Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Feb 13, 2020

  It truly breaks my heart to say this because I'm such a huge fan of the first game and I have nothing but love and respect for the creator, but I did not enjoy Demonheart: Hunters. Let me clarify that I do not regret my purchase and I am happy support the author, but the game itself is not something I can easily recommend to others. The author does so much telling and very little showing that the story feels incredibly rushed and forced. There were so many moments that didn't make sense or just felt gutted. We barely got enough time to get to know the characters, some of which were so extreme that they felt like parodies, and I had a hard time connecting with anyone. Some characters I loved from the first game felt very out of character at times, and there were many moments when I stared at Bright's dialogue options and completely stalled out. I connected to her so easily in the visual novel, but not at all in Hunters. The RPG elements themselves did not bother me, but they did not contribute anything very exciting, either, and certainly did not justify the sacrifice of storytelling and character development. I hate to compare Hunters to the NWN modules because I know this is a new and different game, but the modules had such excellent pacing and took the time to set up the plot that I can't help but wonder what happened between then and now. I thoroughly enjoyed Demonheart the visual novel and those NWN modules, which were excellently done in my opinion, so I know the author is capable of outstanding storytelling. I am not sure if it was the format change (from a VN to an RPG) that took too much time or some other interference, but this game feels far from finished. The game has tons of good reviews, so please take my opinion for what it is: my opinion. I do not begrudge anyone who enjoyed it, and I hope all who play it will. I did not, but I so desperately wanted to. Therefore, I really hope the author will consider revisiting her script to flesh out the story, adjust the pacing, develop the characters, and build the myriad of relationships so that they have meaning and impact. Not because I paid for it and feel I am owed, but because I am a true fan of the world and the story that was created.
• gamedeal user

  Jan 30, 2020

  Demonheart's sequel is finally here, and it is every bit as delightful as its predecessor. The story begins once again with Bright, who's travelling towards Ravage and has now almost arrived. Depending on your choices from the first games, selectable from Hunters' opening sequence, you may have different companions alongside you. Pros: + Dialogue: the characters have their own head, their own personality, and they don't always agree with each other, though sometimes they do. Watching them interact with each other, and with Bright, is a delight. + Characters: well written, layered and morally grey. Yet, even with Brash's foul mouth and Raze's penchant for drama, you can't help but love them. + Romance: dialogue changes according to the romance you pick in the opening sequence. There are several romance options at your disposal, namely Raze, Sir Brash and Ari from the previous game, plus the bard Sinallion, a new addition. + Customizable MC: Demonheart is one of those games in which you can fully build who Bright is from the dialogue and the choices you make, and Demonheart: Hunters is no different. Moreover, other characters respond in kind according to your alignment. + Surprisingly suitable to RPG: while the first game was formatted as a visual novel, Demonheart: Hunters is more intensely focused on the RPG side. Bright is no longer a defenseless commoner and the game reflects this change: she can pretty much kick arse. The system itself is simple and sweet, similar to many other RPG Maker games. As you level up, your stats improve, you gain different special skills and, as you progress through the story, you have the chance to grab some kickass gear as well. + Story-rich: the plot guides you forward through the various areas of the game, from quiet seaside settings to infernal lairs complete with lava pools, as you make progressively harder choices. Will you decide to spare humanity, or join the side of the incoming apocalypse? + Replayability: the different choices you can make, combined with different companions and romances build up to great replayability. Each playthrough is estimated to last around 7hrs. + Graphics: the inspiration from Baldur's Gate style of graphics is plain to see. If you've enjoyed Baldur's Gate and Planetscape, you'll have no problem with Demonheart: Hunters' graphics. Cons: - None that I can think of. Overall, Demonheart: Hunters is most definitely worth it if you're into visual novels, especially otome, with a healthy side dish of rpg. More so if you've already played Demonheart and/or are familiar with the original Neverwinter Nights modules. Ultimately, at the price of 18,99€, you can potentially get 7 to 21 hours of good content, with positively swoonworthy romance and a delicious side dish of darkness and betrayals.
• gamedeal user

