2002 · Multimedia Intelligence Transfer · Puzzle · Role-playing

DemiKids: Dark Version

Nintendo exclusive

The year is 200X. Jin, Akira and Lena are 6th Grade friends who have grown up together. They are also members of the "Mystery Club" which searches for interesting and mysterious things.

Released: 15 November 2002
Platforms: Game Boy Advance
Genres: Puzzle Role-playing
Developers: Multimedia Intelligence Transfer
Publishers: Atlus
Modes: Multiplayer Single-player
Perspective: Bird view / Isometric
Age ratings: ESRB E

About

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children, also known as DemiKids, is a series of role-playing video games primarily developed by Multimedia Intelligence Transfer and published by Atlus. It is a spin-off from Atlus' Megami Tensei franchise, and began in 2000 with the Game Boy Color games Black Book and Red Book. Five more role-playing games and three games in other genres were released until 2004, followed by no new releases until the 2011 social game Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children. In addition to the games, the series has been adapted into manga, anime, and a trading card game, and two soundtrack albums have been released by First Smile Entertainment.

The series follows demon-human hybrids called devil children, who journey from Japan to the demon world, and are joined by talking companion monsters who give them guidance. The player takes the role of one such devil child, and battles against demons; the devil children do not fight directly themselves, however, but have allied demons in their party fight for them. The player can choose to talk to demons instead of fighting them, to try to make them join the player's party, and can increase their allied demons' power by fusing multiple demons with each other.

Keywords

anime
turn-based
combat dialogue
phoenix
negotiation

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Development

Devil Children was created presumably as a response to the popularity of the Pokémon series of games, and as an alternative take on the game Shin Megami Tensei for younger players, featuring child characters and cute monsters. Most of the games were developed by Multimedia Intelligence Transfer and published by Atlus, and the 2011 Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children, which was developed by Index Corporation. The only games in the series to have been released in English are Dark Version and Light Version. The soundtracks for Black Book and Red Book were composed by Tomoyuki Hamada from the group T's Music, using orchestral music blended with elements of rock. For the 2011 game, Yuji Himukai, known for his work on Atlus' Etrian Odyssey series, was tasked with creating new designs and illustrations of Mirai and Setsuna; they were designed to look older than in their original appearances in Black Book and Red Book.

Reception

Devil Children has received a wide range of reviews, ranging from negative to positive. Writers at Famitsu commented that the series did not change much between installments, although one said they enjoyed the stability and reliability in that. Kurt Kalata and Christopher J. Snelgrove of Hardcore Gaming 101 described the games as "relatively decent for being fairly conventional RPGs".

Several writers at Famitsu praised the demon fusion mechanic, with one of them calling it the best aspect of the game. Kalata and Snelgrove noted that the series was unusually simplistic for the Megami Tensei series, but still found its gameplay to have more depth than Pokémon's, and that it was able to challenge the player. On the other hand, GameSpot's Frank Provo said that it was not "nearly as fun or diverse", in his review of Light Version and Dark Version. Reviewing White Book, one writer at Famitsu said that the tempo of the game was good, allowing for a stress-free experience playing the game, while another thought that the enemies were too strong at the beginning, forcing the player to repeatedly fuse their demons to make any progress at all.