When Inti Creates announced a brand new 2D action game series for consoles and PC in the form of Grim Guardians: Demon Purge, I was cautiously optimistic for the project. It is out today for Nintendo Switch, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Steam worldwide, and will be getting a physical release through PQube Games in the West. Having enjoyed Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 a lot, I was hoping Grim Guardians: Demon Purge would deliver. I’ve been playing it on PS5, Nintendo Switch, and Steam Deck for review. For this Grim Guardians: Demon Purge PS5 review, I will focus on the PS5 version and the features included in this version.
Grim Guardians: Demon Purge features 2 player local co-op, multiple difficulty options, and has two PS5-specific features included on the console side. A reductive way of describing Grim Guardians: Demon Purge would be Gal Gun meets Castlevania, but Inti Creates has done enough to make it stand out on its own with no prior experience needed. If you’ve not played Gal Gun, I found the first localized entry quite funny for what it was, but didn’t stick with the series since. You play as Shinobu and Maya from Gal Gun here, and they have many voiced interactions as you progress through the game. The story itself isn’t anything to write home about, but Grim Guardians: Demon Purge doesn’t overstay its welcome.
Grim Guardians: Demon Purge features two player local co-op support with drop in support, but it is fully playable solo. You can swap between characters at almost any time, and it will help depending on the situation given the varied play styles. As you conquer the bosses, you rescue specific characters and unlock more abilities that help with exploration. Grim Guardians: Demon Purge is on the easier side, but I appreciate the option to reduce the barrier of entry for newcomers to the genre.
Grim Guardians: Demon Purge PS5 features – 120fps and activity cards
After Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 offered 120fps support on Xbox Series X and also on PS5, I was curious to see what features would be included in Grim Guardians: Demon Purge. On PS5, Grim Guardians: Demon Purge offers a 120fps mode and has support for PS5 Activity Cards to jump into your save immediately. It also has much faster loading than expected with near instant loads across the board. I am a bit disappointed that there is no haptic feedback or adaptive trigger support though.
On the audio side of things, Grim Guardians: Demon Purge has a good soundtrack that reminds me of older Castlevania games and it has dual audio support when it comes to voiceover. Inti Creates has been bringing DLC to a lot of its games in recent years, and I’m very curious to see what we get for Grim Guardians: Demon Purge barring potentially new playable characters from other games by the developer.
After enjoying Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 a lot, I was hoping Grim Guardians: Demon Purge would deliver on a competent Castlevania-like, and it mostly did just that. It takes a little while to get going, and I’d recommend playing through the campaign more than once, but I can safely recommend Grim Guardians: Demon Purge at its current asking price on PS5. The PS5 features like 120fps support and PS5 Activity Cards are nice additions to have, and it is accessible even for newcomers to the genre.
