PlayStation Review | Devil Jam

A few years back, a small indie game by the name Vampire Survivors launched, and it was everywhere. Steam, mobile, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch. Not only was it everywhere, but it drove everybody mad. Mad in the sense that they couldn’t get enough. Everybody except, me that is. Now, feel free to call me safe or stuck in my ways, but I have a very particular taste when it comes to games, and even though that can be considered a detriment, I do like to take safe bets with my free time on things I know I might enjoy. As it turns out, I have been very wrong about this. Devil Jam has not only proved to me that I am wrong, but that I would probably enjoy many games within this genre of survivor-roguelites. I personally never saw the appeal, but after spending multiple hours with Devil Jam, I can honestly say that developer Roguesdie has given me a lot to think about. I will be spending more time with games like this in the future. Read on to find out what I thought.

Things I liked!

• The Combat | Combat in Devil Jam is essentially a simple automated system with roguelite elements built in. Your character attacks automatically based on what you choose as your ability each time you level up. There are ranged attacks, melee attacks, spells, and buff abilities, with a few buff and debuff options available from the devil himself. Each new ability you acquire is random based on rng. At the bottom of the screen you have a guitar-fret layout with twelve slots, and each can be populated by a different ability. If you level up, you get to choose a new ability or buff of your choice, and place it into the slot, or, if you are lucky enough, upgrade your existing attack to the next level. These range from common to demonic, and each increase in level deals more damage. I found the abilities to vary from each playthrough, so I got to experience a wide range of attacks throughout my time with the game.

• Boss Fights | There are a lot of boss fights in Devil Jam. After surviving each round, you will be greeted by the level boss, which is also largely randomised in what order they appear; however, the real battle takes place when you have to fight Death himself. Beating Death will reward you with a ton of experience points, and allowing you to level up enormously. They are tough, but I found them doable if you take the time to actually focus on upgrading existing abilities as opposed to getting new ones. Each boss has a unique set of fighting styles, with Death mainly focusing on large areas of attack. This meant using the dodge ability a lot and getting in ranged attacks when he was in cooldown.
  
  
• The Story | I was surprised to find that there was a story in Devil Jam. My experience with these survivor-based games is that they are usually quite light on story and just focus on the mechanics; however, Devil Jam does at least appear to have a decent story set within its world. The story follows a 24-year-old musician who has made a pact with the devil to become a well-known, adored heavy metal artist. However, during one of his tours, he dies on stage and finds himself face to face with Satan, complaining about a breach of contract. The devil gives him a chance to redeem himself by having him carry out tasks for him. These tasks can be managed by speaking to the devil, and can be tracked during your gameplay so you can stay on top of them. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but it is something at least.
  
  
• Music & Sounds | Devil Jam has a fantastic soundtrack. As someone who enjoys heavy metal, I appreciate the energetic soundtrack that it uses while fighting off hordes of monsters. The soundtrack never feels out of place, and its continual 20-minute rifts really help sell the environment it puts you in. Even the sounds complement the music by using drum beats, snares, and other instrument noises. At times, it feels like Devil Jam has some sort of beat mechanic to it even though it doesn’t. On paper, however, the beat bar at the bottom of the screen is just an indicator to tell you what attacks are being deployed, but it still sounds awesome.
  
  
• Tons of Abilities | Devil Jam offers a literal ton of abilities. Each ability you unlock as you progress through levelling up is offered by a different god of the underworld. They are all heavy metal-themed and look the part as musicians. Wrath, for example, is a drummer; Envy is a singer, Lust is a groupie, and so forth. You get the picture. You may also notice that these abilities are handed down to you by the seven deadly sins, another way that the game builds on its theme. Not only can you earn these abilities in-game, but there is also a merchant you can visit between each run that helps you by way of selling permanent buffs and abilities \,which are called sins. I can’t tell you how much I adore these little pieces of world-building. The whole game feels very connected and well thought out.
  
  
  
• Monster Design | The monster design in Devil Jam is a creative lesson on how to fill your world with believable characters. Hell, in this instance, is filled with monsters that resemble musical instruments or objects. We have literal drum kits jumping around trying to slam on top of you with big ground pounds that deal area damage, flying speakers that look like bats, and glob monsters that have amps stuck inside them, along with zombie rodeos who take a ton of damage before they go down. Everything feels authentic to the world and fits in well with the musical underworld theme.

Mixed & disliked!

• Dodging offset | Dodging is an ability that you can pull off when you need a bit of breathing space from the sheer amount of enemies that come towards you. It can get a little overwhelming. The main issue with dodging is that it feels like you don’t go too far and that it requires extreme precision to pull off correctly half the time. Failing this will mean taking damage, and it does happen quite a bit. You can upgrade this via a buff if you are lucky enough to find it, but you have to spam the button repeatedly, and I found that the extra second it takes to launch the next dodge opens you up to attack.

• Enemy damage falloff | My biggest issue with Devil Jam is the enemy damage fall-off. This is specifically limited to area attacks, though there are a lot of enemies that utilise this move, and it become very bothersome, especially in boss fights. I could be outside the area of attack by what I would consider a decent margin, but I would still take damage. This leads me to believe that the damage indicator, which visually shows you if damage will be applied if you stay in it, is not correctly tuned. This unfortunately did break my streak on more than one occasion and left some runs ended in frustration.
  
  

How long did I play the review before publishing? 12 hours
How long to beat the story? 20 hours
How many Trophies did I earn before publishing? 8
How long to achieve Platinum? | 40 hours+
You’ll love this game if you like these | Vampire Survivors, Megabonk, Halls of Torment

CONCLUSION

Score: 85/100

Devil Jam is everything and more than I want out of a survivor roguelite. It offers an engaging combat system with a ton of abilities and buffs, a fantastic heavy metal soundtrack, great voice acting, and a story that does a half-decent job at explaining why I am here in the first place. For a genre I’ve never really been into, Devil Jam sure does prove to me on multiple levels that I am missing out massively on this addictive and fun genre.

Aaron

Gaming is in my blood.  Be it handheld games, Xbox, PC, Switch or Playstation, I am all over it.
I make my own games as part of my profession and love playing co op games with friends in my spare time. Avid dog lover and camper van enthusiast.