Atlusused to be a company synonymous with obscure titles. That was like their bread and butter. They seemingly liked to go after games to publish in the West that nobody else would. ThenPersona 3happened and their traction as a company started to grow from there.Persona 4’srelease on PS Vita boosted their brand once again and whenPersona 5hit, they became more of a household name.
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Are they as big of an RPG company asSquare Enix? No, but that is okay as they still have a rich history. As more common as their brand is,Atlusstill has a lot of weird titles out there that no one remembers except the hardcore fans. Will these games ever resurface in the West?
8Wacky Races
Atlus made somepretty decent platformersback on the NES. One of the best wasWacky Races, which funnily enough had nothing to do with the iconic races found in that cartoon. It instead starred the villainous Muttley, Dick Dastardly’s dog, in a platformer similar toMega Man.
Players could choose where they wanted to go, earning power-ups along the way. The controls are still tight, and the graphics hold up for an NES game too. This would fit well with the Switch’s NES library.
7Princess Crown
Princess Crownwas never released officially in the West, although there have been fan efforts to patch it. It was originally a Sega Saturn game in Japan before eventually getting an enhanced port for the PSP. It’s a 2D action RPG and there were some simulation elements to the gameplay as well.
What makes this an interesting pick is that the director, George Kamitani, would eventually leave to help create Vanillaware. The elements thatmade Vanillaware gameslikeOdin SphereandDragon’s Crowngreat can be traced back toPrincess Crown.
6Kartia: The Word Of Fate
Kartia: The Word of Fatefeatures artwork from Yoshitaka Amano who is most probably known for theFinal Fantasyseries. The girl on the box art looks a lot like Terra fromFinal Fantasy 6and that’s only one example. This wasa tactical RPGthat was sort of blended withPokemon-like gameplay.
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Players controlled a group of generals in every battle, but the emphasis was more on their summoned creatures than their natural talents. Characters could summon various monsters to do battle for them and this gave the game an RTS feeling as well. It’s one in a handful of tactical RPGs on the PS1 that got overlooked next toFinal Fantasy Tactics.
5Thousand Arms
Thousand Armswas co-developed between Atlus and a lesser-known Japanese developer, Red Company. It saw a very limited release in the West, making it a hard-to-find PS1 game at the time, and is even rarer now. This was atypical turned-based RPGas far as the battle system went. However, there was a twist to the gameplay as it was also a dating sim.
Players were a blacksmith that had to woo their female party members to help strengthen their abilities to make weapons. It was certainly a unique concept at the time that perhaps Atlus got inspiration from for Persona 3.
4Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha Vs. The Soulless Army
Speaking ofPersona 3, there were a lot ofShin Megami Tenseigames on the PS2 that got overlooked next to both that game and its sequel,Persona 4.Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Armyis a mouthful of a name along with its sequel,Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddonare mouthfuls.
They are both action RPGs that take place withinthis spinoff universe. Players controlled their hero in battle but also summoned iconic demons, like the Jack Bros., to do battle alongside them. A remastered collection for both of these would be awesome because they are rare physically.
3Radiant Historia
When it comesto time-based RPGs,Chrono Triggeris usually the one fans think of first. There aren’t that many time-travel games in general.Radiant Historiawas perfect for the DS but also not perfect. The handheld was set up as an RPG system which allowed for grinding on the go.
Related:Games Still Trapped Exclusively On DS
Unfortunately, a lot of console gamers snubbed the DS as something lesser.Radiant Historiais on-par withChrono Trigger, featuring great turn-based gameplay and an in-depth time travel system. It got another shot on the 3DS, but that version didn’t sell like gangbusters either despite critical acclaim.
2Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth
Eventhe biggest seriesunder Atlus' umbrella,Persona, has had some entries that almost fell off the radar.Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinthwas the first spinoff that blended elements ofPersonawith Atlus’ dungeon-crawling Etrian Odyssey series. The first game crossed over thePersona 3andPersona 4universes while its sequel,Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, made things even wilder withPersona 5characters.
Both were released at a time when the 3DS was waning in popularity, but this is especially true for the sequel as it launched in 2019 in the West which was two years after the Switch’s debut.
1Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE
Finally, there isTokyo Mirage Sessions #FEwhich was another crossover RPG project. This time Atlus partnered withNintendoto mash togetherShin Megami TenseiandFire Emblem. Characters fromFire Emblem Awakeningwere turned intoPersona-like entities in this turned-based RPG. It was moreShin Megami TenseithanFire Emblem, butthat wasn’t the problem.
It was first released on theWii Uwhich was notoriously a poor-selling console even with well-reviewed software like this. TheSwitchre-release gave this game another shot but it still didn’t make a huge splash.
