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What are the hardest/most difficult games for the Nintendo DS/2DS/3DS?

12

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Considered

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Apr 22, 2022

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Updated

12 Games Considered

What are the hardest/most difficult games for the Nintendo DS/2DS/3DS	Price	Platforms	Genre
-- Shin Megami Tensei IV	$19.99	Nintendo 3DS	Role-Playing, Dungeon Crawler
-- VVVVVV	$9.99	Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Android, iOS, Nintendo 3DS, macOS, Linux	Puzzle, Platformer, Metroidvania, Action
-- Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux	$39.99	Nintendo 3DS	Role-Playing, Dungeon Crawler, Horror
-- Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey	$49.95	Nintendo DS	Role-Playing, Dungeon Crawler, Horror
-- Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse	$32.98	Nintendo 3DS	Role-Playing, Dungeon Crawling

Shin Megami Tensei IV

Top Pro

Unusual and clever setting

Shin Megami Tensei IV takes place in a medieval-style society in the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado, with some modern-looking technology like the Demon Summoning Program that allows you to control demons. To say why would be a spoiler, but the mystery is at the heart of the game's narrative. If you've never played a Shin Megami Tensei game before, the explanation for everything does a nice job at playing on your expectations. See More

Top Con

The Law and Chaos alignments are black-and-white

There's little depth or nuance to the ending paths you experience if your alignment ends up siding with Law or Chaos. Certain characters represent each alignment, but these characters are static with hardly any development, and their reasons for going down these routes can be interpreted as too extreme for players to sympathize with. You may find yourself wanting to go down the Neutral path instead and rejecting Law and Chaos, but it's quite difficult to get this alignment for the ending, since it's determined by a hidden score from answering questions throughout the game. See More

Specs

Genre:Role-Playing, Dungeon Crawler

Top Pro

Brilliant music with a unique sound

The music in this game is on another level. Right from the opening main theme, it sets the tone with an otherworldly song with real weight and gravity, like the pulsing of the planet itself. This type of sound comes up in other tracks as a great leitmotif, with the oppressive sound fitting with the bleak and philosophical narrative tones. Other songs mix in rock sounds with classical or even hip-hop influences, making for some memorable moments when an unexpected track kicks in. Some of the boss music, especially later in the game, are quite inventive, with some of them sounding downright mind-bending in how experimental they are. It's an overall incredible collection that stays with you for a long time. See More

Top Con

Annoying and obtuse demon negotiation mechanics

Demon negotiation is a cool concept, but it doesn't always work as intended. When talking to a demon, the answers you give them affect whether or not they decide to join you. Aside from trying to appease their personality types (being playful with young demons, flirting with female demons, and so on), there isn't much you can to do know what it is they want. And there are a number of times when, after answering questions correctly and giving the demon your items, money, etc., it decides not to join you and runs off with all of your stuff. It's incredibly irritating with little rhyme or reason behind the mechanics. See More

Top Pro

You get to collect and control many types of demons and angels to fight in battle

Demons and angels act as your party members in battle. While fighting, you can recruit almost any enemy demon or angel as long as it's at your level or below, through a process called demon negotiation. You barter with them through a conversation before asking it to join you; if it likes you, and if you give it the items, money, and whatever else it asks you for, it may join your party. You can then fuse angels or demons together to create stronger allies with better abilities. And there are hundreds of different types of demons and angels with their own fitting designs and relevant mythological lore, ranging from familiar names like Shiva, Lilith, Valkyrie, Phoenix, Raphael, and many many more. See More

Top Con

Finding where you need to go on the world map is a pain

Once the game opens up, it's great, except the map is terrible for getting around. Sometimes you won't even know exactly where you have to go: it's just a matter of wandering around until you find the place. Or you do have an idea of your next objective, but the map ends up giving you a hard time. There are way too many dead-ends and fields of poison that you run into -- these, on top of not knowing where to go, makes navigation one of the worst parts of the game. If you want to avoid the headaches, you can find a guide online to help you get around. See More

Top Pro

Your moral choices branch out to multiple endings

Your choices throughout the game determine which of the three alignments you fall under. Whether you lean toward Chaos with the demons, Law with the angels, or the Neutral alignment that rejects Law and Chaos, the latter half of the game changes to reflect your views. Characters who were once antagonists can become your allies, or vice-versa, depending on which path you follow. The world shapes itself in drastic ways through your choices, leading you down different branches, each with their own separate locations to explore, powerful bosses to defeat, and unique endings that follow. See More

Top Con

Uneven level of difficulty

There are a few things that throw off the overall difficulty. Some of the earlier bosses can be too hard and downright cheap in comparison to others, making things unbalanced. Also, in both regular battles and boss fights, if an enemy uses a light or dark spell and hits your main character, there's a chance that you will be instantly killed, resulting in a game over. But as long as you do your best to prepare for these bosses, and make sure to save often to not lose as much progress from possible instakills, you should be fine. See More

Top Pro

Philosophical story where you shape the fate of the world

Shin Megami Tensei IV is all about letting you decide what is just and what is right in a malleable world. You start off as a Samurai who follows orders from his superiors, but you and your friends and fellow Samurai learn that not all is as it seems. Gaining knowledge and power to change the world so that the strong rule the weak, upholding the status quo where God's word is law, or allowing humans to decide their own fate without demons or gods: your journey ultimately takes you down one of these three paths. It's up to you to go with whatever worldview fits your moral alignment best: Chaos, Law, or Neutrality. See More

Top Con

Harsh learning curve in the first dungeon

The first dungeon, Naraku, is really, really tough, especially if you're not familiar with the Shin Megami Tensei games. You're basically thrown into the area with basic gear and a few items against demons who can easily kill you in a few hits. You have to recruit demons to your party to even the odds, but this is easier said than done. You may find yourself having a hard time if the demons you try to recruit end up killing you instead. If you get overwhelmed, you can always make your way back out the dungeon, heal up and save, and then continue. See More