  Jul 25, 2020

  I was so so so excited for this game. I absolutely loved the first one (the visual novel Demonheart), and was expecting something similar, but with Baldur's Gate style combat. Unfortunately this game was... disappointing. First of all, the game is very short. I finished after 10 hours and that was with a bunch of save / loading to try different choices. I'm still missing a few achievements, but now that I have beat the game I can easily get those. Technically the first game isn't that long either (Steam says I have 23 hours on it and I've played through at least 2 times), but every second of that is filled to the brim with story and character moments. In this game, a lot of that time is devoted to walking from point A to point B or grinding through boring fights. I was excited to have combat with the story (there are a lot of moments in Demonheart where it feels like you should have combat, but you don't because it's a visual novel), but the combat here is really boring for most of the game. When it starts getting interesting (more members in your party and cool new abilities to play with) the game is suddenly over. The problem is, the fights aren't challenging. Giving enemies a ton of health so that the fight lasts longer doesn't make it a challenge, it just makes it a grind and boring. There are two fights that I had to think about how to win and the rest you can win without thinking. I don't think it's a problem of the team being Demonhearts and having the ability to heal every turn, rather that the combat doesn't have any nuance to it, aside from two fights, you don't have to do resource management or think tactically. (Sorry this was something that really bothered me and it was most of the game unfortunately). Next I want to talk about the choices and story. Both games give you a lot of choices (which I absolutely love), but the choices of the first game feel so much more important, so much more critical and life or death. So many times playing the first game I had to stop and think about the decisions I made. I am still torn up about some of the choices I had to make! (if you've played Demonheart you know what I mean). Demonheart Hunters also has a lot of good choices, but the story is so short and goes so quickly, that you don't really feel the impact of most of them. You character is in a position of power now, so you don't feel like you're walking on eggshells and have to plan 10 moves ahead of everyone else like the first game (which was something I loved about the first game). You don't really get time to get to know any of the characters, aside from people in your past but even that feels short and rushed. Plots are opened up and are not concluded (it very much feels like they're planning a third game, but I don't know). I do like that you get to pick out the choices from the first game so you can sort of pick up where you left off, but the game also creates some new loose threads by ignoring less important choices and retroactively editing the first games ending slightly (rather then the scripted "this is what Bright did after" Hunters picks up right after the events of the last game, so that is all erased. I understand why they did this but it made me ask a lot of questions that the game didn't have answers to). The story is good, but again, it feels like they're building up to a third game or something because so much is started and not finished. A minor complaint is the art. The first game is beautiful and alive. The characters, environments and special cut scenes, all look great! The art in this game is... lacking. Some of the characters look good in the new style, some really don't and a lot of it is in crappy 3D graphics like you would expect from a late 90's / early 2000's game. There are no cut scenes or special art moments (in the first game, certain things like kissing someone or other moments had special art) and special moments (including the ending!) either fade to black, cut to the next scene unceremoniously, or just show the same top down perspective that the rest of the game is in. This team has done great art, I don't know why they dropped the ball on this, it would have made certain things feel more real or important. I'm most miffed about the ending, I got to see a couple endings and they all just have the top down perspective and then cut to the main screen. It felt like such a let down. Another issue with the ending was that it felt rushed and a little too much, "they lived happily ever after", like the game just wanted to be done with it. Overall I recommend this game if you played the first and want more of the story, characters and world, but with the caveat that it has issues. Don't get me wrong, I did have fun, but I likely won't want to replay this game again. I often think about the first game and fondly think of the choices I had to make and the characters I met. Demonheart had some really powerful moments, and this game, Demonheart Hunters, feels like sloppy seconds especially when compared to the first. Sorry. I hope that the developers take this as an opportunity to do better next time, because I really do like the world, characters and story. I'm writing as a fan who knows that you can do better!
• gamedeal user

  Feb 2, 2020

  Positive... but not much. The essence of the first game is there, there is lot of story, lot of intrigue, moral choices and romances. As such... it is of course _fun_. But... alas, that fun is slowed and watered down tremendously by boring and completely uninteresting need to walk through large, ugly maps, do slow, primitive combat and collect junk to improve your gear you will never see on your character anyway. As a side-effect, you also get a lot less of gorgeous, full-screen graphics, actually there is almost none. Unfortunately, the game shifted from "VN with choices" genre into a more "classic RPG", where it however cannot compete with the masters of this area and their much larger budgets. If there will be a third part, please return back to the VN style.
• gamedeal user

