There are times when school is more important than a hobby, so I took last week off to complete my homework and get started on final projects. Now that that is over (for now) I want to talk about games again. I still have some demos from Nextfest in the backlog that I wanted to focus on. This week is probably one of my favorites from Nexfest.

This week is Demon Tides.

Demon Tides is an open world, 3D platformer from Fabraz. The game is slated to release sometime in 2025 for the PC.

You play as Beebz, a very obviously overpowered demon who is off sailing to a place called Ragnar’s Rock to do something power-related or save the world. I don’t think I really care about the narrative up to this point. The demo highlights some narrative points, such as the fact that the game is a sequel to a game titled Demon Turf, which I had never heard of nor have I ever played.

Everyone on Beebz’s crew is edgy and hits all of the demographic marks: Hot demon, hip demon with modern lingo, and nerd who knows everything. Beebz is the one who is aggressive looking and acts tough but loves their friends and protects them no matter what.

The characters are fun but are often cringe me out.

Demon Tides is a platformer through and through and it reminds me a lot of the 3D platformers that came before it. Beebz has the three-jump animation that Mario 64 had and when you hit that last jump she goes just a tad bit higher. Beebz can spin mid-air to get that extra inch of distance and when larger distances need to be covered then Beebz can transform into a bat, demon thing and slam into the ground at an angle to propel Beebz into that direction. Platforming and overall traversal is fast and tight and requires not much onboarding. Once you understand how to move, the game lets you play.

The overworld is pretty rich with stuff to traverse and challenges to do. Gliding through the water in Beebz’s convenient lizard form makes it fast and easy to get to the next thing to do. The areas that the demo has been filled with vertical fun. You are scaling buildings and grinding rails to turn on lights and such. It is all very fun though the camera hinders platforming every once and a while.

Combat encounters are fun and do not require much thinking. just beat up on the guys and they go away.

Demon Tides is a clean and colorful-looking video game. That open-world area is just so nice to look at and those backdrops add to the feeling that you are in a foreign magical land. I really got the feeling that I was in a tropical paradise the whole time with how bright the sun is and the clear water with the deep greens of the fauna.

Demon Tides’ demo is dope and I enjoyed every minute of it. There were times when the camera was getting a little finicky and it resulted in me missing jumps and having to go all the way back, which made it a little frustrating. Traversal is the thing I wanted to focus on because moving around is top tier. I am always moving and when I am moving it is at incredibly high speeds which I really enjoy.