Jrago The Demon Hunter

Let's start this review about the elephant in the room. It's a very big elephant in the room. Huge, in fact. With graphics being the very first thing you're going to see in a game, it's extremely important for players. Jrago The Demon Hunter, however, has the exact opposite of an aesthetic. The characters use pixel art, (ms)paint, realistic scenery, digitized people, and every single type of art you can find. Any from the asset you can find, they grabbed it and put it into the game. No rhyme, no reason. So if you're expecting the game to find something nice to look at, you might want to move on. Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about what we have before us here. Jrago The Demon Hunter is a solo-dev game with some metroidvania mechanics that gets pretty extremely hard. At around 20 hours, it's a decent length for the size. That also includes a lot of the option stuff, though honestly most of the "option stuff” is pretty required. Again, this talks about the difficulty. Mechanic-wise, you run around to the right and kill dudes, kind of like in Castlevania. Find a weapon, get levels, look for new armor or other weapons, feel stronger. Fairly normal stuff there. The enemies…

The graphics are consistently inconsistent, the controls have some unique "qualities" to them, and the level design is borderline unfair... and yet the fantastic music compells me to continue playing. Once you learn the game's quirks and assume that every enemy can kill you because of it, it's a decently enjoyable game, though I'm playing it mostly because I want to hear all the terrible voice acting. You could say it's a metroidvania, but I think it's a little too linear for that. There's some out-of-the-way things to collect like optional gear and weapons, but don't expect reverse-boss-order levels of freedom in this game. The best parts of this game would probably be: 1. The music, all original metal-style music, fits the theme and gets you hooked despite the game's flaws. 2. The UI. Weirdly enough the UI works well, you can swap gear very quickly despite having to open a screen-wide menu. 3. It hasn't crashed yet. 4. Somehow everything has voice-acting. Most of it is terrible, but that only adds to the game's chaotic atmosphere. 5. There's so many enemies, you often can't take a single step without having to whack something that's in your way. The worst parts: 1. The level d…

I bought this after trying the demo for the third game in the series, and became enamored by so much of the aesthetic. If it's not for you, you'll know from the store page. Comparing this to a high budget production from an experienced dev is a ridiculous notion. I find the mix of art styles and the general maximalist sensibilities to be incredibly endearing. Yes, the game is janky and felt unfair at points already, sure, but there's an undeniable charm. I'm looking forward to both the rest of the game, and the sequel, hopefully in time for number three! (Note: the game's iconography, lore sprinkling, and music absolutely depicts some views you could find issue with. If that's a dealbreaker, like sure I get it. But to me, his heart and soul comes through the game far stronger than anything else.)

This is a fake video game. This is something an 8 year old would try to create after playing Symphony of the Night for the first time. Random 8 bit, 16 bit, flash, MS paint "art" are all mixed in with no rhyme and reason. Nothing is cohesive. Nothing makes sense. Pits are hidden because the graphics are so ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ♥♥♥♥. But wait, some pits have secrets whereas other pits take half your health and send you back halfway through the map. Map transitions are ♥♥♥♥ as well as you jump into enemies. Projectiles do not go through enemy corpses. Bosses are just stat sponges that force you to grind before you can beat them. The health loss when an enemy is on you is ridiculous and you can't attack them. You lose so much health, so much more health than you would from their attacks. Nothing makes sense. Oh and some enemies like the flame demons can still attack you while dying/dead as they continue to shoot projectiles. The only positive thing I can say is the soundtrack is acceptable. It's generic instrumental rock/metal that was suitable back in the days of the 3DO and the Sega CD. And seeing as how this game and its sequel have 3 pieces of DLC each that are just music, I'm assuming t…

Fun flash-core gaming. If the disjointed presentation doesn't bother or even appeal to you, you must play this game. Big drama, big bosses and big backgrounds await you. The spell system is a bit clunky and there are some quirky bugs with the terrain, but it's otherwise an excellent game.

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