Top Pro

Highly challenging, yet rewarding turn-based combat

The battles in the Shin Megami Tensei series are unforgiving in how difficult they are, and SMT IV is no exception. You fight with a party of demons you collect, aiming to pinpoint your enemy's elemental weaknesses and exploit them. Once you find the weakness, you're rewarded with an extra turn; if you keep landing the right attacks, then the game lets you chain a finite number of turns one after another. If you don't look up a guide, then finding weaknesses is a matter of trial and error, and hoping you don't die while you figure things out. But this also applies to your enemies -- if they exploit your weaknesses, then they get extra turns instead. Most of the opponents you come across hit for a ton of damage, so you absolutely need to take advantage of gaining extra turns. And as you get farther along in the game, you get access to buffs to your party's attack, defense, evasion, and more, as well as debuffs to debilitate your foes. As you get better with the combat and earn some tough victories, the sense of satisfaction you get helps you to keep pushing forward. See More

VVVVVV

Top Pro

Throwback to Atari/C64 games while playing like a modern game

VVVVVV is very reminiscent of a game one would find for the Atari or Commodore 64 in that the graphics are simple, but the gameplay is anything but as it plays like nothing one would have found back then. It is fast paced and very precise, also extremely tough. See More

Top Con

Not much of a story

The basic plot is that you are trying to save your crew members, but really it is just a loose story to tie the levels together as there is really not much there to discover. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Puzzle, Platformer, Metroidvania, Action

Top Pro

Use gravity to solve puzzles

The main mechanic in the game is that the player can switch the gravity in any level allowing the character to flip from the bottom of the screen to the top. This is used in an ingenious way in order to solve puzzles and avoid hazards throughout each level. See More

Top Con

Difficult

VVVVVV is a tough game, one that will cause frustration quite easily. Luckily there are unlimited lives in the game, so areas can be played over and over again with no consequences. See More

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux

Top Pro

Intense and foreboding soundtrack with classical influences

In the best ways possible, the music ranges from grave and serious to majestic and elegant. Regular exploration themes have deep, booming choruses backed by relentless military drums, keeping you on-edge throughout the many hours you spend dungeon crawling. Boss battles are as foreboding as the enemies you face, with a range of blaring brass sounds that ground the tone and elevate your experience: even the period of silence in "Vehement Rage" conveys plenty of weight and importance. Major boss battles are even more impressive, fitting their Law, Chaos, or Neutral alignments in creative ways, with "Holy Miracle" bringing all the classical grandeur of a battle against a true being of Law. And the song that plays in the final dungeon, as well as the end credits theme, are both particularly special, with an unexpected tone that perfectly captures the end of such a strange journey. See More

Top Con

Some of the puzzles can take a long time to figure out

There are a couple of notorious puzzles in this game. The main one, you encounter about halfway through the story: it involves a bunch of warping around the map and falling through traps in the ground to get to where you need to go. If you keep at it, you're sure to find your way eventually, but it's frustrating. See More

Specs

Genre:Role-Playing, Dungeon Crawler, Horror

Top Pro

Features some new additions over the original Strange Journey

Strange Journey Redux is an updated re-release of Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey for the Nintendo DS. There are some brand new additions to bring in both new players and existing fans of the original, mainly the new character, Alex, who seems to oppose you and your team at every turn. Fighting her leads you to the new dungeon, the Womb of Grief, with several winding puzzles and bosses; completing this dungeon unlocks an enlightening perspective for whichever alignment-ending you earn. There are also plenty of other changes, such as updated character models and art, Japanese voice acting to replace the original's text-only story, and new apps for your gadgets that can ease the difficulty of battles and dungeon crawling. See More

Top Con

Your destinations are too often behind hidden doors

The bulk of exploration involves upgrading your gadgets to find more types of hidden doors, and it's done in a pretty unreasonable way. When you can't progress, chances are you need to find one of these upgrades somewhere on the map, though they're usually locked behind a door that you can't see. If you don't follow a guide, you have to spend a lot of time facing walls, backtracking again and again until you find what you're looking for. This happens way too much throughout the game, at times taking the fun out of the dungeon crawling and turning it into a slog. See More

Top Pro

Hardcore dungeon crawling that keeps you on-edge

The dungeon crawling in Strange Journey Redux isn't for the faint of heart. It's a real test of your endurance, on top of the added difficulty of the random battle encounters. You play in first person, trekking through the dimensions of Schwarzwelt in search of a way back to Earth, searching through the areas to find upgrades to your gadgets and your ship. You have to deal with several puzzles, hidden doors, riddles, and different types of traps in your path, all in uncharted land with only your wits to guide you. If you're the type who craves a serious challenge, then this just might be the game for you. See More

Top Con

Incredibly hard, especially if you take the Law or Neutral routes

Since the difficulty in the Shin Megami Tensei games is a feature, this is more of a warning for new players than a complaint. Not only are the battles and dungeon crawling are relentless, but the challenge really kicks in during endgame. If you go for either the Law or Neutral routes, then be careful, because the final boss in those routes is the hardest one in the entire series. First timers may want to opt for Chaos during their first run through. Otherwise, grinding all the way to level 90 may be required if you can't defeat the final boss at lower levels, and that may take several hours. See More

Top Pro

You get to collect and control many types of demons and angels to fight in battle

Demons and angels act as your party members in battle. While fighting, you can recruit almost any enemy demon or angel as long as it's at your level or below, through a process called demon negotiation. You barter with them through a conversation before asking it to join you; if it likes you, and if you give it the items, money, and whatever else it asks you for, it may join your party. You can then fuse angels or demons together to create stronger allies with better abilities. And there are hundreds of different types of demons and angels with their own fitting designs and relevant mythological lore, ranging from familiar names like Shiva, Lilith, Valkyrie, Phoenix, Raphael, and many many more. See More

