Demonschool is a strategy RPG from Necrosoft where the apocalypse looms large. You play as Faye, one of the last demon hunters, joined by a group of school friends who must work together to uncover the mysteries threatening their world. The school’s island is crawling with dangers and demons eager to hassle you at every turn.
Using Faye’s and her companions’ demon-slaying skills, they just might find a way to defeat this ultimate evil. Along the way, persona-like school activities and extracurriculars could hold the key to stopping the demons’ plans. Is Demonschool a university worth attending? Find out in our review!
Demonschool
Developer: Necrosoft Games
Publisher: Ysbryd Games
Platforms: Windows PC, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch (reviewed)
Release Date: November 19, 2025
Price: $24.99
While Demonschool has a lot of promise, the game is riddled with game-breaking bugs. Several months ago, I played a previous build that had plenty of issues, but now I regret to say that most, if not all, of them are still present. One odd bug happens when you try to pet a dog in town. After doing so, Faye’s sprite completely disappears, leaving you controlling only her drop shadow. Reloading the game fixes it, but the real problems come with bugs that block progress.
Other issues occur whenever the game prompts you to make a dialogue or decision between classmates; as soon as the options appear, the game boots you back to the main splash screen. During a side quest where I tossed a coin into the park fountain to make a wish, and every time a choice was offered, the same bug hit, sending me back. The bug kept occurring, forcing me to miss large amounts of side content simply because the programming or debugging was left incomplete.
When the game lets me dive into its demon-slaying action, I have a great time. Using strategic turn-based combat, Faye and her classmates banish demons who resemble men in suits back to their shadow realms. While the battles are highly tactical, the experience can swing between fun and frustrating.
Moving Faye and her classmates around is confusing at first and feels messy. In classic tile-based SRPGs like Fire Emblem or Final Fantasy Tactics, you can move within a set range to any available tile. In Demonschool, however, movement is restricted to straight forward or backward, with only a single-tile sidestep allowed. The goal is to plan positions carefully, but it often feels like the real challenge is managing placement rather than fighting demons.
With the right setup, you can unleash satisfying combo attacks, chaining enemies into a slaughter. Some characters, like “Phasers,” can’t attack directly but run through enemies to debilitate them, setting the stage for more aggressive strategies. Pulling this off feels great, but moving units is often costly in terms of actions, which run out quickly.
Combat is generous, providing you with numerous opportunities to reassess your approach. In fact, it might be a bit too forgiving, hinting at the developer’s lack of confidence in the player’s skills. You can undo your actions at any time until you land the perfect result, and the settings even include an “almost invincible” mode that makes enemy attacks feel meaningless.
While the combat has plenty of intrigue, some elements could have used a bit more refinement. Once a schoolmate performs enough actions, they can fill a gauge that unleashes a powerful, tide-turning ability.
The school-life elements of the game don’t offer much to uncover. A counter ticking down the days until the apocalypse adds a sense of looming dread to the inevitable ending, but there’s no real mechanic to back it up as you progress toward the finale. Most non-battle activities come down to shopping for minor and major passive upgrades, and building relationships with a surprisingly large cast of friends you meet along the way.
Demonschool brings fresh and engaging strategic ideas to the popular Persona-like, school-focused RPG genre, but it’s held back by an overwhelming number of game-breaking bugs that desperately need fixing. After waiting three months for improvements following its initial build, I’m completely baffled that the same problems still plague it.
Demonschool was reviewed on Nintendo Switch 2 using a code provided by Ysbryd Games. Additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy is here. Demonschool is now available for Windows PC (via Steam), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
