The third in the Gargoyle's Quest series, which is a spinoff from the Ghosts'n Goblins series, Demon's Crest is a game that doesn't seem to find its way into the conversation much. As far as I'm concerned, it's a Halloween classic. I like to break this one out every October and soak in the haunting graphics and sound.
I believe I played the trilogy backwards, just because that's the order I happened to obtain them in, and it was pretty jarring going back to the first two after this entry. Despite many game mechanics staying the same, Demon's Crest manages to feel totally different to its predecessors, which is largely thanks to the power of the Super NES. Not to say the other two are bad, and maybe I'll review them someday, but trilogy's finale trims some of the fat by getting rid of many of the RPG elements present in its predecessors and adding interesting new mechanics in their place. So, how does this devilish romp fare? Read on...
I would describe the gameplay as something like Mega Man X with a Castlevania coat of paint. Firebrand can use his wings to hover, his claws to cling to walls and his head to smash some objects. Additionally, the crests he collects from defeating certain bosses let him change into different forms with special abilities, like dashing through rock or flying freely, which you'd imagine he'd be able to do anyway... and which he clearly does on the overworld and during cutscenes... but I digress. He can also collect different types of fireballs for his default form, as well as talismans which have various effects, such as increasing attack, defense, or the amount of money you'll find, but you can only equip one at a time.
You can also purchase consumables, namely potions and spells, but to carry them, you'll need to find urns and vellum, respectively. The potions each do something different, like letting Firebrand exit or restart a stage, heal his HP or revive upon death. The spells are not super useful, and I've read that some of them don't even do anything, possibly due to programming errors. You'd be best off spending your GP on Ginseng, which is a full heal, and maybe the Doom spell in case you find yourself overwhelmed by enemies. Doom doesn't work on the late game bosses, though, which is where you'll likely need the most help.
Most of the stages have multiple paths, leading to different bosses and items. Hidden in the stages are the urns, vellum and talismans mentioned earlier, as well as Clear Souls ("Clear Soul" is the Japanese name for this item, and the Western materials don't seem to give it a name. Therefore... they're called Clear Souls!), which add one unit to Firebrand's life gauge. The stages themselves aren't too difficult for the most part, but some of the bosses can be pretty tough—especially the last two. Thankfully, some of them have specific weaknesses, like in another Capcom series already mentioned once in this review. I've found that the flying serpent miniboss is weak to the Air Gargoyle's attack, and the skeletal boss at the end of the graveyard doesn't last long against Ground Gargoyle.
The game also has an overworld that Firebrand flies around, which reminds me a lot of flying the airship in Final Fantasy VI. There's not a ton on the overworld besides the levels, which open up as you progress, but there are also two shops and three minigame houses, two of which are hidden. The third level wins you a Clear Soul which counts toward 100% though, so be sure to look for it! There's also a village, which is implemented in kind of a strange way. The village, rather than being its own area, is just the first screen of the second stage, and unlike the rest of the stages, there are no enemies, and you can just exit anytime without a sulfur potion, that is, if you walk off the left edge of the screen. If you go to the right, you continue to the rest of the level. The village contains two shops, the best ones in the game, a ghoul who tells you about the talismans, and a green devil who tells you about the gargoyle transformations. There are also windows and pots you can smash, which makes it a good place to farm for GP and to practice jumping headbutts, which you'll need to be good at for the minigames.
The game has multiple endings, depending on how much of the game you've completed by the time you fight the game's big bad, Phalanx. If you're like me, the first time you play, you'll go in guns a-blazing and take him down as soon as possible, then get the bad ending, where the demon world falls into ruin, or something like that. For the best ending, you have to get 100% of the items, beat the souped up final boss, then enter the secret password the game gives you after the ending to play the post-game. I do think it's really strange that they did it this way. Why a password? Why not just have the game continue after the final boss? Stranger yet, the password doesn't appear until a while after the credits end, so surely, a good few players turned the game off before ever seeing the password, thinking they'd seen everything.
The post-game is mostly the same as the main game, but with two major differences. First, you start off with all items, as well as one new item, the Crest of Heaven, which allows you to become the Legendary Gargoyle. This transformation has all the powers of the other transformations combined, so there's no more switching back and forth. Second, Firebrand can now confront the REAL final boss, the so-called Dark Demon. Be warned—this thing is TOUGH. I think most players will have to use a full inventory of Ginseng to stand a chance against it, as it's very likely humanly impossible to avoid taking damage from this thing. It hits hard and often, so your armor talisman will only do so much. If you make it this far, I wish you luck. Oh yeah, you start the post-game with full items, like I said, but no potions, spells or money. Considering you'll definitely want to go into the Dark Demon fight with five Ginsengs, it's best to slap on the crown talisman and get to work smashing pots and windows in the town to save up the 700GP total needed.
