Little Devil Inside - What We Know So Far

Last year's online PS5 reveal livestream, titled "The Future of Gaming," included among the usual flashy AAA games, many of which were led by women protagonists, several indie titles, too. The slate of indies featured in the event included Little Devil Inside, which, in the words of its developer Neostream, is a minimalist, "exploration focused survival action RPG."

Since then, not a lot of information has surfaced about Little Devil Inside, beyond coverage related to and stemming from its inclusion in the PS5 event. That said, a long development cycle, in addition to its recent association with the PS5, has gradually put the game on an increasing number of players' radars.

Neostream, as described in their Kickstarter campaign for the game, was founded in Sydney, Australia, in 1998 before relocating to South Korea. For most of its duration, the company worked in "multimedia." The development of Little Devil Inside marks a shift into game development.

Development of Little Devil Inside first began in 2015, at which point it was planned for the Wii U. Now, despite its association with the PS5, it's scheduled to release on most modern platforms, including PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

Back when Little Devil Inside was supposed to be a Wii U title, it was slated for a release sometime in 2016, though plans have changed since then. The Kickstarter campaign that was still providing updates to backers leading up to its inclusion in the PS5 event has remained a constant since the project's inception.

A window for Little Devil Inside's release was included among a list of release dates for a number of PS5 titles featured during a recent Sony press event, titled Sony Square. The Sony Square event confirmed that the next-gen, PS5 version of Little Devil Inside will be released in July 2021. Its trailer lists it as a "console exclusive for a limited time," so the Switch and Xbox releases are likely scheduled for a later date.

In Sony's "Future of Gaming" event, Little Devil Inside was showcased in a roughly two-minute-long trailer. This remains the latest and most up-to-date look at the game.

One scene in that trailer, however, ultimately resulted in pushback from viewers. It featured a few identical, small, dark-skinned hunters chasing the game's protagonist through a jungle environment. Critics pointed to multiple components of these characters' design resembling negative or otherwise adverse stereotypes.

Neostream responded swiftly, claiming to have been unaware of any stereotypical associations in the imagery they had decided to use, noting that those character designs had never been shown to anyone outside of the company. They went on to apologize and promised to alter the four primary stereotypical design elements that drew online criticism.

As a whole, the June 2020 trailer is primarily comprised of what appear to be pre-rendered cinematics. Little to no gameplay, depending on what may or may not have been pre-rendered, is included overall.

Specifics about Little Devil Inside's plot have yet to be outlined by Neostream. However, details from its trailer and descriptions of the game on its Kickstarter page provide some hints at what to expect in its story.

The majority of Little Devil Inside's June 2020 trailer is comprised of either its warrior protagonist using various combat gadgets to fight against fantasy creatures pulled from assorted mythologies or a posh old man character going through the motions of domestic life.

On Kickstarter, Neostream explains that "this game is not just about killing arch-demons and saving the world." Instead, it "tells stories about people with 'unusual' jobs such as hunting monsters and what happens in their everyday life doing so." Furthermore, Neostream describes its gameplay as taking place in "a surreal but somewhat familiar setting with humans, creatures and monsters to interact with, learn and hunt."

Barring any delays, pandemic-related or otherwise, more should become apparent about Little Devil Inside's story leading up to its July release later this year.