[Played on Steam with all DLC purchased]
This review will be focused on comparing Soul Hackers 2 to previous Devil Summoner games and it’s status as a sequel to Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers. I’m not advocating for this to be the only lens people view this game through, it’s just that everything else from the strengths and weaknesses of the game have already been covered in other reviews on this site.
To give some background on the series, Devil Summoner is a spinoff of Shin Megami Tensei that departs from the apocalyptic setting in place of urban settings ranging from the 1930s, present day, to the near future, where demons are kept a secret from society. The use of detective elements, the focus on the players relationship with demons, and the connected world and reoccurring organizations is what set this series apart and made it unique.
Loyalty, one of the reoccurring mechanics, is a friendship meter raised from battling with demons. Soul Hackers 1 had a very unique take on this mechanic by giving individual demons personalities and having the player take into consideration what moves they preferred to be give if they didn’t want the demon to disobey them. What made this mechanic so special was that it made the demons feel alive and put the player in the shoes of a summoner who’s training their demons, not unlike having to train a dog. This mechanic is completely absent from Soul Hackers 2.
Demon negotiations, a stable in the Megami Tensei franchise, but more importantly Soul Hackers 1 featuring one of the best iterations of this mechanic. Demons conversations were always a joy, ranging from demons commenting on the current story events, hilarious 4th wall breaks resulting in the demons having an existential crisis, to rhythm minigames. Raidou Kuzunoha vs King Abaddon also featured an amazing negotiation system where demons could pitch in to help you during them and certain demons would have conversations with each other like talking about their former master. Negotiations have been reduced to saying yes or no to a request in Soul Hackers 2.
In battles demons don’t even show up. You have 4 human characters fighting with their weapons and then performing all out attacks at the end of each turn if weaknesses were hit. The complete lack of presence of demons and being reduced to mere weapon equipables is a slap in the face compared to the previous games -including the game this is a supposed sequel to-. Instead of managing my demon team and taking into consideration their personalities I’m just shooting down demons with guns.
In the Raidou duology demon investigations were introduced where each demon has special detective skills like reading minds, freezing water, changing the appearance of raidou, and many more. When using skills the player would get to walk around as the demon and help solve puzzles for Raidou and then report back after done exploring. Soul Hackers 2 puts a “spin” on this by having Ringo send out demons at the beginning of a dungeon and then go around finding them for rewards. A few times they are used to find items like keys or a hidden door too. The problem with demon scouting is that the demons feel more like chests (and unrewarding ones at that) than partners. Talking to a NPC with the same 5 lines throughout the game to get some money or an item doesn’t really have the same effect as playing as demons and solving puzzles with them. It would of been nice of demons could follow you around like in Raidou too but even that was too much apparently.
The world doesn’t feel like one with humans and demons coexisting either. Almost all the NPCs are humans, same with the story bosses. The game is entirely focused on the summoners yet forgets about demons being a part of the world. While there are a few neat side quests like the Doppelgänger and Black Frost one, most are fetch quests that entirely ignore the existence of demons.
Devil Summoner was always a series where demons were a core part of it’s identity, to the point that it’s even in the name. While some people may bring up the fact Soul Hackers 2 dropped the name, the original Soul Hackers was no exception so it’s not really an excuse. Every game was focused around investigating the misuse of demons yet this game focuses on summoning an Eldritch monster through colorful worms and organization conflicts. This game could be rebranded where demons are entirely removed from it and not much would change while that would be impossible to do for the previous games.
As far as being a sequel to Soul Hackers goes, it isn’t one. The story takes place over 50 years in the future with none of the main cast returning. Thematically the themes explored are different, gameplay wise literally nothing carried over, and even the style of cyberpunk is very different. Ringo can “Soul Hack” all she wants but Soul Hackers was a name alluding to the concept of the game, it was never once name dropped in the original game. “Vision Quests” are also a completely different thing where they just slapped on the name as a reference. In the original it was playing through the shoes of deceased characters, in this game it’s walking through dungeons to watch cutscenes of the main cast’s past at the end. I don’t see how this is a sequel in any way and why they decided to market it as one.
One point of praise I have is that they stuck with the continuity. Devil Summoner games have reoccurring characters and organizations where each game introduces more to the lore and this one is no exception. While I feel they could of done more with the Devil Summoner world in this one, I still really appreciate that they kept the continuity and it felt really nice revisiting the Devil Summoner world after not getting a new game for 14 years. A new Kuzunoha branch revealed, Yatagarasu being expanded upon which were previously introduced in the Raidou games mostly wrapped in mystery, the return of Madame Ginko and Victor along with Phantom Society and zomas being brought back, the game delivered on this front.
World building wise unfortunately this game isn’t very good :(. Most of the NPCs just give you tips like how buffs are important or that new food is on the menu. It’s very robotic and results in not much being told about the world outside of what the main cast says during hangout events. The previous Devil Summoners had fantastic world building that aided the themes each game focuses on (dangers of the internet, effects of modernization, etc.) on top of fun npc dialogue like being able to check on one of the villains in the world map after they quit being a Dark Summoner in Soul Hackers. It really sucks how bad the NPC dialogue is in this game.
As far as being a Devil Summoner (or Soul Hackers) game goes, it does not really fit in with the series and discarded most of what made it unique. A jarring sequel to a game released 25 years ago, it’s surprising they even went with the name. While the continuity is appreciated, this game feels more like a game that takes place in the Devil Summoner world rather than being a Devil Summoner game itself. While I’m happy Atlus revived one of my favorite series, I can’t help but be disappointed in the way they went about ripping apart a core aspect of it’s identity. While it’s a good but VERY flawed game, it is a bad Devil Summoner/Soul Hackers game.
