Play Demon's Crest Online

Summary

Demon's Crest, the third outing for the fiery gargoyle Firebrand, builds on the side‑scrolling roots of the Gargoyle’s Quest series while slipping in Metroidvania‑style back‑tracking. The game blends tight platform action with light RPG elements, letting you explore six distinct zones on a world map and revisit them with new powers.

Firebrand’s toolkit starts with fire breath, wall‑clinging claws and a modest hover, but the real charm comes from the Crests you collect. Each Crest morphs him into a different form—Ground, Aerial, Tidal, Legendary, and finally Ultimate Gargoyle—unlocking fresh attacks and traversal tricks. Along the way you can stock extra hit points, flasks, spell vellums and talismans that fine‑tune his abilities.

Critics praised the game’s moody graphics, deep mechanics and balanced controls, though its soundtrack and enemy variety drew some flak. Despite an 87% aggregate score and later accolades from outlets like GamesRadar and IGN, the title flopped commercially, prompting Capcom to shelve a planned Game Boy Advance port. Over time it’s been re‑evaluated as one of the SNES’s hidden gems, often cited in top‑100 retrospectives.

Storyline

The story of Demon's Crest centers on six elemental Crests—Fire, Earth, Water, Air, Time and Heaven—that grant infinite power when united as the Crest of Infinity. A red demon named Firebrand originally possessed five of the Crests, but after a wounded victory over a Demon Dragon he was ambushed by the rival Phalanx, who seized every Crest except the Fire Crest, which shattered into five shards that Firebrand kept.

Phalanx immediately begins using the Crests to dominate the Demon Realm, while Firebrand is locked in an amphitheater and forced to battle the zombified Dragon Somulo. He escapes, vows revenge, and sets out to reclaim the scattered Crests. Along the way, Phalanx’s general Arma repeatedly challenges him, yet grudgingly returns most of the Crests out of respect for Firebrand’s strength.

The climax takes place in Phalanx’s castle, where three possible outcomes unfold. In the worst ending Firebrand kills Phalanx and the realm descends into chaos; a better ending sees Phalanx seal himself inside the Crest of Heaven while Firebrand hides the Crests; the preferred third ending has Firebrand defeat Phalanx, who transforms with the Crest of Infinity, then tosses the Crests away, rejecting conquest.

Completing the game with that third ending unlocks a secret password that grants Firebrand the Ultimate Gargoyle transformation and a hidden fourth ending. In this final scenario he faces the secret boss Dark Demon, defeats it, discards the Crests out of pride, and departs to find a new worthy opponent.