Scarlet City of Devils

About

Scarlet City of Devils is a single player hack and slash game with fantasy, anime and dark fantasy themes. It was developed by Shademare and was released on March 7, 2025. It received very positive reviews from players.

A demon-punk hack-and-slash adventure game! Explore the city of Elovelle at your own discretion and take down the toughest thugs this game has to offer.

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91%

Audience ScoreBased on 35 reviews

story8 positive mentions

optimization2 negative mentions

The game features a charming and unique hand-drawn art style with detailed character expressions and varied environments.
Combat is satisfying and engaging with multiple weapon types, unlockable abilities, and a generous dodge mechanic that encourages skillful play.
The soundtrack and sound design are highly praised, providing fitting music for different areas and enhancing the overall atmosphere.

The controls are sometimes awkward, with uncustomizable keybindings that limit player preferences, especially problematic for controller and keyboard users.
The map and level design suffer from inconsistencies and lack of variety, with some enemies and areas feeling repetitive and difficult to distinguish due to color palette issues.
Some gameplay elements, like hitboxes, animation locking during attacks, and occasional bugs (e.g., character getting stuck or repeated dialog loops), detract from the overall experience.

story
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
32%
56%
12%
The story of the game is underdeveloped and fairly simple, with limited worldbuilding and an open-ended finale that leaves much unexplored. While some players appreciated the light, humorous banter and charming characters, others found the narrative awkward, spoiled early on, or overshadowed by objectification. Overall, the story supports the game's atmosphere but is not its standout feature, serving more as a backdrop to the combat and exploration.
- “Her quest rather innocently starts off by beginning to do mercenary work for a local devil bathhouse but swiftly ropes her into a misguided ploy to heal “ferality”, an inevitable state in which a devil falls into a feral state due to spiritual imbalance.”
- “That being the case, the story that is there remains serviceable for a game of its scale and supports the vibe and atmosphere very nicely.”
- “The banter back and forth is silly and had me laughing out loud as I progressed through the story line.”
- “The game is far too short to really develop the bigger story surrounding the Fountain of Elovelle, nor to develop any worldbuilding at all, as even the intro suggests much more strife among different devil clans than is actually presented in the game.”
- “All that is to say is that SCOD cannot really be recommended by virtue of its story and writing, as the former remains underdeveloped all the way to the quite open-ended finale, and there is a lack of proper worldbuilding and too few character-dynamic interactions to make it worthwhile.”
- “The prologue spoils the entire plot of the game.”
graphics
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
59%
14%
The graphics feature a distinct, hand-drawn art style that is simple yet detailed, with clean visuals and expressive characters, though some find the semi-pornographic portrayal of women off-putting. While the environments are minimalistic but sufficient, the animation can feel a bit clunky at times. Overall, the artwork is charming and fits well with the indie metroidvania vibe, appealing primarily to a specific target demographic.
- “I adore the art style of the game; it's a bit amateurish and simple but detailed enough to allow for a nice range of expressions on the characters and clearly made with a lot of love.”
- “The hand-drawn characters look great, and while the environments are minimalistic, they suffice.”
- “Fascinating unique hand-drawn artwork, paired with fun challenging combat through several weapons.”
- “A bit clunky at times due to the animation lock and graphical style.”
- “When you make a roll, residual images of the main character do not take into account the character's skin or clothing (just visuals which do not affect gameplay at all).”
- “There is a lot of attention to detail in the art that would come through better if the graphics were scaled up and then optimized instead of being small to begin with.”
gameplay
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35%
47%
18%
The gameplay of Scarlet City of Devils is a solid and engaging metroidvania experience, featuring fun combat, exploration, and a variety of weapons and mechanics that reward mastery. While some find movement and hitboxes slightly off and the difficulty relatively mild, the game offers enjoyable map design, a satisfying upgrade system, and replay appeal, though it may feel short and occasionally overwhelming due to enemy respawns.
- “Scarlet City of Devils is a rather short but soulful metroidvania that is remarkably charming in its presentation, perfectly solid in its mechanics, and an overall good experience for a couple of hours.”
- “A well crafted indie metroidvania that rewards mastery of the game mechanics.”
- “It's packed with a lot of weapons, mechanics, special effects, and bosses that would give any metroidvania fan a good time!”
- “Maybe some additional challenge can be found in the aforementioned bosses I have apparently skipped or the boss rush mode, but I would rather point to Scod for the raw fun of its combat and a lukewarm, quick metroidvania to play through rather than a game to really bite your teeth out either in its story or here in its difficulty and combat mechanics—while there is some theoretical depth to what is certainly possible with your assortment of weapons and abilities, it never becomes needed to actually make use of everything you have.”
- “Gameplay leans heavily into the Metroid-style maps and you will want to try and memorize them as much as possible if you don't want to be lost. The enemies will respawn once you have left the area, which is good but can get overwhelming in low health situations.”
- “The movement felt floaty, plus some hitboxes just felt off (especially with the first boss) and the stagger mechanic felt unreliable.”
music
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
64%
The game's music is highly praised for its energetic, fitting, and atmospheric soundtrack that enhances engagement across diverse locations and gameplay moments. With memorable, synth-heavy compositions that adapt to different areas and battles, the music is considered one of the game's standout elements alongside its artwork.
- “The music... the music will have you in constant jam mode as you play through all the different locations.”
- “An eerie, synth-heavy soundtrack pulses in the background, perfectly capturing the tone of the city.”
- “Whether you're sneaking through shadowed corridors or locked in a high-stakes boss fight, the music adapts to amplify the tension.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The game's optimization is hindered by random stuttering, impacting performance. While the detailed art is notable, it would benefit from being rendered at higher resolutions and better optimized rather than starting small.
- “The game is stuttering at random moments.”
- “There is a lot of attention to detail in the art that would come through better if the graphics were scaled up and then optimized instead of being small to begin with.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find the atmosphere well-supported by the story, creating a fitting and immersive vibe that suits the game's scale effectively.
- “The story, though limited, remains serviceable for a game of its scale and supports the vibe and atmosphere very nicely.”
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding is minimal and well-balanced, as unlocking save points with in-game currency does not lead to excessive or tedious repetition.
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized by playful and silly banter that effectively raises laughs throughout the storyline.
- “The banter back and forth is silly and had me laughing out loud as I progressed through the storyline.”

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Frequently Asked Questions

Scarlet City of Devils is a hack and slash game with fantasy, anime and dark fantasy themes.

Scarlet City of Devils is available on PC, Windows and Linux.

Scarlet City of Devils was released on March 7, 2025.

Scarlet City of Devils was developed by Shademare.

Scarlet City of Devils has received very positive reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its optimization.

Scarlet City of Devils is a single player game.

Similar games include Death's Door, Voidwrought, Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight, MindSeize, Ori and the Will of the Wisps and others.

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