Unveiling Food Devils: A Strategy RPG Roguelite Base Builder Game
Food Devils strategy RPG roguelite base builder game is gearing towards Linux and Steam Deck with Windows PC. Studio Daimon just shared more exciting details about their title. The crowdfunding campaign is doing well on Kickstarter.
Exciting news from the talented team at Studio Daimon, all the way from Italy. They've released Food Devils on Kickstarter, and it hit its funding goal in just 72 hours. That’s some serious attention. Plus there is also talk about a native port.
We are considering Linux support, especially because we'd also need to optimize the game for Steam Deck. The game is being developed in Unity anyway.
Studio Daimon is considering a version for Steam Deck, which likely means a Linux build is on the cards. Since they're using Unity, making a port should be smooth. Even though this is not a full out confirmation.
So, what’s Food Devils all about? It’s a mix of strategy RPG and roguelite base builder gameplay. Imagine the strategic challenges of classics like "Fire Emblem" and "Final Fantasy Tactics" combined with the random aspects of titles like "Darkest Dungeon" and "Hades." Plus, you get to manage your own quirky restaurant, serving up monstrous dishes to power up your characters — both the Devils and humans.
The backdrop? A post-apocalyptic world where nature’s balance is flipped upside down, and humans are struggling to survive against new apex predators. To stand a chance, humans need to team up with the Food Devils.
Food Devils - Official Reveal Trailer (Kickstarter)
Players around the globe are already digging the unique gameplay style of Food Devils. And if you’ve also heard of "Path of the Midnight Sun" by Studio Daimon — which was a top hit last year — you know they make some quality stuff.
The gameplay is intense and fun. As a result, you’ll maneuver your characters on a grid, planning each move in battles that are not only strategic but also a feast for the eyes thanks to the stunning 2.5D graphics.
As you dive into Food Devils, you’ll explore various unique biomes. Each adventure is different because the worlds are procedurally generated—though you’ll start noticing patterns to help you strategize. And don’t worry about it getting too tough; it also lets you adjust the difficulty to fit your style.
Managing your restaurant is another key part of the title. Deck it out with funky furniture, cook up some unique meals, and attract adventurers who can help you on your missions. As you progress, you'll unlock new tools and facilities to beef up your team.
Starting a run? Pick a Food Devil and four humans from different classes like Warrior, Mage, or Healer. Make a deal with a Devil to boost your team’s abilities and kick some serious butt.
Food Devils strategy RPG roguelite base builder is due to drop on PC in late 2025. It’s shaping up to be a wild ride with a perfect blend of strategy, adventure, and culinary chaos. And the crowdfunding campaign continues to do well on Kickstarter. Along with that pending support for Linux and Steam Deck plus Windows PC.
I'm more than honored to be the lead game artist of Path Of The Midnight Sun, a fantasy jRPG with Visual Novel elements, set in a world filled with beautifully designed characters and demons.
I worked on the character models & artwork (characters illustrations and CGs), monsters models, backgrounds, and cover art.
The Kickstarter is now live!
Here’s the link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/studiodaimon/path-of-the-midnight-sun-a-dark-fantasy-jrpg-vn
Game: Path of the Midnight Sun
Price: $24.99
Platform(s): Steam
Genre: RPG
Developer/Publisher: Studio Daimon
Romhacks are not a new thing in video games. A labor of love to show how much you appreciate a series or game. But sometimes, they morph into brand new titles that stand on their own feet, without needing the original game to drive players to engage with them. What started off as a Fire Emblem romhack has turned into a successful Kickstarter game, finally released to Steam as Path of the Midnight Sun.
Story
Path of the Midnight Sun switches through multiple character perspectives throughout the game, but you'll mainly be playing as Suzaku, a Holy Knight that serves the land of Pylum that has recently suffered from amnesia, and Faratras, a princess of the land of Hoikade and the Vassal for the Demon King. 21 years ago, the Demon King as met his end and was sealed inside of the body of Princess Faratras, due to his immortality preventing him from being killed.
Lately however, corrupted animals are appearing more and more, causing the land of Pylum to send out Suzaku and Shiori to investigate Faratras to sure that she hasn't succumbed to the Demon King's power. But as you quickly learn, Faratras appears to be in her right mind, eager to do anything to keep up the seal of the Demon King inside of her. However, things are brewing under the surface that quickly burst at the seams, leaving all of the characters shaken.
The overall writing for Path of the Midnight Sun is pretty well done, gripping the player and drawing them in to a heart-wrenching tale of wanting to protect those around you, and the importance of found family. There are moments where the story tends to drag and a couple of times where it seems like the story will wrap up, only to continue going.
There are dialogue choices that you can make that can affect your characters sanity and affection levels. Sanity can affect your mana generation in battle as well as the accuracy of physical attacks. Affection levels affect how close characters get with each other. The choices that you make can take you down one of two main endings, as well as other minor scenes that appear towards the end of the game as well.
Characters
There are quite a few characters to meet in your journey, many of whom will join your immediate team or will lend their skills to you in battle. The main cast is especially strong, with almost everyone being fleshed out and growing as the story progresses. Some characters have more camera time than others, which can result in a few members of the cast being more fleshed out towards the end than others. But overall, everyone bounces off of each other nicely. Cristoph may say something ridiculous, but Rya reels him back in. Faratras and Hellios may make an offhand comment, but Shiori is right there to calm the mood back down.