  Feb 4, 2020

  Initially, I wasn't going to write a review for this game. I expected to play it, like it, and move on because I generally have a hard time explaning why I like things. But this is a very difficult case. Something I'm really struggling with after playing [i][b]Hunters[/b][/i] is this thought: was Demonheart actually bad all this time and I refused to notice because I... liked it? After playing through this game 4 times going on 5th, I find that I have less and less good things to say about it. So let's first get one thing out of the way. Do I recommend you buy and play [i][b]Hunters[/b][/i]? ...Yes. Even yesser if you have played the prequel and liked it. I would be lying if I said I didn't have fun on my first playthrough. I would be lying if I said I hated the addition of combat, exploration and flower gathering for ability upgrades on my first playthrough. No, I actually loved all of that. On my first playthrough. Which took me somewhere around 8-9 hours to complete with me taking my time, exploring everything, disarming each and every trap, picking every single flower I could find and killing all the mobs I could reach with my shiny poisoned daggers. I was excited to go in once more and see what else this game has to offer. I was eager to make more choices and see more branching storylines. Because it felt like there was potential, and it didn't seem too unreasonable for me to expect that, since this game is marketed and presents itself as an RPG. And, after going through it four times in a row, with my experience still fresh in my mind, I can say this one thing with certainty. [i]Nothing[/i]. [i][b]Hunters[/b][/i] doesn't have anything more to offer beyond what you get in your initial playthrough. The way the story plays out is always the same. It is incredibly linear and short. If you know what you're doing, you'll be finished with each of your subsequent playthroughs in about 3-3,5 hours, and that's [i]with[/i] flower grinding to max out your poison attack. You will maybe get some new lines depending on your alignment, and new flirty lines and fade-to-black sex scenes depending on your choice of romance in places where there would be nothing if you choose no one at all. There is a question waiting to be asked: but how is this different from the prequel? Demonheart is very much linear as well. Should I or anyone else really be surprised that [i][b]Hunters[/b][/i] is the same way? Perhaps not. But these two games, despite being so similar in many ways, still have this one major difference between them. I think what it comes down to, what makes Demonheart easier to like is that it's more densely story packed and more coherent. You spend most of [i][b]Hunters[/b][/i] running around a map [strike]mostly picking flowers [i]I kid you not[/i][/strike]. And with play time being around what, 3 hours? You see where this is going. There is very little of a story. It is linear and feels rushed at times. Endings - and it pains me to say it - vary from somewhat satisfying to largely unsatisfying too. And this is what, in the end, results in a more negative perception of the sequel. Maybe [i][b]Demonheart: Hunters[/b][/i] could have used more time in developement. Expanding on the story and adding even a little bit of branching would have done it a world of good. In conclusion: The magic is still there. And it's still very magical. But don't look at it too closely or you risk realizing all it is is just a trick.
• gamedeal user

