Demon Kill Demon: Yomi 1984 hits the Switch in Japan this month

Experience Inc. Is releasing Demon Kill Demon: Yomi 1984 for the Nintendo Switch in Japan on May 28. The upcoming dungeon role-playing game is a direct sequel to the studio's previous title, Undernauts: Labyrinth of Yomi, and it brings back the grid-based exploration the developer is known for.

The narrative picks up five years after the "Imprisonment" incident that defined the first game. The original Undernauts took place in 1979 after a massive, monster-filled structure suddenly appeared in Tokyo, prompting underground explorers to map its depths. This sequel moves the timeline forward to 1984. An entire classroom of students from Yomi High School gets pulled into a supernatural underworld. The students are trapped in hell and forced into a grim survival mechanic: they have to resurrect the corpses of their fallen classmates and use them as combat assets.

Grid-based survival

Experience Inc. Has spent the last seventeen years building a tight niche. The Tokyo-based studio focuses almost entirely on dungeon RPGs. Games like Demon Gaze, Stranger of Sword City, and the Spirit Hunter series all share a distinct DNA. The developer relies on traditional first-person grid movement and turn-based combat, usually paired with complex party management and punishing difficulty spikes. These games demand patience. Players map out labyrinths tile by tile, carefully managing resources to survive long expeditions away from their base.

Demon Kill Demon: Yomi 1984 leans heavily into the dark tone established by its predecessor. The mechanic of using dead classmates as party members fits right into the studio's history of desperate, high-stakes dungeon crawling.

Experience Inc. is the developer for this release. While Experience Inc. is handling publishing, City Connection has been involved in official announcements for the Japanese market. City Connection is known for handling retro ports and the Jaleco catalog.

$61.99 on Play-Asia

The game is currently a Japan-exclusive release. The Nintendo Switch is region-free, so playing the physical cartridge on a North American or European console is straightforward. The actual barrier is the language. Experience Inc. Has not announced an English localization yet. Because DRPGs require constant menu navigation and stat reading, playing in Japanese is a tall order for anyone not fluent in the language. Importing is really only viable for players who can read Japanese or those willing to use translation apps for every menu screen.

Several import options are available for the physical release. Play-Asia lists the physical edition for $61.99 USD. If you prefer buying directly from Japanese retailers, AmiAmi has the list price at 9,680 JPY. Game*Spark notes the base price is 8,800 JPY before tax.

The Switch has become a reliable home for niche Japanese role-playing games. The hybrid nature of the console works well for grid-based crawlers. Players can easily grind out levels in handheld mode.

Western fans of Undernauts will just have to hope a localization partner picks this up. NIS America and Aksys Games have both published Experience Inc. Titles in the past. Until an English version materializes, the Japanese release drops at the end of the month.