There are romance routes in Path of the Midnight Sun, with Faratras being able to end up with either Rya or Suzaku, and Suzaku having the choice of either Faratras, Shiori, or neither. This option pops up mainly as the end, and as a result does kind of feel like more of an after thought. However, the actual relationships of the characters are believable, given how close everyone gets as they travel and battle together.
Gameplay
Path of the Midnight Sun really sets itself apart from its humble beginnings as a Fire Emblem romhack by being a turn-based RPG rather than a tactics game. With a team of up to six characters, you will battle against enemies that you come across, using your attack and skills. There are four difficulties that affect multiple things in the game, such as time spent in battle, your hunger meter, damage inflicted and received, dialogue choices, and food. You are able to decrease the difficulty mid-game, but you aren't able to increase it without starting over.
Combat
Path of the Midnight Sun is a turn-based RPG where you control a team of up to six characters. Each turn, you can use each of the characters on your team to perform the following actions: attack, use a skill, use an item, defend, or change order (which will allow characters to change their current battle position). Up to three units each can be placed on the front and back lines, with back line units dealing and receiving 20% less damage.
Each turn, you will generate a set amount of mana that can be used for your skills. After a certain amount of turns, you'll find that it's harder to use up your pool of mana, with a lot of early skills using a small amount compared to the amount that your regenerating. As you progress through the story, you'll eventually unlock the ability to store any unused mana into the Manacrest that Suzaku is holding, which can allow you to upgrade your skills.
The difficulty in Path of the Midnight Sun is alright up until you reach the late game (around chapter 7 or so). From there, you'll be facing more bosses, and if you're not staying on top of your healing, you'll easily end up wiping to a boss. Boss battles do feel as though they are dragged out a bit longer than necessary due to their large amounts of health and defense, but on the other hand, it does make those battles feel more substantial than typical mob battles.
Exploration and Investigation
While you're out of town, you'll be on a 2D map with nodes that you can navigate around to challenge enemies to battle, harvest items, collect treasure chests, and fish. As you move from one node to the next, time will pass. At the top right, there is a time limit that you have to move per turn before it switches over to the enemy's turn. Going into battle adds to this time. Since you are rarely given the chance to free roam without a strict ending time, you can't just move around the map willy nilly. If you end up not completing your task before time is up, you will get a game over and have to start again from the beginning of the map. There is no way to save the game mid-map, which does result in frustration if you end miscalculating a route, or take longer in battle than you meant to.
The one thing that really works against you is the fact that there is no way to use your items to heal while you're on the map. The only way to heal while in the map view is to choose to rest on a node. Resting takes time and to get a decent amount of health back requires burning time (time that you often need). Of courses, you can always try to heal in battle, but you have to hope that you are faster than the opponent in order to heal the unit(s) needed.
Along with exploring outside of town, there are often places in town that you can examine as well. In these cases, you can select which location to go to, and you'll be taken to whichever location you choose. From here, you can examine the scene, with an icon appearing that lets you know that there's something to examine. Oftentimes, it's flavor text, although sometimes you can find items, money, or knowledge to advance the plot.
Upgrades and Team Building
Each character has their own weapon type that they can use. Along with that, each character can equip a head piece, a chest piece, and two accessories. You'll want to keep an eye on the shop whenever possible to buy any new items that may boost your stats. Along with buying new equipment, you can use any materials that you pick up to craft weapons as well. These weapons will be minor upgrades compare to what you can purchase, but if you find yourself tight on money, it's a good way to upgrade.
Using the Manacrest mentioned earlier, you can upgrade and unlock skills for each of your characters. Upgrading a skill will increase the damage that can be dealt and/or increase the effect of the skill. Since there is no other use for mana outside of battling and upgrading, there isn't a reason not to upgrade.
Along with your main party, there are other minor characters that will join you on your adventure. However, rather than join your main party, they will join a special party called Adjutants. You can choose up to four different characters to be a part of this team. Each character has their own effect and it will go off randomly during battle after all units have performed their actions. These Adjutants can easily change the tide of battle, whether they heal your entire team or deal just enough damage to defeat an enemy.
Aesthetics
Path of the Midnight Sun makes use of live2D to bring its anime character sprites to life. The art is gorgeous, using a style that is definitely reminiscent of the Fire Emblem series. The character designs are well done and everyone comes together as one cohesive group without clashing too much. The UI rounds out the entire experience. At times, critical attacks will happen and an animated cutscene will cut in, bringing more life to a battle.
The game boasts partial voice acting, with familiar voices such as Jonah Scott and Amber Lee Collins. English is the only language available for the voices and everyone's voice fits their character perfectly. Some characters may be more grating than others, but that's more of a testament to the actual character and not the voice cast. The music is just as beautiful, with lovely orchestral pieces. The strings, piano, and horns do a great job at bringing the scale of this game up a notch.
Performance on Steam Deck
By default, Path of the Midnight Sun uses touchpad/touch screen controls, as well as the L2 and R2 buttons (although they are reversed for some strange reason). The game is playable by keeping the default, although some of the touch controls may be a bit frustrating given the precision needed. There is also quite a bit of lagging when it comes to pulling up the save menu, and after finishing a major battle that goes into a cutscene (typically boss battles).
Conclusion
Path of the Midnight Sun is a lovely game that does good job at standing out amongst the other RPG releases. While it doesn't do anything too crazy to set itself apart, the presentation of the game is phenomenal from its strong voice cast, beautiful art, and lovely music. There are moments towards the end where the game feels as though it drags, perhaps due to wanting to feel more like a typical RPG. But the game wraps itself with a nice bow to make the time spent absolutely worth it.
