Soul Hackers 2

Video Game Review

Marking the debut of the Shin Megami Tensei franchise on the newest generation of home video game consoles, Soul Hackers 2 has a lot riding on its shoulders from the get-go. Being part of a relatively obscure chapter in the series, with its predecessor Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers only being available on the Nintendo 3DS outside of Japan, the first thing on my mind was whether experience with the first game was necessary. Fortunately, the answer is no. Although Soul Hackers 2 shares narrative and select gameplay elements from its predecessor – it’s very much a standalone experience that’s enjoyable regardless of your previous experience. With that leading question out of the way, how does Soul Hackers 2 fare? Read on to find out!

There is no high school drama, no world-ending apocalypse at the start and little obscurity around demon summoning. Soul Hackers 2 takes place in a futuristic, cyberpunk-esque version of Japan, where technology has taken over many of the minor jobs, almost every street is neon-lit, and if you take a wrong turn, you could end up in a den of demons or demon summoners. Looking over this world is a digital entity known as Aion, which looks over the sea of human data and is capable of foreseeing the potential future, including the current one identifying the imminent end of humanity. Identifying two individuals whose protection may hold the key to changing this fate, Aion takes the unusual step of giving two of its agents – Ringo and Figue – human forms, and the task of locating and protecting them. Players fill the shoes of the former, who quickly becomes embroiled in the battle between the Yatagarasu and Phantom Society factions, the hunt for convents, and the mysteries of the ‘Great One’.

Soul Hackers 2 - Ringo and Figue

In terms of narrative delivery, Soul Hackers 2‘s storyline is appealing from the get-go, especially when complemented with the lead cast being made accessible within the first couple of hours and each receiving ample development both individually and as part of a group. There was enough to keep me hooked from start to finish and was arguably more palatable compared to earlier Megami Tensei games which can be a bit word-salad when presenting concepts and ideas. But while there was meatiness to the content, given how the game progresses and the regular need to deviate into long-winded jaunts through the ‘Soul Matrix’ dungeons to gain EXP, everything can feel a bit disjointed. Furthermore, while the narrative is more than satisfying, if you were to compare it against the likes of Shin Megami Tensei V or Persona 5 which are 60+ hour epics, it doesn’t have that level of longevity. Despite indications that there is the Law-to-Chaos scale of actions given the alignment of each party member, there are only two endings, heavily driven by options at the end of the game.

Gameplay-wise, Soul Hackers 2 borrows many elements from the Shin Megami Tensei as a whole, although adds a few stylistic and gameplay twists to make those elements its own. At its core, the game is a turn-based RPG dungeon crawler, where you will progress through progressively unlocked dungeons with increasingly difficult waves of enemies, bosses and puzzles to take down. It is very much your typical Shin Megami Tensei experience, as your party members take turns to dish out elemental (Fire, Ice, Electricity, Force, Ruin and Almighty) and physical attacks (Close-Range, Ranged) against waves of enemies. Taking advantage of each enemy’s elemental weakness will again deal increased damage, in addition to this game’s version of All-Out Attacks, known as “Sabbath”, which is undertaken at the end of every turn should you have at least one “Stack” against the opponent. One defining feature is that as you progress through the game, Ringo gains access to different commander abilities. These provide boons such as every successful hit for a turn granting a new Sabbath Stack, to allowing an individual character (or all characters) to switch their demons at any time. While they range from simple to relatively complex – they can prove pivotal in some of the more difficult battles. So yes, while there is nothing particularly innovative this time around, it does the standard Shin Megami Tensei style gameplay well.

Dungeon exploration is pretty stock standard for the series, as you explore fully 3D environments, tackling the occasional environmental puzzle, and attacking or dodging demons that opt to attack you. The environment is rich in loot, and as a little twist to involve your demons more, it is them who collect it for you – providing what they find as you find them in dungeons. It is a nice way of engaging with your demons given they do not have as much presence on the battlefield (as an ally), and is also the way you uncover key items and recruit new demons… at least if you match their level. There is already the substance, and this provides a bit more style and rationality around finding all the trinkets in every environment you traverse.

Demon summoning also follows the typical Shin Megami Tensei formula, although, from an aesthetic perspective, they don’t have much prominence on the battlefield.  Soul Hackers 2 features a cast of over 150 demons of increasing level, each of which has individual stat boosts and skills each party can take advantage of. While you start with some very niche, arguably unimpressive demons, as you progress and increase your character level, you gain access to some impressive demons. Through the game’s circus-themed fusion system, you can merge two or more to gain access to more unique demon setups, although the game felt resistant to letting you create anything too outlandish or overpowered. The game also made me appreciate just how many different Frost characters ATLUS have introduced over the years – including Strawberry Frost, B. Hawaii Frost and even Lemon Frost. Each character is associated with certain demon elements, which you can level up through COMP improvements as you obtain items from dungeons. As has been the key talking point throughout this review, Soul Hackers 2 doesn’t do anything too out-there in terms of the demon summoning system, but focuses mostly on the fundamentals and does them right.

In terms of difficulty, you are once again given multiple options from the start (with a Very Hard difficulty available as DLC) and have the freedom to change it as you progress. Generally, I found the difficulty to be a bit above normal for a Shin Megami Tensei game on the standard difficulty setting – more than the recent Persona games but less than… say… Nocturne or Devil Survivor. There are points in time that I found I was rather under-levelled when a difficulty spike occurred, which was usually rectified by a trip into each character’s Soul Matrix dungeon to grind out a few levels. Granted this is a more mind-numbing element of the game, but at least wasn’t a prolonged experience in each instance. Alternatively, the game is very generous with its auto-save, so even if you do fall in battle and don’t have any revive options (difficulty setting dependent), you shouldn’t lose too much progress. Just in case you are like me, and forget to save for two hours and then suddenly fall in battle.

Being developed for the newest and last generations of video game consoles, it is a shame that we couldn’t see how ATLUS would handle the audiovisual appeal of a fully “next-gen” game. But for what gamers experience throughout Soul Hackers 2, I would argue it is their best 3D RPG yet in terms of – not so much substance or detail – but style. Every location has a cool, neon-lit cyberpunk style to them, with each of the main characters (and secondary character) also having a distinct style – on a spectrum ranging from current-day modern to post-modern. The voice acting is also of a high calibre, regardless of which language you choose to listen to. 

The English voice cast features the talent of Megan Taylor Harvey, Erica Mendez, Erica Lindbeck, Zach Aguilar and Griffin Puatu – all with solid voice acting histories, and perfectly match the unique demeanour of each character.

Soul Hackers 2 does not provide much new in terms of the Shin Megami Tensei experience, instead delivering a few unique takes on well-established gameplay elements with a current-gen aesthetic appeal to them. There may not be enough to fully satisfy the hardcore fan of the series, but I would argue this makes a perfect entry point for anyone new to the series, or someone who has previously only been exposed to the Persona series and wish to dabble in the broader Shin Megami Tensei video game universe.

7

out of 10

This review was based on a PlayStation 5 copy of Soul Hackers 2, provided by Australian publisher/distributor Five Star Games for the purpose of this review.

Soul Hackers 2 is now available on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC.

Sam
Sam
Founder of The Otaku's Study. I have been exploring this labyrinth of fandom these last fifteen years, and still nowhere close to the exit yet. Probably searching for a long time to come.

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