Shin Megami Tensei II is the direct sequel to Shin Megami Tensei and was first published in Japan in 1994 by Atlus.
While the basic gameplay is essentially the same as before, with tile-based movement and first-person combat sections, overhead city map sections, and magic, occult and religious themes, the developers deliberately chose not to connect this sequel directly to its predecessor, so story-wise it is somewhat different, being set in the far-flung future.
This cult Japanese Role Playing Game was originally released for the Super Nintendo in 1992 in Japan. It was developed by Atlus and is the third game in the Megami Tensei series, and the first in the central Shin Megami Tensei series.
The game mixes elements of philosophy, occultism, science fiction, religion, and role-playing in a somewhat unique way. It remained untranslated into English for a decade, because of its controversial content and Nintendo‘s strict policy guidelines. It wasn’t until 2002, and an unofficial fan translation patch by team Aeon Genesis, that the original SNES release received an English translation. An official English translation was eventually released on iOS in 2014 by Atlus.
The second game in the Megami Tensei series was developed by Atlus and published for the Nintendo Famicom by Namco in 1990. It’s another Japan-only RPG featuring demon-summoning and turn-based combat and is considered by many to be much better than the first game.
Continue reading Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei II, Famicom
This is the very first Megami Tensei game, released for the Nintendo Famicom in 1987, and it looks very basic compared to later Megami Tensei games, but was the foundation on which a successful series was built.
Based on a trilogy of fantasy novels by Japanese author Aya Nishitani, Megami Tensei was originally created as TWO distinct role-playing games. One version (this game) was developed by Atlus and published by Namco in 1987 for the Famicom. A separate version for home computers was co-developed by Atlus and Telenet Japan and published by Telenet Japan the same year.
The original game was never officially released in the West due to its use of religious themes, and Nintendo‘s sensitivity to them, but an English fan translation does exist that can be applied as a ROM hack.
Continue reading Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei, Famicom
Developed by Obsidian Entertainment and first released in 2015, Pillars of Eternity is an isometric RPG very much in the style of Baldur’s Gate, with a multi character party system, quests and turn-based combat.
Steel Talons is a helicopter action game that was converted to the Atari Lynx from the 1991 arcade game of the same name.
This conversion was developed by NuFX, Inc. and first came out in 1992.
This 2009 ‘spin-off’ in the Megami Tensei series is a turn-based tactical combat game, with the usual demons, magic, exploration and battles – presented in a mix of comic-like panels (for the conversation sections) and isometric landscapes (for the combat sections).
Continue reading Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor, Nintendo DS
While I wouldn’t call myself a Pokémon fanatic, I do really enjoy the games because they are so well made, and because I love level-grinders. Pokémon Pearl (and its companion, Diamond) is considered by many as one of the best games in the series, and people still love to play it now.
Compared to previous generations, Pokémon Pearl has lots of new features, and compared to later generations: the series hasn’t yet started to collapse under its own weight.
The follow-up to the classic PS2 game Dragon Quest VIII is another fine level-grinder, with cheerful, colourful graphics and mesmerising gameplay. Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies was developed by Level-5 and published by Square Enix on the Nintendo DS in 2009.
Getting straight down to it: Dragon Quest IX (nine) is similar to the previous game in the series, but with a few fundamental changes…
Developed by Johnson Voorsanger Productions for Sega and published on the Megadrive in 1991, Toejam & Earl is a cult collect ’em up starring two alien rappers who have crash-landed on Earth.
The King of Grabs 