This week's game is The Demon Crystal, a Druaga-like alternative for Japanese computers that introduces new ideas like limited resources to make for a different experience. It even got a remake for Switch/Steam just a few years ago!
The Demon Crystal really feels like it comes from an alternate reality where The Tower of Druaga was a side scrolling game instead of an overhead maze. It originally came out in 1984 like Druaga did, it has you playing as a knight and going through two and a half dozen "houses" to rescue a princess, you have to locate items that give you upgrades through obscure means (depending on the version you're playing), and it even has the bad items designed to screw you over. The store page for the Switch/Steam remake claims that it was a pioneering action RPG and a nationwide hit in Japan, but I have no way of actually verifying that claim. Based on how rarely I hear anyone mention it anywhere, it sure doesn't seem like it to me! But I wasn't in Japan in the 80s or even alive at all, so who am I to say, eh? It did show up in old computer magazines and get a couple of sequels, though, and the accounts of people having played it that I could find all seemed quite fond of it, too. Regardless of whether or not it's a historically important game, it is a good game, so that's a win in my book.
As for how it differentiates itself, aside from the very different perspective, The Demon Crystal puts a focus on resource management. Instead of a sword, your character is equipped with bombs that roll along the ground. These are great (as long as you don't walk into the fire they create!), but they're also limited, so you need to find a balance between collecting bombs and fighting/avoiding enemies. The houses are also chock full of locked doors and keys to use them on. These need to be opened to find the bigger key that reveals the exit, but not every door has anything more than a bomb. Considering that enemies and even items can be hidden behind doors, this is definitely a game where you're meant to use knowledge from previous runs to optimize future ones. The upgrades make your life a whole lot easier by providing protection or making previously invulnerable enemies vulnerable, so they're basically as essential as they were in Druaga. In general, though, this is a much easier game, and the remake only exacerbates that by making resource management a non-issue, letting you freely continue, and telling you how to find each item. There's definitely an argument to be made that the remake ruins some of the original game's careful balancing and tension, but both versions are absolutely worth a shot if you want a twist on the ideas that Druaga made so popular in the 80s.
So the game in the recohost is The Demon Crystal from 1984 originally released for the Sharp MZ series of computers (80K, 700, 800, & 1500) and later was ported to Sharp X1, PC-88, and MSX. While Dempa would handle things like music and support, most of the heavy lifting including design is credited to Masami Nakamura who also is known as YMCAT. He was famous for programming arcade ports like Mappy & Grobda to Sharp's computers.
In 87 he designed another game, Sofia, again for Sharp's computers (including the X1 this time). This one is a platformer where everything you need to succeed is obfuscated, usually requiring you to jump in certain spots. Even if you make it to the end you can't pick up the magical macguffin without all the upgrades along the way (including the upgrade that only negates the effects of poison mushrooms... which I thought I didn't need anymore whoops). Just like The Demon Crystal, it too received a remake that is on the switch which can be found here.
Below is my playthrough of Sofia if you'd like to get a taste before trying it yourself (or just want to watch it instead of playing it but you should play it). I'd like to maybe try out The Demon Crystal next MSX March but maybe it'd be more appropriate to play it on it's native Sharp. YMCAT would also make 2 sequels to The Demon Crystal, in 86 and 87; for the Sharp family of computers. Seems the 2nd one also got a switch remake and made it onto the Fujitsu Micro 7 (FM-7). YMCAT is still very active. They handled the remakes mentioned above as well as a brand new The Demon Crystal IV. At this time it seems only the 1st Demon Crystal remake has come out in english. You can find YMCAT on twitter.
one noteworthy detail concerning YMCAT's time in game dev is that there's a ~30-year gap in their output where they worked other non-game-related jobs, and The Demon Crystal for Switch was them returning to the industry, learning Unity and releasing a game in their 50s, and now they're back as a full-time creator, both independently and as a contractor. One of their higher-profile contributions was as a programmer/planner on Super Noda-ge PARTY and its sequel Super Noda-ge WORLD, a pair of crowdfunded party game anthologies spearheaded by comedian/app dev Crystal Noda, with the unique gimmick that backers not only provide funding and game concepts but also a large majority of the in-game assets.
By the way, if you're wondering why so much of their merch is based on unadorned kana, take a look at one of their famous early works: the notorious no-sprites MZ-700 conversion of Namco's Mappy: