Video Game / Demon Gaze

Demon Gaze is a RPG/Dungeon Crawler for the Play Station Vita created by Kadokawa Games. It was first released in Japan in 2013, and later in America in 2014.

In this game, you take the control of a young man (Default name: Oz) who arrived, without knowing, in the Dragon Princess Inn, a lair for mercenaries at the outskirts of the ruined Castle Grimodar. Oz has the power of the Demon Gazer: a being who can capture and control demons by gazing at them. Seeing this as an opportunity to protect the inn (and make some more money in the process), the manager, Fran Pendoll, decides to send Oz into the six realms surrounding the castle to defeat demons who occupy those regions.

The gameplay is quite identical to the Etrian Odyssey series. You create a party of five characters (including the protagonist) as you travel into a labyrinth to find and defeat the resident demon(s). This is done by searching out and capturing all the "Demon Circles" scattered across the labyrinth. Once all circles have been sealed, a demon will appear, who you must then defeat. After winning the fight, the demon will be sealed away by your Demon Gazer power, and then turned into a key back at the inn, which you can use to summon it as an ally in battle.

In addition, the game allows you to customize your party with Artifacts which give them different set of abilities that they might not be able to acquire themselves, as well as changing their appearances in the bath area at the inn. And finally, you can interact with NPCs both before and after sidequests to improve your relationship with them.

The game also received a manga adaptation.

A sequel titled Demon Gaze II was released in 2017 and an Updated Re-release titled Demon Gaze Extra was released in 2021.

This game contains examples of:

