Sequel Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark from PQube and Inti Creates is ready to rock you on Nintendo Switch. Learn more in our Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark review!
Sequel Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark from PQube and Inti Creates is ready to rock you on Nintendo Switch. It follows up on Gal Guardians: Demon Purge – which was originally called Grim Guardians: Demon Purge – a fast-paced 2D action game that I got a chance to review on Nintendo’s console a couple of years ago. For this new adventure, you’ll be taking on the role of maids Kirika and Masha. The pair serve the Demon Lord Maxim and must go on a special mission after they return from their vacation to find a castle that has been completely destroyed by rival Demon Lord Lyzenorg.
With Demon Lord Maxim reduced to a shell of his former shell, it’s up to you to do whatever it takes to fix things and get revenge for your Demon Lord before it’s too late! You must search the land for his bones, which were sent flying all over the place when Demon Lord Lyzenorg defeated him. Find all of the bones, and you’ll be able to perform the ritual needed to bring back Demon Lord Maxim’s body. While Gal Guardians: Demon Purge more closely paid homage to the earlier games in the beloved Castlevania series Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark brings us straight into Metroidvania territory.
The game can be played in one of three difficulty settings: Casual, Veteran, and Challenger. The Casual difficulty setting is the easiest one of the three. You’ll have increased HP and DP, and the map will always show your destination. The Veteran difficulty setting offers the standard experience with a challenge that will test your skills without making you feel overwhelmed. The last one is the Challenger difficulty setting, and it certainly does its name justice! This one offers a high-risk, high-reward scenario since item drops will be increased, but your enemies will deal much greater damage with each hit they land.
Since there are two characters, the game offers the option for a single player to control both characters or for two gamers to jump into the local co-op mode, with each one controlling one of the sisters. If going at it on your own, then you’ll be controlling your current character by using the left analog stick. You can jump with the B button, dash with the L button, and attack with the Y button. Sub-weapons will be mapped to the X and A buttons. These will sometimes be dropped by enemies when defeated. Sub-weapons will use up some DP.
You can switch between characters by pressing the ZL and ZR buttons as needed. When a character falls, you can try to revive it by pressing the Y button as quickly as possible in order to push their soul back into their body. Be careful because the character trying to revive the other maid will be wide open for any incoming attacks, which could spell your doom! And since this game is now a Metroidvania, you should pay close attention to your map so that you can plan ahead! Open it up by pressing the – button.
Masha uses a whip and specializes in close-range combat. She can combo her way to victory if you time your attacks just right. She can also use seeds from the demon realm as stock, so you’ll be able to press and hold down the Y button to charge her attack. Kirika uses a machine gun as her main weapon, making her ideal for attacking enemies from a safer distance. She also has a shotgun for dealing considerable close-range damage, but this will use up a lot of ammo. Be sure to quickly reload when you run out of ammo, but remember that this will leave you vulnerable! Double-press the down direction on the left analog stick to reload.
Finding the Demon Lord’s bones will allow you to level up the maids. Along with potentially increasing their attack power, HP, and DP, it will also reward the pair with new abilities that will allow you to explore new areas. The first one is the always classic double jump, which will allow you to perform a second jump while up in the air. Demon Lord Maxim’s bones can be obtained after defeating mini-bosses and bosses, as well as drops from regular enemies! Once you find a bunch, don’t forget to go back to the castle so that you can offer them in the throne room to boost your characters! That way, you’ll also unlock additional abilities like the Devil Healing, which allows you to restore the sisters’ HP by pressing the R button, thanks to Demon Lord Maxim’s recovered demon power.
Sequel Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark follows up on Gal Guardians: Demon Purge – which was originally called Grim Guardians: Demon Purge – a fast-paced 2D action game. For this new adventure, you’ll be taking on the role of maids Kirika and Masha. The pair serve the Demon Lord Maxim and must go on a special mission after they return from their vacation to find a castle that has been completely destroyed by rival Demon Lord Lyzenorg. With Demon Lord Maxim reduced to a shell of his former shell, it’s up to you to do whatever it takes to fix things and get revenge for your Demon Lord before it’s too late! You must search the land for his bones, which were sent flying all over the place when Demon Lord Lyzenorg defeated him. Find all of the bones, and you’ll be able to perform the ritual needed to bring back Demon Lord Maxim’s body. While Gal Guardians: Demon Purge more closely paid homage to the earlier games in the beloved Castlevania series Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark brings us straight into Metroidvania territory.
Along with searching for Demon Lord Maxim’s bones so that you can bring him back to his glorious self, you should also search high and low for the lost souls of the castle’s NPCs. Bring them back to life, with some of them opening up additional things to do when you’re back at the castle. These include bringing back Arachnar, a mighty blacksmith who can craft more powerful weapons for the maids, or Sophis, who you can interact with to change the game’s difficulty. You can even bring back the charming Blobby, a favorite of the maids since it can eat up anything on the floor at any time! Oh, and be sure to search for relics that only Demon Lord Maxim can equip to aid you on your quest! The game features voice acting, but it’s only available in Japanese with English subtitles. Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark is out on Nintendo Switch with a $29.99 price tag. There’s also the Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark – Demon Maid’s Trusty Tools Set DLC available for only $1.99. This DLC includes:
Take on the demon realm with Kirika and Masha’s well-used maid tools, the “Duster” and “Mop” at your disposal. These sub-weapons come with special actions you can use on your journey.
Disclaimer
This Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by PQube.