  Jan 31, 2020

  It feels like the magic of it is gone, and that's really a damn shame. 1) First and foremost, the game is ridicilously short. Bafflingly so. You spend the majority of your time trying to gather your party, and while seeing the big buff dudes become damsels in distress is kind of funny, it feels like you're just getting warmed up for the story to finally start having substance... then boom, it's over in the most anticlimatic way possible, both for the "big bad" and his "dragon". Imagine sitting down to play Dragon Age: Origins, but you get the epilogue after completing only the origin starter quest. There's also no time or opportunity to really interact with your companions; your only options are to ask about the immediate area and, if you've been flirty, spam the kiss button. 2) Second is that, especially if you're familiar with the modules, some of the scenes that should have emotional impact feel flat and/or rushed - and once again, over before they begin (meeting Aristo, travelling and rescuing Raze, restoring Raze's powers, meeting the supposedly scary demonheart huntress). They feel like the skeletal blueprints of scenes rather than proper scenes. You're just hastily showed forward into the world where the only thing to do is... pick flowers. By contrast, some other parts feel forcefully drawn-out - mainly the ship rescue scene, which becomes so thanks to... 3) Clunky combat. Thanks to your regenaration there's no need for healing items, but since the party is split up and your wizard is forced to frontline tank, the sequence gets maddeningly slow. Then after barely brushing with your adversary you're, once again, showed abruptly into another part of the game. Then it's back to a walking simulator liberally sprinkled with traps that your rogue takes so long to detect, it's easier to just endure the hp hit, you'll heal in 5 seconds anyway. 4) Special shotout to your inventory full of armor and weapons that are redundant because there's no challenge at the end of the journey. 5) Romance (and replay value). It's there, but since the game is so short... you get my point. But you know what feels weird? You can totally have everyone at the same time, irrespective of your choice in the first game, and these characters, that are not written as the type to like sharing, never really care much about your "bulk dating" until the epilogue choice. Then they also don't care much, but you gotta pick one scene to view at a time. Between this catch-all ability and the lack of difference depending on alignment/choices, the replay value is rather low, 99% of it boiling down to which demonspawn you picked. 6) You can't save in the middle of dialogue/battle, which is fine, but the ending sequence is literally one long dialogue plus a grindy fight, then you have to pick your partner. If you want to replay and see different options in the epilogue scene, you gotta replay the whole "epic battle", which is a slog. 7) For the love of ,,,, let me cover up Ari's b00bs, they're hanging out of her ridiculous dress for no reason and they look like cow's udder. Just no. Only recommended heavily (50%) discounted, esp. for the sack of extras which is just six short dialogues, largely empty of entertainment value. UPD: sure I played it in offline mode, it was roughly 6 hours, with some (unnecessary) grinding. It still was way too short to be a proper game, even a vn, never mind an rpg.
• gamedeal user

  Mar 20, 2020

  If I loved the first one deeply, this sequel disapointed me so I cannot recommande it, even if I enjoyed so much the prequel. The good things : + We find back everyone, Ari, the Raze and Brash. I though we'll meet Tunes another time as we see ihim n the trailer but he takes no part in the new senario. + Nothing change for Bright, she can still be good or bad, defiant or kind and can flirt with the recurent characters from the prequel. + All characters had kept their original personalities and way to speak, Ari is still a kind witch loving everything speaking about demon, Brash is still the cold obsessional knight deeply in love with you, Raze is still a childish demon looking for attention, but they also changed and it feels like they matured with past adventures. + Seems voices are still the same for every characters and that's enjoyable! + It's not another Visual Novel, I don't mind some change, but I though the game will keep some VN materials like in old Winter Wolf games... but unfortunatly no! The bad things : - It's short and nothing is acheived in the story. The Wingless One will still come and you hadn't stop at all the appocalypse... What was the use of this senario? It feel empty, it feel already known in advence as it look like a lot the impostor plot from the first one. - When I saw the END screen I ask myself are you kidding me? Luckyly I brought it on sales if not I would be anrgry! - You don't recognize Ari... I though the purple-ish haired girl was a new character, but it's Ari, seems like she became Bright twin sister between the two stories. - Where are the arts? I miss seeing life and emotions on our friends, now it's just an unanimated picture for each of them... - There is some mature options, not too graphic but without arts, too bad, I wish we could saw Brash without his armor at least one! - Lot of things are left unknown, what about Mace? What about Brash's dwarf friend Jarlan, or the girl that gift you the snake guild armor? We don't even know if they are still alive?! - The title is Hunters but you hunt twice : [spoiler]two demonhearts[/spoiler], it's not a lot... I though you'll do much more adventures, that you'll fight against Lord Mace and unit all the demonhearts for the future war and consume the others. - What was the use of the new [spoiler]Prince[/spoiler] Bard character? In the path I took apart giving you a boat he does nothing, I though he'll be a demonheart too or be a possible new companion or a threat he was none... - [spoiler]Thayn speaks about Brash seiing you die or being obliged to kill you, Raze says you're crazy to do a companionship of demonhearts instead of killing each others, or that you are doing something new, something that could change maybe the world... we saw nothing like that happening.[/spoiler] - In one of the end, you can live peacefully, speaking about mariage and babies... well I don't mind good end but really??? with the apocalypse coming and Mace still alive you go doing a family life?! How irresponsible!!! XD - This is not a sequel, as the story is unfinished, I hope they'll put DLC for new adventures if not that's would be a failure... - There are some dialogues I haven't understood, not sure if it's because I'm a French reader, or if it's because some lines are out of characters. I wanted to love this game... but I cannot. I'm sorry, it seems not finished...
• gamedeal user

