When DemiKids was announced, a lot of people felt that it was another game trying to find the success of the Pokémon's franchise with dual releases, with little else to offer. I'm happy to say that this is not the case. While DemiKids comes in Light and Dark versions, there is a lot more separating these two types of games than anything Pokémon has ever thought of.

While the majority of my time was spent playing Light Version, I did play the Dark Version as well to ascertain the differences between the two. The stories do have a lot of similarities, but at the same time, they also have very distinct differences. The introductions alone set the games apart from the ground up.

Honestly, I really like DemiKids. I find it more than a bit challenging, while at the same time very easy to get into. With the basic RPG menu of Attack, Magic, Item, etc., it doesn't take long to know what to do. As a turned based battle system, there's ample time to decide how to react. The draw comes where the game rarely gives you a break. You have to work for every victory early into the game, without making it impossible to move ahead.

The graphics for Light Version are light hearted, with the hero's over-eagerness to summon demons seem more than a bit odd for such an environment, but since it's a key to the whole story, we'll have to let it be. There is a lot of room for improvement with the graphics, and with the latest titles on the Advance being so engrossing with their eye candy, DemiKids may be easily overlooked except by Shin Megami fans. However, if you're not one of these fans, this may be an excellent game to introduce you to the series.