June2023
Review Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection (Switch) - Divine Dungeon Crawling But Not Definitive
Back from the dead
One of the unfortunate casualties of the end of DS and 3DS eras was the death of games that were uniquely suited to the quirky dual-screened devices. The Etrian Odyssey series, the first three games of which are represented in the new Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection (also available separately) was a good example of this bespoke...
January2023
Review Persona 3 Portable (Switch) - A Fine Series Entry, Though One That's Tough To Return To
"Remember you will die"
Though Persona 3 was actually the fourth mainline release in the series, the meme goes that it was really the first because Atlus just refuses to acknowledge the previous games. As a fresh start for the series, Persona 3 was eventually followed up with not one, but two ‘final’ versions that each had important new features...
Review Persona 4 Golden (Switch) - A Must-Buy Classic That's Stood The Test Of Time
"Heartbreak, heartbreak, you tell me goomba"
Although Shin Megami Tensei is technically the flagship RPG franchise over at Atlus, its spin-off Persona series has made huge strides in finding mainstream appeal in recent years. While Persona 5 may have done most of the heavy lifting, Persona 4 Golden (P4G)—the enhanced re-release of the PS2...
April2022
Review 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (Switch) - A Rich Narrative Adventure/RTS Hybrid With Outstanding Art
Lucky 13
Atlus is a company that’s sometimes been dubbed a ‘modern Square’ in that it’s become the place in the current industry to get well-budgeted RPG experiences that are equal parts traditional and experimental. It may be known most for its Persona and Shin Megami Tensei games, but the company also sometimes puts out something decidedly...
March2022
"We have Persona 4 at home"
Welcome to Atlus, Switch fans, the company that really doesn’t want you to play any mainline Persona games, but does want you to play their canon sequels. Last year, we got Persona 5 Strikers, a surprisingly great Warriors-style follow up to the seminal Persona 5. This year, we’re getting Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, a...
November2021
Review Shin Megami Tensei V (Switch) - The Best Entry Yet In This Dark, Engrossing RPG Series
A HEE-HOme run
Shin Megami Tensei V has been a long time coming. The last mainline entry in the series was released over eight years ago for the 3DS, while the last home console entry was another ten years before that. Moreover, Shin Megami Tensei V was one of the first games ever revealed for the Switch, mere months after the console itself was...
May2021
Review Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster (Switch) - The Best Version Of An Ageing Classic
A Demi-fiendishly good time
By this point in time, it’d be easy to believe that the Persona series is Atlus’ flagship franchise due to how easily audiences seem to have connected with the lighthearted high schooler antics featured there. In actuality, Persona is itself a spin-off of Shin Megami Tensei, Atlus’ true flagship franchise which has...
January2020
Review Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore - A Pitch-Perfect, Feel-Good JRPG
A perfectly Chrom-ulent port
The number of big Wii U exclusives that have still yet to receive Switch ports is well into single figures now, with Nintendo seemingly all too happy to continue queuing up its back catalogue and giving each title another chance at success (rightly so, in our opinion). Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE is the latest game to get...
June2019
Review Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth - The Last Picture Show
You'll find me in the matinée, the dark of the matinée...
Atlus has been one of the strongest supporters of Nintendo’s 3DS handheld over the years, keeping RPG fans busy with a total of seventeen stellar RPGs from the company. These releases have been coming at a consistent and reliable pace since the 3DS’ first year, so it's only fitting that...
February2019
Review Etrian Odyssey Nexus - A Stellar Send-Off For A Beloved RPG Series
And for the 3DS itself?
Long before games existed as we know them now, ‘video games’ consisted of text-based adventures that demanded just as much imagination from the players as they did input. Dungeon crawlers were a popular genre at the time, one in which you guided a protagonist room by room through sprawling, confusing castles guided only...
May2018
Review Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux (3DS)
A Place Further Than the Universe
By now, ATLUS’ long-running Shin Megami Tensei series should be a familiar name for 3DS owners; from the Sega Saturn-remake of Shin Megami Tensei Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers to Shin Megami Tensei IV and its direct sequel Apocalypse, these darkly stylish, demon-collecting JRPGs have...
February2018
Review Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology (3DS)
You can go home again
The 3DS may be getting on these days, but it’s certainly got plenty to show for its half-dozen years on the scene, including an astoundingly impressive collection of RPGs. ATLUS has been a prolific contributor to this corner of its library, and alongside original titles such as Shin Megami Tensei IV, Persona Q, and Stella...