This review will be focused on comparing Soul Hackers 2 to previous Devil Summoner games and it’s status as a sequel to Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers. I’m not advocating for this to be the only lens people view this game through, it’s just that everything else from the strengths and weaknesses of the game have already been covered in other reviews on this site.
To give some background on the series, Devil Summoner is a spinoff of Shin Megami Tensei that departs from the apocalyptic setting in place of urban settings ranging from the 1930s, present day, to the near future, where demons are kept a secret from society. The use of detective elements, the focus on the players relationship with demons, and the connected world and reoccurring organizations is what set this series apart and made it unique.
Loyalty, one of the reoccurring mechanics, is a friendship meter raised from battling with demons. Soul Hackers 1 had a very unique take on this mechanic by giving individual demons personalities and having the player take into consideration what moves they preferred to be give if they didn’t want the demon to disobey them. What made this mechanic so special was that it made the demons feel alive and put the player in the shoes of a summoner who’s training their demons, not unlike having to train a dog. This mechanic is completely absent from Soul Hackers 2.
Demon negotiations, a stable in the Megami Tensei franchise, but more importantly Soul Hackers 1 featuring one of the best iterations of this mechanic. Demons conversations were always a joy, ranging from demons commenting on the current story events, hilarious 4th wall breaks resulting in the demons having an existential crisis, to rhythm minigames. Raidou Kuzunoha vs King Abaddon also featured an amazing negotiation system where demons could pitch in to help you during them and certain demons would have conversations with each other like talking about their former master. Negotiations have been reduced to saying yes or no to a request in Soul Hackers 2.
In battles demons don’t even show up. You have 4 human characters fighting with their weapons and then performing all out attacks at the end of each turn if weaknesses were hit. The complete lack of presence of demons and being reduced to mere weapon equipables is a slap in the face compared to the previous games -including the game this is a supposed sequel to-. Instead of managing my demon team and taking into consideration their personalities I’m just shooting down demons with guns.
In the Raidou duology demon investigations were introduced where each demon has special detective skills like reading minds, freezing water, changing the appearance of raidou, and many more. When using skills the player would get to walk around as the demon and help solve puzzles for Raidou and then report back after done exploring. Soul Hackers 2 puts a “spin” on this by having Ringo send out demons at the beginning of a dungeon and then go around finding them for rewards. A few times they are used to find items like keys or a hidden door too. The problem with demon scouting is that the demons feel more like chests (and unrewarding ones at that) than partners. Talking to a NPC with the same 5 lines throughout the game to get some money or an item doesn’t really have the same effect as playing as demons and solving puzzles with them. It would of been nice of demons could follow you around like in Raidou too but even that was too much apparently.
The world doesn’t feel like one with humans and demons coexisting either. Almost all the NPCs are humans, same with the story bosses. The game is entirely focused on the summoners yet forgets about demons being a part of the world. While there are a few neat side quests like the Doppelgänger and Black Frost one, most are fetch quests that entirely ignore the existence of demons.
Devil Summoner was always a series where demons were a core part of it’s identity, to the point that it’s even in the name. While some people may bring up the fact Soul Hackers 2 dropped the name, the original Soul Hackers was no exception so it’s not really an excuse. Every game was focused around investigating the misuse of demons yet this game focuses on summoning an Eldritch monster through colorful worms and organization conflicts. This game could be rebranded where demons are entirely removed from it and not much would change while that would be impossible to do for the previous games.
As far as being a sequel to Soul Hackers goes, it isn’t one. The story takes place over 50 years in the future with none of the main cast returning. Thematically the themes explored are different, gameplay wise literally nothing carried over, and even the style of cyberpunk is very different. Ringo can “Soul Hack” all she wants but Soul Hackers was a name alluding to the concept of the game, it was never once name dropped in the original game. “Vision Quests” are also a completely different thing where they just slapped on the name as a reference. In the original it was playing through the shoes of deceased characters, in this game it’s walking through dungeons to watch cutscenes of the main cast’s past at the end. I don’t see how this is a sequel in any way and why they decided to market it as one.
One point of praise I have is that they stuck with the continuity. Devil Summoner games have reoccurring characters and organizations where each game introduces more to the lore and this one is no exception. While I feel they could of done more with the Devil Summoner world in this one, I still really appreciate that they kept the continuity and it felt really nice revisiting the Devil Summoner world after not getting a new game for 14 years. A new Kuzunoha branch revealed, Yatagarasu being expanded upon which were previously introduced in the Raidou games mostly wrapped in mystery, the return of Madame Ginko and Victor along with Phantom Society and zomas being brought back, the game delivered on this front.
World building wise unfortunately this game isn’t very good :(. Most of the NPCs just give you tips like how buffs are important or that new food is on the menu. It’s very robotic and results in not much being told about the world outside of what the main cast says during hangout events. The previous Devil Summoners had fantastic world building that aided the themes each game focuses on (dangers of the internet, effects of modernization, etc.) on top of fun npc dialogue like being able to check on one of the villains in the world map after they quit being a Dark Summoner in Soul Hackers. It really sucks how bad the NPC dialogue is in this game.
As far as being a Devil Summoner (or Soul Hackers) game goes, it does not really fit in with the series and discarded most of what made it unique. A jarring sequel to a game released 25 years ago, it’s surprising they even went with the name. While the continuity is appreciated, this game feels more like a game that takes place in the Devil Summoner world rather than being a Devil Summoner game itself. While I’m happy Atlus revived one of my favorite series, I can’t help but be disappointed in the way they went about ripping apart a core aspect of it’s identity. While it’s a good but VERY flawed game, it is a bad Devil Summoner/Soul Hackers game.