Top Pro

Your moral choices branch out to multiple endings

Your choices throughout the game determine which of the three alignments you fall under. Whether you lean toward Chaos with the demons, Law with the angels, or the Neutral alignment that rejects Law and Chaos, the later segments of the game change to reflect your views. Characters who were once your allies can become antagonists, or vice-versa, depending on which path you follow. Schwarzwelt and, in-turn, the world, shapes itself in drastic ways through your choices, leading you down different branches, each with their own powerful bosses to defeat, and unique endings that follow. See More

Top Pro

Highly challenging, yet rewarding turn-based combat

The battles in the Shin Megami Tensei series are unforgiving in how difficult they are, and Strange Journey Redux is no exception. You fight with a party of demons you collect, aiming to pinpoint your enemy's elemental weaknesses and exploit them. Once you find the weakness, the demons in your party who share your moral alignment (Law, Chaos, or Neutral) will team up for extra damage through a co-op attack. If you don't look up a guide, then finding weaknesses is a matter of trial and error, and hoping you don't die while you figure things out. Most of the opponents you come across hit for a ton of damage, so you absolutely need to take advantage of their weaknesses for co-op attacks. And as you get farther along in the game, you get access to buffs to your party's attack, defense, evasion, and more, as well as debuffs to debilitate your foes. As you get better with the combat and earn some tough victories, the sense of satisfaction you get helps you to keep pushing forward. See More

Top Pro

Philosophical sci-fi story that speculates on the consequences of human vices

The science-fiction story in Strange Journey Redux is among the best in the Shin Megami Tensei series. It's a clever commentary on human greed and lust for power, and speculates on the ways the planet can end up suffering from our excess and wastefulness. It starts off with you as part of a team investigating the Schwarwelt, a huge black hole eating away at the South Pole, that leads to several different dimensions filled with demons. Each of these dimensions and the demons within show what could possibly happen if humans let their vices overtake them. It's chilling because of how real everything feels, even in the realm of "impossible" demons and alternate dimensions. See More

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey

Top Pro

Hardcore dungeon crawling that keeps you on-edge

The dungeon crawling in Strange Journey isn't for the faint of heart. It's a real test of your endurance, on top of the added difficulty of the random battle encounters. You play in first person, trekking through the dimensions of Schwarzwelt in search of a way back to Earth, searching through the areas to find upgrades to your gadgets and your ship. You have to deal with several puzzles, hidden doors, riddles, and different types of traps in your path, all in uncharted land with only your wits to guide you. If you're the type who craves a serious challenge, then this just might be the game for you. See More

Top Con

Some of the puzzles can take a long time to figure out

There are a couple of notorious puzzles in this game. The main one, you encounter about halfway through the story: it involves a bunch of warping around the map and falling through traps in the ground to get to where you need to go. If you keep at it, you're sure to find your way eventually, but it's frustrating. See More

Specs

Genre:Role-Playing, Dungeon Crawler, Horror

Top Pro

Intense and foreboding soundtrack with classical influences

In the best ways possible, the music ranges from grave and serious to majestic and elegant. Regular exploration themes have deep, booming choruses backed by relentless military drums, keeping you on-edge throughout the many hours you spend dungeon crawling. Boss battles are as foreboding as the enemies you face, with a range of blaring brass sounds that ground the tone and elevate your experience: even the period of silence in "Vehement Rage" conveys plenty of weight and importance. Major boss battles are even more impressive, fitting their Law, Chaos, or Neutral alignments in creative ways, with "Holy Miracle" bringing all the classical grandeur of a battle against a true being of Law. And the song that plays in the final dungeon, as well as the end credits theme, are both particularly special, with an unexpected tone that perfectly captures the end of such a strange journey. See More

Top Con

Your destinations are too often behind hidden doors

The bulk of exploration involves upgrading your gadgets to find more types of hidden doors, and it's done in a pretty unreasonable way. When you can't progress, chances are you need to find one of these upgrades somewhere on the map, though they're usually locked behind a door that you can't see. If you don't follow a guide, you have to spend a lot of time facing walls, backtracking again and again until you find what you're looking for. This happens way too much throughout the game, at times taking the fun out of the dungeon crawling and turning it into a slog. See More

Top Pro

You get to collect and control many types of demons and angels to fight in battle

Demons and angels act as your party members in battle. While fighting, you can recruit almost any enemy demon or angel as long as it's at your level or below, through a process called demon negotiation. You barter with them through a conversation before asking it to join you; if it likes you, and if you give it the items, money, and whatever else it asks you for, it may join your party. You can then fuse angels or demons together to create stronger allies with better abilities. And there are hundreds of different types of demons and angels with their own fitting designs and relevant mythological lore, ranging from familiar names like Shiva, Lilith, Valkyrie, Phoenix, Raphael, and many many more. See More

Top Con

Incredibly hard, especially if you take the Law or Neutral routes

Since the difficulty in the Shin Megami Tensei games is a feature, this is more of a warning for new players than a complaint. Not only are the battles and dungeon crawling relentless, but the challenge really kicks in during endgame. If you go for either the Law or Neutral routes, then be careful, because the final boss in those routes is the hardest one in the entire series. First timers may want to opt for Chaos during their first run through. Otherwise, grinding all the way to level 90 may be required if you can't defeat the final boss at lower levels, and that may take several hours. See More

