Deemo was originally a game for smartphones, before being ported to the PlayStation Vita and then to the Nintendo Switch. Deemo is a rhythm game with a story component. Due to its original platform, the gameplay is simple and easy to pick up. You select a track that you want to play, and while it is playing, bars will come down the screen. Your job is to tap it when it gets to the line at the bottom. A neat thing is that it reflects a piano, and that the pattern synchronizes with the piano pieces of the track.
There are two ways to play, either using the touchscreen or the controller. Using the touchscreen is self-explanatory. Using the controller however will color the bars blue or red, representing each Joy-Con. You can use any of the face buttons on the Joy-Con, the important part is which side you use it on. The shoulder button is used occasionally representing the hold otes. While the earlier easier tracks are fine to use a controller with, on the harder tracks, touchscreen is definitely the superior way.
Speaking of difficulty, the game has a lot of difficult tracks. There is a reason why it defaults to easy mode on the tracks when you first start up the game. All tracks have easy, normal and hard, and even normal gets pretty difficult. You are pretty much forced to increase the speed of the bars otherwise it will all bunch up together and be impossible to figure out the pattern properly. The good news is that you can increase the bar slowly, get used to a slightly faster speed and then up it. Before you know, you’re able to deal with a speed that seemed impossibly fast before. There is a reliance on using the hold notes on higher difficulties, and it is quite annoying since they will force you to move your finger from side to side.
One neat thing is that you cannot ever fail a track and have it prematurely end. This means that you can push on ahead and practice to get a feel for the patterns and how the song evolves. Soon enough, you’ll be able to ace tracks of higher and higher difficulties. Tracks are also ranked based on 1-10, and this is more indicative of the difficulty than easy / normal / hard. There are certain songs with an even higher difficulty than those. Each song will give you a percentage score based on an unbroken combo and whether you tapped the notes within a good timing window.
The game boasts an impressive number of tracks. The base game alone has over 200 songs, while the free updates adds more than 80 additional tracks. There’s so much content to the game that it is crazy. The tracks include both vocal and non-vocal songs, from a wide array of composers and artists. With the sheer amount of songs, it is not possible for every song to be a hit, but the majority of them are great. Playing everything will take 15-20 hours.
There are certain songs, especially on the higher difficulties, where the patterns don’t quite match the music being played especially on a vocal track where it overpowers the instruments. This makes it harder to get in sync. However, when it syncs well, it is an amazing experience. As the pattern focus on matching the background instruments rather than the vocals, the non-vocal tracks are usually the easier ones to get into the rhythm of.
Like a lot of rhythm games, the key to the harder tracks it through muscle memory and repeated playthroughs of the same track. This is because the high speed and the patterns likes to play tricks on you, and you’ll make mistakes as it’ll lead you to use one hand when you should use the other as an upcoming bar requires a specific hand. The free songs that came in the updates are usually difficult so it may be best to leave them for later once you get the hang of things. The presentation of the game menus and selection looks great. While the presentation of the gameplay itself is simple since it’s a monochrome background that’s devoid of any distractions. Playing with a controller will give it a much needed dash of blue and red that’s actually quite mesmerizing.
The story is minimalistic and told with little to no dialogue. Instead, after a few songs, a short cutscene will play. Deemo is a lonely pianist but one day, a girl falls to where he is. Together, they plant a seed and it blooms into a large tree. The girl is seemingly trapped where she is and is missing her life. The songs that she plays with Deemo are what the gameplay reflects. The story is pretty short, with a limited amount of cutscenes. It is only really an excuse for you to play the tracks, and each track you complete, will grow the tree. The tree signifies something, as it grows bigger, the girl is also closer to escaping. It has a surprising ending that gives a different perspective on what has happened.
The story and game is designed for multiple playthroughs with subtle changes to the visuals and scenery. This is also the only way to unlock additional songs. Overall, Deemo is a solid rhythm game. While the menus and cutscenes are stylish and beautiful, the gameplay visuals are a bit sparse. Nevertheless, the gameplay works well and is simple to pick up, but challenging and rewarding to master. The story is surprisingly sweet and sad, with a lot of meaning behind the context.
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