Demi-Kids: Darkness of the Day

(Immediate note: The creatures are demons, but there is nothing even slightly demonic about the game.)

I had a lot of fun with this game. It has the addictive, monster-collecting quality of the pokemon games, plus plenty of exciting originality to keep a player interested. I enjoyed that the demons you collect are as intelligent as human beings (They speak English and have personalities) and must be convinced to join your party, not beaten up and captured. Some demons can only be acquired through fusions (An incredibly fun facet of this game! or trades. Also, you can have more than one demon in play, sometimes allowing a player to use exciting combination attacks that only certain demons can perform together. This game provided me with hours of gameplay, and unlike many games, does not simply end or repeat itself after beating the final boss. Collecters, fighters, explorers, come and enjoy!

Ever since playing Revelations: The Demon Slayer for the Gameboy Color years ago, I've been a big fan of the Shin Megami Tensei series. Having played nearly every game(handheld or otherwise) that's came out stateside, I decided to give Demi-Kids a try. The first game, out of the two that was released, that I purchased was Darkness of the Day. Much to my surprise, it's the harder game out of the two but is the one I'm most happy playing. In this version, you play as Akira and accompany him on his journey through Dem(whereas in the light version, you play as Jin and accompany Jin as he wanders through Valhalla). Without going into detail about the storyline, it's quite different than Pokemon but shares the same qualities. You take control of a trainer, or "DemiKid" if you will, and set out into the world to recruit monsters to be used in battle. Each demon has its own set of attacks, magic, and skills. Just like Pokemon, each demon also has elemental characteristics(such as fire, water and ice). You can have up to three demons in battle at one time. Additional demons you recruit are stored in a portable computer called a Vinecom(much like the Pokedex). Demikids is also different in the manner in which you capture and evolve the creatures you collect. In order to create a stronger demon, you have to fuse two weaker demons together. Whereas, in Pokemon, your character levels up like you would in a traditional RPG to evolve into it's final form. In the game; you have a handful of sidequests to perform and, if you choose to take them, the reward is often a rare demon that you can't find in the wild or create at a fusion center. Overall; the story is more occult-themed in it's nature and is much more mature than Pokemon, although it's aimed more towards kids who 'gotta catch em all'.

Because of that, I feel that's the reason why it hadn't caught on quite as good as Pokemon or other games of this sort.

I'll admit, it might not be the prettiest game you've ever seen in your Gameboy Advance nor the most addictive one either but Demi-Kids is an awesome game that holds true to the Shin Megami Tensei series.

At first glance I knew I had to pick up this game. That was probably because it was one of the few early released localized import titles. This game combinds some of the best elements from our favorite games. It has the addictive collection drive of the early Pokemon titles(you know those ones where they were all unique and not just palette and move swapped copies) with a collection list of well over 300 different demons. Plus, the game allows you to utilize your collection by allowing you to enter 3 demons into the fray, your 'avatar' and 2 of your collected demons. This brings back the strategy of team design that Dragon Warrior capitalized on. The storyline is rather compelling. Its full of disapperances, old legends, kidnappings, power struggles and much more. I found the story at times more interesting than the Megaman or Fire Emblem. The character management takes place through the innovative 'fusion' process, where you can merge two demons together to make a stronger one or create an entirely new one. If you like having almost complete control over your characters development, then the fusion system will 'rev your engine'. The only drawback to this game is that the maps that you collect can only be viewed in the area you are in, at times you would be stuck walking to the next area to look at the map. This gets a whole lot easier once you recieve a teleport item/demon. With so many things to collect and monsters to fuse the replay value is quite high. If you are looking for a solid game to add to your GBA collection that will provide many hours of fun and great gameplay, pick up Demi-Kids:Day of Darkness. If you are really daring, then also pick up the light version so you can see the parallel side of the story!