Stupid Never Dies Demo Impressions: Three Hours of Kicking and Stealing Powers

My favorite thing to do in the Stupid Never Dies demo was surprisingly simple: kick monsters off ledges and watch them fall. Between punching, jumping, biting, and taking on monster forms, there are several ways to approach a fight. Sometimes, though, sending an enemy over the edge was the most entertaining option.

After three hours, I enjoyed those playful moments, but I also wanted more resistance from the enemies. The monsters I encountered were easy to kill, and I had yet to find one that felt genuinely challenging. That leaves me with mixed early impressions: there is fun in the combat, but I still want to see how it holds up against tougher opponents.

These impressions cover my time with the demo, rather than the full game.

A zombie with two different speeds

You play as Davy, a zombie whose movement felt very different depending on where I was. Outside the dungeon, I moved slowly. Once I entered the dungeon, movement became much faster.

That change was one of the clearest differences between the two parts of my session. The slower movement outside gives way to fights where I could jump high, punch, kick, and bite enemies.

The controls felt fine during my playtime. I did not experience control problems that interfered with moving around or fighting, so my main concern was the difficulty of the encounters themselves.

Eating monsters and using their powers

Davy’s attacks go beyond punches and kicks. I could also bite enemies, and another mechanic let me take their abilities.

After defeating certain powerful monsters, I could consume a glowing, rounded object and gain access to a monster form. I could then switch into that form and use its abilities.

The official name for this mechanic is Style Eat. The developer describes it as consuming the cores of elite monsters to steal their powers and transform into different Styles. That explains the glowing object I encountered during my session. Official demo description

It gives combat another layer beyond Davy’s normal attacks. Defeating a monster can also mean gaining a different set of abilities to use in later fights.

Kicking enemies off ledges was the highlight

The moment that entertained me most involved positioning enemies near an edge and kicking them over it.

There is something funny about having monster transformations available and still enjoying a straightforward kick this much. Watching an enemy fall was the highlight of my session.

It also gave the environment a role in the action. An enemy’s position mattered because getting it close to a drop created another opportunity to deal with it.

I wanted enemies that pushed back harder

My biggest frustration was that I could not find a monster that felt challenging during those three hours. The enemies I fought were easy to kill.

That matters because having several attacks and monster abilities is more interesting when opponents give me a reason to think about how I use them. I wanted encounters that demanded more from me.

However, three hours with a demo is a limited basis for judging the game’s overall difficulty. Later enemies may be tougher, and I have not played enough to know how the challenge develops. My criticism applies to the encounters I experienced.

No technical problems during my session

I did not experience lag, crashes, or noticeable bugs during my three hours with the demo. The controls also worked fine for me.

That allowed me to focus on the action without technical problems interrupting the session. This reflects my own experience with the demo; I have not tested performance across different systems.

Verdict

My three hours with Stupid Never Dies were most enjoyable when I was kicking monsters off ledges and experimenting with the abilities available to Davy. The contrast between slow movement outside the dungeon and faster action inside was also noticeable.

The main thing missing for me was a stronger challenge. I enjoyed the playful side of fighting, but the enemies I encountered were easy to defeat.