Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children - Hikari no Sho is one of those weird little GBA spinoffs that somehow works. It’s basically Pokémon but with demons—you recruit them, fuse them, and battle through a surprisingly dark story for a "kids" game. The combat’s snappy, and the demon designs are classic SMT weirdness (ever fought a sentient traffic light?).

First 10 minutes? You’re thrown into a creepy alternate Tokyo, your character gets dragged into some supernatural mess, and suddenly you’re negotiating with a demon in a back alley. Typical Tuesday in this series. The fusion system’s simpler than mainline SMT, but figuring out which combos give you the most broken demons is half the fun.

Fair warning: it’s Japan-only, but the fan translation’s solid if you dig around. Definitely a hidden gem for monster-collector fans who like their RPGs with a side of existential dread.