Almost 10 years have passed since the release of the original Soul Hackers and a good 25, if you consider the release date of the edition on Sega Saturn rather than its remaster for Nintendo 3DS.
Needless to say, therefore, that Soul Hackers 2 it was certainly not an expected title and that therefore its announcement trailer has aroused surprise, if not even confusion, in younger gamers, who probably had not heard of the IP before then, either for their personal data, or for the limited marketing of the game on the western market.
Fortunately, with Soul Hackers 2, Atlus has wisely chosen the path of spiritual inheritance, rather than that of the direct sequel: for this reason, it is not essential to know the previous title to fully enjoy this new JRPG. However, we find the decision to remove the nomenclature “Devil Summoner” and “Shin Megami Tensei” from the title curious, while maintaining the numbering of the chapters.
Soul Hackers 2 takes place in a futuristic cyberpunk Japan, in an advanced society entirely connected by the network but where, predictably, social and economic problems continue to oppress the weakest population and poverty and violence are rampant in the streets.
It is in this dystopian setting that Aion decides to intervene: the mysterious and almost omniscient neural network becomes aware when his calculations predict an imminent end of the world and therefore decides to intervene to prevent it.
Thus were born Ringo and Figue, semi-human incarnations of Aion, whose goal will be to anticipate and prevent the events that would lead to the end of known reality. In fact, Soul Hackers 2 maintains, as per tradition, the classic apocalyptic trope, typical of the Shin Megami Tensei saga, as well as the philosophical-spiritual and social criticism themes.
Sent on a mission by the super AI Aion, Ringo and Figue will gather a varied team of demon summoners, who, despite their differences in character and objectives, will try to collaborate in an attempt to stop Iron Mask, the man at the head of the Phantom Circle, intent on evoking the Supreme Being and shaping a new world from the ashes of the previous one.
Once a new game is started, the player has the possibility to select a difficulty level and the preferred game mode, between the classic “graphics” and “performance”: having had the opportunity to try the title on PlayStation 5, we can say that both options are valid, but for personal taste we always recommend to experience this genre of games with the maximum possible fluidity, which in the case of our hardware allowed a stable framerate at 60fps for the entire duration of the adventure.
As often happens in modern JRPGs, there is the possibility to select the preferred dubbing between English and Japanese, while an honorable mention is needed for the always welcome presence of the Italian localization, increasingly present in the Atlus titles of recent years. From the graphic point of view, however, Soul Hackers 2 presents an excellent cel-shading, while the character designs were taken care of by Shirow Miwa.
From the first hours of the game, the influence exerted by the success of Persona 5 in the development choices carried out in this title is evident: the presence of a human party, elements of bonding between the protagonist and the other members of the group, shots and clash interface, everything seems to echo from Atlus’ most successful title of recent years.
However, the great differences between the two games should not be underestimated either, perhaps not very evident in the trailers released by the developers. The protagonists of the story are more mature both by age and in their attitude and the general mood of the story, also thanks to the dystopian setting, is much darker and death and blood, the sexual interests of different characters and the use of alcoholic beverages and firearms (and we are talking about real firearms, not mental projections into an alternate dimension); obviously don’t expect an anime-style version of Cyberpunk 2077 but compared to the evergreen school-age characters, the idea of impersonating more adult and gloomy figures seemed like a breath of fresh air.
The combat system of Soul Hackers 2 provides a party of 4, lined up against the enemy lines to be annihilated, be they human or demonic. Allied and enemy actions are marked by classic turns, which will not, however, be influenced by the exploit of weaknesses and resistances of the enemies to be defeated.
Unlike what has been seen in the recent Shin Megami Tensei, therefore, taking advantage of the opponent’s weak points will not earn extra turns and, conversely, the use of ineffective skills will not reduce the number of available actions. This, of course, also applies to enemy moves.
However, Soul Hackers 2 offers a viable alternative: the combo system. Accumulating combos with attacks that hit weaknesses will allow you to activate the Tregenda (an obsolete but fascinating term for the more famous Sabbath) and gather a group of allied demons, to hit the enemy party with an extremely powerful final blow.
