As a huge fan of Atlus’ Megami Tensei series, I have dug through practically every game in the franchise over the years, ranging from modern releases back to those released exclusively in Japan on the Nintendo Famicom. While every era of Megami Tensei has its own distinct identity and style of play, few games have resonated with me quite like those released in the 16-bit era on the Super Famicom. In particular, I found myself absolutely captivated by the first-person dungeon crawling of Shin Megami Tensei and Kyūyaku Megami Tensei (an enhanced port collection of Megami Tensei and Megami Tensei II which had both originally released on the Famicom). Often referred to as DRPGs, or dungeon role-playing games, these games focus heavily on cultivating an immersive atmosphere accompanied by a hearty dose of rewarding exploration and resource management. This combined with the vast amount of party customization options enabled by the series’ demon negotiation and fusion systems resulted in these games being some of my favorite within the medium, despite their often obtuse nature.
With the release Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne, Atlus moved the series away from first-person dungeon crawling, seemingly for good; however, they would eventually create another notable series of games focused on this sort of exploration, Etrian Odyssey. Hungry for more DRPG goodness from Atlus, I dug into the Etrian Odyssey HD Collection when it released back in 2023; it was a fun time, and I would certainly recommend those games to anyone with the right amount of patience, but they did not capture the carefully crafted, and often oppressive, atmosphere that I loved so much in the Megami Tensei series. I’ve spent time digging through other genre contemporaries since then, struggling to recapture the magic, and had nearly given up until July 3rd, 2025, when Touhou Artificial Dream in Arcadia made its way onto consoles.
Simultaneously a love-letter to both the Touhou and Megami Tensei series, Touhou Artificial Dream in Arcadia is a first person dungeon crawler where you explore the dream world of Gensokyo as Sumireko, a high schooler who is uniquely able to access this dream world whenever, you guessed it, she goes to sleep. Gensokyo, which is populated by nearly every notable character from the world of Touhou, is undergoing a strange incident where clones of the Touhou characters, known as Sleepers, have begun to roam the world and cause mayhem. Perhaps by coincidence, or perhaps not, Sumireko’s smart phone has the ability to capture and control these Sleepers, placing her in the best position to unravel the mystery.
Outside of the obvious similarities in the game’s presentation, including, but not limited to, the minimalistic menu design, the crunchy soundtrack, and the first person dungeon-crawling accompanied by a top-down view when in the overworld, much of the Megami Tensei influence is present within the character and party building as Sleepers can be captured, fused together, and sacrificed to create a near endless amount of party combinations. Incorporating many skills introduced within newer Megami Tensei games, as well as numerous originals, the combat in Touhou Artificial Dream in Arcadia feels like the perfect blend of modern and classic Megami Tensei with a heavy focus on exploiting enemy weaknesses and using a wide array of buffs and debuffs to get a leg up on your enemies. While being mostly unfamiliar with Touhou, I quickly found myself enjoying the character designs and especially found the means of capturing Sleepers, which requires the player to best the Sleeper in a short bullet-hell minigame, to be a lot of fun.
Despite Touhou Artificial Dream in Arcadia serving as a love letter to Megami Tensei and Touhou, two admittedly fairly niche series, I would highly recommend this game to anyone interested in trying out the DRPG genre for the first time. The difficulty feels incredibly well balanced and fair for the genre; if any roadblocks are hit, there are plenty of quality of life features that can be toggled on/off to adjust the difficulty as needed. Any fans of turn-based RPGs absolutely owe it to themselves to give this game a shot, the combat is fast and exhilarating while the deep party building is an absolute joy to engage with. Pair that with the fantastic soundtrack, nostalgic presentation, and an addicting gameplay loop and you’ve got yourself a real Sleeper hit to dig into, one that should not be overlooked.
Touhou Artificial Dream in Arcadia is currently available on PC, PlayStation 4/5, and Nintendo Switch.
Have you ever delved into the DRPG genre? Will you be giving Touhou Artificial Dream in Arcadia a chance? Please share your thoughts with us on our Boss Rush Facebook Group or our Boss Rush Discord.
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