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Kappa Chameleon
Good first-person melee combat really lives or dies on all the little touches and intangibles you need to make that tired dance of light attack / strong attack / dodge / block really sing, and Demon King blessedly delivers on that front. Its stamina system is shockingly unforgiving, with the pool’s auto recovery more resembling the pace of other games' mana bars—a slow tick upward once you’ve stopped swinging, dodging, or kicking for a few beats. Managing that limited pool started to prove challenging once multiple enemies or more difficult foes entered the mix, and even Demon King’s basic Goomba guys could catch me off guard with a weirdly timed attack or block-breaking kick.
But nailing a combo and punishing one of Demon King’s freaky horrors feels phenomenal. You’ve got an Arkane-style kick that breaks enemies' guards and combos nicely into follow-up sword swings, while finishing blows will ragdollize and occasionally decapitate foes in a ludicrously satisfying way. If I’ve got one gripe, it’s that the parry feels particularly sluggish and difficult to time, and I had much better luck out spacing enemies or kicking them to interrupt an attack. Minor complaints aside, every duel is both genuinely threatening and feels rewarding to overcome.
House Rules
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