I’ve never been much of a precision platformer fan. As much as I love and respect the Mario franchise, the early 2D games — and later kaizo-level generators like Super Mario Maker — always felt out of reach, skill-wise. Over time, I gravitated to the Super Mario Odysseys of the world: grand, semi-open sandboxes with oodles to do and a focus on creativity over reflex.

So, imagine my surprise when I booted up Demon Tides, developed and published by Fabraz. First released to the public via a Steam Fest demo in February 2025, the game grabbed me a year ago with its vast world, surprisingly robust move set, and welcome quality-of-life touches.

A year later, nearly to the date, Demon Tides was released in full, untethered glory. And after spending 25 hours roaming its waters, I’m delighted to say that it’s a journey worth taking. While its story is forgettable and its open world a bit undercooked, the meat of the experience — the platforming — is positively terrific. It’s a shame, then, that technical issues and a bad camera occasionally spoil the fun. Even still, Demon Tides deserves your time, issues be damned.

Devil May Surf

Demon Tides is the sequel to Fabraz’s 2021 game Demon Turf. Both entries star Beebz, a “young” demon girl (at just 1,000 years old) who, despite her background as an agent of hell, has an endlessly kind heart. Where Demon Turf had Beebz pairing up with a group of friends to take on the evil Demon King, Demon Tides is a much more personal journey.

Set in a sprawling world known as Ragnar’s Rock, Demon Tides has Beebz and company taking on an unlikely adversary: Beebz’s father. A tyrant of the land, Ragnar has suppressed the people of the world, prompting a ragtag rebellion to emerge. Early on, Beebz and her friends get acquainted with the leader of the resistance, Runa, before setting out on their journey.

Their mission: Collect enough “golden gears” to power a cannon capable of sending Beebz’s ship to a new area of Ragnar’s Rock. In total, there are three areas of Ragnar’s Rock — a starter area, plus two other zones — as well as a final zone in Ragnar’s castle. Making a beeline to the castle is off the table; only by exploring nearby islands on Ragnar’s Rock can Beebz gain enough gears to reach the castle and settle things with her father.

It’s the Mario formula to a T: Explore world, earn macguffins, unlock a new world, repeat. However, where Demon Tides attempts to differentiate itself is in its open-world design. Each section of Ragnar’s Rock is decidedly massive, with tens of distinct islands (think levels) interconnected by a large, Wind Waker-esque sea.

The idea is terrific, which makes the ultimate execution somewhat disappointing. In general, I enjoyed traveling from one island to the next, but the sea itself is fairly empty, with little to find outside of occasional merchants or rebellion outposts. With the exception of two islands, none of the levels interconnect in any meaningful way. It doesn’t help that the draw distance (at least on Steam Deck, where I played) is limited, with extreme pop-in also dulling the spectacle.

What could have been a dynamic, interwoven world ends up feeling more like a proof of concept — a fun excuse to zone out between levels. Even if it’s not revolutionary, though, the freedom to chart your own course is fun, and it sure beats a traditional level-select screen.

Talk About a Glow Up

One of the most striking things about Demon Tides — and perhaps one of the most divisive for those who played the prior game — would be its visual style. Much of Demon Turf’s pre-release buzz came thanks to its 2.5D style, which melded hand-drawn 2D sprite animations with 3D environments. Beebz would jump, flip, and transform into various creatures in a style evocative of old-school Paper Mario, with just a pinch of Cuphead.

All that is gone in Demon Tides, instead replaced with a far more traditional 3D art style. In a December 2024 Steam Discussion, Fabraz explained the “why” behind the pivot: namely, that it allowed the developers to invest in more cinematic cutscenes while supporting more complex gameplay animations. Oh, and it also let them create more custom outfits for Beebz to wear.

I have no doubt that taking that art style, which must have been painstaking work in Demon Turf, and adapting it to an open world would have been a monumental effort. As much as I enjoyed the original style, it’s refreshing to see a studio have the courage to take a creative pivot when needed. And in Demon Tides, the gambit largely pays off.

I found the new art style charming in its own right. Beebz and each of her pals are lovingly rendered, making for expressive, if simple, cutscenes that break up the platforming action. The writing is also strong, giving each character their own unique quirk. Luci is the fashionista of the crew, selling Beebz outfits and hair dyes that the player can mix and match to their liking. Midgi is the artisan of the group, crafting talismans that enhance Beebz’s platforming abilities. And DK, for reasons that become clear later in the game, cannot help but express himself using cringe slang.

It may rub existing fans the wrong way, but to newcomers and anyone else open to new beginnings, Demon Tides offers a confident next step for the series.

Platforming Bliss

Demon Tides’ open world and overhauled visuals may be a departure from Demon Turf, but one thing hasn’t changed: the platforming. And it’s absolutely excellent here.

While I never finished the original Demon Turf, I appreciated its creature-based platforming. By combining different inputs in succession, Beebz could string together jumps, wall runs, and various transformations. The bat transformation allowed Beebz to get an extra jump off; her snake transformation let her speed around the environment, while her drill form (not sure why that’s not an animal, but I digress) let her hover briefly to stabilize before landing.

Those transformations are back in Demon Tides, but they feel even better thanks to the sequel’s all-new talisman system. By exchanging currency that you find throughout the land, you can purchase new perks that modify everything from Beebz’s jump height to her gravity to her dash vectors. At first, players can only equip two talismans at a time, but by defeating a big boss located in each zone, you’ll gain a new slot for your arsenal, for a total of five.

