How could I possibly resist a Shin Megami Tensei themed SRPG, the happy combination of two of my favourite things - tiny people waiting to be ordered around a large map and demon-infested 90's cyberpunk? And oh, that soundtrack! Hidehito Aoki's work on Majin Tensei's soundtrack is just superb, a sort of dark industrial goth rock via the SNES' soft-sounding … Continue reading HUGE art… and really tiny scraps of strategy
Category: Atlus
The horrors of the mind
deSPIRIA's scrappy survivalist future of deadly secrets and grisly monsters, a setting where people try to eke out a life for themselves amongst the decay as androids play the roles of shop assistants and murderers while a powerful religion oversees all, is something of a spiritual sequel to the supremely atmospheric PlayStation title Dark Messiah. … Continue reading The horrors of the mind
Pray or prey?
I really wasn't expecting the overlooked and often negatively reviewed Dark Messiah, known in PAL regions as Hellnight, a game I painfully remember passing on for all of five pounds, fifteen years ago (complete UK copies now seem to be worth at least ninety), to be as close in spirit as it is to Warp's … Continue reading Pray or prey?
Divinity, demons, and decay
Shin Megami Tensei II is a game that asks many questions along the way to its epic climax but it all begins with just one: What happened to the world after the end of the first Shin Megami Tensei? "Nothing good" might be the best way to sum it up: Shin Megami Tensei II assumes the original … Continue reading Divinity, demons, and decay