Devil’s Dare 悪魔の挑戦

Devil's Dare is another sad story of a good game abandoned too soon.
The hit detection in this game has the consistency of spoiled milk. Certain moves just do not connect to enemies well, or have very little business being in this game due to the expectation of finishing enemies off in large groups. Pulling off an atomic buster should be an impressive feat of Russian, bear-crushing, strength, not a series of awkward gropes like you don’t know how to properly kiss a zombie. Because of the varying sizes/shapes of characters and enemies, judging where you need to position a character to pull off the right move is more trouble than it should be, and at times it feels too finicky to even try. The player is essentially fighting the angle of the game and the wonky hitboxes in addition to the enemies.
The combat system needs some tweaking. As it stands the reliance on special finishers (called fatalies here because that’s not copyrighted?) in order to gain ample money and health items takes some freedom away from the player and forces them to corral enemies to slaughter. Special moves require the player to use parts of their special meter that don’t recharge that quickly on their own. To exacerbate this problem, using a special move to escape enemies once they attack the player drains the special meter and puts it on a long cooldown. Because people mistakes and deserved to be punished? Enemies easily lock up and stun the player so death can happen fast without a special bar. On top of that there are some moves that are just plain bad at group kills, like the hookshot and throw moves.
It has so many references even the writers of the Big Bang Theory are throwing up. It would be fine to have Commander Video pop in for a special, Shovel Knight appear as a background prop, fight Jason Voorhees, play as a Tron Bonne clone, or perform a hadouken, but all together it is overkill. The amount of referenced material easily outweighs the original content. Instead of this saturation of other games’ materials, it would have been better to aim for substantial homages, chance encounters, or overall more original designs. Having one Shovel Knight statue hidden among many, having a dozen other attacks in addition to the referenced ones, fighting facehuggers among all kinds of other neat monsters, a chance for a Ninja Turtle zombie to spawn in the sewers, etc. The brown palette, though different, is not enough give the game a sense of its own style and falls under the weight of other games.
The mechanic of stage select with the order changing how the stage plays is great. One of the bigger flaws with most brawlers was their linear progression and lack of variety (though later era ones did break the mold), and Devil’s Dare directly addresses this issue. This helps keep the game interesting throughout different runs. Once you master one route, it’s entertaining to see how the final stages of each path playout. For the first few times, the bosses are a great surprise.
Aside from bugs and an economy that needs tweaking, the challenge in the game is fair. Figuring out attack patterns, hazards and strategies for different enemies feels good. The touting of permadeath is a neat compromise to bridge the gap between classic arcade experience and modern games: allowing the players to exit and return to the game is certainly more forgiving than the coin devouring behemoths that used to loom in dark areas, but it also is not so lenient as to allow the players to grind and continue infinitely. It can be a bit irksome to die against later enemies or bosses, as it will take time to reach them again in order to learn from them, but barring that Devil’s Dare is not that hard to pick up. The upgrades that the player gains allows them to continue through the coming nights, and often upgrading a special move increases the utility as well as the damage.
When it works, the combat is fun. Part of this comes from the characters. While it may have been common to slightly tweak stats, maybe one special move, and the appearance of characters before, Devil’s Dare puts a lot of effort into making each character stand out and it shows. Each character is designed to play their role, so coordinating attacks in battles can be frantic but it engaging. Each character feeling so different increases the games’ variety and is great response to a common issue that even successful modern brawlers still face (Scott Pilgrim and Castle Crashers come to mind). Mastering each character feels rewarding, and that is no small feat.
Devil’s Dare has some good ideas and is fun for a majority of the time. There are just a few issues and bugs that are holding. Seeing a good game suffer so much from some minor issues is worse than a game just being fundamentally bad. Knowing that it comes with its flaws, this is a game that could be great but is still enjoyable enough to be worth a look.
Edit: After playing it again with 3-4 people, I have to say that the money doesn't scale and it is pretty awful for any more than 2 people. Yet another issue that quick update could eliminate.