Top Pro

Your moral choices branch out to multiple endings

Your choices throughout the game determine which of the three alignments you fall under. Whether you lean toward Chaos with the demons, Law with the angels, or the Neutral alignment that rejects Law and Chaos, the later segments of the game change to reflect your views. Characters who were once your allies can become antagonists, or vice-versa, depending on which path you follow. Schwarzwelt and, in-turn, the world, shapes itself in drastic ways through your choices, leading you down different branches, each with their own powerful bosses to defeat, and unique endings that follow. See More

Top Pro

Highly challenging, yet rewarding turn-based combat

The battles in the Shin Megami Tensei series are unforgiving in how difficult they are, and Strange Journey is no exception. You fight with a party of demons you collect, aiming to pinpoint your enemy's elemental weaknesses and exploit them. Once you find the weakness, the demons in your party who share your moral alignment (Law, Chaos, or Neutral) will team up for extra damage through a co-op attack. If you don't look up a guide, then finding weaknesses is a matter of trial and error, and hoping you don't die while you figure things out. Most of the opponents you come across hit for a ton of damage, so you absolutely need to take advantage of their weaknesses for co-op attacks. And as you get farther along in the game, you get access to buffs to your party's attack, defense, evasion, and more, as well as debuffs to debilitate your foes. As you get better with the combat and earn some tough victories, the sense of satisfaction you get helps you to keep pushing forward. See More

Top Pro

Philosophical sci-fi story that speculates on the consequences of human vices

The science-fiction story in Strange Journey is among the best in the Shin Megami Tensei series. It's a clever commentary on human greed and lust for power, and speculates on the ways the planet can end up suffering from our excess and wastefulness. It starts off with you as part of a team investigating the Schwarwelt, a huge black hole eating away at the South Pole, that leads to several different dimensions filled with demons. Each of these dimensions and the demons within show what could possibly happen if humans let their vices overtake them. It's chilling because of how real everything feels, even in the realm of "impossible" demons and alternate dimensions. See More

Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse

Top Pro

Accessible to newcomers to the Shin Megami Tensei series

If you've never played a mainline Shin Megami Tensei game, then this is a fine place to start. Instead of one harsh difficulty set for the whole game like most others in the series, you can select your preferred difficulty option at the beginning. Navigating the world map is much-improved from Shin Megami Tensei IV as well, making it easier to figure out where you need to go. The combat system is also much better here, with fewer frustrating mechanics to deal with, offering a much smoother experience. In terms of gameplay, this is one of the strongest entries in the series and a good starting point for new players. See More

Top Con

Spoils Shin Megami Tensei IV right from the start

This is a direct sequel to Shin Megami Tensei IV, following the Neutral ending in that game. You won't be lost trying to figure out what's going on, since the exposition does a good job of explaining things, but it spoils pretty much everything. You may want to consider going back and playing SMT IV first before jumping in here. See More

Specs

Genre:Role-Playing, Dungeon Crawling

Top Pro

Your moral choices branch out to multiple endings

Your choices throughout the game determine which of the three alignments you fall under. Whether you lean toward Chaos with the demons, Law with the angels, or the Anarchy and Peace routes that reject Law and Chaos, the latter half of the game changes to reflect your views. Characters who were once your allies can become your enemies, or vice-versa, depending on which path you follow. The world shapes itself in drastic ways through your choices, leading you down different branches, each with their own separate locations to explore, powerful bosses to defeat, and unique endings that follow. See More

Top Con

The Law and Chaos alignments are shallow and black-and-white

There's little depth or nuance to the ending paths you experience if your alignment ends up siding with Law or Chaos. Certain characters represent each alignment, and their reasons for going down these routes can be interpreted as too extreme for players to sympathize with. In SMT IV: Apocalypse, these endings are also shallower than they were in SMT IV. Since the other two endings have their own separate problems, none of the outcomes turn out all that well. See More

Top Pro

Philosophical story where you shape the fate of the world

Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse is all about letting you decide what is right and what is just in a malleable world. You start off as an inexperienced demon hunter who's only trying to get by in a post-apocalyptic version of Tokyo, in the middle of a war between demons and angels. As you get stronger and learn more about the demons' and angels' ideologies, your choices throughout the story determine how things turn out in the end. See More

Top Con

The Peace and Anarchy endings are flawed

These endings are strange for a number of reasons. With one route, the story spends the whole game making one point about certain themes, and then this particular ending shatters all of that in such an extreme way. It's an unsatisfying and anti-climatic in all sorts of ways. The other one is a mess of JRPG stereotypes that doesn't make any sense for a mainline Shin Megami Tensei game. It's the writers' experiment with a different kind of tone, but it may leave veteran players of the series with a bad taste in their mouths. See More

Top Pro

Brilliant music with a unique sound

The music in this game is on another level. Right from the opening main theme, it sets the tone with an otherworldly song with real weight and gravity, and an added twist with electronic sounds. This type of tune comes up in other tracks as a great leitmotif. Other songs mix in rock sounds with classical or even hip-hop influences, making for some memorable moments when an unexpected track kicks in. Some of the boss music, especially later in the game, are quite inventive, with some of them sounding downright mind-bending in how experimental they are. It's an overall incredible collection that stays with you for a long time. See More

Top Con

The story puts too much emphasis on your tropey companions

Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse has a lighter tone than SMT IV, mostly because of the "happier" cast of characters, but they all lean too far into stereotypes. The characters don't really grow in meaningful ways beyond their archetypes, the friendship angle gets played up a lot, and there's a pointless love triangle between Nanashi, your main character, and two of the female characters. All of this is too much of a departure from the bleak and grounded storylines in the rest of the mainline Shin Megami Tensei series, with this game pandering to another separate audience. See More

Top Pro

You get to collect and control many types of demons and angels to fight in battle

