Shin Megami Tensei II on GBA throws you into this bleak, ruined Tokyo where demons roam free and nothing’s black-and-white. You start off as some random kid in a slum, and before long, you’re bargaining with weird creatures just to survive—like, one minute you’re chatting up a pixie, the next you’re getting ambushed by a pack of angry oni.

The demon negotiation system is wild—sometimes they’ll join you for free, other times they demand all your money or just attack mid-conversation. Fusing them into stronger monsters is half the fun, though I wasted way too much time trying to get the perfect combo early on. (Pro tip: don’t ignore buffs and debuffs—this game will punish you for it.)

What really sticks with me is how your choices quietly steer the story. No obvious "good vs. evil" flags—just messy, human decisions that spiral into totally different endings. It’s janky in that old-school RPG way, but if you can handle the grind, there’s nothing else quite like it.