  Apr 7, 2020

  I still highly recommend this game, though I have some serious gripes about it as well which I explain below in detail. In addition I have now finished my first playthrough of the game, see very end of review for my thoughts on that with no spoilers. PROS: - Story is still fantastic and fun to listen to. - The voice actors are simply amazing. One of the main reasons I loved Demonheart so much. (As with the first game not everything is voiced, but enough lines are that you hear and remember every characters voice very well in your head). - The characters have kept their personalities. - The games exploration is reminiscent of old style games like Baldur's Gate which I personally love the idea of, though I think it could have been executed better. (It can be slow paced, and the interfacing lacks some finesse but keep in mind this is a small Dev team, and I personally am very impressed with what they've done). - Choices still seem to make a good impact on Bright and the world around her. CONS: - Combat is somewhat boring and occasionally frustrating through the whole game. The idea is great, but the execution feels either just okay, or unenjoyable. (It's just attack this enemy... wait... attack again... wait... Defend to regain mana... Attack again... Wait... Attack... Wait... Etc. Nothing very captivating.) -A specific example: I am reminded of the fight against Love Jayden, which I guess was supposed to be "challenging" but it was in fact simply annoying and boring. Jayden avoids or counter attacks at least 50% of the time, and every turn she heals. So it's really just.. Not fun and I dread the fight each time I've replayed this game. I understand the goal, she is supposed to be a very formidable opponent and is very strong. but it does not come across that way in combat, she instead feels cheap and unpleasant to fight against, there is no satisfaction to the combat whatsoever. - The "dungeon" exploring leaves a lot to be desired from what I've seen so far. (I am becoming especially frustrated with Trap Detection in the game, and it is actually taking away from my ability to enjoy exploring and finding new areas). - UI interfacing isn't as user friendly as it could have been. Example being: You can't just click on a friendly portrait to switch to them and open their inventory, you have to open Brights inventory first and THEN click on party members portrait to open theirs. Seemed very backwards to me. Perhaps that is just my personal feeling on the matter so take this one with a grain of salt. ___ Extra Details: Having finished the game I am almost entirely pleased with the story, which is entirely why I purchased the game, though I was a bit disappointed in it's ending mainly due to how suddenly it ended. It felt rushed, as I explain further down. Its combat takes some heavy influence from the Baldur's Gate games from what I've see so far, however doesn't do as well at it. I loved the Demonheart Visual Novel and did enjoy this one as well, though had I not played the first game I don't think I would have been captured enough by this one to finish it. I would not recommend this game if you value the experience of combat/exploring over storytelling, its value is truly in its story. Though I admire the developers attempt to make an old style game feel modern and I appreciate it. ___ A TRAP DETECTION TANGENT: Now that I've finished my first play through of the game I must say: The trap detection remains horrible through the whole game. Disarming traps gives you XP which is the only redeeming quality of them. But detecting them is still awful, as it forces you to slow your exploration pace to a complete crawl to detect them, or to constantly save/reload. Neither of which is fun. On top of that lets say I walk over a trap, oops, so I reload. I go stand right next to where the trap was.... And wait. And wait. And WAIT. And Bright doesn't detect anything. So I stand there for literally 30 seconds or more and she can't see the trap that I already know is there. It's honestly infuriating and bad game design, because it adds no enjoyment and simply makes all exploration drag on way too long. Worst part of the game IMO. (I have since replayed the game twice, and I stand VERY firmly on my opinion that the trap detection was done horribly in this game. It gives exp to disarm traps, so it is necessary to disarm as many as possible, however it is an absolute pain to detect them and adds absolutely nothing beneficial or even remotely fun to the game play at all.) ___ Ending: I finished my first play through romancing Brash, whom I loved the character of in the first game and still do in this one. My opinion on the ending is this: It felt rushed. The first half of the game felt paced out very well, the next little bit felt pretty good, paced decently with some nice gear upgrades and such and combat getting more complex (still semi boring). Then at the last hour of gameplay everything felt incredibly rushed, the story had been built up to this really interesting climax that I was really invested in, and then fell completely flat. I was actually taken aback by the words "The End" on my screen and said out loud: "What?!" to myself. Because it just didn't feel finished. It felt like many things got either skipped over or just brushed under the rug in hopes they wouldn't be noticed. I... am having a hard time even describing what I feel about this, because I am happy the game was made and I love the majority of the stories continuation. But man that last hour of gameplay almost felt like a different team of people made it. A less experienced team that wasn't as good at storytelling... I am so sorry to say that too, because I love the lore and world of Demonheart. On a side note Brash is wonderful, and the disappointment is in no way due to him or his character. He is great, so long as you can see through his hardened exterior. Sigh... I have such mixed feelings about this right now, I will perhaps come back and update my review if I do a second play through or something of the sort. Also, I still recommend the game. Just be aware that it feels like an abrupt end.
• gamedeal user

