Maybe we should’ve paid attention to the dollar sign.

Title: Demons’ Score
Publisher: Square Enix Co., Ltd.
Developer: iNiS
Console: iOS
Release Date: September 1st, 2012
Genre: Action Rhythm
Rating: 12+

The iOS is having a hard time identifying itself with the “core” gamer.  For every Infinity Blade out there, there’s a million other uninspired clone apps that are just waiting to scam you out of your money.  Demons’ Score is one of those games that should be a must buy on the app store.  Developed by iNiS who made the Elite Beat Agents games, its game play is fun and has a delightfully insane story.  It is something you don’t often see on the app store.

It’s just a shame that $6.99 is not the game’s actual price.

The game play plays much like any other action-rhythm game.  It will have you tapping, swiping, and sliding to the rhythm.  It’s simple, but that’s all I really wanted in the game.  The game has two modes, Story Mode and Free Mode, and three difficulty levels.  The levels stick to a formula with the first half taking you to the boss stage and the second half being the boss stage.  Completing the stage more efficiently racks you more experience points which, as always, will level you up and raise your maximum HP.  It’s not a difficult game if you have the most basic sense of rhythm, so failure is almost impossible.  Each demon has its’ own song which has a genre attached to its’ theme (example: a funky demon gets a funky song).  Most of the songs can be somewhat catchy…with the theme song sounding like it came from the band Faith No More (you can decide whether that’s good or not).  After defeating each boss, you absorb them and can then make a pact with them that will grant you different buffs and change your character’s appearance and voice.  The voice acting is serviceable… probably best to try and ignore the talking parts.  The graphics use the Unreal 3 engine. While Demons’ Score is better-looking than your average iOS game, it’s not the prettiest out there.

So for $6.99 it seems like a good deal…right?

Remember when I mentioned that you absorb the demons after defeating them?  Every demon after the first initial boss…has a price tag starting at $2.99 in order to actually use it. That’s right: you’ve already downloaded the full game at $6.99, but… picture paying $2.99 in a Mega-Man game to use the power-ups obtained after each boss.  I counted nine other demons you can use, which brings the price of the full game to well over a whopping $33.90.

If they were just skins, it could be somewhat forgivable. But each skin has a song accompanying it.  Considering that each level has you starting out with the song that comes with the currently equipped skin, expect to hear 1 of 2 songs over and over if you don’t plan on shelling out money for the full game.  It ruins the fun of the game and makes me ashamed I spent anything over 99 cents for what amounts to a demo.

I beg of you, please don’t buy Demons’ Score.  This should have been a must buy for any one with an iOS capable device, but the hidden pricing scheme is disgusting.  If you need to spend $6.99, spend it on charity.  If you want to support iNiS, buy Elite Beat Agents for the Nintendo DS.

Review Score
Overall