Demons and angels act as your party members in battle. While fighting, you can recruit almost any enemy demon or angel as long as it's at your level or below, through a process called demon negotiation. You barter with them through a conversation before asking it to join you; if it likes you, and if you give it the items, money, and whatever else it asks you for, it may join your party. You can then fuse angels or demons together to create stronger allies with better abilities. And there are hundreds of different types of demons and angels with their own fitting designs and relevant mythological lore, ranging from familiar names like Shiva, Lilith, Valkyrie, Phoenix, Raphael, and many many more. See More

Top Pro

Highly challenging, yet rewarding turn-based combat

The battles in the Shin Megami Tensei series are unforgiving in how difficult they are, and SMT IV: Apocalypse is no exception. You fight with a party of demons you collect, aiming to pinpoint your enemy's elemental weaknesses and exploit them. Once you find the weakness, you're rewarded with an extra turn; if you keep landing the right attacks, then the game lets you chain a finite number of turns one after another. If you don't look up a guide, then finding weaknesses is a matter of trial and error, and hoping you don't die while you figure things out. But this also applies to your enemies -- if they exploit your weaknesses, then they get extra turns instead. Most of the opponents you come across hit for a ton of damage, so you absolutely need to take advantage of gaining extra turns. And as you get farther along in the game, you get access to buffs to your party's attack, defense, evasion, and more, as well as debuffs to debilitate your foes. As you get better with the combat and earn some tough victories, the sense of satisfaction you get helps you to keep pushing forward. See More

Final Fantasy IV

Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth

Top Pro

Tons of story fanservice for Persona 3 and Persona 4 players

If you love Persona 3 and Persona 4, then this is probably the game for you. Persona Q combines all of the main cast members from both games together in one universe. The story involves all of the characters teaming up together to face a new outbreak of Shadows within a mysterious labyrinth that appears in the Persona 4 high school. With everyone together in one place, that means getting to see them interact together in cute and hilarious ways that Persona 3 and 4 fans can appreciate. Even though the story relies heavily on players having prior knowledge of both casts, new players should still be able to enjoy the game as they get to know everyone through their many interactions together. See More

Top Con

Too many characters are badly written in order to be "funny"

The downside of all the fanservice is that not all of it is meaningful or well-done. Most of comes down to characters exaggerating a single, shallow trait without any growth whatsoever. One of the worst offenders is Chie from Persona 4, who, in her original game, is a bit of a tomboy and a loudmouth who loves meat, but she genuinely cares about her friends and wants to protect them. Here in Persona Q, her main character trait is that she loves meat and yells about this at every opportunity. Akihiko from Persona 3 suffers this as well, dumbed down from his calm and collected athletic self to an annoying guy obsessed with protein. It's so bad that this can be a major turn-off for some fans, so beware. See More

Specs

Genre:Role-Playing, Dungeon Crawler, Roguelike

Top Pro

Combines strategic role-playing battles and dungeon crawling gamplay together

The gameplay is unique in the ways it merges traditional turn-based combat with dungeon crawling. You have a party of five members from either Persona 3 or Persona 4, each of whom you can freely customize with certain skills through their supernatural Persona beings. You can bring along anyone you want instead of only picking whoever has the most relevant skills for any given fight. Exploration is in first person, where you trek through the layers of the dungeons in order to find treasure, progress the story, and fight boss battles at the end. The dungeon crawling may be outside of some Persona fans' comfort zones, but the battles and story might be familiar enough for you to give the new gameplay a shot. See More

Top Con

Some of the dungeons are too difficult and frustrating

The first and final dungeons are way too hard. It's bad with the first dungeon, since that's when you're learning the game and getting used to things. The difficulty gets better and more manageable after that, though you may lose interest before reaching this point. And then the challenge gets tuned up way too high again during the last dungeon, which might discourage some players from even finishing the game at all. See More

Top Pro

Great music

Persona Q has an incredibly catchy soundtrack. It has many songs from Persona 3 and Persona 4, along with some new, yet familiar tracks. The trip-hop/hip-hop soundtrack blends classical, rock, pop, and synthwave sounds together in such a unique way that no other game really comes close to. New and old songs alike have a distinct rhythm and the cool, modern sense of style that fits perfectly in the Persona universe. Despite all the different ideas, it all comes together as a cool and cohesive sound. See More

Top Con

Certain characters are unbalanced

You can absolutely break many battles just by bringing in overpowered characters. In particular, Naoto from Persona 4 is ridiculous with her abilities to instantly kill enemies with light and dark skills. She can help a lot with the more challenging dungeons, but she's too strong compared to other characters who end up as dead weight in comparison. Using these broken characters can feel cheap. See More

Top Con

May be too niche for some Persona fans

While the blend of role-playing and dungeon crawling sounds interesting, this may be a hard sell for Persona fans who just want to play this game for the characters. There's no getting around the gameplay, especially considering the game itself is easily over 60 hours long. The dungeon crawling isn't that good, either, compared to other games of the same genre, making this an even less appealing option for fans. Even though the writers consider this game canon, you're still better off skipping over Persona Q if you don't think the gameplay will be up your alley. See More

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 Record Breaker

Top Pro

Tense and strategic turn-based battles in an isometric view

Just like the first game, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 is full of challenging battles that really make you think. You have your standard human party members who make up units of teams along the square grids of the battlefield, with each human character taking along two demons to act as their party members. Moving across the grids in an isometric view, you engage tough enemy demons in turn-based battles where you work to exploit their elemental weaknesses or land critical hits, both of which reward you with an extra turn. And there's always the danger that you may get surrounded and overwhelmed by the enemies, most of whom hit pretty hard and can easily give you a tough time if you're not careful. See More

Top Con

The art style doesn't quite look right

The anime art style for the characters has a few weird hang-ups. The sharp, colorful aesthetic would have been nicer if most characters didn't look cross-eyed most of the time. Some of the female characters, like Io, one of the core cast members, have such strange, gravity-defying breasts that don't look natural at all. And because the story plays out like a visual novel, you have to see the character's 2D art up close each time they speak, you can't really ignore how the art looks. See More

