Introduction

When I heard a new game was being developed by the composer of Persona and Shin Megami Tensei titles, my eyebrows went up. Then, when I learned that Ilya Kuvshinov (illustrator for Ghost in the Shell: SAC 2045) was involved, my head tilted slightly to the left. Lastly, I discovered that this same game featured musical talent from Lotus Juice (known for their work in the Persona games), and I nearly whipped out my credit card, ready to pre-order it.

Unfortunately, I was given the demo to play, and all my excitement diminished in literal seconds. I’ll be blunt—Guns Undarkness screams “Kickstarter game,” and it plays like one. Some Kickstarter-funded titles turn out spectacular, while others… don’t. Sadly, Guns Undarkness falls into the latter category. As I sit here writing these first impressions, I want to curse myself for being so critical. This should have been the next big indie RPG title, but as of now, Guns Undarkness is very mediocre. Here’s why.

Gameplay

The demo for Guns Undarkness lasts about ten minutes at best—and honestly, I’m glad it was short. You’re placed in the shoes of an unnamed protagonist who must eliminate threats inside a building alongside a team of three. You see their names, but that’s about it—no backstory, no real reason for the infiltration. Then, you’re thrown into what seems like a third-person shooter… but it doesn’t take long to realize that this is just a façade. Guns Undarkness is a JRPG through and through.

Combat consists of your team of two (eventually three) against generic bald soldiers. Why they are bald isn’t important. What is important is that the gameplay—if it was meant to excite me—did the exact opposite. You have basic attack options, skill attacks (which consume SP), movement, guard, and a few other generic commands like item use, defend, and escape. The only noteworthy mechanic is the ability to move characters behind cover to reduce damage.

Other than that, I got through almost every battle (minus one boss fight, which was just a bald soldier with a shotgun) by spamming regular attacks. Guns Undarkness plays like an old PlayStation 1 RPG, and not in a nostalgic way.

Exploration is just as lackluster. When moving around, you’re just… moving. You can order your team behind cover before initiating battles, but they often take cover on their own during combat, even without being commanded. Again, this is just a demo, so maybe future updates will introduce more mechanics (and non-bald enemies—no offense to those who lack hair, bald is beautiful). However, this demo left me questioning if I had received an early alpha code.

Graphics

Here’s where I should be saying Guns Undarkness at least looks incredible and has a stylish UI like Persona 3 Reload or Metaphor: ReFantazio… right? Nope. The game feels completely barebones. Menus are just text blocks, and even the environments look generic. Character models lack life, and while their status art is decent, I was shocked to see this in 2025.

Sound

Lotus Juice—every song I’ve heard from them is incredible. Their music is always playing on my headphones. However, I don’t believe any of their tracks were in the demo. I can definitely hear Persona/Shin Megami Tensei-like influences in the battle music, and while it was nice the first few times, by the fifth repeat, I wanted to mute my speakers.

There was no voice acting in the demo (perhaps the full release will have it), but I sincerely hope it does—because the music alone won’t be enough to save the experience.

Conclusion

I can usually find a silver lining in bad games. Guns Undarkness has potential, but I hope it’s realized in the full version. I’ll hold my negative comments until I play the final release (which I still hope to do) because I want to love this game. It features a band I admire and a composer I consider a musical genius.

However, this demo left me praying that the full game is nothing like this preview. Honestly, I almost hope no one plays the demo and just bets on the full release being better—because this demo does not put its best foot forward. If the final product plays like this, I wouldn’t have the heart to rate it… yeah, it was that bad.

There are some promising elements in Guns Undarkness that could make it a solid RPG, but until its full release, this demo simply reinforced why AAA titles tend to dominate over Kickstarter-funded projects.

—Aaron