janus : Yes, I did copy this from word. While I was playing the game, I was writing down my thoughts in notepad to make sure I did not forget them. (I had both the game screen and notepad side by side to make it easy to type) I used Word to check the spelling on things before I put it into the review text box out of habit, I guess.

Honestly, as much as you may wish you could rate this higher (I am flattered, btw) I wish even more that I was able to control my ability to write instead of randomly pulling things out and finding gold every now and then. I write best when I a write from the heart, when I am inspired and truly believe the words I am typing. I truly believe that Tales of Phantasia is a diamond in the rough, just waiting for a bit more polish to bring it to its full potential. The best way to do this is to show how it uses similar mechanics as other, highly successful games in addition to the unique ideas it brings.

All games to an extent can be broken down into a mix of story/plot, graphics, and mechanics. The different roles these three play may overlap to varying extents at times, but in general I see them as having 3 main roles, using fishing as an analogy:
The graphics of the game are the lure. They are what you see first, and make up much of what is advertised. You can easily appeal to a much broader audience on graphics or snippets of  the game play alone then you can with words.
The plot is the hook. Sooner or later, the novelty of the graphics, no matter how good, will wear out. Before that happens, they players need to get hooked on the game, and one of the best ways to do that is with the plot. This may not apply to all games (arcade style games in particular, as they try to hook you with the mechanics more than the plot)  but it certainly can be applied to most modern video games. The plot works in tandem with the graphics and the mechanics to immerse you in the game, but often it is the plot that pulls you back AFTER you stop playing and go do something else. Wanting to know what happens next, whether your expectations will come true or not, and similar desires is how the plot keeps the player playing.
And finally, the game mechanics are the fishing line. No matter how tantalizingly awesome the game looks, or how enchanting the story it has, even the most hooked of players will get away if the game cannot meet the pressure of their expectations. The mechanics are the meat of the game, the structure that everything else is built around, from a developer's viewpoint. They are the bridge between the player and the fictional world created with the graphics and plot. Coming back to the fishing analogy, if the mechanics are too easy or hard, the player will either get bored or frustrated, and leave. The mechanics need to work in sync with the graphics, plot, and the player in order to keep bringing them back to the game. (Though lately many games instead try to reel the player back to a promised sequel or dlc)
The player needs to feel like they are being challenged, yet also feel that they are capable of reaching the goals the game sets for them. They need to be able to immerse themselves in the game with little effort, and not be jerked back to reality by dissonance between various elements of the plot, graphics, and mechanics.

 Tales of Phantasia does not do much to draw you in at the
beginning. It has a rather brief and confusing opening that uses voice
recordings rather than text to explain, and given the GBA hardware that means
whatever is being said is mostly incomprehensible. Nothing in the battle
mechanics is explained at the start, nor does it get explained later on in the
game. It is possible to screw yourself over very quickly if you do not
understand certain functions of this system, such as the fact that you can aim melee
attacks upwards to target airborne enemies. Timing definitely plays a critical
role in battle, and sadly this is not explained to the player either. But even
so something about this game interests me, despite the many problems I see with
it. I look at this game and see hidden potential, a very large amount of hidden
potential. The actual game mechanics are very well made, and allow for a
surprising amount of variation and freedom with game play. The problem is that
the graphic design is as every bit as bad (in terms of menu design, color
scheme, fonts) as the game play is good.



The game play and mechanics of the game are good, but the
graphics are washed out, and the on screen text at some points is REALLY poorly
done color wise... white letters on light backgrounds? Anyways, this game has
some real potential to it, but it needs a bit of a makeover. I like the battle
system though, well, once I figured it out, that is. The best way I can
describe the system is that of a RTS Platformer. You can pause to select items,
skills, or strategies, but you control the movement and attack direction of
your character. You can also have certain skills hot keyed to the B button and
the D pad. Different attacks have a certain pattern of movement to them, and
you need to be aware of the timing involved. Fortunately, the game by default
makes this as easy as possible to understand. It results in the attack
movements seeming rather slow, telegraphed, and choppy, but it teaches you the
timing of things better than if it was smoother and faster. A menu setting
allows you to speed this up slightly to increase the battle difficulty. In some
ways the battle system actually reminds me somewhat of the melee battle style
sometimes used by Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones arena mode, only with a far
greater variety of skills, people, attacks, and movement allowed.