Specs

Genre:Tactical Role-Playing, Visual Novel

Top Pro

You get to collect and control many types of demons and angels to fight in battle

Demons and angels act as your party members in battle. Quite early into the game, you get access to a demon auction system where you buy new demons to join your party. You can then fuse them together to create stronger allies with better abilities, mixing and matching demons as you need to take on any challenge that the game throws at you. And there are hundreds of different types of demons and angels with their own fitting designs and relevant mythological lore, ranging from familiar names like Shiva, Lilith, Valkyrie, Phoenix, Raphael, and many many more. See More

Top Con

The main screen is the smaller, bottom one instead of the top one

For some reason, the main screen where all of the gameplay happens is the bottom one, which is smaller than the top screen on the Nintendo 3DS. You only use the top screen to look at the map or the enemy demons' stats and weaknesses. It's an odd design decision that can take some getting used to. See More

Top Pro

Suspenseful story about saving your friends' lives during an apocalypse in Tokyo

This time around, Devil Survivor 2 focuses more on the bonds you share with your party members, keeping the stakes high throughout your journey. You start off by getting a mysterious message on your phone, showing you exactly how someone will die in the future unless you manage to save them. The toughest part is that it's possible for you to fail and lose party members entirely, making you lose out on one less person to use in battle. All of this happens during a sudden appearance of demons in Tokyo, where you obtain the power to summon and control them as you will. Using your demons in fights to help save your friends is at the core of the game's story. See More

Top Pro

Record Breaker version features a few additions over the original release

The Record Breaker re-release of Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 has a few new features over the original game. They added in voice acting, some new demons to collect, the option to change the difficulty setting, and a lengthy new section of the story that you can access whenever you want without needing to start a new game. With these additions, this is easily the best and definitive edition of Devil Survivor 2. See More

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

Top Pro

Quirky cyberpunk story and setting with an old school feel

Soul Hackers is a funny and eccentric spin-off of the serious Shin Megami Tensei games, with a more character-focused story this time around. You play as a hacker among a group of like-minded friends, sneaking your way into databases and systems just for fun at first, until you discover a bunch of questionable activity from a huge corporation. Even though the story mixes in the moral dilemmas that this corporation imposes on its workers to carry out so many terrible deeds, the narrative makes sure to balance things out with lots of charm and silliness. As you and your friends take down the corporation through hacking into an alternate reality and summoning demons to fight by your side, there are plenty of light moments where the characters joke around and laugh together. The cyberpunk setting also has a tangible 1990s feel to it in its atmosphere and aesthetics, speculating on how the internet would soon take over our lives. It's a great mix of humor, mysticism mixed with technology, and well-written banter between the protagonists, standing out in a clever way from the rest of the games in the series. See More

Top Con

Somewhat dated

While this is a good remake for the most part, it does still show its age. Dungeon crawling can feel monotonous sometimes because of the samey environments with weak textures. The existing FMV sequences from the original game also look like the devs just copied and pasted it over from the Sega Saturn version with its lower resolution and grainy visuals. Plus, the navigation, battle, and demon mechanics are straight from the SNES era, which may not excite many people outside of the SMT core base of fans. Although, this is a great game for anyone who's willing to embrace these things as endearing instead of annoying. See More

Specs

Genre:Role-Playing, Dungeon Crawler

Top Pro

Enjoyable and challenging turn-based combat

The turn-based battles in Soul Hackers can be a challenge, but overcoming the difficulty is all part of the fun. You have a party of demons with you as you fight against other demons, basically hitting them with attacks and spells that they don't absorb or resist in order to beat them. Keeping your attacks going while making sure your team stays healthy is a familiar balancing act for JRPG veterans, though the moderately tense feeling to the fights in this game is quite unique and unlike anything else. It's enjoyable growing your team and taking on tough bosses, all the while getting stronger as you get better at the game. See More

Top Con

High random encounter rate

The dungeon crawling can be off-putting at times because of the relatively high random battle encounter rate. It's not terrible if you're used to this type of thing in JRPGs, but for anyone who isn't, it can be pretty grating to have to stop every few steps to fight a battle. This problem gets worse as you run out of Magnetite to keep your demons summoned, and if you do completely run out, you can't keep any of your demons out, making navigation much more difficult than it needs to be. See More

Top Pro

You get to collect and control many types of demons and angels to fight in battle

Demons and angels act as your party members in battle. While fighting, you can recruit almost any enemy demon or angel as long as it's at your level or below, and if it's compatible the moral alignments (Law, Chaos, Neutral) of the other demons in your party, through a process called demon negotiation. You barter with them through a conversation before asking it to join you; if it likes you, and if you give it the items, money, and whatever else it asks you for, it may join your party. Keeping demons in your party requires an expendable resource called Magnetite that you can buy from shops. Getting stronger demons is a matter of fusing your existing ones together to obtain new party members; this is especially important, since demons don't level up with you in battle. And there are hundreds of different types of demons and angels with their own fitting designs and relevant mythological lore, ranging from familiar names like Shiva, Lilith, Valkyrie, Phoenix, Raphael, and many many more. See More

Top Con

Not an ideal choice for newcomers to the Shin Megami Tensei series

If you've never played a Shin Megami Tensei game before, this may not be the best place to start, because the demon mechanics and dungeon crawling can be pretty daunting to newcomers. Players who have other SMT games under their belt are better off, since their understanding of the more recent installments will help them figure out the more old school things like Magnetite management that the newer games don't have. Without that knowledge and experience, you might not enjoy the charm of Soul Hackers, and all that it has to offer as a glimpse into the earlier games that paved the way for everything that came after. See More

