My copy of Demon Gaze arrived on Friday, and I had said I would share some comments on the game as a newcomer.
As I had mentioned before, the Dungeon Travelers 2 demo was my first experience with DRPGs, and on another member's recommendation, I got Demon Gaze to try out this genre.
I'm a couple hours in and I just finished clearing the first dungeon and getting my second demon, Mars, and have started on the second dungeon. I love the exploration and mapping. Trying to fill in every niche and corner so my map is perfectly complete is a surprising amount of fun, and while there are random encounters, they are uncommon enough that it doesn't make exploring feel like a chore (*cough most other JRPGs cough*).
The first dungeon definitely required some grinding. My first first time encountering Mars in each of the two times that happens in the dungeon ended badly (and quickly). A bit of grinding and a third party member and I was able to beat the first one, and then some grinding and a few equipment upgrades and I took down Mars' final form, though it was a tough fight. Fortunately, the grind was actually fun. Because random battles are uncommon, most fights were ones I picked, either through those "monster icons" or through the Summon Circles. And that made the grind a lot less frustrating that it is in other RPGs. Every battle felt like it had a point, either large amounts of XP for the more challenging ones, or at the very least, a piece of loot I could sell to account for the Rent in some of the easier ones. Though, now that I'm on the second dungeon, it feels a lot easier. I'm just steamrolling through everything I find. It makes me wonder if I was intended to do the dungeons at the same time, jumping from one to the other when one got too hard to level up in an easier part of the other, or something like that.
The party member stuff is a mixed bag. While being able to completely customize my team is really nice, I miss the party dynamics that come with having set characters. I feel like, ideally, there'd be a mix of those two extremes. Characters come with pre-set appearances and personalities, but you can set their class yourself. But on the whole, it's a minor detractor and I'm still having fun. I wish there was a way to try out or at least learn a bit more about the classes, though. Creating a character completely blind of their eventually abilities is not my ideal way of creating a good, long-term party.
So, on the whole, I'm enjoying the game. Assuming I still feel the same come the end, I'm probably going to have to delve deeper into this genre.
. I know a bad story can be distracting in a RPG but its good if the core gameplay/dungeon design makes up for it 