I cannot stress enough how much these modifiers enhance the gameplay. Before long, I had found a combination of talismans that felt unbeatable: One gave me an extra jump in bat form, while another allowed me to gain some height when performing a drill hover. After unlocking more slots, I expanded my moveset to include a horizontal dash, a “cannonball” jump I could cancel into a traditional jump, and even a bubble I could create for an impromptu step stool.

To be clear, there are dozens of these talismans available to purchase or hidden in chests around the land. Customizing builds is a huge part of the fun, and the inclusion of online leaderboards and ghost races for each island is surely going to fuel some terrific speedruns. The core Demon Turf gameplay is visible here, but it’s been refined to an absolute sheen in Demon Tides.

Checkpoint Reached

It’s a nitpick, but I must point out that all of this complexity comes at a rather steep learning curve. Even the game’s base controls take some getting used to. It’s not uncommon to activate a certain jump, only to realize that doing so locks you out of other mid-air movement options. Expect death to come swift and fierce in Demon Tides.

Thankfully, Demon Tides has a neat checkpoint system that alleviates much of the pain. At any time — outside of some devilish challenge levels that lie off the beaten path — Beebz can throw a flag into the ground to serve as her new checkpoint on an island. Die, and you’ll respawn exactly where you claimed your turf. It’s simple, intuitive, and much appreciated in a game so reliant on button-perfect inputs.

Another nice quality-of-life touch: an in-game arrow feature, which points Beebz to any currency still located on an island. While this arrow won’t point out chests or optional side levels, it’s a terrific inclusion for those like me who enjoy exploring every nook and cranny of a level.

Rough Waters

As good as Demon Tides can be, it also stumbles in some frustrating areas. Sharp writing aside, I’ve talked little about the actual story. That’s because, much like the Marios and Sonics of the world, the story here is rather forgettable. Fabraz does an admirable job of bringing the main cast to life, but the motivations of the game’s baddies — particularly Ragnar — feel drastically undercooked. Even after I discovered some side memories (think Tears of the Kingdom) that filled in a bit of Ragnar’s backstory, I was left wanting more.

Back on the gameplay side, Demon Tides’ camera is also a chore, often forcing the player into awkward fixed perspectives. Wall climbing in particular can get dicey, as it’s dependent on pushing the joystick in the direction of the wall. When the camera jerks suddenly, it’s a nearly guaranteed flub waiting to happen. The actual platforming never feels unfair, but dammit if I didn’t curse after the camera changed at the worst possible moment, preventing me from landing a key jump.

But the worst aspect of Demon Tides, by far, is its performance. As I mentioned before, I played on Steam Deck (which is verified), but despite playing with an expansive list of graphics options, including a convenient “Steam Deck” preset, I encountered a host of performance issues. In addition to the aforementioned pop-in between islands, the game would often freeze in place to load a new island, bringing the whole “open-world” thing to a standstill. Frame rate dips were rampant, and I also faced a fair share of bugs.

As a small consolation, I will say that several patches have dropped since last Thursday, when the game was released. With each new patch, I’ve noticed small improvements to the overall experience. Still, for a game as stylized and as charming as Demon Tides, the performance woes are a definite strike against an otherwise great platformer.

Final Thoughts

I may harp about Demon Tides’ issues, but that’s only because I want this game to succeed. Fabraz continues to create some of the most interesting collectathons on the market, and not since A Hat in Time have I found myself so enthralled by a game’s frame-by-frame platforming mechanics.

Like A Hat in Time, though, the jank is real. I wish the game’s colorful visuals and open-world design could shine properly, but performance issues and bugs often drag down the experience. And yet, the game offers far too much fun for me not to recommend it. I 100%’d everything in about 25 hours, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy every second.

If you love platforming and can tolerate some technical oddities, Demon Tides is an easy recommendation. If you’re on the fence and willing to wait for a few more performance patches, Demon Tides is also well worth the patience. And if you liked the original but can’t stand the new style, well… the future is now, old gamer.

Score: 8.4/10

Demon Tides, developed and published by Fabraz, was released on February 19, 2026, for PC (via Steam). MSRP: $24.99. Version reviewed: PC (via Steam Deck).

Disclaimer: A review code was provided by the developer.

Additional Notes

One other thing I didn’t love about Demon Tides was its combat. At times, you’ll be confronted by some of Ragnar’s forces, but defeating them is a trivial affair that hardly made my experience more worthwhile.
Also somewhat disappointing are the game’s boss battles. While the boss of each zone has their own memorable fight, far more frequent are “gearserker” battles. These mini-bosses are littered across the world and quickly become rather rote.
I’ve said nothing about Demon Tides’ music, which, simply put, is phenomenal. The soundtrack is a welcome mix of funk, electronic, lo-fi, and rap. While I would have loved a few more tracks in the rotation, this was a definite high point.
I spent way more time customizing Beebz’s outfit than I care to admit. From anime haircuts and elaborate jumpsuits to t-shirts featuring other prominent indie games, a lot of effort went into these, and it shows.
Outside of the main cast, my favorite NPC, by far, is Mr. Mint. The steward of several side levels, Mr. Mint ups the stakes by forcing you to conquer his challenges without your trusty checkpoint flag. He also has a funny habit of saying the wrong things at the worst possible times.
If you’re still undecided or waiting on a performance patch, there’s a three-hour demo on Steam that runs like butter. Progress carries over to the full game, so enjoy!