Soul Hackers 2 Review – A Tempting Human Rating Downgrade

After the cult blockbuster Persona 5 and the great hardcore title Shin Megami Tensei V, we have another JRPG from Atlus that falls into the “universe” of Megami Tensei games. This time it’s the second part of a thread that originally came out in 1997. Was the 25 year wait worth it? Whether you’re looking to grow another army of your favorite demons, love the games in the series, classic turn-based JRPGs, or just love the stunning audio-visual pastiche of the latest Persona, then you’ll be satisfied.

• Platform: PS4, PS5 (Review), PC, X1, XSX/S
• Publication date: 08/26/2022
• Producer: Atlus (Japan)
• Genre: japanese role playing game
• Czech localization: Not
• Multiplayer: Not
• Data to download: 22 GB
• Game time: 40+ hours
• Price: 1499 CZK (couples)

Calculate the end of the world

In the middle of the 21st century, humanity fell into apathy and stagnation. Technological progress has slowed down significantly, and everyone seems to be waiting for something. But this does not apply to the two factions of demonic sects that are waging a hidden war among themselves for five ancient entities, with which it would be possible to achieve the return of the “Great One”, or an entity that can change or completely destroy our entire universe. Aion, a non-material superconsciousness formed inside computer and Internet networks, will also somewhat unexpectedly join the struggle for the fate of mankind. He sends his two artificial fighters named Ringo and Figo into battle, and you play as the first.

However, moving around in a more or less human body is a pretty serious “downgrade” for a being like you, which will be hard to get used to. Moreover, it turns out that you are rather late in events, since more or less all the key people you need for your task are already dead. This is where your unique ability to cross the border between the digital and spiritual worlds comes into play: through so-called “soul hacking”, you bring dead people back to life to help you find lost entities and prevent the end of the world. . However, the soul hacking process will leave you with dangerous consequences that you will have to deal with as you match memories with “resurrected” members of your group.

Moving in the human body is a pretty serious “drop”.

Although the game has a noticeably lower budget than the fifth Persona, for example, I liked it, everything is done with care and quality: from the beautiful styling of the in-game menu or animation transitions to the beautiful, full of sarcasm voice acting to the top Notch music or the overall high level of dialogue, especially when we are talking about this unique cyber-spiritual jargon that combines mythology with elements of science fiction. The main character made a strong impression on me from the first scene and I liked her more and more with each subsequent scene. Perhaps her resemblance to Yu from the beautiful love story “Haven” helped. Anyway, I really liked some of the characters and especially this uniquely conceived sci-fi world of the near future, although the story itself is relatively predictable.

Your army of demons

If you’ve ever played any of the Megami Tensei (or Persona) games, then you know exactly what to expect in terms of gameplay. Quite traditionally, you will gradually recruit enemy demons from the battlefield directly into your squad, in order to then train them and cross with each other, giving birth to completely new demons. This “Pokémon” aspect of the game is one of the funniest things about it, although after all these years it does make me a little sad that the same drawings of individual demons are more or less repeated over and over again. But this does not detract from the pleasure of the whole process of collecting and growing. But it’s rather shameful to “hide” some of the series’ popular demons in paid DLC.

What really thrilled me was the “imposition” of extra attacks – if you manage to hit an opponent’s weakness, the demon in charge from your group will creepily hover in the shadows behind the enemy to give them a very powerful extra attack after your turn, dubbed “demonic saturday”. It looks great and is a lot of fun. In addition, the relatively traditional turn-based combat system features several “quality of life” improvements, such as a next move hint button. At the same time, the game is very enjoyable to play on PS5 thanks to the lightning-fast recording that makes the battles and the game itself a great experience.

An overpowered attack called “Demonic Coven” looks great.

If you live up to your expectations of Soul Hackers 2 as a modern yet more economical spin-off to the series, you’ll be pleased. Said frugality shows up, for example, in fewer human members of your party, static 2D menus in stores, or rather tedious “soul matrix” dungeons through which you strengthen your relationships with your companions. These dungeons are somewhat repetitive and tedious, but mechanically you’ll be able to handle them just as well as the main story missions with unique environments. Especially if you set one of the higher difficulties.