Today sees the release of a game with perhaps the longest name in history: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army. Try to say that with a mouth full of popcorn. For those unfamiliar with the Shin Megami Tensei series, think of it as Pokemon for the slightly wicked. The SMT games consists of recruiting or otherwise using demons and monsters in your party to fight other enemies (who can also be recruited) to progress the plot.

Those who are familiar with SMT know that most of the games are turn-based RPGs that revolve around a post apocalyptic world full of demons. Devil Summoner differs from that pattern in that it is an action RPG which takes place in 1920s Japan. The protagonist is Raidou Kuzunoha, who has inherited through his clan, the ability to summon and control demons during battle. Where do the demons come from? He recruits them through random battles.  With the help of demons, Raidou must defend Tokyo from supernatural forces.  Like previous SMT games, the aspect of demon fusing plays a crucial role in easing some difficult fights.

Shin Megami Tensei, while a hit in Japan, have just a cult following here in the US.  The monster collectathon and demon fusing aspect seems like it should appeal to more gamers, but perhaps the difficulty and dark nature of the plot scared the masses away.  It also doesn't help that Atlus, the publisher, is infamous for publishing games in low numbers and with almost no publicity.  SMT games can be thought of as Final Fantasy's unpopular goth sister who sits in her room all day listening to The Cure.

A warning for brave souls willing to venture into SMT territory: the games have a reputation of being difficult.  Luckily, Devil Summoner seems like a good intro to the series with a difficulty level that's only slightly above average, unlike the "oh my god what did I just stick in my PS2?" difficulty of SMT: Nocturne.