The game demo used to be so common in the industry. There were entire articles in game magazines dedicated to what the hot demo of the month was. Sometimes, a game demo could literally help sell entire other games. These days, there are only a handful of demos that come out, and they generally aren’t for the biggest budget games.
Possibly the most famous demo of all time though, is P.T. It was terrifying in a way that most full horror releases don’t manage to nail, and the atmosphere was so chilling and realistic that it’s one of those games that, no matter if you know what is coming, it’s still absolutely dreadful to experience.
For that reason, people still talk about it years later, because unlike most demos, this game never actually came out. But what about other demos? Have there been any that have topped what P.T. did? In my opinion, absolutely. For me, a demo hooks me on its gameplay, which is the one area where P.T. did not succeed. Here are a bunch of games that had better demos than the legendary P.T.
10
Hell Is Us
A New Type Of Open World
This is a very recent one, but Hell Is Us launched its demo over the summer of 2025, and it was immediately striking. Not only were the graphics gorgeous, but this was an open world with no map, no icons, and no objective markers telling you what direction to go. What a breath of fresh air and something that immediately felt new.
Suddenly, I had to use my brain in a game for the first time in God knows how long. There was a clear mystery to the whole world and what was happening, and the atmosphere was second to none. It’s hard to play something these days and feel “this is new”, but that’s exactly the feeling that Hell Is Us had to offer.
It’s such a brief slice, too. Just as you get thrown into the open world, the screen fades to black, and it’s an immediate “I want more” feeling. The final result of the game fulfills that and then some.
9
Mecha Break
Mecha Free For All
Mecha Break is an easy sell on paper. It’s armored Core with big team deathmatches, and it’s free. Yeah, sign me up. But the demo was something to be marveled at.
When you hear free-to-play, you don’t expect this kind of graphical fidelity, sharp controls, and overall presentation that we’re dealing with here. You get a handful of Mecha to fight with and full online capability in the demo, and it was enough to start a phenom in the Steam community.
The concurrent player count is currently the highest any demo has ever had, which is saying quite a lot. Honestly, it’s warranted. The action is fast-paced, it’s gorgeous to look at on screen, and it gives everyone a chance to jump into some easily accessible and high-octane mecha action.
8
The Last Of Us
Discovering A Legend
The Last of Us came somewhat out of nowhere, appearing as a demo code that you could download when purchasing God of War: Ascension. It really wasn’t thrust out into the public in a big way.
Despite that, a small demo gave us a glimpse of a game that would sufficiently change the gaming landscape from then on. It was only a small sliver of gameplay, with Joel and Ellie trying to escape a crumbling building, but it highlighted everything it needed to: The brutal combat, the companionship between Joel and Ellie, and the desperate and realistic atmosphere and voice acting that would carry the game into the hearts of millions shortly thereafter.
It didn’t give us the start of the game interestingly enough, so it left plenty to be discovered when players initially fired up the full game for the first time. The thing that really stood out in the demo was the brutality of the combat. It was the system from Uncharted turned up to 11, with merciless kills and brutally realistic violence fueling the encounters. It set the stage in such a great way while keeping plenty of secrets in its back pocket.
7
Lies Of P
BloodReborne
Lies of P dropped a demo in 2023 during a time when one of the biggest gaming years in a while was already underway. It was immediately compelling, because, well, it looked and felt like Bloodborne.
The demo was full of all the creepiness of Bloodborne mixed with the same type of fantastic combat. Immediately, people were interested. Not only that, but this demo was no ordinary demo. It was at least 4 hours worth of content, which is pretty outrageous considering some games only last 10 hours.
Lies of P, of course, was an enormous, 40-plus hour game, but the demo itself was just awesome. It gave us multiple great boss fights, an amazing sense of atmosphere, and a haunting, chilling take on a classic fairytale. It was one of those “too good to be true” type scenarios. Bu thankfully, it wasn’t, because the actual game was one of the best Soulslike/action games of all time.
6
Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era
A Return to the Past
Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era brings us back to a type of game that really hasn’t been seen since the early 2000s. The demo is just a small piece of what is certainly going to be a large game, but you still get to play as all four factions, try multiple modes, and experience a decent amount of gameplay in the single-player campaign.
It feels like what a demo should feel like. You get the awesome army building aspect and get introduced to the updated and yet familiar combat system that the series has been known for. Overall, it’s an awesome thing to see this type of game revived.
