5 Games That Take the War between Demons and Angels beyond Diablo
There’s no use pretending. Like pretty much everyone else, all we can think about here at TapTap this week is the launch of Diablo Immortal. But for as exciting as Blizzard’s hack-n-slash franchise finally coming to mobile is, Diablo isn’t the first game to focus on the conflict between Heaven and Hell, and it’s surely not going to be the last.
163760With that in mind, we put together a list of five interesting mobile titles that take the war between angels and demons into surprising new directions. Whether you’re hunting demons with a gun, solving puzzles, or recruiting sexy angels to fight by your side, these games showcase the many perspectives available when dealing with these ancient, primordial forces. One of them even imagines a world where maybe you don’t need to fight demons. Maybe...you can love demons?
Check out our picks below, and let us know in the comments: Which side are you taking? Demons or angels? Who you got in Armageddon?
• Demon Hunter 5: Ascendance | @JB
The hidden object games from Polish publisher Artifex Mundi are always straight-up camp, but Demon Hunter 5: Ascendance heads into uncharted territory. It steps beyond the weirdness of previous games from Artifex Mundi like Dark Arcana: The Carnival, and strikes bizarre new ground for itself.
The main character of Ascendance is Hector Cole, a battle-hardened member of an order that combats the forces of evil. His task is to investigate the mysterious disappearance of one of the guests at Edmund Strange's Museum of Mysticism and Monstrosity. This exploration is complicated by the fact that the location is apparently possessed by a mysterious entity that is carefully watching Cole's every step.
In this experience the player will find thirty-five hand-drawn locations to check out, where there are twenty-six puzzles to solve, most of which rely on the search for concealed objects. As the game progresses, we learn more about the big ol’ mystery the storyline spins, and also uncover more about the past of Mr. Strange's museum...and the wicked proceedings that took place there.
Demon Hunter 5: Ascendance is a game of two halves, really. The first half remains in the museum, and it has a great deal of scare-tastic fun with this setup. Animatronic ghosts zip past, shrunken heads chat up Hector, and it all has the distinct feel of a Tales from the Crypt episode...which is never a bad thing in my mind. But an odd narrative twist ruins the whole situation and things get real boring, real quick. I would have much rather carried on down the path that the first half of the game laid before me.
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If you’re looking for a rapid-paced action shooter, Rise of Demons might be for you. Rise of Demons is a first-person shooter title clearly inspired by Doom, one of the granddaddies of the FPS genre. Rise of Demons shares a lot in common with Doom, including mechanics, gameplay, and an overall focus on destroying all sorts of demons. It isn’t afraid to throw players into a proper monster shoot-out, and surviving will require agile maneuvering and making skilled use of the game’s array of weapon choices.
As a fast-paced first-person shooter mobile game, Rise of Demons does pretty well with its general design, layout, and gameplay. Its only single-player mode revolves around killing demons in waves to pass through each stage.
Players can slide, throw grenades, leap through the air, and swap weapons by cycling through them in a small inventory. As players progress through the waves, they’ll add new guns to their arsenal, providing additional firepower and new strategic options for engaging with the demonic enemies.
At times I felt like Rise of Demon’s speed was pushed into fast-forward just to feel similar to Doom. However, it’s almost too fast-paced for a mobile game; it doesn’t provide players with the leeway to react accordingly to the lightning-quick AI of the demons. I increasingly got caught off guard by the sheer chaotic speed of things, which eventually led to death and restarting.
Rise of Demons has a long way to go before it becomes the kind of game that players can stick with for days or weeks on end. I was stunned by its visuals and character design, and the sound effects and UI get the job done well enough. Ultimately, it has its bright sides, but there’s still so much progress to be made before it becomes a dynamo of a shooter game.
SCORE: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
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• Seven Mortal Sins X-TASY | @Kef
Seven Mortal Sins X-TASY is a gacha game, a style that’s already known for using saucy fan service to encourage players to keep rolling for their preferred waifus. Seven Mortal Sins kicks that formula up several notches, though, with a cast of near-naked heaving bosoms and smooth thighs attached to an interchangeable blend of one-note personalities. There may be seven mortal sins at play, but it sure seems like lust is the primary focus here.
X-TASY puts players into the shoes of Lucifer, the fallen archangel who you may recognize from starring roles in The Bible and Dante Alighieri’s Inferno. Fresh from being cast out of Heaven, Lucifer soon finds herself embroiled in a series of increasingly over-the-top schemes pitting angels, demons, and a mysterious third faction against each other.The actual gameplay of Seven Mortal Sins X-TASY, outside of party management, involves taking a group of five characters into a stage and defeating waves of enemies using turn-based combat. Each character is assigned one of three elemental types—strength, agility, or technique—which help provide buffs and weaknesses based on a rock-paper-scissors formula.
The mechanics of combat are extremely solid and should be enjoyable to anyone with a fondness for classic Japanese RPGs, but I was also very impressed by the aesthetics of combat. Let me explain: When the game switches into combat mode, it reinterprets the full-art anime characters as tiny, chibi character models. Not only does this remove some of the squickiness of the lecherous drawings that pop up during dialogue sequences, but this fresh visual style is also just surprisingly well-developed and high-quality.
SCORE: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
If you're unfamiliar with the term “otome,” it roughly translates to “maiden game.” These stories usually target women and deal with romancing a male figure. The main narrative behind Proposed by a Demon Lord follows suit. After catching the last train home, you're transported to a new world where you soon learn that you're a legendary hero. Because of your lineage, the Demon King wants you to marry, mate, and produce offspring with one of eight eligible demon lords. Failure to do so means death! Romantic, right?
You have three options after choosing your bachelor: main story, side story, or illustration. Each date is an episode within the main story and is about a five-minute read. But with over seven hundred episodes at your disposal, the gamification element of Proposed by a Demon Lord is lost. I could immediately choose any demon, episode, or ending, and I found myself missing the linear sense of chapter completion.
If there’s one important element of Proposed by a Demon Lord worth praising, though, it’s that the text was clever and funny at times—and for an experience that’s essentially all reading, that matters!
Proposed by a Demon Lord is a simple game with a straightforward premise; you know what you’re getting into when you play it, and you probably had a good idea of if it’s your thing by the time you read the title or looked at some screenshots. Fans of otome should enjoy the variety in love interests combined with the fun artwork and upbeat music. Although it has plenty of flaws, the game offers hours of content and different paths for players to choose from.
SCORE: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
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• Angel Saga | @always monika
The only thing that makes me sad about Angel Saga is that all the attacks are automatic, but this doesn’t prevent the game from being good.
Angel Saga is about the adventure of Myel, an innocent angel who is summoned to an evil realm. You play as Myel and need to make your way out of the evilness.
The game has really simple controls and is easy for everyone to pick up: You move around to dodge enemies’ attacks and stand still to attack them. The controls are rather responsive and I enjoy the smooth gameplay very much.
The simplicity of controls doesn't decrease the fun of the game. Angel Saga is a polished roguelike dungeon crawler with a deep customization system and a large number of skill combos. Also, the game has a really cool art style for its characters and animation.
If you are looking for a low-effort mobile game with endless fun, I think Angel Saga is the one.
SCORE: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
203083💬 Did any of your favorite (non-Diablo) games that feature angels and demons make the list? Or are there some great picks that we missed? Let us know in the comments below!
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