Firebrand is one of the most iconic enemies from 80's gaming: A blood-red demon who seethes with snarled aggression and makes short work of you with cunning movement tactics. He's the biggest douchebag inside what's already considered one of the hardest games of its era. So I can't help but be puzzled that the direction Capcom went for his solo outings were low-difficulty platformers with minimal combat.
There's lots of odd choices abound here. Like Quackshot, the game has linear levels but requires you to revisit them with keycard abilities in a metroidvania-esque setup. There's alternate attacks and transformations required for progression that take constant menu-ing to switch between - it was 94, why no shoulder button toggles ala MMX? There's an attempt at a hub world but it just amounts to 1 NPC and a few shops, was really wishing there'd be more to justify 100% exploration. You also get a lot of money to spend on 1-time items that I mostly didn't use. Bosses have really bloated HP bars and excessive i-frames.
And yet for all its weird choices, they rarely inhibit the core appeal. Vibes carry Demon's Crest very hard: The beautiful world, snappy movement and haunting orchestral music are great. I couldn't tell you a hook or mechanic I was really invested in, but the feeling of playing it is just as strong as any other Capcom game. A very low-key, sobering platform experience with a good edge to it. Oddly relaxing, moreso than something child-friendly like Magical Quest.
There's also three endings depending on how many items you get before confronting Phalanx, the final boss. I only got the first two, but I was content with that. It's really funny to me that in the 2nd ending, Phalanx just pussies out, screaming "I'm not owned! I'm not owned!" with his tail between his legs. I'm sure most people see it as an unsatisfactory victory because you don't get to finish him off with your own hands, but like, nothing's more empowering than knowing your nemesis is scared shitless by you.
There's lots of odd choices abound here. Like Quackshot, the game has linear levels but requires you to revisit them with keycard abilities in a metroidvania-esque setup. There's alternate attacks and transformations required for progression that take constant menu-ing to switch between - it was 94, why no shoulder button toggles ala MMX? There's an attempt at a hub world but it just amounts to 1 NPC and a few shops, was really wishing there'd be more to justify 100% exploration. You also get a lot of money to spend on 1-time items that I mostly didn't use. Bosses have really bloated HP bars and excessive i-frames.
And yet for all its weird choices, they rarely inhibit the core appeal. Vibes carry Demon's Crest very hard: The beautiful world, snappy movement and haunting orchestral music are great. I couldn't tell you a hook or mechanic I was really invested in, but the feeling of playing it is just as strong as any other Capcom game. A very low-key, sobering platform experience with a good edge to it. Oddly relaxing, moreso than something child-friendly like Magical Quest.
There's also three endings depending on how many items you get before confronting Phalanx, the final boss. I only got the first two, but I was content with that. It's really funny to me that in the 2nd ending, Phalanx just pussies out, screaming "I'm not owned! I'm not owned!" with his tail between his legs. I'm sure most people see it as an unsatisfactory victory because you don't get to finish him off with your own hands, but like, nothing's more empowering than knowing your nemesis is scared shitless by you.
C_F
1 year ago