Top Pro

Intricate dungeon crawling played in a first-person view

Exploring dungeons in Soul Hackers is pretty in-depth, with large, sprawling maps and the occasional puzzles to figure out. You traipse along in the first-person, fighting battles, finding treasure, and progressing the story through boss battles along the way. The dungeon crawling in this game is pretty involved in just how much of the maps there is to reveal and discover, feeling a lot like the first two Shin Megami Tensei games for the SNES in the early 1990s. If you love dungeon crawlers and you're looking for a challenge, then this is a good choice. See More

Top Con

If your main character gets hit with an instant kill spell, it's game over

The most frustrating part about the combat is that there's a certain degree of unpredictability and randomness to it because of instant kill spells. There are light or dark spells that, if they hit any of your characters, there's a good chance that they will die in one shot. If they have resistances to light or dark, then they stand a better chance. But if your main character gets hit, and they die, it's an automatic game over, possibly throwing hours of progress down the drain. See More

Top Pro

Features some nice additions as a remake of the original Soul Hackers

This remake of Soul Hackers for the Nintendo 3DS is the first one localized for North America and Europe. Since the original release in 1997 for the Sega Saturn and the subsequent port for the first PlayStation were only available in Japan, the devs included a few new bonuses to help the game stay current. There's some pretty solid voice acting, a new FMV scene at the start of the game, the ability to save anywhere, and an option change the difficulty at any time, including right in the middle of battle. The addition of the Nintendo 3DS's bottom screen takes away a lot of the headaches from the dungeon crawling, since you can see the map right there as you explore and unlock areas as you go. This is a fine way to play the game for the first time if you couldn't get your hands on it in Japanese way back when. See More

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor

Top Pro

Tense and strategic turn-based battles in an isometric view

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor is full of challenging battles that really make you think. You have your standard human party members who make up units of teams along the square grids of the battlefield, with each human character taking along two demons to act as their party members. Moving across the grids in an isometric view, you engage tough enemy demons in turn-based battles where you work to exploit their elemental weaknesses or land critical hits, both of which reward you with an extra turn. And there's always the danger that you may get surrounded and overwhelmed by the enemies, most of whom hit pretty hard and can easily give you a tough time if you're not careful. See More

Top Con

Only playing the game once doesn't give you the full experience

If you only play through a single one of your companions' routes to the end, you won't see all that the game has to offer. It's not exactly a complete experience to just witness a single ending and then call it a day. Playing through the game multiple times to see everyone's routes is the way to see everything, but some players may not want to go through the effort of doing this. See More

Specs

Genre:Tactical Role-Playing, Visual Novel

Top Pro

You get to collect and control many types of demons and angels to fight in battle

Demons and angels act as your party members in battle. Quite early into the game, you get access to a demon auction system where you buy new demons to join your party. You can then fuse them together to create stronger allies with better abilities, mixing and matching demons as you need to take on any challenge that the game throws at you. And there are hundreds of different types of demons and angels with their own fitting designs and relevant mythological lore, ranging from familiar names like Shiva, Lilith, Valkyrie, Phoenix, Raphael, and many many more. See More

Top Con

The main screen is the smaller, bottom one instead of the top one

For some reason, the main screen where all of the gameplay happens is the bottom one, which is smaller than the top screen on the Nintendo DS. You only use the top screen to look at the map or the enemy demons' stats and weaknesses. It's an odd design decision that can take some getting used to. See More

Top Pro

Interesting story about an outbreak of demons in modern Tokyo

Right off the bat, the story begins with some mysterious events within Tokyo, with demons appearing out of nowhere and murdering the populace. You and your group of high school-aged friends get help from the main character's cousin, who gives the group cryptic details on how to survive with the help of handheld COMP devices that look like Nintendo DSs. These comps allow you and your friends to summon and control your own demons to protect yourself from the invasion, with Tokyo locked down to quarantine everyone and isolate the demon threat. Watching the characters grow from powerless and fearful of the invasion into skilled demon-users fighting to survive is a great experience. See More

Top Con

The art style doesn't quite look right

The anime art style for the characters has a few weird hang-ups. The sharp, colorful aesthetic would have been nicer if most characters didn't look cross-eyed most of the time. Some of the female characters, like Yuzu, one of the core cast members, have such strange, gravity-defying breasts that don't look natural at all. And because the story plays out like a visual novel, you have to see the character's 2D art up close each time they speak, you can't really ignore how the art looks. See More

Top Pro

Your choices lead to multiple different endings that shape the fates of those around you

Among your group of friends, you can choose one of them to focus on for a single playthrough to see how things turn out as the story progresses. This intersects with a radical religious group coming to power by spreading their own gospel about how the people can be saved, exploring the Law alignment in one of the best ways across the Shin Megami Tensei franchise. On the other end of the spectrum, there's a war going on between the higher echelon of demons, which you have the power to get yourself involved in if you so choose, instead focusing on the Chaos alignment in an intriguing way. Depending on which of your party members' routes you follow, they may take certain actions involving the religious group or the war among the demons, in-turn influencing what happens to Tokyo once the story is over. See More

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2

Top Pro

Tense and strategic turn-based battles in an isometric view

Just like the first game, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 is full of challenging battles that really make you think. You have your standard human party members who make up units of teams along the square grids of the battlefield, with each human character taking along two demons to act as their party members. Moving across the grids in an isometric view, you engage tough enemy demons in turn-based battles where you work to exploit their elemental weaknesses or land critical hits, both of which reward you with an extra turn. And there's always the danger that you may get surrounded and overwhelmed by the enemies, most of whom hit pretty hard and can easily give you a tough time if you're not careful. See More