• A.I. Roulette: The AI appears to choose moves at random rather than employing them with any sense of tactics. Enemies would often use physical attacks against your back-line members while the party is protected by Light Veil/Dark Veil/Angel Mirror (which blocks attacks aimed at the back-line), instead of switching to magic or try to dispel it. This, coupled with the erratic damage monsters inflict, can make fighting the same boss either a complete cakewalk or a total disaster.
  • Unfortunately, this goes for the demons summoned by you as well, since they are also controlled by the AI. There will be times when you summoned your healer demon for healing but she lashes out at the enemy instead, and on occasions the extremely powerful demon you brought out to provide some cover-fire decided to use that one move which instantly cripples an enemy...and a member of your party.
• Almost Kiss: Between Fran and the MC at the Fairy Hideout, if you choose "I like you".
• An Adventurer Is You: The game offers 7 classes (well, 8 if you count Gazer, but you don't get to pick that.) and 5 races to customise your party members with. Race determines your character's overall stats (for example, a Ney would have a higher Agility stat than humans) and some of the equipment they can use, while classes determine what skills and other kinds of equipment they can use. You can't change your MC's race or class though, he stays as a male human Gazer. These character builds can get more varied after you've acquired artifacts, which enable characters to use skills of another class.
• The Atoner: The main character Oz, especially after you became directly responsible for the death of Lancelorna.
• Arbitrary Headcount Limit: Your party is limited to five members. Explained in-game as the Dragon Princess Inn has only five spare rooms left, so there is no place to put any extra members. This does not explain why you still can't recruit more members after extra rooms become available when Lacelorna and Jig dies and the latter's companion subsequently leaving the inn, or since Lulu betrays you and never came back to the inn thereafter.
• Babies Ever After: After the main game, Fran and Oz have a baby girl and continue to live in the inn to run the business together.
• Bad Boss: Fran. She will burn those who don't pay their rent with a breath of fire, as well as anyone who annoys her.
• Big Damn Heroes: In the Clock Tower, Fran arrives as a dragon and frees Oz from being gazed by Lulu with a kiss
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: The mysterious Lu Lunark is in fact the demon Luna in disguise, who's looking for the Demon Key to free Sol.
• "Blind Idiot" Translation: The Angel Mirror item prevents the enemy from using "Demon Vase". It's pretty obvious what it means when the attack it's supposed to stop is used on you, but it's confusing up until them.
• Bloodless Carnage: Lorna's death. She receives multiple stabs, gets her right arm blown clean off, then dies with grievous stab wounds all over her body with no visible signs of blood shown.
• Boss in Mook Clothing: In some areas you will encounter a mob with monsters stronger than any other you can find in the area. They are also capable of summoning underlings. Under higher difficulties, they are capable of killing 2-3 of your party members in one turn. Examples include the Wolfen Lord (Grimodar Castle), Dullahan and her big Brother Thanatos (Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter Eden), Yurman and Yorman (Endless Road, Submerged Area).
• Boss Rush: God's Eden. There are 8 circles scattered across your path which must be captured. Each one of the first 6 circles will trigger a Dual Boss fight against the dark version of two of 8 demons you've previously captured (i.e. the ones summoned by Sol). After beating all of them, you then have to fight Sol, who retains the ability to summon dark demons in battle, and then fight Dark Aries, before you could face the Optional Boss. There's no After Boss Recovery or save points there, although you are allowed to retreat back to the castle to heal and save.
• Brought Down to Normal: Averted with Oz who, despite losing his Demon half after the main story, retains his Demon Gazer powers. Played straight with Fran, who loses the ability to transform to her dragon form for a few hundred years, as a punishment helping Oz to defeat Luna.
• Butt-Monkey: Lezerem, who gets repeated abused by other residents at the Inn throughout the game. Though to be honest, most of it really is his own fault.
• Cast from Lifespan: Demon gazing. This turns out to be the reason Prometh can't revive Lancelorna after she dies, as gazing took too much from her. This also affects Oz, but Prometh says that his lifespan is so massive that it doesn't really affect him.
• Cat Folk: The Ney. Pinay is a NPC example, but you also get to recruit Neys into your party.
• Cerebus Syndrome: After you cleared the first two dungeons. Before that, the game seems like a light-hearted, fanservice-ridden role playing game.
• Chekhov's Gun: Cassel's pendant and staff. The former turned out to be the (damaged) Sol Key, and the latter is actually the Staff of Glory, something Lerezem has been searching for all his life, which is apparently capable of teleporting the user over long distance. Too bad he mistakes it for some useless stick and used it as firewood.
• Covert Pervert: Pinay. Who likes to think what happened between Fran and Lorna. She also sniffs Fran's panties while cleaning her room.
• Cute Monster Girl: Fran is a dragon in human form, which makes sense given the name of the Inn.
• Degraded Boss: Astarte comes back as a random encounter in the upper floors of Grimodar Castle. Thankfully, you're about 20 levels higher than you were when you first fought her. Skull Lords are another example, you fight one (the Undying) as a boss fight to unlock the stairs of Grimodar castle, and they come back later as normal mooks. Sol in the Bonus Dungeon might count as well, since he's got a lot less health (20000) when you fight him there.
• Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: Fran, when she says she could lay an egg.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Oz has to defeat his fellow demons, then his sister Luna and Sol with the knowledge that he might die at the end. But in the end, his human side triumphs over the demon side, allowing him to stay in the world of the living and thus, living happily ever after with Fran.
• Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: There are four elements in the game: Fire, Water, Wind and Earth. Each element gives a 10% damage bonus against the weaker element, and receives 10% damage penalty against the stronger element. Although the differences isn't really that notable to be worth bothered with, unless you are playing as a Wizard or are severely underlevelled.
