Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Dark Lord (Demo)

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Dark Lord (what a convoluted name!) takes it's tower defense genre seriously. You play as a Dark Lord building levels of a treacherous tower to be assaulted by wave after wave of heroes. And by "you" I mean a pre-teen girl dressed in fashionable, New Romanticism outfits with cute sock-puppet minions.

Prior interest: none

I've never played a Final Fantasy game, there are piles of free tower defense games on the internet, and the "My Life" meme seems boring and overplayed. Having a demo to try out is the only reason I'd ever consider a game like this.

Odds of purchase: low

It's immediately clear upon starting My Life as a Dark Lord that lots of attention was dedicated to round off any rough edges in the game. Everything seems weirdly pleasing with the possible exception of controlling movement on the large world map. Even the bilaterally-symmetrical maltagonist, Mira, turns out to be interesting. There's plenty to see as the battles play out: heroes rushing into and falling out of the tower, goblins grunting and cheering, sunrise and sunset, and characters offering advice and warnings. Way before I was ready, the demo timed out leaving me wanting more.

On the other hand, it's still a (very well done) tower defense game. So I'm only slightly interested in spending money to continue the game. Further, the demo ends with some teases of the game's story, which seems completely uninteresting. Still, I'd say the demo was a success in terms of getting me interested in a game I wouldn't have even noticed otherwise.