Demon’s Tier+ from Diabolical Mind and Cowcat is a twin-stick roguelike dungeon crawler on PS4 and PS Vita. Learn more in our Demon’s Tier+ review!

 

In Demon’s Tier+ from Diabolical Mind and Cowcat, you will be tasked with entering the dungeons of King Thosgar to defeat all of its minions to free the land of its evil influence. A hole popped up on a village after an earthquake, and it’s through this hole that you will get to explore procedurally generated dungeons in a twin-stick shooter setup as you try to become the hero the land requires. Do you have what it takes to be the one who brings peace to this world?

We previously got a pair of fun and challenging games from Diabolical Mind and Cowcat on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, which I enjoyed when I played them for our reviews. One of them is Riddled Corpses EX, an old-school infused arcade-style twin-stick shooter with a demonic supernatural twist, I got to play on PlayStation Vita. The other one is Xenon Valkyrie+, a challenging procedurally generated roguelike platformer we played on PlayStation Vita. Demon’s Tier+ brings together the roguelike elements and challenge of Xenon Valkyrie+ with the demonic twin-stick shooter action of Riddled Corpses EX, for a very fun game with a lot of replay value.

 

Due to its twin-stick nature, you will move your hero with the left analog stick, attacking opponents by aiming and shooting with the right one. Everything that walks or flies around you is ready to kill you, which is why you have to make the most of the starting seconds in a new dungeon floor during which you’ll be protected by a magical aura that will keep enemies at bay for a bit. Focus on killing as many demons as possible before the aura dissipates, so that you can start to collect not only D-Tokens but also gold coins.

Defeating enemies will reward you with D-Tokens, which is the in-game premium currency. If you die, a tombstone will pop up, and you will lose all of your D-Tokens. You will have one chance of getting to and destroying the tombstone to recover what you’ve lost, so you better make it count! D-Tokens are very important since they will allow you to unlock new, more powerful heroes, as well as powerful healing potions that will refill any hearts you’ve lost, which will be very important for extending subsequent runs into the dungeon’s floors. You can also use D-Tokens to purchase other relics from Mira, and the good news is that relics won’t be lost after you die!

 

Gold coins can be spent as you move between the different floors of the dungeon, and they can be used for boosting different stats for your hero. You can boost your hero’s overall hit points, its defense, attack power, speed, or even improve your combo so that you get more D-Tokens for every demon you kill- which is very useful for obtaining more D-Tokens than usual so that you can unlock better heroes. Boosting a hero’s stats will make a huge difference as you take on the next floor of the dungeon since what you face on that floor will let you know the game has increased the difficulty and challenge.

Each hero will have different starting stats for you to consider. The starting Knight certainly does its job with armor that can withstand a beating, as well as good defense stats, but its attacks don’t travel far, and he’s a bit on the slow side of things. The Wizard is a sorceress who has control over fire, a powerful weapon that makes up for her fragile physic since she only has the one hit point. The Archer is the one that will help new adventurers make some solid progress in this adventure – that is, once you unlock it! His attacks travel far, and he’s very light on his feet, making it easier to avoid enemies and their attacks. The Cleric is a powerful student of the ancient arts with access to a powerful healing skill that will make a huge difference in dungeons. The Berserker has low hit points, and low defense, but can swing its sword to deal a ton of damage to anyone foolish enough to get in his way. The Assassin is fast and deadly, making it ideal for quick strikes that can deal considerable damage – just be careful because she has low defense!

 

Exploring the evil dungeon can also reward you with recipes for new weapons, which you can bring to the town’s Blacksmith so that he can craft new weapons for each of your heroes. Weapons are specific to each hero, so you won’t be able to mix and match. Because of this, finding more recipes for more powerful weapons for the heroes you unlock by spending D-Tokens is an important part of the gameplay cycle, or else you will be easily overpowered by the demons in the lower floors of the dungeon.

And now, let’s talk about the trophies! The game does have a Platinum trophy, and there are many trophies for you to get for this adventure, with the good news being that none of the trophies are missable! You’ll get trophies for things such as, for example, dying – an easy one -, buying your first potion, crafting a new weapon, defeating each of the game’s bosses, opening at least 100 treasure chests, completing each of the dungeon tiers, saving the villagers you find in the dungeon, and unlocking all characters in the game.

As for the Plus part of the game’s title? This console release improves on everything that made Demon’s Tier a fun game, and then some! Translations have been revamped, new effects have been added here, there, and everywhere, a revamped two-player co-op in which the other hero can destroy the tombstone of a fallen hero to bring it back to life at 30% health before the group is proper dead, new traps have been added, the whole game has been optimized for better performance, and many quality of life improvements have been added, making this the definitive version of the game.

Demon’s Tier+ is a fun and challenging twin-stick shooter with a fantasy twist that offers a lot of replay value at a low price. The game is a Cross-Buy release, which means you can buy the PS4 version and get the PS Vita version at no cost, and vice versa. Add the game having a Platinum trophy, and this is an easy one to recommend at its $9.99 asking price.

Disclaimer
This Demon’s Tier+ review is based on a PlayStation Vita copy provided by Cowcat.