Honorable Mention: Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse
Apocalypse only hits hard if you’ve played 2013’s Shin Megami Tensei IV. Despite Atlus’ assurances that you can jump into this without playing the preceding game (and you certainly can), some of the game’s nuances and subtle, yet important, references will completely go over your head. Still, there’s no denying that Apocalypse is a damn good RPG that doesn’t hesitate to pummel players into the ground with its challenging boss fights.
Featuring a Pokemon-like collection system where you can employ demons into your party, Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse allows players to actively negotiate with demons during battles in an attempt to convince them to join you. This isn’t an easy process, and it makes every recruited demon feel like a hard-earned companion, especially in the early game. It gets even harder when you’re forced to decide if you want to fuse your demons together to create a much more powerful one. The combat strategies you can utilize in Apocalypse are endless, and that’s only made possible by the deep and complex fusion system Apocalypse has perfected here.
Not to mention, Apocalypse offers multiple endings that are tailored according to your actions and decisions made in the game. Like previous SMT games, Apocalypse will question your values, and players will have to decide where exactly they stand on the spectrum of law and chaos.
