Play Digital Devil Story - Megami Tensei II (Japan) Online

You recruit demons by chatting them up—sometimes they join, sometimes they just attack—then fuse them into weirder monsters while navigating a brutal, ruined Tokyo where every fight could end you. The NES-era menus are cryptic as hell, but the creepy synth soundtrack and pixel demon designs already feel like classic SMT.

Developer: Atlus

Genre: Role-Playing Game

Released: 1990

File size: 512 bytes

Game Overview

If you've ever played a Shin Megami Tensei or Persona game and wondered where all the demon negotiation and fusion stuff started, here’s your answer. Megami Tensei II on the NES is rough around the edges—expect some cryptic menus and brutal difficulty—but it’s wild how much of the series’ DNA is already here. You’re recruiting demons by talking to them (sometimes they just laugh and attack anyway), fusing weird combinations like a Pixie and a dragon to make something new, and stumbling through a bleak, ruined Tokyo where every fight could wreck you if you’re not careful.

The soundtrack’s all eerie synths that somehow make an 8-bit game feel oppressive, and the demon designs are these great little pixel-art nightmares. Just don’t expect hand-holding—half the time I had no idea if a demon would join me or bite my head off. It’s janky, but there’s something weirdly compelling about how unapologetically dark and experimental it is.