Demon's Crest

• Kudgel
• Sunday, December 9, 2007 | 4:15 AM
• 4 comments

When I think about all this time without blogging! My last entry is from way back when I went to see Resident Evil: Extinction at the cinema, it's been more than two months! So I am back in full force today with this text, which *should* be about an obscure japanese-only puzzle videogame for the Super Nintendo, but guess what, I forgot its name! However, I promise I'll find it back, as soon as I (re)connect my older PC. If you wanna help, the game is about a ball in a level which can be moved. Sorry, can't be more clear really.
Update:Thanks boulapoire, it actually is Cameltry!

So, having said that, I decided to write about a classic from Capcom, Demon's Crest, launched in 1994. Its producer is no other than Tokuro Fujiwara, known for such projects as Ghouls 'n Ghosts, Mega Man and Bionic Commando. Isn't that big? It is. You won't be surprised to learn these games had an impact on the development of Demon's Crest. In fact, this game is from a sub-series called Gargoyle's Quest which is linked to Ghosts 'n Goblins.
From all these praised games on the SNES, this one, in my opinion, does not get enough attention. A demon, Firebrand, tries to collect six magical crests (Fire - Earth - Water - Air - Time - Heaven) because, going by the legend, one who possesses all six crests will make the seventh one appear, the crest of infinity, which will grant him...infinite power. Unfotunately for our Firebrand, his Final Fantasy-esque quest will fail when he only needed one last crest, the Heaven one, kept secure under the Demon Dragon surveillance. At the same time, Phalanx, another demon, attacks him and robs all his crests but one, the fire crest, which has been broken into pieces after the battle. You take control of Firebrand in the Colliseum and must fight the Demon Dragon again. Your objective is to find Phalanx and get back your crests. Yay!
I really enjoy games that are able to put me into the mood as soon as I touch my controller. With Demon's Crest, the sensation of surprise nearly never ends and your first encounter is against a Boss. How could is that? The levels are sliced between horizontal/vertical scrolling, action, exploration and Bosses. Some bigger than others : as I did not want to spoil it all for you, I limited myself to images from the first level (+ overview map +town) and the first crest you obtain. Because yes, each crest transforms Firebrand into another demon-gargoyle. His basic actions are fire spitting, flying, flying on place, knocking (statues, doors) and to climb on some surfaces. With the crests, these basic actions are alternated ; by example, with the Earth one (the first you get), the fire spitting is remplaced by yellow-fire?-spitting which can damage ennemies on the ground. Knocking is taken away in favor of a dash attack. So yea Demon's Crest is kinda like Castlevania, with some RPG elements and a nice touch of strategy. Each crest/potion/spell/amulet can be accessed with a single menu and you can change them at will.
One of the factors which interests me more in this production is the replayability of the various levels. To gain new capacities and to revisit old levels to find secrets is very encouraging. Among these secrets, additional fragments of life or even battles which you would not have suspected at this place. The whole is accompanied by a brilliant musical score, with a style of its own. I like to speak about Demon' s Crest like a succession of Bosses, there are a lot of them. I counted about fifteen of them. The first level has three (Dragon Demon, Hypogriff, Arma). Another secret of the success of Demon' s Crest? Several ways to finish it, a great freedom of action. Moreover, the true end is a) difficult to obtain and b) provided with a Boss considered like one with worst in the video games. No joke.
Precisely, is it difficult to play? Enough yes, even frustrating per moments. I do not have anything against it, I hate all these games which take us by the hand nowadays, one would believe that the challenge aspect does not have as much importance. Do not fear, it is not Ninja Gaiden, I qualify the difficulty as moderate (high for NG). I do not want to say too much because I would like you to test it, with an emulator why not, and be as surprised as I was when I tested this title for the first time approximately 7 or 8 years ago. You will find several winks to other Fujiwara productions in terms of gameplay or general design. Not to miss! Make me proud!