Branching Path: Damon and Baby isn't quite an RPG, but maybe RPG fans should keep an eye on it

Every now and then, RPG Site is given the opportunity to cover a game that - while maybe not quite an RPG, it's close enough that we feel it's worth giving a look. We've done it with Armored Core, we've done it with any number of Visual Novels, and we even did it with Street Fighter VI's "story" mode. So, when Arc System Works asked if we would be interested in checking out a slate of their upcoming releases for 2026, I was willing to give Damon and Baby a look.

Truthfully, it's not entirely clear yet if Damon and Baby doesn't merit more explicit coverage in the future. One could liken it to a twin-stick shooter - the game plays in an isometric perspective, and a core element of the gameplay is using guns. One could say it's a metroidvania, since you'll be gathering powerups and items to backtrack and explore areas you've already visited. You could even say it's a "survival", resource management title; with rationing ingredients to cook food, which acts as both your primary method of healing between save points, as well as a means of increasing your max HP.

The one thing that is clear after spending roughly an hour playing Damon and Baby, is that it's undeniably something very, very different for Arc System Works - following in the footsteps of the company's prior release of Dear Me, I was... on Nintendo Switch 2.

Players take control of the Demon King, Damon, who has had his powers sealed and an unbreakable connection forged with his late friend's baby - and it's up to him to figure out how to unshackle himself from the baby, while also recovering his strength, all the while discovering what exactly is going on. While Damon and Baby plays in an isometric perspective, platforming is a core part of the gameplay - and Damon's inherent connection to Baby is a major piece of the puzzle.

Early on in the tutorial you're taught the basics of platforming before you're face-to-face with a gap that encompasses a sharp turn over a pit. You can't directly clear the pit with Damon's jumping prowess alone - but then he has a realization. Damon can't, but the spell holding Damon and Baby together means that Damon will always appear right next to Baby after they've been separated. 

Naturally, the solution is aiming and then precisely yeeting the baby across the remainder of the gap, mid-jump.

All jokes aside - it leaves an immediate impression, and at the same time showcases the team is well and truly considering how to make full use of the game's implied mechanics. Combat isn't quite as inventive from what we managed to try, mostly relying on basic melee attacks and your guns, but this too includes a few wrinkles. Punching an enemy and then immediately bringing out your gun will lock-on your attacks to the enemy, while also increasing your firing rate. Past the tutorial, players can find any number of additional firearms with their own unique properties across the environment, though using any gun outside of the handgun requires ammunition you'll also have to keep track of.

Loading up a later save following the tutorial, we managed to get a better feel for the game's proper gameplay loop; in Damon's search for a boat, he hopes to enlist the help of a city's mayor, yet he discovers that not only is the mayor is an impostor, but also that the real mayor is chained up within the residence. It's up to you to explore every nook and cranny of the manor to figure out a way to both deal with the doppelganger, as well as rescue the true mayor.

In practice, not only does this include ransacking the place for ingredients for food, stronger variants of your guns, and ammo to use in them - but also keys for locked rooms, as well as clues for puzzles blocking progression, and some classic platforming challenges for good measure. All of this culminated in a boss fight that tasks players with using their guns to stun enemies to create platforms in order to reach the boss' weak point.

It's hard to say how the full game will fare, but Damon and Baby has my attention at this point - and Arc System Works has my full support in their attempts to branch out beyond fighting games. Jury is still out on whether Damon and Baby will merit any further coverage from us, but just in-case stay tuned for when the game drops in Early 2026 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and PC (Steam).