Daemonical flings a group of people onto an island where they must survive until daybreak, but there’s a catch. Obviously. One of these people is secretly a demon primed to slaughter the group. It sounds a lot like Dead by Daylight but with the paranoia and deceit of party games like Werewolf. It also appears to be looking for new players, hence the free weekend on Steam. I decided to see if my demon-surviving skills were up to snuff.
Even by Early Access standards, Daemonical is a bit slight. There’s one map and one monster at the moment, and when you strip away the paranoia and treachery, it devolves into a game of hide-and-seek. Or in my case, run-around-in-the-woods-and-get-eaten.
Things took a bad turn pretty quickly. Before I even had time to get my bearings, the demon revealed itself and killed one of us. We were all a bit surprised, including the demon, who just stood around staring at us. Thankfully, that hesitation gave us a chance to make a break for it. Unfortunately we all picked different directions. That would be the last I’d see of my fellow survivors.
While the demon can be injured and slowed down, it can’t be killed; the only way to win as a human, then, is by staying alive until dawn or by sending the demon back to Hell. The latter involves a ritual that requires a series of components hidden in buildings dotted around the forest. I got lost pretty quickly. It’s dark, a thick haze covers everything, indoors and outside, and I didn’t spot any landmarks.
I did meet a lot of friendly mannequins though! Note that these screens have been brightened up so you can see what the hell is going on:
I rummaged around in empty homes for 10 minutes and found exactly one ritual component. I also discovered a bunch of ammo that I wasn’t allowed to pick up because I didn’t have a gun. It’s the law.
And then the demon ate me.
Daemonical’s free weekend runs for the next two days, and it’s also 25% off.