The game's movement system, though it sticks to four directional
movement on the actual “rooms” of the game, also allows you to run and even
drag/move certain objects around the level, allowing for hidden mini-puzzles on
some occasions. I think the drag mechanic is rather interesting, and it reminds
me of the game boy color Legend of Zelda games where you could drag and push
blocks around, though it is nowhere near as heavily used here as it was in Zelda. The running aspect, though it many might remember it best from the Pokémon
Ruby and Sapphire versions, was used as early as the SNES with Chrono Trigger,
and it is a joy to see it being used here. There is an over world map system
similar to the one used by Chrono Trigger, Golden Sun, and the early Final
Fantasy games, though it is most like Golden Sun in appearance. I like that you
have 3 options for recovery of health and mana, or “tp” as the game refers to
it. You can sleep in a bed, often purchased from an inn, use recovery items in
and out of battle, OR you can choose to cook yourself a meal. If you have the
required ingredients, and have not eaten recently, the cooked meal heals an
overall percentage of the entire party’s hp and tp, rather than a set amount.
While starting out this may benefit the player little due to the low quality
meals they can initially prepare (only a ten percent restoration), I can
certainly see the advantages later on as the characters get leveled up.



Despite the poorly done intro, the rest of the plot is not
that bad. It certainly moves faster than I expected, and does a great job of
building the player up for the first major plot twist. Before you even manage
to regain your composure and wrap your head around that first twist, tales of
phantasia lashes out again with another twist, swift and brutal. The
interesting thing is that the rapid pace of this allows for some new characters
to be introduced with little issue, and integrates them more effectively than
most rpg games ever manage. Someone was definitely putting a lot of time and
effort into this game, that much is certain. It may be a bit rough on the
surface, but underneath there is far more depth than you would expect. I almost
wonder if the lack of tutorials was on purpose, because the game was designed
to challenge the player to figure out the mechanics themselves. The battle
controls are rather instinctively familiar to those who have played platformers,
and remind me of some of the translated Japanese rpgs I have seen, such as Star
Ocean, in that they are meant to give the player less time to react than a
traditional turn based or even event based battle style would.



Overall : 8.7

Despite the problems I have with certain features of the
sound, story, and graphics in this game, I have to rate this highly. The
baseline mechanics that form the foundation of game play are amazing and unique,
and if it were not for the poorly chosen “decorations” of the game, I would be
rating this 9.5 or higher. The level of detail in the graphics is amazing, the battle
system surprisingly challenging and addictive, and the plot deceptively well laid
out despite a rather shaky start. There is hidden depth to this game underneath
the unappealing exterior of its introduction, and I cannot stress enough the
need for interested players to look beyond it before they decide whether the
game is worth playing or not.



Graphics : 8

The game has a nice level of detail in its textures for the
backgrounds and the sprites, better than Chrono Trigger even. The world has
moving parts within its background, and has an excellent level of detail. I
especially like how the bookcases are done. The way they show a glass door over
top of the books is a really nice effect, and helps add depth to the scenes.
Potted plants, loose books or papers on desks and tables, detailed rugs and
carpets, a lot of work goes into interior and exterior design of the towns and
buildings of this game. They make use of light and shadow from windows,
different materials and styles for the floor in different sections, such as
using a cheaper looking cobblestone for a basic hallway where there is little
room for decoration, and switching to more ornate stone or wood tiling for
rooms. The forests are beautifully made, and give off a kind of mystical feel
as you walk through them. Even in the battle screens the forests are detailed
in the background, to show a sharp contrast to fights that happen in open
fields, where the background is a blue, slightly clouded sky. The thing is the
graphics are a little TOO bright. Not enough darker coloring is used, and it
ends up making me feel like I am playing with sun shining on my screen. Because
the in game letters are completely white, it can make it especially hard to
read them when they are displayed without a menu box as a backdrop. On top of
that, the menu system is a bit irritating in that you cannot see how much
money, or gald, you have (as far as I can tell). You need to go find a shop
keeper and check with them, or keep a mental tally of your general wealth. This
makes grinding for money a bit irritating at times.
If it wasn’t for this I would rate the game a solid ten for
graphics.