November2017
Review Etrian Odyssey V: Beyond the Myth (3DS)
Off the charts
ATLUS has been one of the 3DS’ biggest supporters, supplying Nintendo’s stereoscopic system with an impressive stream of JRPG gems over the last 6 years — including several excellent entries in the Etrian Odyssey series. Starting out on the DS and combining first-person dungeon crawling and touchscreen map-making, these...
September2016
Review Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse (3DS)
Waiting for the End of the World
Whether you know it from its earliest Famicom days, the immensely popular PlayStation-bound Persona spinoffs, or crossover efforts like Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE, ATLUS' Shin Megami Tensei is one of gaming's most enduring and recognizable series, full of top-shelf JRPGs with deep combat systems and intriguing...
June2016
Review Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE (Wii U)
Superstardom awaits!
When you hit the main menu of Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE, there's no start button. Instead the bright, rainbow-coloured visuals invite the player to debut, a seemingly minor change of wording that nonetheless sets the tone for the entire game. In this candy-coated world heroes are showbiz sensations, dungeons are department...
December2015
Review Trauma Team (Wii U eShop / Wii)
Trauma Drama
Back in the early days of the Nintendo DS, Trauma Center: Under the Knife was a standout example of how the then-new touch screen controls could provide a fresh experience on the go. Atlus would then take its anime-pumped surgery games to the Wii, translating touch controls to motion controls, and found a winning combination there as...
November2015
Review The Legend of Legacy (3DS)
SaGa All-Stars
A pedigreed project if ever there was one, The Legend of Legacy could easily have been named for its own lineage — this Furyu-developed RPG counts among its creators some of the legendary minds behind Chrono Trigger, the SaGa series and Final Fantasy XIII. As the latest in a long line of Atlus adventures for the 3DS, it's also...
Stellar
Though they've had a hand in games as diverse as Yoshi's New Island and Time and Eternity, the name 'imageepoch' will forever be linked with Luminous Arc, the studio's successful strategy RPG series that debuted on the DS back in 2007. As a spiritual successor to those titles, as well as imageepoch's last release following their bankruptcy...
July2015
Review Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold: The Fafnir Knight (3DS)
A Knight to Remember
Atlus' evergreen Etrian Odyssey series got its start on the DS with a trilogy of excellent map-making adventures, and it's found similar success on Nintendo's newest handheld, with Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan and spinoffs Etrian Mystery Dungeon and Persona Q all right at home on the 3DS. Thanks to 2013's
May2015
Review Attack on Titan: Humanity in Chains (3DS)
Sie Sind Das Spiel, Und Wir Sind Die Spieler!
When Attack on Titan hit the anime airwaves in 2013, it became an instant phenomenon. Originally a manga by Hajime Isayama, its popularity spawned several spin-off series, light novels, an upcoming live-action film, and even a rather creative photography trend. With intense action and a dystopian,...
Review Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 Record Breaker (3DS)
Dial D for Demons
The original Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor - a game in the grand tradition of titles cleverly acronym'd to reference Nintendo's dual-screened handheld - represented a new take on Atlus' long-running Shin Megami Tensei games, combining the series' modern setting and demon-taming mechanics with tactical, strategy-RPG gameplay...
April2015
Review Etrian Mystery Dungeon (3DS)
Sharing the Wonder
Since its début back in the DS days, ATLUS' Etrian Odyssey series has been well-represented in the West, with every main entry, an ongoing run of 'Untold' story-driven remakes and the magnificent mashup Persona Q all making their way to eager European and American gamers. The Mystery Dungeon games - while equally well-known in...
February2015
Review Citizens of Earth (3DS eShop)
You've got the whole world in your hands
Men like our beloved Vice-President of Earth are truly one of a kind. Maybe it's the shocking red hair, the gleaming white smile, or the fact that his suit looks freshly pressed even after taking a full night's sleep in it. We can't put our finger on it, but something about him just...makes him seem...
Review Citizens of Earth (Wii U eShop)
Citizens, Unite Up!!
ATTENTION ALL RESIDENTS OF THIS FINE, BLUE PLANET WE CALL EARTH! Permit me a moment and I'll show you that role playing games don't all have to be about swinging swords and finding mystical artifacts. They don't have to use that tired old fantasy setting we've grown so used to, or even star a typical protagonist! Here, your...
November2014
Review Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth (3DS)
Mapping your psyche
Atlus’ Megami Tensei series has been an RPG institution for over two decades, but to Western audiences it’s perhaps best known in connection with a numbered pair of revolutionary PlayStation 2 titles: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 and Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4. Starring modern Japanese high school students and integrating...
