When I first watched the anime of Dance with Devils, I wasn’t really impressed: I didn’t appreciate that “musical” feeling, it seemed completely random to me; honestly, seeing demons singing while fighting, made me laugh; when I knew that the game was going to have the same art of the anime, I was even more disappointed.
For this reasons, at first, I decided to skip this game.
Many of my friends seemed to like it tho, so… when I was shopping in Tokyo, I’ve seen a quite cheap copy and bought it out of impulse. And I don’t regret it!
I’ve started with Shiki’s route and I enjoyed it very much: obviously, the anime spoiled me almost everything, but I didn’t feel a sense of deja vu.
He was creepy as I expected, but he’s my type of character after all!
There were sweet scenes, creepy scenes, bloody scenes… and I loved every moment. The Devil’s ending were really bloody and cruel, I wasn’t expecting all that gore… is this really Cero C?
Anyway, it was really a good start, so my hopes suddenly raised higher for the other characters too!
Mage’s route was different than I imagined, but in a positive way.
I wasn’t very interested in him after the anime, he looked like a predictable tsundere; but he was actually more interesting than I expected!
His 2nd human ending was very sad, I appreciated it so much and it broke my heart… I wasn’t completely satisfied with his other endings tho, I wanted more blood and tragedy. (I’m such a bad person, I know).
I had so much fun when Urie and Shiki were deceiving him, and Mage believed everything immediately! How can you trust them!? come on! This was absolutely hilarious!
Urie was another character who didn’t catch my attention in the anime, but I immediately fell in love while playing. I didn’t expect his route to be so sad: he had an interesting complex towards Rem, and I wish it was explained better.
His family was terrible, when he talked to his mother I had a Cordelia dejavu which got me agry and sad at the same time.
I was always suspicious towards him, but he turned out to be really loyal and faithful in the end!
I also liked Ritsuka in his route, she tried to resist and didn’t fell for him immediately.
But who wrote the 1st human ending? It was really stupid… I mean, Rem simply gave up and that’s it?! I thinks it’s supposed to be a proof of true friendship, but… what about Rem’s responsibilities? He’s not just getting the grimoire for himself, and he can’t decide as he wants!
I preferred the sad endings, even if they were bad. At least they made sense.
Rem is supposed to be the canon, since both the anime and the musical pushed him as the “true” soulmate for Ritsuka. But types like him just can’t catch my interest, and unfortunately my opinion about him didn’t change, while playing: some scenes looked like they came straight from a shoujo manga, and it’s not what I expect when I play a Rejet game.
I also couldn’t help but feel bad for Lindo, honestly he deserves much better.
At least Lindo’s route was awesome, so I’m not complaining at all about it!
I loved both sides of him: I was melting when he acted like a gentle and perfect oniichan, but I also thought he was really cool as a sadistic vampire.
There were all the endings I was waiting for, even a tragic one who shocked me; I’m also happy that Ritsuka could start anew alone, and live a new life while trying to forget the past.
Is it just me, or Rejet put a special effort to oniichan’s route? Or maybe I’m just oniichan trash, that’s why I always appreciate them.
Roen’s route was good, I really liked him: he’s probably my 2nd favorite, right after Lindo!
I don’t know if it’s just me, but I think it’s the one who put at better use the dummy head mic: the sound was somehow better, and it was used in the perfect moments!
I probably would have loved him even more if I didn’t play his route last, when I was already tired of the game and I wanted to get it done fast.
Would I recommend this game?
It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s better than I imagined.
The anime didn’t leave a great impression on me and I still wonder why Rejet decided to use the anime art in the game too, but overall I can’t complain about the plot or the characters. (I didn’t like Rem, but it’s a matter of tastes, his route wasn’t bad as it seemed to me… probably).
I don’t think it’s worth the full price, but if you find it on sale it may be an enjoyable purchase!
