feel both modern and nostalgic define the visual identity. Those strengths form the backbone of the experience. Technical issues such as character clipping, camera collisions, and asset pop-in moderate the
Traversal and player systems
The movement design anchors Demon Tides’ appeal. Players control Beebz, a young demon queen of the Lokian species. Beebz shifts between multiple forms: snake form for sea skimming and racing, and bat form for aerial bridging and precise platforming. These transformations alter traversal and keep exploration varied.
Movement rewards chaining actions. Double-jumps, dives, and directional boosts can be linked to maintain momentum. The system creates a clear rhythm: failed attempts lead to chaotic, comic falls, while successful combos deliver a strong sense of flow. The data tells us an interesting story about how short combo windows produce high-perceived skill without steep mechanical barriers.
Badges and customization
The badge system adds a lightweight RPG-like layer. Badges grant incremental advantages such as increased water speed or longer airtime. Players may store multiple loadouts to switch between ocean runs and tight platforming. Midgi, the engineer NPC who crafts badges, gives the system narrative and mechanical coherence.
Characters, story beats and worldbuilding
The game prioritizes character-driven charm. Beebz travels with Luci, Midgi and DK, who provide humor and distinct voices. Luci doubles as a wardrobe vendor, Midgi handles upgrades, and DK supplies modern, meme-fluent commentary. Island residents reveal small stories under Ragnar’s rule, blending light banter with darker hints.
The narrative setup is straightforward. Beebz accepts an invitation from Ragnar, then crashes into the archipelago and must discover why the summons occurred. The premise creates a clear objective while allowing islands and character interactions to supply much of the game’s heart.
Technical notes and Clipping occurs in cutscenes and interactions, with occasional arm-through-cloth moments. More disruptive are instances where the camera clips into walls or NPC geometry, obscuring platforming lines and conversational context. These camera faults echo problems common to older 3D platformers.
Environmental pop-in also breaks immersion. Islands and structures sometimes appear abruptly when approached across open sea. The effect appears on high-spec hardware and suggests streaming or LOD tuning needs refinement. These problems are significant but do not fully eclipse the game’s strengths.