During the Tregenda there is also the possibility that the Tandem abilities are activated, in case some demon is equipped with them, which will further increase their effectiveness with the addition of secondary effects. The protagonists will not bring the demon assigned to them directly into the field, but will use its abilities, also absorbing its weaknesses and resistances to the various types of attack.
Entities cannot be replaced in the course of combat unless using a Ringo commanding ability: this, along with several others obtainable by continuing in the adventure, are special actions and of limited use, but which can turn the tide of battle if employed wisely.
Each character can then “equip” a demon, along with other items and accessories that alter its stats and elemental affinities. From the first hours of the game it is essential to update the COMP, the main weapon of a demon summoner, whenever the opportunity arises: by consuming the materials obtained by exploring and defeating demons, the COMP will provide important improvements to the statistics of the protagonists , new skills and passive effects.
Even the demon recruitment system is different from the usual, since the creatures will not be convinced, corrupted or threatened during the fighting that will see them as protagonists, but will meet during the exploration of the dungeons thanks to the intercession of the allied demons; these will also support the group of summoners in other ways, for example by recovering objects and money, or by healing the group in part or all. The appearance of demons and their actions are random and will vary from time to time.
In the case of the recruitment of new spirits, a price to pay will often be required, in hard cash, resources or health, but the mechanics have been – unfortunately, in our opinion – extremely simplified compared to what we have seen in the past.
Obviously there will be the possibility of merging the aforementioned demons to create new and more powerful ones. In this case, the system does not present major changes compared to the past and the classic and “special” mergers will return, which require certain conditions to be completed.
In addition to allied demons, dungeons will obviously teem with hostile creatures to face in combat. Enemies are visible on the screen and can be temporarily sown or stunned to avoid confrontation. Randomly appear in the maps of powerful creatures, more difficult to face but which will reward the group with an enormous amount of experience points, or rare enemies, elusive and ready to flee at any moment, but which if defeated will fill the pockets of the heroes of money and precious objects.
In general, however, the level design of Soul Hackers 2 did not fully convince us due to its blatantly old school imprint and that in 2022 it begins to suffer the ailments of age: the game dungeons are not particularly labyrinthine or from the complex environmental puzzles, but only extremely long and with rather bare and not very varied environments. The absence of random encounters fortunately helps the player and allows to speed up the exploration considerably.
Also with regard to the management of secondary missions, we perceived a certain structural fatigue. Quests are often fragmented into too many steps and require the player to travel over and over again from one area to another just to exchange a few words with the NPC on duty … and in the case of target elimination or recovery missions at the inside the dungeons, the absence of indications on where the objective can be found obliges to explore the level entirely and for the umpteenth time, with a consumption of time that could have been easily avoided, making this kind of activity pleasant, as well as purely necessary for the strengthening of the group.
In addition to the dungeons, the map of Soul Hackers 2 consists of small urban areas that can be explored, with all the various shops in which to shop and upgrade the group. A very important place is the shelter, where the protagonists can recover their strength and eat meals that will temporarily increase their stats and / or add positive side effects.
Another fundamental meeting point is the Heidrun Bar, where Ringo and his companions can relax over a beer and get to know each other better. Increasing affinity with group members is essential to unlock extra skills and upgrades, but this is a feature strictly linked to practical activities within the game, since there will be no romantic routes and not even the possibility of failing events. social media giving wrong answers.
Equally important will be the Axis, a mysterious underground and digital environment created by Aion himself. As the affinity with the members of the group increases, Ringo will be able to go deeper and deeper, discovering their past and reaping rich rewards.
As for game longevity, Soul Hackers 2 offers a main campaign of around 35 hours, when played on standard difficulty. This can more than double if players aim for completeness and perfect optimization of the group of summoners and demons.
Soul Hackers 2 is an admirable revival of a time-forgotten IP; the game tries to make everyone happy, keeping a classic soul and rejuvenating the genre with gameplay elements from Persona 5, which we know have been very popular with the public. The result is a hybrid that fans of the genre will probably appreciate, but the lack of courage to create something iconic could doom Soul Hackers 2 to be remembered “only” as a good derivative game and little else. Only time will give us the answer.
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