Review: Demon King Box (3DS eShop)

Fight like a Demon, Sting like a Typo

Review: Demon King Box (3DS eShop) Bannar10

Demon King Box is the kind of game that wouldn't have made it to release until recent years; with a professional feel meeting a budget price point, Circle Entertainment would have had trouble releasing a game like this to a market which didn't exist for these games. Thankfully for us, modern platforms like the eShop exist, and allow us to experience smaller games we would have otherwise never had the opportunity to play; a perfect example being Demon King Box.

As the opening lays out the story for you in a decidedly brisk, matter of fact way, you learn of the ancient Demon King's desire to be resurrected following his fall from domination. Upon freeing himself from his entrapping box (hence the name, Demon King Box), the lord finds his domain overrun by ignorant peasants; none moreso than the pig demon Poohdark. However, the Demon King must travel with Poohdark and his oddly mishapen party in order to regain his throne atop the world.

Review: Demon King Box (3DS eShop) V0tpdj10

In order to do so, you must employ a combination of Real Time Strategy and the gathering of Troops to assist you, a combination which is very expertly executed. In battles, you control three lines of attack, on which you can send different demons down individually to attack the opposing forces. The summoning of these demons is restricted to a summoning meter which fills up with Blue Spirit over time; and strategy comes in to play as stronger enemies require more Blue Spirit to summon. Different allies also come with their own stats, including speed on the battle field, strength and size, with the largest of all going on a special Battle Line where they can attack two normal Battle Lines at once.

Upon defeating an enemy, they usually drop a piece of food on the battlefield, all of which is awarded upon your victory on that level. Instead of demons all leveling up in a normal sense, Demon King Box makes you level your team up individually, allowing you to divide up food between your troops as you see fit. This is where another layer of strategy comes in to play, as you choose which demons to level up, switch for newer demons, and create your own unique team to use in battle. The mixing of the team building mechanics with the Real Time Strategy battles makes Demon King Box an absolute blast to play through.

Thankfully the combat itself is enjoyable enough to drive you to finish Demon King Box, because the story certainly won't engage you to the same level. As far as basic plot goes, the characters are somewhat understandable; trying to resurrect the fallen Demon King. That's about all we were certain on though, as the story consists of a mix of broken grammar and unreleated sidestories, to the point where we weren't even sure what was going on at some points. Also there to break the atmosphere are plenty of typos and mispellings randomly thrown into nearly every conversation; this isn't exactly nice in an RPG of sorts, but forgiveable as the plot really makes no difference to how enjoyable the game itself is. You can always skip the story itself and head straight to the battles, and you won't be missing much of anything.

Review: Demon King Box (3DS eShop) Z3010

Adding to the already rather large number of 30 plus levels and dozens of potential allies to unlock, is an achievement system with over 40 unlockable achievements. This adds a good amount of replay value to Demon King Box, extending the 4-6 hour adventure into a much longer one for completionists, effectively doubling or even tripling the time to do so. Adding even more is the Research system, which allows you to fuse demons with food to create a few more powerful allies, all making the price of $3.99 irresistible in the process.

Demon Kings may not be your cup of tea, but Demon King Box aims to provide an experience that both fans of RPGs and Real Time Strategy can enjoy. With the enjoyable battles and rather large amount of content, the good outweighs the bad in this budget release from Circle Entertainment. And for the low price of $3.99, Demon King Box is looking like a winner in our books.

8/10

Review Copy provided by: Circle Entertainment