Demi and the Fractured Dream hands-on preview

I had the chance to sit down with Demi and the Fractured Dream during Summer Game Fest. The game is if you combine elements of The Legend of Zelda with a darker theme (at least from the dungeon I worked through). While I didn’t fully get the “vibes†for this per se, there are some excellent elements to go through. 

The movement is the right kind of floaty as it helps make the game feel fast-paced and allows for some cool dodging and attacking moments. Your main weapon will be a sword, combined with dodging to avoid attacks yourself. The combat wasn’t overly difficult, but the times I did, it was because of timing issues. Once I figured out the timing, it wasn’t hard at all to make my way through normal combat moments and into the boss fight. 

An ending boss fight for the demo was pretty straightforward, as the enemy had 4-5 attacks to figure out and dodge around. Mostly, as long as you were far enough away from the enemy, you could just jump into combat in between the attacks. Nothing a gamer can’t understand pretty quickly if you’ve played these types of games before. 

While the gameplay was solid, there was something about the vibe of this game that threw me off. I’m not sure if it was the layout feeling a bit out of order at times when it came to introducing new abilities or finding issues with “what makes you restart an area†vs “normal falling moments.†For example, in one area, you have to use your fan ability to make a ball of energy hit a crystal. I fell twice in that area while finding the answer. Once, I fell and had to go back a solid four minutes of gameplay. The second time, I was just placed at the edge if I hadn’t fallen. 

It may have also been the dark theme of the dungeon of the demo, but there was nothing that helped me understand the overarching vibe of the game. Which, of course, is difficult in a 20-minute demo. However, maybe another part of the game would have helped me understand the vibes better. 

I may not have been the gamer who fell in love with this game off the cuff, but there will be a group of gamers who find the nostalgic style with smooth gameplay to their liking!

You can Wishlist Demi and the Fractured Dream now!