• Fallen Hero: The demons you capture throughout the course of the game were once heroes sent to destroy Sol.
• Fanservice: The game is full of fanservice, you get to see the female characters in their undergarments often (well, mostly just Prometh), and plot advancements will usually bring you one or two NFSW scenes featuring the main girls.
• Godiva Hair: Venus' enraged form.
• Glass Cannon: Mars becomes this after being captured. Her damage output is excessive, regularly hitting for four digit damages multiple times a turn when your characters themselves may be hitting for low triple digits. This makes her effectively mandatory for every boss fight. The drawback being of course that she barely catches up to a Dwarf Paladin in health, and none of the defenses any of your characters can put up help her. If she goes down, and she often will, expect to struggle through the fight if you can make it through at all.
• Half-Human Hybrid: You, a demon with a human soul.
• Hard Mode Perks: Higher difficulties make your enemies stronger and pumps up the rent increase rate, but also awards you will more XP and money gains, and gives better loot drops.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Lorna, in order to prevent you from destroying the inn.
• Hiding in Plain Sight: Fran tries to hide her identity as princess of the dragons while running the Dragon Princess Inn.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Fran stabs Oz during the ending to kill his demon side.
• Idiosyncratic Difficulty Levels: Measured with temperature levels:
  • Cold (Easy)
  • Cool (Normal)
  • Warm (Hard)
  • Hot (Very Hard)
• Killed Off for Real: Lancelorna, while stopping you from going berserk. And Jig, who dies attacking Lulu.
• Lethal Joke Item: The Pico Pico Hammer (inflatable squeaky toy hammer) and other similar items. Laughably absurd damage, a ton of attacks per round, and a status effect (usually stun). Giving these to your Samurai to dual wield means that entire rows of the enemy forces get hit with multiple status effect causing attacks each turn, and almost no enemies in the game resist stun. Similar items exist later on that do other status effects, such as Paralysis, Poison, or Instant Death.
• Leeroy Jenkins: Jig, after learning that Lulu was the one responsible for Lorna's death, not Oz, angrily charges at her to attack...Completely ignoring the fact that Lulu has just revealed herself as an extremely powerful demon.
• Locked in the Dungeon: Venus' domain is an extensive dungeon full of undead creatures and acid pools.
  • You starts the game with you and the demon Comet trapped in the dungeon of the inn.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: Lulu is Oz's (aka Terra's) sister (Or replacement), and Cassell's mother (or is at least possessing her body).
• Meido: Pinay, the inn's chief maid and cook.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Cassel freed the demons in Grimodar castle while looting the place.
• Nintendo Hard: This game mercilessly taunts players with enemies capable of oneshotting your characters, inflicting nasty status ailments that make your life very unpleasant, and bosses with ridiculously efficient Regenerating Health.
• No Hero Discount: In spades. The shops are understandable, since you're just another customer, but despite Oz having a special mission for Fran, she won't knock a single G off her rates (and in fact jacks it up every time you return). Failing to pay your board the minute you walk in the door from a life-threatening dungeon raid? She'll blacklist you from most of the Inn's services until you settle your rates. Even essential services to get you set up, like finding you your first partner, had to be covered by Lorna.
• Not What It Looks Like: Pinay, after you find her sniffing Fran's panties.
• Official Couple: Oz and Fran.
• One-Hit Kill: The assassin can sometimes kill enemies in a single stroke, regardless of their HP. Some enemies can do it too, and their success rate is frighteningly high. Fortunately, the paladin will become immune to OHKO a short while after you first start meeting these enemies, and you can find many items and equipment to save other characters from getting oneshotted.
• Optional Boss: Aries and Quasar are fought at the bottom of the Black Cage and God's Eden, respectively.
• Petite Pride: Lu Lunark, the tiniest person in the inn, but she doesn't mind about the fact.
• Playful Cat Smile: Pinay whenever she's being mischievous. Appropriate, since she's a cat.
• Purely Aesthetic Gender: There are no gameplay differences between male characters and females characters. You can choose a female portrait for your male character (even your main character), or assign him with a female voiceset. Male characters can also wear female clothing like bras with no problem.
• Pre-Climax Climax: Between Oz and Fran before facing the final dungeon and Luna.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Demon eyes turn red when enraged. Yours do too, moments before you kill Lancelorna
• Retirony: Lancelorna.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: Sol was sealed off in a key many years ago, a key which Lulu is trying to find it in order to resurrect him.
• Skinship Grope: Fran forces Oz to do this to her as part of her wanting to prove she's human.
• Slasher Smile: Lulu sports one when you reach her on the top of the clock tower
• Superpowered Evil Side: Your character is a demon who became human, and can driven into a frenzy when Soul gazed
• Swamps Are Evil: Slave Grave, the domain of Pluto and Chronos, is a swamp infested with undead creatures and cursed terrain which drains your health.
• Sword of Plot Advancement: The Demon Slayer.
• Theme Naming: Almost all of the Demon names come from objects within the Solar System. Less obvious examples include Astro, a common artificial satellite name, Hermes, named for the 69230 Hermes asteroid, and Aries, corrected in Demon Gaze 2 as Eris, named for a dwarf planet.
• Tsundere: Fran. She acts very sweet towards the MC and rude towards almost everyone (but towards Lezerem in particular).
• Updated Re-release: Demon Gaze Extra, an updated rerelease for the Playstaion 4 and Nintendo Switch. Amongst other minor changes, it adds a new class, "Machina," in the form of an optional secret automaton party member that focuses on equipping Artifacts, having 10 slots to do so with and the ability to move bonuses between weapons and armor. (For example, moving STR+5 from one sword to another, or Instant Death to your Pico Pico Hammer.)
• Victory by Endurance: Inverted. The longer a particular battle will last, especially against bosses, the higher the odds that the player will not make a surprise comeback and win.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: You'll be seeing Lezerem shirtless very often.

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