This preview is based on the full PC version of the game.

I made it no secret that one of my favorite games from Gamescom last year was Bubsy 4D. What might be even more impressive than that is that Fabraz isn’t just releasing one 3D platformer this year, but two. Demon Tides, the follow-up to Demon Turf has been long in the making. I’ve been fortunate enough to play the full game on PC for the last few weeks. As of writing this, a Nintendo Switch version has been confirmed to be releasing later this year. So please do not consider this to be a full review of the game. Rather, I’d like to highlight what makes Demon Tides a magnificent culmination of the way the 3D platformer has evolved over the last decade. So please consider this piece an extended hands-on preview for the game and be sure to check back when it releases later this year on Nintendo Switch.

Demon Tides is a full-on 3D platformer, spread out across an enormous ocean. Beebz and her friends have been invited by someone called Ragnar, who is claiming to be her father. However upon arrival, their ship is caught in an enormous storm and torn apart. It is up to Beebz to travel across the ocean, visit the islands and collect golden gears in order to confront Ragnar, who has taken over the world. So far, so standard 3D platforming affair. But the moment you get control of Beebz it becomes clear that the bar has already been raised. Consider for a moment what your basic movement would be in a 3D platformer. Jump? Check. Dash or run? Absolutely? Combining that with wall jumps and runs? That’s spicy, but Mario is looking pleased from the Bob-omb battlefield. But what if that comes with a double jump and a glide? Now Rayman is sweating bullets. Adding to that a speedy dash that put sonic to shame? Demon Tides has got this all from the word go. That’s already a pretty impressive moveset, but we haven’t even left the tutorial area yet and you’ll be asked to chain together these systems. It is a sign of trust between the designer and the player. This world is your oyster and free for you to explore however you wish.

Now if you’re a connoisseur of 3D platformers, you may already be interested. But what if I told you that this is only the beginning? Demon Tides has two more tricks up its sleeve. First up is its overall structure. This can best be described as something similar to what we’ve seen in Bowser’s Fury. The ocean of Demon Tides consists of all these little islands. Some might only have a small treasure hidden or a single challenge to complete. Some may even unlock parts of other islands that you’ll come across later. It feels adventurous and daring in ways a game like The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker would feel familiar. However when combined with those movement mechanics it opens up quickly and fully embraces player exploration and expression. Yes, there are ‘missions’ that open up specific treasure chests, but the way in which you tackle these is fully up to the player. Do you come across a challenge from a devilishly evil sentient Peppermint? You can just simply leave the island anytime, teleport to a different one you’ve visited earlier and continue exploring in the other direction from there. There are very little ropes tying you down to a specific playstyle or route you need to take. Yet every island is clearly defined with its own mechanics. Some may have you climbing up an enormous tower, while others see you racing through hoops and yet others could be dedicated to finding a lost child and returning it to their mother, which limits your movement abilities. Each island challenges you in its own way, but the breezy way in which you can go back and forth between them never makes them overstay their welcome.

As much as I like this structure, this still does not set Demon Tides apart from something like the aforementioned Bowser’s Fury. Well that is where the medallion system comes into play. You can create loadouts for Beebz that significantly enhance her capabilities. We are not talking about a nebulous ‘+5% higher jump’ or ‘+2 attack power’ here. No, these medallions truly unlock the full potential of Demon Tides. Early on, it may have been the fourth island I explored, I found a medallion that added another jump to my moveset. You read that right. No cooldowns, no prerequisites or limitations. It didn’t even require multiple slots in my setup. What’s better? It also didn’t even fully break the game for me. Even with a third jump available at all times I still had to pay close attention to my movement and mechanics. Yes, a few challenges certainly were easier to overcome, but having this option pushed me to try and find ways to express myself through the platforming. I was no longer trying to cross gaps, but looking for ledges to skip entire segments of the route towards a treasure chest. I found new medallions that would increase the duration of my glide, or that would transform any water into ice (quite literally labelled in the menu as ‘say goodbye to swimming’). All these layers turn Demon Tides into another beast entirely and I’m not really sure if I ever want to go back.

I think what has made the most well known 3D platformers so long-lasting has been that the players of these games have learned the ins and outs of the systems and optimized it to their playstyle. Whether you’re playing Super Mario 64 for the first time or blindfolded. The way you deploy Mario’s moveset isn’t just a checklist, it is how you as a player feel in control. It is the way how the game reacts to your choices, similar to how it may in a genre like a fighting game. The truly great platformers present their players with levels and movement mechanics but do not tell them how to reach their conclusion. Demon Tides has perfected these systems and makes it almost second nature for the player to explore and experiment with what it has to offer. Seriously, you can swap on the fly between different loadouts for different needs. I have a setup that I can swap between for exploration and grabbing collectibles and one for platforming. But with a few clicks I can change it into something that is focused on either vertical or horizontal movement. At first I was kind of scared that I was exploiting the game, but in reality the designers are expecting their players to experiment and find their own solution to problems.

The one addition that occasionally has me conflicted is the checkpoint system. Almost everywhere you can put down a checkpoint flag. If you die, fall into a pit or simply miss a jump you can hold up on the D-pad and will be instantly returned to your checkpoint. It allows the level design to make verticality integral to the exploration without becoming frustrating. Well, most of the time. See, learning that you as the player are responsible for putting down a checkpoint is something that I really needed to learn the hard way. Decades of relying on pre-placed respawn points are hard to unlearn. I appreciate this feature as not just an accessibility option, but something that goes hand in hand with the design. Even if I fell off a number of cliffs before realizing my checkpoint was still on another island or I hadn’t placed one on the cliff.

I haven’t been this in awe of a 3D platformer since Bowser’s Fury. While that broke down barriers that have made Nintendo’s efforts feel a bit conservative in this genre, Demon Tides builds on top of these ideas and makes them its own. This fun loop of “I’ll go and explore one more island” on short breaks and then also adapting my moveset to the situation with the medallions has made my time playing Demon Tides such a delight. Graphically on Steamdeck the experience has been inconsistent. Low-resolution textures and pop-in between islands are a regular occurrence as well as a glitch or bug here and there that get Beebz stuck between specific spots. I’m fairly certain that these will be ironed out over time and hopefully that the Nintendo Switch version can be optimized to account for the ambition on display here (perhaps even improved upon with a dedicated Nintendo Switch 2 version). But even accounting for the occasional graphical mishap, it is clear how much care and attention the team at Fabraz has put into refining and improving upon the 3D platformer formula. It has been so exciting to see a small team take the ball and run with it. So I am more than happy to contribute by shouting from the rooftops that others should take note. And that Demon Tides is really really good.