If you’re someone who has become a fan of Atlus games in recent years and saw the announcement of Soul Hackers 2 you may not even know much about the series. The first entry released back in the 90’s and while it got a port on the 3DS almost ten years ago chances are many still missed it. Whether you have experience with the series or not, after playing through the PlayStation 5 version for this review, I think you’ll enjoy this if you are a Persona or SMT fan.
The story of Soul Hackers 2 takes place in the distant future where an AI named Aion has seen that the end of the world is coming. To help avert this from happening, Aion creates two androids named Ringo and Figue and gives them the mission to protect two humans named Ichiro and Arrow as should they die it will set the end of the world in motion. Our androids end up finding the humans that they are supposed to protect but both of them have already died. In a last-ditch effort to prevent their deaths from triggering the world ending events, they decide to Soul Hack into them in order to keep their soul in their body and living. From there you’ll learn about the five covenants that have the ability to call forth a deity who can reshape the world and of course the villain of the story is after these for their own purpose. You also get introduced to many more party members along the way and gradually get to know them although I wish more time was spent with a few of them.
If you never played the first Soul Hackers don’t worry as this story is perfectly enjoyable played on its own. It took me dozens of hours to finish my playthrough although your time will vary depending on how many side missions you partake in. The story is full of moments of drama, intrigue, humor, and more and while it isn’t as strong as a mainline Persona game, I still enjoyed it and the cast of characters nonetheless. The voice performances are strong too and you can enjoy them in either English or Japanese with both being enjoyable from what I listened to.
The neon lit city that you can roam around in is beautiful to look at but doesn’t have a ton to do. You can visit shops to purchase items, talk to people, or head to your bar to spend time with your party members. Talking with them here allows you to raise their Soul Levels which in turn will unlock more of their memories that you can explore in the Soul Matrix. You’ll want to do these too as the further you get in them the more helpful skills you’ll unlock for the characters with some of them making elements of the game much more enjoyable. Demons are another way to increase the stats of your characters as each one that you equip will provided different bonuses. Demons can be recruited in the dungeons in the game and doing so is as easy as giving them whatever they ask for. I really liked that I didn’t have to worry about a recruiting effort failing like in some other games. You can also register your demons in a Compendium which also allows you to pay to summon any demon you previously had while Demon Fusion lets you combine demons in order to get a new one with new abilities or stats.
The dungeon exploring is what you’ll spend the most time doing in Soul Hackers 2 but the ones here aren’t the most compelling. I spent a large amount of my time in them listening to other things in the background as the design of them gets repetitive over time. This is a long game and it probably could’ve done with a bit slimming down in order to make it not feel like it drags at times. When you enter the dungeons, you can send off your demons into them to scout them out and if you find them while exploring, you’ll be rewarded with helpful items. The turn-based combat doesn’t do a lot different either as you’ll be using your demon attacks and magic to exploit the weaknesses of your enemies. The game does have something cool called a Stacking system though where if you repeatedly strike an opponent’s weakness you’ll gain stacks that you can then unleash all in one go to do a huge amount of damage. This is especially helpful in boss fights which are some of the more challenging moments in the game.
Soul Hackers 2 can’t quite match the high bar that the Persona franchise has set but it is still an enjoyable turn-based, dungeon crawling JRPG. The best parts about it are the story, the stylish art direction, and gaining new demons to use while the worst are the repetitive dungeons you’ll be spending hours and hours in. If you can look past that latter point then there is a lot to enjoy about Soul Hackers 2 whether you’re a returning fan or a newcomer.
*Soul Hackers 2 releases on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series, Xbox One, and PC on August 26. PlayStation 5 version reviewed. Review copy provided by the publisher for this review.
Soul Hackers 2
$59.99
Pros
- Great story with well developed characters
- Recruiting new demons in the dungeons and through fusion is fun
- Mechanics like stacking make the combat more enjoyable
- Stylish art direction paired with great voice acting and sound design
Cons
- Repetitive dungeon design
- Not a lot to do outside the dungeons
