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Demi-Kids: Darkness of the Day.......
Ever since playing Revelations: The Demon Slayer for the Gameboy Color years ago, I've been a big fan of the Shin Megami Tensei series. Having played nearly every game(handheld or otherwise) that's came out stateside, I decided to give Demi-Kids a try. The first game, out of the two that was released, that I purchased was Darkness of the Day. Much to my surprise, it's the harder game out of the two but is the one I'm most happy playing. In this version, you play as Akira and accompany him on his journey through Dem(whereas in the light version, you play as Jin and accompany Jin as he wanders through Valhalla). Without going into detail about the storyline, it's quite different than Pokemon but shares the same qualities. You take control of a trainer, or "DemiKid" if you will, and set out into the world to recruit monsters to be used in battle. Each demon has its own set of attacks, magic, and skills. Just like Pokemon, each demon also has elemental characteristics(such as fire, water and ice). You can have up to three demons in battle at one time. Additional demons you recruit are stored in a portable computer called a Vinecom(much like the Pokedex). Demikids is also different in the manner in which you capture and evolve the creatures you collect. In order to create a stronger demon, you have to fuse two weaker demons together. Whereas, in Pokemon, your character levels up like you would in a traditional RPG to evolve into it's final form. In the game; you have a handful of sidequests to perform and, if you choose to take them, the reward is often a rare demon that you can't find in the wild or create at a fusion center. Overall; the story is more occult-themed in it's nature and is much more mature than Pokemon, although it's aimed more towards kids who 'gotta catch em all'.
Because of that, I feel that's the reason why it hadn't caught on quite as good as Pokemon or other games of this sort.

I'll admit, it might not be the prettiest game you've ever seen in your Gameboy Advance nor the most addictive one either but Demi-Kids is an awesome game that holds true to the Shin Megami Tensei series.

Another low-class Pokemon clone
Demi-kids can seem like a great game, and it's fun the first time through. However, like pokemon, it's a monster collection game. There are assorted methods of collecting demons, and the entire thing can get frustrating if you try to capture everything (if such a thing is possible).

Unlike traditional RPGs, the monsters in your party (which are called demons, even the ones that look like angels and are classified as "holy") level up by fusing with each other in order to either enhance their stats or morph into a single, stronger monster.

The game has no re-play value, but it is sorta fun. However, don't buy both versions unless you REALLY like the one you try first.

Poorly designed...
I picked up this game because I've always loved Pokemon, Dragon Warrior Monsters, and the like. I was hoping for all the fun of those games, but with a fresh plot, world, and set of monsters.

At first, the game looks promising. The graphics are bright and crisp. The anime-style dialogue interludes are cool, and the plot starts off interestingly enough. It's once you start to get down to the meat and potatoes gameplay, though, that the problems start appearing.

Recruiting new monsters is a mystery. The "diplomacy" system of recruitment is a unique idea, but I hadn't a clue how to use it. I was forced to rely on arbitrary selections and luck.
Battling itself is standard turn-based fighting a la DWM. No complaints here, although it is a bit boring.
All this might not have been so bad, except for one "brilliant" *cough* decision on the designers' part: your creatures cannot level up. It was vaguely mentioned that there was a "lab" somewhere where I could fuse them to make them stronger, but as far as I could tell, I wouldn't be reaching it for a while. And in the meantime, I was left with no incentive to battle, or even keep playing. Games like DWM and Pokemon rely on the addictive quality of leveling up and gaining new power and skills; without this, DemiKids falls apart.

And with no new abilities or levels to look forward to, you begin to notice something: the utter lack of plot or direction. Your character, Akira, is told that he possesses demon powers, is spirited away to an alternate dimension, and meets the demon king's right-hand man; yet he asks no questions, thus getting the player no answers, and can manage no better response than "Whatever, let's get this over with." Am I missing something here?

In short, DemiKids is a mess of aimless wandering, annoying dialogue, and pointless battles. Just talking about this heap makes me want to go play DWM 2 again. I think that I will go do just that, and I reccomend that you do, too.

*****
My son who is nine says this is one of his favorite games. We gave this game a 4 because he beat the game in just a couple days.

Shin Megami Tensei on the GO!
I'll be honest here. This game is far from perfect and far from being one of the best games on the GBA. What makes this game fun and great ultimately depends on how much you like Japanese style rpgs and the Shin Megami Tensei series. If your a huge fan like me then youll love the idea of fusing demons on the go and being able to play with gods and demons on the go. The story and graphics get the job done. The gameplay should be familiar to fans and holds up well if your not expecting a masterpiece. I honestly had a lot of fun with it, I take it for what it is and remember that i only paid 10 bucks for it. If you take that all into account then you cant really go wrong if you need to satisfy your need for SMT on the go.