World of Demons Critic Reviews

Mixing, matching, levelling up, and forming strategies across such a massive, Pokemon-like range of monsters to collect and turn into special abilities gives World of Demons a level of depth and strategy that you would never expect at first, given how fast and fluid it is. Factor in the ukiyo-e-inspired art (which, no doubt, will be compared to Okami, but is much more appropriate to this game, given the narrative and visual arts traditions that Hyakki Yagyo belongs to), and a soundtrack that is heavy on the traditional Japanese instruments, and World of Demons is clearly a case of PlatinumGames looking to celebrate traditional Japanese culture and the arts. That is actually something that PlatinumGames hasn't done before, but the aesthetics, theme, tone, and quality of action here suits the developer perfectly, so, more of this in the future, please.

While there’s no exploration, your character effectively just walking from fight to fight down an endless corridor, the intricacy and subtlety of each combat encounter continues to deepen even after hours of play. It’s a masterclass in game design, working flawlessly on a touchscreen.

World of Demons is the practical representation of what happens when a talented, skilled dev team creates a stunning mobile experience, easily redefining the way to approach the action genre on smartphones and tablets.

If you think about how could a mobile game be from Platinum Games, World of Demons is the correct answer.

This great mobile slasher has PlatinumGames written all over it. Wonderful art style, superb combat, fascinating Yokai, the soundtrack, the story, the characters – pretty much everything clicked in World of Demons. The developers did a fantastic job and now they can finally focus on giving us Bayonetta 3.

World of Demons deserved better. Any game would have deserved better, but the fact that a title clearly crafted with love from one of the most beloved action game developers in the industry can just vanish into the ether should give anyone pause. Unless there's assurances of a port down the line, the same could happen to any game stuck on Apple Arcade; and just because the platform isn't given the same attention as others in the industry doesn't mean that the games are any less important. The same could happen to Fantasian, Sonic Dream Team, or even Pocket Card Jockey. At the end of the day, our industry thrives on building off of past successes; and with the loss of games like World of Demons, we might never know what games it might have inspired in the future.

PlatinumGames delivers a solid arcade hack & slash with really good ideas, and offers both accessible gameplay and a deeper experience if we stick to it.

World of Demons is a fascinating, if not perfectly successful, experiment.

A deep action game, just as dynamic and enjoyable as its predecessors on traditional media. With World of Demons, the Japanese studio is indeed showing unfailing generosity, both on the size of the bestiary and on the number of powers available, without of course forgetting the options to improve the weapons and the different playable characters. Even after eight hours of play, we are surprised to discover new subtleties and possibilities, pushing to invest and widen the mind to face the advanced difficulty modes, thanks to the natural element system. Do this if you like action games, and have an Apple Arcade subscription.

Fast katana action with Yokai as collectibles and a hint of Okami. Unfortunately it needs polish - mostly in presentation.

I don't know if PlatinumGames has any further mobile titles planned, but it's certainly built itself a solid foundation for future projects with World of Demons. Its action gameplay is solid, its world striking, and it's all brought to players without most of the F2P garbage that usually stands in the way of a game's true potential.

World of Demons proves that Platinum Games' trademark action can flourish on small phone screens. The yokai mechanics are smartly implemented, while boss battles are intense and rife with adrenaline. The camera issues can be annoying, but they're not enough to ruin the thrilling experience onscreen. A Platinum Games title working well on iOS sounds like a long shot, but World of Demons is not only a fun mobile action game, but a solid title regardless of what platform it's on.

Anyone wanting a basic hack-and-slash game with great graphics for their iOS devices can't go wrong with World of Demons on Apple Arcade, though fans should keep in mind that it falls quite short of PlatinumGames' best efforts.

This once-forgotten game deserves its redemption arc.