It doesn't always have to be the end of the world.  Sometimes an adventurer just wants to build a mystical archway back to their home, recovering a set of mystic stones hidden in the dungeons scattered throughout the countryside.  Maybe things will get out of hand along the way, leading to an epic confrontation of world-shattering destruction, but the Archvale demo starts small despite the ever-intensifying assault from the bullet-hell monsters wandering the map.

It all starts easily enough, as these types of quests do.  A mysterious voice wakes a sleeping child of Archvale from their rest in the gloomy depths of a small dungeon, and after a couple of brief tutorial rooms they make their way outside to start the recovery of the seven arch stones.  Archvale plays like a twin-stick shooter dumped into a Zelda-ish world, bright and colorful with monsters that are more cute than threatening.  The player starts off with a simple wooden sword which swipes out an arc of force that travels a decent but limited range, and they've also got a dash to zip through bullets or over otherwise-impassable ground.  There are also two heal potions can be recharged at the saving fountains, and that's basically it.  The rest is getting new weapons, armor, and ability-enhancing badges, plus figuring out the best way to use environmental pickups.  It's fairly simple but when the screen is hopping with bullet-spewing slimes, butterflies, bats, and other enemies, it's probably best not to have to juggle too many controls.

The Archvale demo goes through two towns, a pair of bosses, and through retrieving the first arch-stone.  Along the way you'll find different weapons with strengths and shot patterns, resources to build new weapons at the town forge or strengthen the ones you've got, armor and accessories that complement different build types, and even a new basic player ability if you hop back into the save file after beating the final boss.  The important part, though, is that the combat is a huge amount of fun, with bullets everywhere and a nice arsenal to fight back with.  It's a great taste of the action to come and the fan-base is already working on the speed-runs, squeezing every bit of gameplay out of the demo's limited content.

There's no new video for the demo release but the E3 trailer gives a nice overview of what's in store for the full game.  The demo is available for the next two weeks, through November 28, so it's worth grabbing now while the getting is good.  On the plus side, seeing as it's a Humble Bundle download rather than Steam, once you've got it you can play as much as you like, with no worries that the end-date means it will be deactivated.  Head on over and grab it now, and get ready for an upbeat bullet-hell fantasy adventure.