New RPG With 'Very Positive' Reviews Channels Classic Persona Games

A new Persona-inspired tactics RPG called Demonschool is now available on PC and consoles. Set on a mysterious island, the indie title tasks players with balancing university life and demon hunting, thus positioning its Persona influences front and center.

Developed by Oakland, California-based Necrosoft Games, Demonschool bills itself as a modern tactical role-playing game “where motion equals action.” Its combat encounters reward efficiency, encouraging players to clear grid-based battlefields in as few turns as possible. True to its name, Demonschool follows protagonist Faye and a cast of university students who hunt demons in interdimensional spaces while simultaneously maintaining university life. As such, it conceptually resembles a Persona game with adults, something a vocal segment of the Atlus fandom has long been calling for.

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Demonschool Arrives on PC and Consoles with a Launch Discount

Demonschool was originally targeting a September 3 release but ended up being delayed due to the Hollow Knight: Silksong effect, along with multiple other indie titles. The strategy RPG officially launched on November 19, arriving on the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, and PC. While it’s planned to retail for $24.99, Demonschool is currently available at a small launch discount of 10%, bringing its price down to $22.49. The promotional offer comes with no strings attached on every platform apart from the PlayStation Store, where a PS Plus subscription is needed to take advantage of it. The launch sale ends in early December 2025, with the exact date varying by platform.

Early Demonschool Reviews Are Encouraging

Demonschool has received largely positive early reviews, earning a “Strong” rating on OpenCritic with an average score of 75, and two out of three critics recommending the game. Reviewers have praised its distinctive tone, which blends light horror with whimsical elements to deliver a unique experience. The game’s time management system—requiring players to balance university life, demon hunting, and befriending characters—has also been well-received, with reviewers praising it as inherently appealing to any fan of modern Persona games that revolve around similar mechanics. Its art style, which Necrosoft describes as evocative of 70s Italian horror films, has also received plaudits for its memorable blend of 2D sprites, 3D backgrounds, and neon lights.

Demonschool’s Unique SRPG Combat Throws Stats and Grinding Out the Window

One of the more polarizing aspects of Demonschool is its combat system, which visually recalls Revelations: Persona due to its use of an isometric grid, though the similarity is largely superficial. In practice, developer Necrosoft makes a bold design choice by de-emphasizing stats: all characters have low HP pools, and damage calculations are aggressively simplified. As a result, grinding is virtually non-existent, with success in combat relying on smart positioning, efficient combos, and strategic use of status effects. Some reviewers praised this approach for making the game highly accessible and potentially broadening the appeal of the strategy RPG genre. Others posited that it occasionally makes Demonschool feel more like a puzzle game than a tactics RPG. This argument evokes yet another Persona comparison, as similar criticism was leveled at Persona 5 Tactica by some reviewers in 2023.

Early player impressions of Demonschool appear consistent with its critical reception. On Steam, the tactical RPG currently holds a “Very Positive” rating, based on more than 500 user reviews. The PS4 and PS5 versions have been similarly well received, with a 4.72-star rating on the PlayStation Store. The Xbox Store has yet to display an aggregate score due to a low number of submissions, but as of November 30, its sole user review gives the game a perfect five-star rating.

As Atlus continues to keep concrete details on Persona 6 under wraps, Demonschool serves as a timely reminder that smaller teams with modest budgets can still meaningfully explore the core ideas that made the Persona series so popular in the first place. In this instance, Necrosoft delivered a tactics-heavy take on Atlus’s signature combo of school life, socializing, and JRPG combat, while simultaneously streamlining the overall experience with some daring design decisions.