Inti Creates’ newest entry in the Gothic Horror genre, Grim Guardians Demon Purge is set to join the ranks of some illustrious company. The previous titles were the Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon entries, a spin-off of the mainline title Ritual of the Night. The game mixes the platforming and intensity of both Dragon: Marked for Blood and Megaman ZX with the hauntingly-beautiful imagery similar to Castlevania and Blasphemous.
The Steam demo teases a hundred-flavors-of-fun quick introduction to its gameplay flow, from pacing to controls and the different mechanics between the Kamizono sisters, the gun-toting Shinobu, and the origami-using Maya.
You’ll quickly draw parallels between other IntiCreates titles such as the aforementioned DMFD and MMZX which seemingly inspired how well the game plays, minus the dash capability for faster movement.
While the character swapping is similar to Castlevania III and Portrait of Ruin, albeit instead of sharing the same life meter or HP between two characters with the older Shinobu having a longer one similar to the original Trevor Belmont incarnation and Maya similar to Grant DaNasty in both agility and fragility. Each character has their own which explains the resuscitation mechanic which gives players so much of a chance to avoid getting a game over.
The bosses mirror some Retrovania ones such as the starting boss is a giant bat trying to outsize the ones faced in the first Castlevania and Rondo of Blood, and an agile were-rabbit mirroring the werewolf boss faced in Rondo of Blood and the Sharp X68000 remake of the original Castlevania.
While patterns are pretty similar, the ones in GGDP have newer gimmicks and mechanics, forcing players to be on their proverbial toes, never letting their guard down until the bosses have been put down, a welcome addition to its gameplay.
While it has only two stages to play through with both a miniboss at the midway points, the demo delivers a good taste test for those willing to try it. I’ve been hooked after 2 playthroughs and has it sitting on my Steam Wishlist, awaiting its release date.
