Deep Cuts
Robotrek — The Proto-Pokémon Where You Build the Monsters
In 1994, Enix's Robotrek let you build and program your own robot fighters — a year and a half before Pokémon.
Harmful Park: The Rarest Joke on the PlayStation
A Japan-only PS1 cute-em-up where two sisters take back a theme park with pie and ice cream. Sky Think System's only shooter, now one of the rarest PS1 games.
PLAYSTATION JAPAN 1997
Deep Cuts
E.V.O.: Search for Eden — Eat Things, Grow Horns, Become Apex
Enix's evolution RPG where you eat your way from fish to human across 4.6 billion years, scored by the Dragon Quest composer. Never re-released.
Deep Cuts
Terranigma: The Masterpiece America Never Got — And We Did
Enix shut its US office and Terranigma never reached North America. PAL players got Quintet's 1995 masterpiece instead. Its story, and how to play it now.
Awaiting capture
Love Letters
Dragon Quest VIII: The One That Made Me a Believer
TODO — full review to come. Enix goes cel-shaded and open-world on the PS2, and somehow keeps the series soul intact.
Awaiting capture
Deep Cuts
The 7th Saga Was Made Harder On Purpose, Just For You
Enix's 1993 RPG is a difficulty legend — the international release got less XP and tougher enemies than Japan's. Thanks, guys.
Awaiting capture
Deep Cuts
Paladin's Quest: Dragon Quest's Stranger Cousin
Pastel skies, spells that cost your own HP, and a post-apocalyptic world that looks like nothing else Enix shipped.
Awaiting capture
Deep Cuts
Lufia II: The Prequel That Out-Puzzled Zelda
Beloved for its puzzle dungeons, cursed by a tiny late-1996 print run — and now priced accordingly.
Awaiting capture
Deep Cuts
Gaia Seed: One Tiny Studio, One Wild Soundtrack
Techno Soleil made exactly one game — a Japan-only PS1 shooter with an ambient/chant/hip-hop score that has no business being this good.
Awaiting capture
Deep Cuts
Thunder Force VI: How a Beloved Series Actually Died
Sega picked up the pieces after Technosoft folded and gave the legendary series a bitter final chapter the fanbase never forgave.
The Big Map
The SNES RPG Golden Age You Missed
Fifteen deep cuts you can actually play in English — barely-marketed Western releases and Japan-only games rescued by fan translators. In progress.
The Big Map
Shmup Deep Cuts: The Shooters Everyone Skipped
The shooters the West wrote off in the move to 3D — import-only discs, arcade-only boards, cult releases Japan kept making. Starting with the rarest joke on the PlayStation.