Sound : 7

The quality of the games music and sound effects is good
enough for GBA hardware, and the characters in game voices as they perform
their techniques are not too bad, seeing as how they are more for effect rather
than trying to convey actual, important information to the player. But the
quality of the voices used in the intro is slightly worse than that, and for
the game to rely on THAT to introduce the player to the game is a terrible
idea, because it is very difficult to understand what is being said. It acts as
a major turn off to players looking to try the game out, and drives me nuts as
I try to understand what the developer’s reasoning was for doing things this
way.



Addictive : 8

The battle system, as I mentioned earlier, is a very interesting
and dynamic thing. It gets the player actively involved and on their toes, and
is unlike anything I have ever seen before in an rpg game. It does have an
option to let the character move automatically, which you can toggle with a
key, but even then the movement is interesting enough that you still won’t get
bored. It also helps that the game’s ai for your character is not much brighter
than the ai for the enemies, which encourages players to keep a close eye on
things if they do decide to put it on autopilot.



Story : 7

Honestly I would normally rank the story at an eight or
higher, but the way it opens in the introduction cost it those extra points.
First impressions are important, and for all of the time and thought put into
the actual game’s plot and progression, the opening does not measure up. Horrible
opening aside, tales of phantasia does a great job of trying to get the player
emotionally involved from the very beginning. It works by getting players attached
to various characters with heart warming dialogue and character development,
before ripping them away with all the cruelty life can offer. Then, as our
grief turns to anger, they provide a target that treats us as nothing, further
angering us. Very quickly you become uncertain of who to trust, as supposed
allies betray you without warning, and the bonds you share with those who fight
with you only deepen as you find that the only people you can truly rely on are
those at your side.



Depth : 9

This game is a lot deeper than I thought it would be. The
battle system alone has a surprising amount of depth and potential, with the
combination of platformer and rpg elements. There are deceptively intricate
levels of placement and timing at every level of combat, though you do not need
necessarily need to master them to succeed in this game. Different techniques,
equipment, and various items and methods of recovery make the game interesting
outside of battle as well as inside it. The characters can gain various titles
as they level up or complete hidden side quests, adding yet another layer of
depth into this game.



Difficulty : 9

Tales of Phantasia certainly is challenging, though it keeps
from being TOO challenging for the player, provided you figure out the basics
of combat early on. Different enemies attack different ways, and at different
intervals. Because of this, depending on the combination of enemies, as well as
what they are trying to do in particular at a given moment, a great deal of
quick thinking and adaptability, with a bit of timing, is needed to avoid
taking too much damage as you progress. It is certainly harder than most rpgs
in this aspect, but it is not impossibly hard! Once you begin to grasp the full
range of motion you have in movement and attacks it becomes easier to
understand and adapt.

Overall, I think this is a very interesting GBA game, with a fairly interesting plot, well made graphics, and a well made battle system with some truly unique twists to it that I have never seen nor heard of anywhere else. The chat function with your companion can get a bit annoying at times if you keep accidentally pressing it, and the menu system is not really to my tastes color wise, but even so it is easy to learn and use. This game is meant to challenge your brain tactically, to try and make you go out of your way to explore all the possibilities, but without making it impossible or too hard to complete the game without finding everything. If you are honestly having trouble figuring out the game then you are either not paying attention and missed something important, or you don't have the common sense to be able to figure things out. This is not Super Mario Galaxy where everything is as obvious as possible to the point of insulting your intelligence, and if you cannot handle a challenge for your mind like that, as I have seen in some people reviewing the dark version of this game, then look elsewhere. At some point in the introduction you DO seem to be thrown into a fight scene out of nowhere, but do not worry! That is part of the intro, meant to give you an introduction to the battle system basics. There is no logical way you could lose that fight, so just go with the flow on it. This is how retro games were meant to be back before making sequels became a thing. Each game was meant to be a stand-alone product, not part of a hook to get you to buy more of the series. This extended to replay value as well, so many games were made to take a long time to make up for that fact. This is why grinding was invented, but unlike Pokémon, this game does not require anywhere near as much of it.  I will admit that the sound is not the best it could be, but it is well within GBA standards. The language is not too bad, considering that bad English is so commonly encountered on the Internet, even among native speakers, I don't really understand how that would be a turn-off. (Especially since the people complaining do not use proper English either)

OVERALL RATING : 7.2

Overall, I rate this game as a 7.2, due to the sound and the conversations with the main demon dragging it down.
It has a great battle system, and plot that manages to avoid being too cliche in most aspects. The general world may seem a bit barren in terms of animation, but on GBA hardware that is actually rather tricky to pull off, so the lack of it does not surprise me.