Top Con

The art style doesn't quite look right

The anime art style for the characters has a few weird hang-ups. The sharp, colorful aesthetic would have been nicer if most characters didn't look cross-eyed most of the time. Some of the female characters, like Io, one of the core cast members, have such strange, gravity-defying breasts that don't look natural at all. And because the story plays out like a visual novel, you have to see the character's 2D art up close each time they speak, you can't really ignore how the art looks. See More

Specs

Genre:Tactical Role-Playing, Visual Novel

Top Pro

You get to collect and control many types of demons and angels to fight in battle

Demons and angels act as your party members in battle. Quite early into the game, you get access to a demon auction system where you buy new demons to join your party. You can then fuse them together to create stronger allies with better abilities, mixing and matching demons as you need to take on any challenge that the game throws at you. And there are hundreds of different types of demons and angels with their own fitting designs and relevant mythological lore, ranging from familiar names like Shiva, Lilith, Valkyrie, Phoenix, Raphael, and many many more. See More

Top Con

The main screen is the smaller, bottom one instead of the top one

For some reason, the main screen where all of the gameplay happens is the bottom one, which is smaller than the top screen on the Nintendo DS. You only use the top screen to look at the map or the enemy demons' stats and weaknesses. It's an odd design decision that can take some getting used to. See More

Top Pro

Suspenseful story about saving your friends' lives during an apocalypse in Tokyo

This time around, Devil Survivor 2 focuses more on the bonds you share with your party members, keeping the stakes high throughout your journey. You start off by getting a mysterious message on your phone, showing you exactly how someone will die in the future unless you manage to save them. The toughest part is that it's possible for you to fail and lose party members entirely, making you lose out on one less person to use in battle. All of this happens during a sudden appearance of demons in Tokyo, where you obtain the power to summon and control them as you will. Using your demons in fights to help save your friends is at the core of the game's story. See More

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked

Top Pro

Tense and strategic turn-based battles in an isometric view

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor is full of challenging battles that really make you think. You have your standard human party members who make up units of teams along the square grids of the battlefield, with each human character taking along two demons to act as their party members. Moving across the grids in an isometric view, you engage tough enemy demons in turn-based battles where you work to exploit their elemental weaknesses or land critical hits, both of which reward you with an extra turn. And there's always the danger that you may get surrounded and overwhelmed by the enemies, most of whom hit pretty hard and can easily give you a tough time if you're not careful. See More

Top Con

The art style doesn't quite look right

The anime art style for the characters has a few weird hang-ups. The sharp, colorful aesthetic would have been nicer if most characters didn't look cross-eyed most of the time. Some of the female characters, like Yuzu, one of the core cast members, have such strange, gravity-defying breasts that don't look natural at all. And because the story plays out like a visual novel, you have to see the character's 2D art up close each time they speak, you can't really ignore how the art looks. See More

Specs

Genre:Tactical Role-Playing, Visual Novel

Top Pro

You get to collect and control many types of demons and angels to fight in battle

Demons and angels act as your party members in battle. Quite early into the game, you get access to a demon auction system where you buy new demons to join your party. You can then fuse them together to create stronger allies with better abilities, mixing and matching demons as you need to take on any challenge that the game throws at you. And there are hundreds of different types of demons and angels with their own fitting designs and relevant mythological lore, ranging from familiar names like Shiva, Lilith, Valkyrie, Phoenix, Raphael, and many many more. See More

Top Con

Only playing the game once doesn't give you the full experience

If you only play through a single one of your companions' routes to the end, you won't see all that the game has to offer. It's not exactly a complete experience to just witness a single ending and then call it a day. Playing through the game multiple times to see everyone's routes is the way to see everything, but some players may not want to go through the effort of doing this. See More

Top Pro

Interesting story about an outbreak of demons in modern Tokyo

Right off the bat, the story begins with some mysterious events within Tokyo, with demons appearing out of nowhere and murdering the populace. You and your group of high school-aged friends get help from the main character's cousin, who gives the group cryptic details on how to survive with the help of handheld COMP devices that look like Nintendo DSs. These comps allow you and your friends to summon and control your own demons to protect yourself from the invasion, with Tokyo locked down to quarantine everyone and isolate the demon threat. Watching the characters grow from powerless and fearful of the invasion into skilled demon-users fighting to survive is a great experience. See More

Top Con

Some of the voice acting is grating

This Overclocked re-release could have done without some of the voice acting. Too many characters' lines sound staged, like they're clearly reading from a script. It's not particularly evocative or interesting to listen to, taking away from the whole experience. Some players might not mind the voice acting that much, though, but the problems are still too noticeable. See More

Top Pro

Your choices lead to multiple different endings that shape the fates of those around you

Among your group of friends, you can choose one of them to focus on for a single playthrough to see how things turn out as the story progresses. This intersects with a radical religious group coming to power by spreading their own gospel about how the people can be saved, exploring the Law alignment in one of the best ways across the Shin Megami Tensei franchise. On the other end of the spectrum, there's a war going on between the higher echelon of demons, which you have the power to get yourself involved in if you so choose, instead focusing on the Chaos alignment in an intriguing way. Depending on which of your party members' routes you follow, they may take certain actions involving the religious group or the war among the demons, in-turn influencing what happens to Tokyo once the story is over. See More

Top Con

The main screen is the smaller, bottom one instead of the top one

For some reason, the main screen where all of the gameplay happens is the bottom one, which is smaller than the top screen on the Nintendo 3DS. You only use the top screen to look at the map or the enemy demons' stats and weaknesses. It's an odd design decision that can take some getting used to. See More

Top Pro

Overclocked version features a few additions over the original release

The Overclocked re-release of Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor has a few new features over the original game. They added in voice acting, some new demons to collect, the option to change the difficulty setting, and an eighth day with all new events to extend the original seven days that the story takes place across. With these additions, this is easily the best and definitive edition of Devil Survivor. See More

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