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#Soul Hackers 2 – Destructoid

Soul Hackers 2 – Destructoid

Leaping Jack Frost

I’m a easy man: I see a Shin Megami Tensei sport, and I’m serious about it. Though the cadence has been on and off for varied subseries, Atlus managed to muster up Soul Hackers 2, which is a follow-up to the 1997 authentic — and the primary Satan Summoner sport in roughly 14 years.

It’s a very good factor Satan Summoner doesn’t miss.

Review: Soul Hackers 2 1

Soul Hackers 2 (PC, PS4, PS5 [reviewed], Xbox One, Xbox Collection X)
Developer: Atlus
Writer: Sega
Launched: August 26, 2022
MSRP: $59.99

Regardless of going with a setup that might be thought-about complicated in another works, Soul Hackers 2 is surprisingly frank and forthcoming with its narrative conceit.

As an natural avatar named Ringo, your job is to save lots of humanity on the whim of Aion, an AI. Aion has decided that it wants two key folks to outlive to stop an impending cataclysmic occasion, which is the place you are available. Utilizing a demi-god-like capability known as a “soul hack,” it can save you a portion of somebody’s soul, and cheat demise. The kicker is that doing this too usually can mess with the material of actuality. Once more, all of that is straightforward to comply with, conveyed naturally by dialogue, and there’s even reminder story textual content on loading screens (in addition to chat logs in case you by accident skipped a cutscene or forgot what simply occurred).

Soul Hackers 2 takes a bit to get moving into earnest, however till then, you’re rapidly united with new summoners that grow to be core social gathering members. You slowly be taught the small print of Aion’s goals and the true world alongside your buddies; together with the wrinkle of needing to find covenants (powers that, when gathered, could cause destruction). The vibe continues to be very a lot occult (with demons galore) and cyberpunk, however there’s additionally an charisma and espionage to the day-to-day vital path occasions. It helps that in true SMT vogue, the forged doesn’t take itself too significantly. Though there are moments of stoic heroism, issues can get goofy and relaxed, all backed by beautiful (twin audio) voice performing.

The neon-adorned metropolis is one other character too (which will be considered in a performance-based 60 FPS or 4K visible toggle). There’s bars, outlets, quest-givers, demon fusion stops, all of the stuff you’ve come to count on from an Atlus RPG. All of that slowly opens up as you discover extra of the town, which inserts the crescendoing nature of the narrative that you simply’re discovering with Ringo and her crew. From there you’ll be able to select if you wish to begin happening sidequests — normally in areas you’ve already been, with a heavy concentrate on returning to explored dungeons — or hold going with the story.

Talking of dungeons, they’re principally simple, and some of them do mix collectively. It’s decidedly “hallway-based,” and participant selection usually distills right down to “enter the door you have to go into/stroll to the dead-end and get an merchandise.” This isn’t distinctive to Soul Hackers 2, however going into two “underground” areas practically in a row didn’t really feel nice.

This sense is accentuated by “Soul Matrix” dungeons, which let you delve additional into the psyche of every social gathering member and be taught extra about them — garnering rewards and development within the course of. It’s principally the same-looking location, however the extra you progress with the story, the farther you’ll be able to go and the extra you are able to do. There are teleport waypoints in each dungeon (and an early-access spell the place you’ll be able to immediately go away a dungeon), so it’s not like they’re insurmountable challenges per se, a lot as time-consuming.

Review: Soul Hackers 2 3

Every time I might really feel down, a personality second would pop up in the midst of a dungeon and make me smile once more. Or I’d do one thing actually cool in battle, or determine a brand new tactic, and soldier by. As an Atlus staple, a number of the muse of the sport is held up by the forged, and the way in which they work together (particularly on the bar, the place you will have many of the sport’s heart-to-hearts).

One enjoyable little mechanic of exploration although is “demon recon,” the place you’ll ship demons out into the map upon coming into it. Coming throughout them may grant a well being bonus, a present within the type of an merchandise, or an encounter that permits you to doubtlessly recruit a brand new demon. It might probably get rote over time, however I admire the try to combine issues up, and discovering new demon social gathering members is at all times thrilling.

Fight is menu-based, with groups (normally the participant first) taking full turns, and every member performing — then the opposite workforce will get a full flip. It might probably result in some nasty dogpiling both approach, so you have to plan forward for it, take note of your synergies/weaknesses, and heal up/defend/buff accordingly.

Soul Hackers 2 has the same weak point system as different SMT video games, however this time your bonus is linked to a “Sabbath” super-like capability that’s triggered by consecutive weak point hits per flip. Extra weak point hits equal extra harm when the Sabbath is unleashed. In different phrases, should you hit any enemy with any weak point 4 instances (on your commonplace social gathering of 4), you’ll get a Sabbath ranking of 4, and that does extra area-of-effect (AOE) harm as soon as your flip is completed. You possibly can skip the Sabbath animation and it’s enjoyable to try to run the numbers up, particularly whenever you account for strategic play like conserving an enemy low with out ending them off, permitting the Sabbath to do it for you.

Review: Soul Hackers 2 4

One factor you do want to remember with Soul Hackers 2 is that it typically does ask gamers to concentrate to their loadouts. Not solely does your elemental package matter (heading right into a battle with no enemy weak point entry will be killer), however your gear typically ought to keep updated, as ought to your merchandise synergies (like boosting the component of selection for that summoner). Development-wise, it behooves you to max out a demon, get a present as soon as it’s maxed, then attempt one thing new. It’s a quite simple and efficient loop, topped off by demon fusing and buying, the place you’ll be able to check out new mechanics and improve little by little. Even on regular mode, issues can get dicey should you’re under-level and ill-equipped.

At one level once I seen my social gathering wasn’t as highly effective as I’d preferred, I spent round 20 minutes in varied outlets, upgrading my stats and skills, and fusing demons. I seen a direct distinction, as fusing allowed me to unlock extra area-of-effect skills to wipe out teams of enemies, whereas sustaining choices for boss fights with a higher number of weak point entry. Roughly 10 hours in you’ll unlock “commander skills,” that are like sparingly used supers that Ringo can set off for the social gathering. It’s actually satisfying to see all these little puzzle items fall into place, and in true SMT vogue, there’s a number of customization concerned.

However not like a number of previous video games, getting caught doesn’t spell catastrophe; nor must you ever have to stop in frustration (I’m taking a look at you, old-school Nocturne gamers). Straightforward mode is extremely forgiving to the purpose the place you’ll be able to proceed a vast quantity of instances in fight (like, decide proper again up inside of the present battle with no sport over display), and will be toggled on at any time. Coupled with saving anyplace and quick journey, the massive quality-of-life stuff is commonplace.

I wandered into Soul Hackers 2 anticipating a common sense of high quality from Atlus, and ended up getting sucked into its world. Whereas dungeon design can really feel samey at instances, it’s not sufficient to distract from the flashiness of the sport as a complete. As standard, Atlus actually nails the small print; it was enjoyable to hang around with this crew and see the place issues went.

[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]

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