GRAPHICS : 8.0

The graphics I rate at a solid 8. The textures used are worth a full 10, but the animation use is a bit minimal for a GBA game, even taking into account the hardware issues with extended animations on that platform. There is definitely more room for animation in the battle system.

SOUND : 5.7

The sound I rate at a 5.7; its ok, but it is not the best. Part of the issue is certainly the GBA hardware limitations, but the developers are definitely not putting the same effort into the sound that they did into the textures of the game world.

ADDICTIVENESS : 3.0

The addictiveness... 3. Its not really that bad a score, when you consider that games like this were not designed to be replayed after you completed them. The unique features of the battle system were enough to hook me into the game long enough to become committed, but it takes enough time that I probably will not play it through again for a long time.

STORY : 5.4

The story I suppose would be somewhere around a 5.4, in my opinion. It does sound a bit canned at times, but I can't tell if that is because of the developers or because of how jaded I am to some things in life. In any case, I would say it is certainly good enough that it doesn't turn me off to the game in any way.

DEPTH : 4.3

The depth of the game I would put at 4.3. There may not be a bunch of hidden Easter eggs and side quests, but there ARE a lot of hidden items in the game, and a lot of depth to the battle system itself.

DIFFICULTY : 6.2

This is a game that requires you think a bit before doing stuff. I would give it a 6.2 because of the difficulty in predicting the enemy behavior, despite how easy it is to learn the game mechanics. (as long as you actually read what people say and don't just skip it all)

Starting off with a philosophical mini lecture about light and darkness, and the need for both, you see a brief glimpse of a unknown civilization with a boy and a girl, Shin and Amy, exchanging words. After this you are sent though some sort of gateway by a goddess through space and time. You then play as Jin, a school kid in a modern day world. Jin who loves to play Internet games and is fascinated with anything involving demons, is our protagonist. After we meet him a female friend, Lena, drags him off to school, where we meet Amy from the introduction, and learn that our Lena has discovered a book in the school library that contains a spell for summoning a demon. Jin, Lena, his buddy Akira, and Amy head to the library only to find the demon book missing. After some searching, the book is found, and everyone gets excited but Amy, who acts a bit subdued, saying it could be dangerous to summon a demon. Jin and Akira are unfazed, and without hesitation perform the spell, summoning a demon that claims to be from the same place as the doomed society we saw in the intro. The demon recognizes Amy, and attacks, only for Lena to intervene. The demon takes Lena hostage and demands Amy return to Valhalla. Amy tosses a pair of odd devices to Jin and Akira, and Jin is given a choice of whether to use them or not. Jin and Akira are revealed to be DemiKids, half human, and half demon. They then summon a demonic familiar to fight for them and take on Lena's kidnapper. Upon his defeat, however, the dying demon claims they are doomed anyways, and that due to a time rift, the human world will eventually be destroyed. Amy introduces you to Shin, and the two ask for you to come with them to Valhalla, where they are fighting a losing war as rebels against a force known as the Imperium. Lena, despite being completely human, with no powers, refuses to stay behind and jumps into the portal to Valhalla before you can stop her. From here your journey begins...
The demonic familiars fight on your behalf similar to how Pokémon do, but the battle system is more like a typical turn based rpg. A new spin is put on the combat in that special skills to attack with will come at the cost of your familiar's health, rather than their magic. Another, even bigger twist is the option to try and persuade an enemy to join your side at the beginning of the fight. If they agree to join, that particular demon will disappear, and you can try to recruit the remaining demons if you want. When you try to recruit them, there are several possible responses beyond them simply accepting. Some of these are outright refusals, and result in you being unable to try and recruit anyone else for the battle. Others are offerings of a deal, where the demon agrees to join if you pay them a certain amount of money or give them an item from your inventory. Finally, a demon may lose the will to fight and let your party go. They may heal everyone in your party or give you some money in the process as well. These are not ALL the possible outcomes, however, so be on your guard. You never know what might happen when you try to recruit someone, or how they might react to certain statements...Through all of this you will need to build up your party of friendly demons, upgrade them to be stronger, and fuse them together into new, even more powerful demons in order to be able to fight against the strongest Valhalla has to offer.
The movement system uses the same 8 directional movement that can be found in the GBA game Lunar Legend. Unlike the infamous tile grid pattern in Pokémon games where you move a minimum set distance, DemiKids gives you a system more like the Legend of Zelda Game Boy games. The game menu's remind me more of the MegaMan Battle Network style, but with a fondness for hexagonal window icons.
The overall environment of the game is carefully textured to try and get the maximum effect of imagined detail from each and every pixel. The individual sprites of characters are a bit simpler in order to make them stand out from the environment better, but it does not make it easy to spot interactable objects. You need to move around and check the environment the same way you had to in the original Pokémon game boy games when looking for hidden items. Some elements of scenery will quickly become common places to look, but others will be more subtle, enticing you to explore the world around you to its fullest.
This game can be challenging simply because its battle system, while similar in some ways to Pokémon and rpg, is so very different in others. Because your demons do not simply get stronger and level up, you cannot simply reach an area and start grinding till you get stronger. Each and every battle in the area will be a tactical fight that is decided by careful decisions and a bit of luck, not one settled by brute force. If your party is badly injured, you can pay an inn to let you rest up and restore them. But if any of your party is completely knocked out, you need to go to someone else and pay a much greater amount of money to revive them. Starting out in the Valhalla realm, it costs roughly 200 M to revive each party member (250) for the first demon you met) but each battle gives you only 50 M per enemy demon. Battles are 2 on 2, and you will not be able to win a fight without taking damage, unless you get lucky with a recruit option, which voids any monetary gains.
Choosing the auto battle option may be very tempting for newcomers, but do NOT pick it if you are trying to get through an area, instead of simply grinding at the entrance. You may very quickly burn through your party members without realizing it, because the auto system only uses basic attacks, and the game does not prompt you when a party member falls, it automatically sends out the next demon in your line up. You will need to be watching your demons' health bars and using healing spells when necessary.
Demon fusion is a rather interesting and complex process. You can choose to fuse a demon with your primary one (the one you first meet) in order to simply level up it's capabilities, but other fusions are different. The resulting demon can be something else entirely, sometimes slightly weaker level wise or stat wise, but others can end up turning a demon back into one of the lesser demons that fused together to create it in the first place! Still other fusions can give very powerful stat boosts that put them above the majority of demons at their level. You will spend so much time recruiting demons and fusing them that you can easily end up spending countless hours on this alone. Even with the use of the emulator's speed boost and save state functions, this will take up hours and hours as you try to figure out what can make what. In addition to all this, a fusion demon has the option to inherit some of the magical abilities its "parents" had, allowing you to preserve rare and useful abilities as you continue to evolve your demons.
Some of the magical powers demons have can be used outside of battle to heal members of your party, revive them, teleport to a previously visited area, decrease your encounter rate, and many other useful features.

Overall, I think this is a very interesting GBA game, with a fairly interesting plot, well made graphics, and a well made battle system with some truly unique twists to it that I have never seen nor heard of anywhere else. The chat function with your companion can get a bit annoying at times if you keep accidentally pressing it, and the menu system is not really to my tastes color wise, but even so it is easy to learn and use. This game is meant to challenge your brain tactically, to try and make you go out of your way to explore all the possibilities, but without making it impossible or too hard to complete the game without finding everything. If you are honestly having trouble figuring out the game then you are either not paying attention and missed something important, or you don't have the common sense to be able to figure things out. This is not Super Mario Galaxy where everything is as obvious as possible to the point of insulting your intelligence, and if you cannot handle a challenge for your mind like that, as I have seen in some people reviewing the dark version of this game, then look elsewhere. At some point in the introduction you DO seem to be thrown into a fight scene out of nowhere, but do not worry! That is part of the intro, meant to give you an introduction to the battle system basics. There is no logical way you could lose that fight, so just go with the flow on it. This is how retro games were meant to be back before making sequels became a thing. Each game was meant to be a stand-alone product, not part of a hook to get you to buy more of the series. This extended to replay value as well, so many games were made to take a long time to make up for that fact. This is why grinding was invented, but unlike Pokémon, this game does not require anywhere near as much of it.  I will admit that the sound is not the best it could be, but it is well within GBA standards. The language is not too bad, considering that bad English is so commonly encountered on the Internet, even among native speakers, I don't really understand how that would be a turn-off. (Especially since the people complaining do not use proper English either)

OVERALL RATING : 7.2

Overall, I rate this game as a 7.2, due to the sound and the conversations with the main demon dragging it down.
It has a great battle system, and plot that manages to avoid being too cliche in most aspects. The general world may seem a bit barren in terms of animation, but on GBA hardware that is actually rather tricky to pull off, so the lack of it does not surprise me.