The demo gives you just enough to know that whenever this game releases, the hardcore fanbase that have been supporting its revival for years will be something worth celebrating once again.
5
Superhot VR
Enter the Matrix
Superhot VR’s demo was one of the more groundbreaking moments when it comes to the VR space as a legit gaming option. For many, this is what VR is supposed to be. It felt like being thrust into the Matrix, and suddenly, you go from your living room into a stunning if not simple-looking virtual environment where you’re moving in slow motion, dodging bullets, and being a real-life action star.
You only get a brief look at the gameplay here, but from the first second, you get the hook. Everyone gets it. I showed this to my friends when I first got into VR in 2017, and they went, “This exists?” as if they thought I had access to some secret technology. It’s that jarring and groundbreaking of a moment when it comes to the virtual universe.
4
Devil May Cry
Dante Enters the Fray
I remember opening Resident Evil: Code Veronica and being very surprised at what disk lay behind the main one. Who was this dude with white hair in an awesome red coat with a sword? I wasn’t the biggest Resident Evil fan, so this immediately got my attention. I fired it up and was greeted with some very unique and new feelings.
It felt like Resident Evil in its tone and background music, but I wasn’t a victim here, I was the aggressor. I wasn’t running from zombies, I was slicing evil marionettes into pieces and juggling them in the air with pistols. The Matrix had just come out a year prior, and this felt like the closest thing to that kind of combat.
It was mesmerizing, incredibly fast-paced, violent, and just about everything a teenage boy could want from a game back then. The demo was brief, but when I was done, I didn’t care one iota about Resident Evil. I wanted to know when Devil May Cry was releasing, because it was clear, this game had just created a whole new genre.
3
Final Fantasy XVI
Fantasy Reborn
It had been a long, long time since the last mainline Final Fantasy game had released when the Final Fantasy 16 demo came out in 2023. To say it had a lot of expectations would be an understatement. Immediately, it felt very different than what you’d expect from a Final Fantasy game. You start off in an on-rails shooter segment that starts in medias res, and it just feels out of context and strange.
But then you wake up, and the story really starts. This demo lasts about 2 and a half hours, and it’s an absolute thrill ride from start to finish. The world building is fantastic, the battles are fun and fast, and the story is just about as compelling as a Final Fantasy game can get.
It set up everything it needed to, gave you a small slice of what Eikon battles and on-foot battles would have to offer and, ultimately, it worked to create a ton of hype for what would end up becoming a very solid title in the franchise.
2
Resident Evil 7: Beginning Hour
Welcome To The Baker House
Resident Evil 7 was a reboot of the series in many ways, and it all started with the release of the demo. Before Resident Evil 7, we hadn’t seen a main entry in the series since 2012. It was a long wait, and the previews showed off a game that looked almost nothing like the Resident Evil we all knew and loved.
First person, realistic graphics, and slow, almost walking simulator-like gameplay was what we had to behold here, and it was stunning. The demo introduced us to the Baker family, a terrifying and clearly not quite human family that puts new protagonist Ethan through a literal house of horrors.
The demo is a jarring and beyond disturbing experience where everything you knew about Resident Evil, from the cheesy voice acting to the over-the-top cutscenes, was all redone in favor of gritty, realistic graphics, a quiet and moody atmosphere, and some of the biggest scares the series has ever seen.
Snake on a Boat
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty was one of the most hyped games of all time, and it came to us at first on a demo through the also fantastic Zone of the Enders.
The demo is legendary for a few reasons. First, the gameplay kicked ass. The stealth action from the first game was upgraded heavily here, with new maneuvers, incredible animations, and better enemy AI to support it all. We also had first-person options for shooting now, as well as manually aiming at different body parts, which would cause different reactions depending on where you shot.
The level design of the ship was incredible, the reveal of Metal Gear Ray was awesome, and this is arguably the best introductory level to any game in the history of gaming.
The other reason is the lie. The lie that we would be playing as Solid Snake throughout the game. Everyone was so sure he was the hero of the game, and despite the ambiguous ending of the demo, everyone was ready to have another awesome game starring Solid Snake.
Well, we know now that Raiden was actually the star of the show, leading to one of the great early gaming controversies of all time. It was a demo that made players feel something, and you just can’t get any better than that.