Devil's Dare is a love letter to the 80's and 90's kids who grew up playing classic beat-em-ups like Final Fight, Double Dragon and Turtles in Time. The main twist to the formula is roguelike elements, but it doesn't feel as refined as other games in that genre. Players must acquire money from monsters, objects and kill bonuses, and said currency is used to purchase continues upon death, as well as upgrades at the end of a level. There are four stages to choose from, and the order they are completed in determines both their overall length and the boss fought at the end of the run.
The combat is standard beat-em-up fare with some modern additions. Each character has three special attacks that can be used as long as the SP meter is full, and the standard combo breaker move at the expense of a full SP bar. Dash attacks round out the moveset, and each special attack can be upgraded via post-level purchases. There is also a unique kill bonus mechanic where killing several enemies at once with an SP attack yields money and/or healing items. Mastery of this mechanic is probably what causes the discrepancy on this review page in terms of players saying that the game is too easy or too hard. A player who mastered older beat-em-ups will be able to use those old tactics here to get an abundance of money and healing items, while someone newer to the genre will struggle to get a run past the first level. The combat is nothing innovative for the genre, but all the systems work in conjuction with each other.
Sadly, the roguelike element of this game needs some work. Unlike other games in the genre, there are no unlockable items in this game; everything is unlocked at the start and there isn't a large selection to choose from either. This indirectly means that the game doesn't have as much replay value as the games it will be compred to. Character builds will always end up quite similar regardless of how many times you play through the game, and there's simply not much to do after unlocking both endings aside from achievements. I played this game for three hours and was able to learn the game, unlock both endings and fight all but two of the ending bosses, and there's not much else to see. I feel that it's best purchased during a sale where one wouldn't feel pressured to get tons of hours out of the game, but it's good for a couple runs. Each run is a little over an hour long, so it would probably only take 8-10 hours for the average player to see everything the game has to offer. Multiplayer runs apparently make the game harder since money management comes into play, but your mileage may vary with that as it's local only.
Overall, I don't regret my purchase, but I do wish the game had more to offer. I have already seen 80% of the game's content, and I've also tried out the majority of the items in just two full playthroughs. Check it out during a sale for sure, but don't expect to dump dozens of hours into this game like other roguelikes.

Devil's Dare is one of those unexpected Gems. I've never been a huge fan of Beat em ups due to a few issues with the Genre but Devil's Dare does a great job at fixing some of these problems. It's easy to learn, hard to master and as a ton of reputability.
This game does use something like Perma-Death but it's more like perma-Game-Over. As long as you can revive you can keep going but once you hit the Game Over mark, you have to start from square one.
With 4 unique base characters as well as 2 unlockable characters and dynamic levels that change depending upon the order you choose to do them on, Devil's Dare offers a ton of replay-ability. I recommend checking this game out even if you arn't a beat em up fan.

Though it to be a casual beat'em up game. But turns out this is some souls like game.
I managed to finish the game on my 3rd playthrough.
As 1st and 2nd playthrough just for learning the mechanics, characters skills, & enemies pattern.
To make the game easier/harder you can play this with your friends. Support up to 4 players via Remote Play Together.
It was totally a fun game yet very punishing as game over can cause you to lose your save file.
If you like retro beat'em up and up for a challenge you should definitely give this game a try.

Awesome game! There isnt much more to say about it... If you love beat'em ups then this game will be a Christmas feast. Especialy if you have someone to sit down on the couch and play with.
Coop supports up to 4 players.
UPDATE: There is a new version of this game and developer is giving it for FREE to original owners
If that isn't and awesome developer then I dont know what is!
Be sure to check out my steam curator and subscribe to take part in giveaways for group members!

The game kinda feels like a beta, but not. It's enjoyable maybe the first couple of playthroughs but it does get repetitive enough that you probably won't try and get all the 4 different epic boss fights.
The game is somewhat too easy for single player but as more players join the game it becomes less easy because of a budget now for upgrades and the fact that not everyone is on the same skill level.
Things the game needs:
Bigger zombie variety
More traps/environmental hazards
Secret level?
Higher Diffculty settings
Another SP attack or two. (Standard controller comes with 6+ buttons, needs more love.)
Typical secret code to unlock stuff. (Disables achievements of course until the game is reset.)
For what it's worth it gets you some enjoyment for a few hours.

If you like beat'em ups and a high level of difficulty then take it blind - the developers even organize events of the genre - a monitor for the person with the most points by X day. Their policy of developing and promoting the game pleases me a lot.