GRAPHICS : 8.0

The graphics I rate at a solid 8. The textures used are worth a full 10, but the animation use is a bit minimal for a GBA game, even taking into account the hardware issues with extended animations on that platform. There is definitely more room for animation in the battle system.

SOUND : 5.7

The sound I rate at a 5.7; its ok, but it is not the best. Part of the issue is certainly the GBA hardware limitations, but the developers are definitely not putting the same effort into the sound that they did into the textures of the game world.

ADDICTIVENESS : 3.0

The addictiveness... 3. Its not really that bad a score, when you consider that games like this were not designed to be replayed after you completed them. The unique features of the battle system were enough to hook me into the game long enough to become committed, but it takes enough time that I probably will not play it through again for a long time.

STORY : 5.4

The story I suppose would be somewhere around a 5.4, in my opinion. It does sound a bit canned at times, but I can't tell if that is because of the developers or because of how jaded I am to some things in life. In any case, I would say it is certainly good enough that it doesn't turn me off to the game in any way.

DEPTH : 4.3

The depth of the game I would put at 4.3. There may not be a bunch of hidden Easter eggs and side quests, but there ARE a lot of hidden items in the game, and a lot of depth to the battle system itself.

DIFFICULTY : 6.2

This is a game that requires you think a bit before doing stuff. I would give it a 6.2 because of the difficulty in predicting the enemy behavior, despite how easy it is to learn the game mechanics. (as long as you actually read what people say and don't just skip it all)
Starting off with a philosophical mini lecture about light and darkness, and the need for both, you see a brief glimpse of a unknown civilization with a boy and a girl, Shin and Amy, exchanging words. After this you are sent though some sort of gateway by a goddess through space and time. You then play as Jin, a school kid in a modern day world. Jin who loves to play Internet games and is fascinated with anything involving demons, is our protagonist. After we meet him a female friend, Lena, drags him off to school, where we meet Amy from the introduction, and learn that our Lena has discovered a book in the school library that contains a spell for summoning a demon. Jin, Lena, his buddy Akira, and Amy head to the library only to find the demon book missing. After some searching, the book is found, and everyone gets excited but Amy, who acts a bit subdued, saying it could be dangerous to summon a demon. Jin and Akira are unfazed, and without hesitation perform the spell, summoning a demon that claims to be from the same place as the doomed society we saw in the intro. The demon recognizes Amy, and attacks, only for Lena to intervene. The demon takes Lena hostage and demands Amy return to Valhalla. Amy tosses a pair of odd devices to Jin and Akira, and Jin is given a choice of whether to use them or not. Jin and Akira are revealed to be DemiKids, half human, and half demon. They then summon a demonic familiar to fight for them and take on Lena's kidnapper. Upon his defeat, however, the dying demon claims they are doomed anyways, and that due to a time rift, the human world will eventually be destroyed. Amy introduces you to Shin, and the two ask for you to come with them to Valhalla, where they are fighting a losing war as rebels against a force known as the Imperium. Lena, despite being completely human, with no powers, refuses to stay behind and jumps into the portal to Valhalla before you can stop her. From here your journey begins...
The demonic familiars fight on your behalf similar to how Pokémon do, but the battle system is more like a typical turn based rpg. A new spin is put on the combat in that special skills to attack with will come at the cost of your familiar's health, rather than their magic. Another, even bigger twist is the option to try and persuade an enemy to join your side at the beginning of the fight. If they agree to join, that particular demon will disappear, and you can try to recruit the remaining demons if you want. When you try to recruit them, there are several possible responses beyond them simply accepting. Some of these are outright refusals, and result in you being unable to try and recruit anyone else for the battle. Others are offerings of a deal, where the demon agrees to join if you pay them a certain amount of money or give them an item from your inventory. Finally, a demon may lose the will to fight and let your party go. They may heal everyone in your party or give you some money in the process as well. These are not ALL the possible outcomes, however, so be on your guard. You never know what might happen when you try to recruit someone, or how they might react to certain statements...Through all of this you will need to build up your party of friendly demons, upgrade them to be stronger, and fuse them together into new, even more powerful demons in order to be able to fight against the strongest Valhalla has to offer.