  Sep 14, 2020

  Largely disappointing. TLDR: if you buy this game, buy it on sale. I think this game was trying to be something that it wasn't: divinity original sin, pillars of eternity, balder's gate, dragon age origins, etc. Games with robust, fun, battles and deep stories that your protagonist's actions affect the way you go about the world (even thought they won't change the ending). Demonheart: hunters doesn't even live up to the original. The story likely had to be truncated in order for it to somehow work with rpg maker, which meant the text suffered quite a bit. Conversations are stilted and answers often don't make sense as to which personality "alignment" they're supposed to belong to. Of course they don't, because there isn't enough context for the intent of the character to be entirely clear. Am I being kind to x character to manipulate them or do I genuinely like them? The nuance of the conversation is lost and so it's hard to make choices mean more than "nice, rude, press x to doubt, say nothing, flirt". The lack of cutscenes (aka, the CGs in visual novels) especially even at the end of the game, makes the entire thing feel lackluster and generally wasn't worth the work. And since the entire thing was made from rpg maker... well, it feels like it was made with rpg maker. the battle system is boring, the character walks horrifically slow, and... there's nothing to make the turn based battle system of this style like earthbound (mother) or undertale. All in all, it feels like subpar effort for a subpar story to cash in on the success of the original. Even the graphics aren't original. It's the medieval bundle that you buy for like, $70 for all of them or $10 individually. The only original thing in this game are the sprites, and the portraits, which are from the first game - except for the big bad and the bonus major character. I'm honestly angry that I paid as much as I did primarily because of these reused and purchased with no changes assets. Even all the music was recycled from the previous game. I was hoping that this game would be better than that, and maybe my standards are just too high. I likely won't be buying anything else from this developer. I feel ripped off. Sadly, because I was looking forward to this game. I hope they will do better next time.
• gamedeal user

  Jan 31, 2020

  I played the first part which was a visual novel and I was very happy with it considering it was a free game. It did amazing things in terms of world and character building for this game. So much so, that Demonheart: Hunters had been on my wishlist since it was in development. When it was released, I thought I'd give it a play. The gameplay is a mix between an old FF like RPG battles with a Baldur's Gate like interface - without the intricacies of either, And this works out fine for a while since the game has been designed to clearly focus on the story. And I repeat, it does initially work out fine. Until suddenly you realize that the whole game feels like a Chapter 1 of some greater story - with the ending being Chapter 1.1. And believe you me, the world building is such that a greater story could have been had, But unfortunately this isn't the case. With the nature of the regeneration mechanics of the player characters, the mechanics of usable potions and items in the game was always going to be very delicate. However, halfway through the aforementioned 'Chapter 1', all items (not weapons and armor) in the game become fundamentally useless - i mean sure, they exist. But they could not exist just as easily and nothing would change. There are genuine moments of emotional engagement with the story from the previous game carrying over pretty smoothly, However, it clearly looks like it just ran into a brick wall at a point in the middle of the game. After a point, you seem to be playing, without being too sure why things are happening the way they are - it stretches suspension of disbelief to the point where you quietly exclaim "Did you guys run out of money? Or did you just want to wrap up the development and didn't bother finishing the story." The game had potential but with the 17 Euro price (with discounts), I expected more, Unfortunately in its current state, I can promise you, the good part is the first 5 - 6 hours. Then the game wraps up everything within the next two hours and you're left thinking "what just happened?" This seems to be the first negative review for the game but unfortunately I can't say anything otherwise about it right now and can't recommend it.