The controls are mostly pretty solid, and you can remap them from the main menu if you'd like. Each of Firebrand's forms has a special move mapped to the A button by default, which feels fine for some of the moves and awkward for others, forcing you to hold the controller in an odd way. I'll sometimes change it to a shoulder button. Besides that, I'd say I have two other primary gripes with this game. First is the difficulty spike you slam into with the last two battles when going for the best ending, but I've touched on that already. Second is its short length. On my first playthrough, I beat the game in about two hours, and now I can beat it 100% in about as much time, if not less. Not as big of a gripe, but I also feel like the headbutt mechanic is a bit unnecessary and it seems pretty shoehorned in at times. It's sort of like blowing on stuff in Donkey Kong Country Returns, if you've played that (and if you haven't, you should!).
When I started this review, I initially wrote that the soundtrack didn't do much for me, but as I played more, nearly every track started worming into my brain. Such good music! It's fits the entire vibe of the game perfectly every step of the way with moody and mysterious melodies, which are more downbeat than what I typically like, but really good regardless. I mostly play this game around Halloween as I said at the top, so the music always makes me feel like it's fall, no matter what time of year it is. It's hard to pick a favorite track, but I might have to go with the town theme. That one just ends up stuck in my head more than any others. A ton of other tracks would tie for second, though! Music aside, there's not too much else to say about the sound, save for a brief mention that two bosses (the sea slug and one other, I think the fire boss) produce unnecesarily harsh sounds when defeated, which may have you diving for the remote. Don't say I didn't warn you!
The art is fantastic. It seems to be eternally night in this dark, demonic world, and a thick gloomy and macabre atmosphere is slathered onto every surface you'll encounter. In the village, skeletons are pouring out of broken windows. You'll be assailed by rotting zombies and mounds of melting flesh. One of the bosses attacks with its blood. The first time I played, I didn't even notice the enormous statue in the background of the first stage. I'd say there aren't really any jaw-dropping effects, especially by 1995 SNES standards, but the artistry and attention to detail are stunning. I love that Firebrand is briefly illuminated by the light of his own fireballs, and that his breathing becomes labored when he's low on health. The game also does the thing that Super Metroid does where the bosses become more red the more damage they take. That should be how every game denotes enemy health, if you ask me!
Fans of the first two games' story should be adequately satisfied, but you don't need to have played them to understand Demon's Crest. The story once again stars the player character, Firebrand. He's a Red Arremer, a red, winged devil from the Ghosts'n Goblins games. The story this time revolves around the Crests of fire, earth, air, water, time and heaven, which fell from the sky into the demon realm, prompting a civil war to break out as every ghoul, ghost and misfit monster made a mad dash to claim all six and take control of their awesome power. Firebrand accomplished this goal, but was badly hurt in the process. In his weakened state, the demon Phalanx was able to defeat Firebrand and claim the crests for himself and rule as a ruthless dictator. That all comes from the intro, and it's about all the story you'll get until the end, which is a bit of a departure from the first two games, as they have a lot more dialog through which the story unfolds between levels. The game has multiple endings, as touched on before, detailing the fate of Firebrand and the demon realm after the defeat of Phalanx. Even the good endings have a somber feel to them, as if the game refuses to smile, even for a moment. It sticks with its gothic theme the entire time, not even dropping it for a second. I have to respect that.
Demon's Crest boasts a brooding darkness in its every pixel, every note, every monstrous roar. It's a complete demonic package, perfect for the goth in your life. It's a wonder why this one doesn't get brought up more often in discussions of great SNES games. Could it be considered a hidden gem? Well, I'm not sure how hidden it is, but it's certainly a gem, or perhaps, a crest? It can be difficult to go back to the prequels after venturing through this game, because I'd say it's pretty easily the best in the series in many, if not most ways. Firebrand hovering infinitely, for example, is a skill he only learns towards the end of the previous two games, though I suppose he didn't forget how to do it this time around, as this ability is available from the start in Demon's Crest. I definitely recommend you check this game out if you're a platformer fan, especially on a dark October night with the volume cranked up. Oh yeah, that's the stuff. It has a little something for everyone.
Published 7/17/23