The movement system uses the same 8 directional movement that can be found in the GBA game Lunar Legend. Unlike the infamous tile grid pattern in Pokémon games where you move a minimum set distance, DemiKids gives you a system more like the Legend of Zelda Game Boy games. The game menu's remind me more of the MegaMan Battle Network style, but with a fondness for hexagonal window icons.
The overall environment of the game is carefully textured to try and get the maximum effect of imagined detail from each and every pixel. The individual sprites of characters are a bit simpler in order to make them stand out from the environment better, but it does not make it easy to spot interactable objects. You need to move around and check the environment the same way you had to in the original Pokémon game boy games when looking for hidden items. Some elements of scenery will quickly become common places to look, but others will be more subtle, enticing you to explore the world around you to its fullest.
This game can be challenging simply because its battle system, while similar in some ways to Pokémon and rpg, is so very different in others. Because your demons do not simply get stronger and level up, you cannot simply reach an area and start grinding till you get stronger. Each and every battle in the area will be a tactical fight that is decided by careful decisions and a bit of luck, not one settled by brute force. If your party is badly injured, you can pay an inn to let you rest up and restore them. But if any of your party is completely knocked out, you need to go to someone else and pay a much greater amount of money to revive them. Starting out in the Valhalla realm, it costs roughly 200 M to revive each party member (250) for the first demon you met) but each battle gives you only 50 M per enemy demon. Battles are 2 on 2, and you will not be able to win a fight without taking damage, unless you get lucky with a recruit option, which voids any monetary gains.
Choosing the auto battle option may be very tempting for newcomers, but do NOT pick it if you are trying to get through an area, instead of simply grinding at the entrance. You may very quickly burn through your party members without realizing it, because the auto system only uses basic attacks, and the game does not prompt you when a party member falls, it automatically sends out the next demon in your line up. You will need to be watching your demons' health bars and using healing spells when necessary.
Demon fusion is a rather interesting and complex process. You can choose to fuse a demon with your primary one (the one you first meet) in order to simply level up it's capabilities, but other fusions are different. The resulting demon can be something else entirely, sometimes slightly weaker level wise or stat wise, but others can end up turning a demon back into one of the lesser demons that fused together to create it in the first place! Still other fusions can give very powerful stat boosts that put them above the majority of demons at their level. You will spend so much time recruiting demons and fusing them that you can easily end up spending countless hours on this alone. Even with the use of the emulator's speed boost and save state functions, this will take up hours and hours as you try to figure out what can make what. In addition to all this, a fusion demon has the option to inherit some of the magical abilities its "parents" had, allowing you to preserve rare and useful abilities as you continue to evolve your demons.
Some of the magical powers demons have can be used outside of battle to heal members of your party, revive them, teleport to a previously visited area, decrease your encounter rate, and many other useful features.

So far I have been sticking to the retro game room and having fun playing what is available on there. I intend to ease my way into this community so I don't risk burning myself out and/or it getting in the way of my real life responsibilities. I hope to eventually be able to give something back in the future, but right now I have to regulate myself so I don't spend all day every day on here gaming!

Well, I suppose the best way to introduce myself is to give you a peek at my character, so to speak, so let me explain a bit about my reasons for coming here:

I have to say, it was a pleasant surprise to find this place while searching for online versions of the Pokémon series... I was born near the start of the 90's, and got passed down an original Game boy, a Game boy Pocket, and a dozen or so game cartridges, with some old popular classics such as Pac-Man, Tetris, Dr. Mario, Donkey Kong, Icarus, Kirby's Dreamland 2, Pokémon Yellow, etc. I have played the original Pong, as in the actual console, I have memories of playing a few Nintendo 64 games and PlayStation games at friends houses, and later of course memories of the GBA games. Some of the games here I want to play not because I have fond memories of them, but because of the history in them. I want to look back in gaming history and see how things grew and developed, the transition from two-dimensional to three-dimensional worlds, the evolution of various genres such as RPG, Action/Adventures, and the like. I love to look at a game and try to figure out how it is constructed, the way its content and story is set up, how it works in general.

I am an appreciator of fine art, and am a tinkerer at heart that loves to see how things are put together.