Demeo PSVR 2 & PS5 Review

thesixthaxis.com:

As great as the rise of online gaming has been, one of the things that it’s stripped away over the past 15-20 years has been that sense of shared space and presence that you only really get from local multiplayer and tabletop games. A party chat isn’t the same as a LAN party, a computer RPG isn’t the same as a DM-led tabletop one.

Yet fans of those experiences have been able to twist and adapt video games back into those earlier pre-internet forms. Millions play tabletop RPGs via video chat and D&D Beyond, there’s the almost infinitely adaptable Tabletop Simulator (with its own VR mode), and then there’s games like Demeo that craft something new for video games and with a shared space in mind.

Clearly inspired by boardgames like HeroQuest, Demeo sees up to four adventurers delving deep into randomised environments, doing battle with corrupted fantasy creatures and working up to battle a campaign-ending boss. You can play this on your own, or team up in a group of up to four to play in co-op and pool your efforts together.

It’s a significantly simplified game with each character moving in turns, with a hand of item and ability cards in addition to regular melee attacks, and then dice that skew heavily toward success. You’ll want those successes, because you come across veritable hordes of enemies to try and battle your way through. It’s fun though, and pleasingly accessible where tabletop games will often have you flicking through rule books and figuring out numbered dice rolls.

Originally a VR-only game, it was adapted via Demeo: PC Edition’s full release at the tail end of 2022 to play on standard monitors, and both of these play modes have been combined for the jump to console. Buying the game on PS5 will let you play both