Demon Tides was provided by Fabraz for review. Thank you!
3D platformers have long been dominated by a few games, with the top of them being occupied by the Super Mario series. Nintendo has nearly perfected the mechanics, keeping Mario's moveset fluid and giving us sandboxes to utilize it in creative ways. While there have been a lot of excellent 3D platformers that have been released, it has been very hard for a game to come close to the level of excellence that Nintendo has commanded. However, Demon Tides comes closer than any other game I have played, and in some ways, exceeds what I would expect from a top-tier 3D platformer.
Movement in 3D platformers is key, and Demon Tides does not disappoint with the expansive moveset we have at our disposal. The staples of the genre that I would expect are all here, but they get pushed to the limit depending on how you use them. We have our usual jumps, which can go into wall-jumping and climbing, and boost to gain some temporary speed, but they can be complemented by a multitude of forms to push this further. We can turn into a bat to double jump, get into our Spin form to glide through the air, and hop into our Snake form to gain major speed across land or in the water.
But that's not all! Boosting while in the Bat form brings us into a dive, which bounces off the ground, we can jump as we leave Snake form to get some major air, and Spin form can turn into an extra jump, fast drill downwards, and even a cannonball that can be used as an attack on enemies around. It gives me Super Mario Odyssey vibes, with such a malleable moveset that gives us so many ways to tackle any of the many platforming challenges. Even though these challenges tend to have obvious ways to get through them, the toolset we have can break past that, and it's so satisfying.
However, we aren't finished yet! Throughout the game, we can also find Talismans to equip that further augment our abilities. Want to add a glide in Snake form to go further with more speed? Add a second jump to our Bat form? Allow our Spin form to create a whirlwind on the ground to get a nice jump boost from the ground? Just equip their respective Talisman, and your moveset immediately changes. Being able to modify your moves is the coolest thing, giving even more options for us to tackle challenges the way we want to.
In the beginning, it did take a little bit of time to get used to and learn all of the moves, but as soon as it clicks, it's just phenomenal. Despite some slight stiffness from time to time, using all of the moves in conjunction just feels great. I tend to have a high bar for these kinds of games after playing Super Mario, and Demon Tides just hits all the right marks. Fabraz has done an excellent job putting together a compelling 3D platformer that feels just right.
The game combines structured and unstructured progression, which can feel a little at odds. In general, we will swim fast through the ocean to discover small islands filled with currency to collect and challenges to conquer to unlock gears, Talismans, and outfits. Getting to the islands is completely freeform, relying on us to travel across the sea and find them. However, the sea is divided into three sections, and we will have to collect a specific amount of gears to unlock them. I understand why this is done, but it can still feel a little odd to make it so reliant on player-driven exploration, and then lock away sections to force players to find enough gears. It's not necessarily a turn-off, but I would have liked to be able to travel throughout the world without any walls.
Still, I find it hard to discover any negatives when it comes to Demon Tides. There are some minor nuisances that occasionally pop up, but I rarely feel them as I skate across the water, run along walls, and jump from platform to platform. There are also some nice little quality-of-life features, like pressing B to bring up an arrow showing where to go next, and even a photo mode. There is a checkpoint system, which is a little confusing, but it's nice to have as an option.
Story-wise, I was actually quite surprised by how deep it was. Beebz and her friends are invited to Ragnar's Rock by her absentee father, and after getting a very explosive welcome, gets caught in a war between her father, Ragnar, and revolutionaries who want to be freed. It was much more thought-provoking and meaningful than I expected, although some of the conversations can be a little cringy. It's a worthwhile story to experience, and a nice follow-up to Demon Turf (the previous game in the series).
As for Steam Deck performance, I was a little disappointed. I have seen how well Fabraz's games can run on the Deck, including the upcoming Bubsy 4D, so I expected Demon Tides to be better. Unfortunately, there are lots of compromises here that still don't hit the performance metrics that I was hoping it would hit.
Games like this feel amazing at 60 FPS, and at the beginning, it was able to hit 60. However, as I kept playing, I realized that it wouldn't be able to stick to it. The game has its own Steam Deck-focused graphical preset, but it doesn't fully utilize the GPU, which causes the framerate to throttle. We can fix this by forcing the GPU clock speed to 1600MHz, but it won't help in some areas, like Jester's Minery. Even on the lowest possible settings, it won't be able to hit 60 FPS.
So, there's really only one way to play in the most stable way throughout the entirety of the game. To keep it as smooth as possible, I recommend setting it to a 40 FPS/80Hz lock. It isn't as smooth as 60, but it still feels great at 40 FPS. I also recommend keeping the game at the Steam Deck preset to balance battery life. We can play at the Medium graphical quality, but the battery drain will go up to 18W with some slight framerate drops here and there, so sticking to the Steam Deck preset works well here (12W - 14W battery drain).
It's not perfect, and I do wish the preset didn't have so many pop-ins, but the game renders a huge world, and that could be affecting it a little too much. It's still very playable and enjoyable, but there are definitely some visual compromises to be made to fully enjoy the game on the Deck.
In the settings, we can toggle whether we skip cutscenes and the tutorial, hide some UI elements, and change the game speed and whether we are invincible or not. We can also turn on a first-person mode, which is interesting to use, change keybindings, and adjust audio volume.
The game does support 16:10 resolutions, cloud saves, and controllers. There are no HDR settings.
Demon Tides exceeded almost all of my expectations for this 3D platformer. The mechanics are tight and sound, with a great level of customization to modify our moveset in unique ways that cater to how we want to play. The open world and player-driven exploration make finding islands with platforming challenges more engaging, while the rewards for completing these were worthwhile and motivating. There are some minor issues here and there, but none of them take away from how well-built the game is.
The performance on the Steam Deck is a little disappointing, but it's still very playable and enjoyable on the go. 40 FPS still feels decently smooth, and the battery drain isn't bad for an open-world game like this, but the compromises are obvious, which can impact the enjoyment of the game.
このレビューはPC版に基づいています。
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Demon Tides is an exceptional 3D platformer that exceeded my expectations in almost every way, though I do wish its performance on Steam Deck was better.
