Shin Megami Tensei has been a popular video game series for quite a long time, spawning over thirty games and seven spin-offs with fans around the world. Today, we will be looking at Soul Hackers 2, the sequel to the PlayStation hit Soul Hackers, but with a completely new story and cast.
Back when Soul Hackers 2 was announced, it was rather hard not to notice it, while the publisher pushed it hard on its marketing. I myself had constantly heard about it through different media and YouTube channels, which even led me to play the first game so I could see what this particular sequel could hold.
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▍Soul Hackers 2 is A Sequel, Or Not?
The first concern that I’m sure will worry a lot of people is if this game requires you to play its prequel Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers (also known by fans as simply Soul Hackers), since the only way to effectively play it as of the time of this writing is via the Nintendo 3DS version. As someone who played the 3DS version before, I can say the answer is… ”it depends”.
You see, most of the terminology does carry over to Soul Hackers 2, but there is little to no mention of the events of the first game, or at the very least, if it does, it will often be a really minor detail, so whether you have played the first game or not isn’t a strict requirement, though if you are able to play the prequel, it would definitely help your experience.
▍A Slow-Starting Story
The story of Soul Hackers 2 follows two supernatural “Aion” beings, Ringo and Figue. After Aion predicted that a cataclysmic event would soon doom humanity, he sent the two of them to try to stop the apocalypse. The story started off rather slow, taking a few hours to get “off the ground”. But it does get better as you go on, though there are some parts that didn’t give certain characters enough development.
Furthermore, some narrative segments felt rather rushed, as if there was more to it, but they didn’t provide much of an explanation until much later. It’s hard to explain these feelings without spoiling the story too much, but I wouldn’t be lying if I said I expected just a bit more from it.
That being said, the translation and localization work that went into Soul Hackers 2 is absolutely amazing, with really high-quality voice delivery, regardless of your choice to play with the English dub or the Japanese dub with subtitles. You won’t be disappointed in any way. The character portraits are also full of expressiveness, changing even in the middle of dialogue, and I swear I’ve been through thirteen different and unique expressions, which really enhanced the immersion.
▍Dungeon Design Is So-So, But Interesting
In Soul Hackers 2, you’ll definitely be exploring a lot of dungeons. But if I’m being honest, the dungeon design was one of my main gripes while playing, because of how convoluted some of them felt. It honestly just felt like a bunch of corridors mish-mashed together.
Not to mention that many times, you will face forks that lead to either dead ends or to where you need to go, and you’re not given any markers or leads for the majority of the time, which makes this especially irksome when you’re trying to explore, especially in the early game, where you have no Map Assist skills to help you get around.
One dungeon, you will visit a lot in particular, is the Soul Matrix, which is basically a huge dungeon where you dive deeper into the three characters Ringo recruits in her party. These are definitely worth crawling if you want to know more about a specific character.
The Soul Matrix is one of the main reasons that make New Game+ almost a necessity in Soul Hacker 2 if you wish to fully complete it. Mainly because on your first playthrough, the amount of Soul Levels that you can get for your characters is extremely limited. But with New Game+, not only does it carry over some of your existing progress, but also allows you to raise everyone’s Soul Level at a far easier pace.
▍Familiar Mechanics All-Around
Being a Shin Megami Tensei-based game, most mechanics will feel familiar with a Soul Hackers twist on its own. The dungeon design almost feels like you were playing Tokyo Mirage Sessions once again, which makes sense, considering the same director and designers worked on both titles.
Spells, demons, and even items have their terminology, which is great by the way. This function allows you to play Soul Hackers 2 in different languages for practicing purposes, so you aren’t as bothered by the language barrier getting in the way of understanding the mechanics.
▍Enhance Your Experience with DLC
There is a lot to talk about when it comes to the DLC in Soul Hackers 2, but they can be resumed into three major things: Costumes, additional functions and even a brand-new scenario.
The costumes are purely aesthetic and don’t do anything like increase stats, but they’re a great homage to past Megami Tensei titles. They even include popular garments from games such as Persona 5 and the original Soul Hackers game!
When it comes to additional functions, the DLC will give you additional menu options. First, there’s Unlimited EXP Data, Added Cash, Added Incense. Enabling those options will guarantee a DLC item drop that can instantly level up your characters, and demons, or be sold and exchanged for items and gold.
These can definitely help you, should you prefer an easier, more laidback experience. But for the more hardcore players, I recommend leaving it OFF, because they made Soul Hackers 2 extremely easy even on Normal difficulty. Well, depending on the circumstance anyway.
The second thing is that you can also change the battle BGM with a selection of various titles such as Shin Megami Tensei IV, and even Persona 5. You can even randomize them, making a different theme play out each time. I personally left it on Random, because it feels less repetitive to have the same battle song play out over and over.
Lastly, but certainly not the least, is the Lost Numbers scenario. This is a series of side quests where you meet a mysterious Devil Summoner called Nana. You can start this series of side quests as early as the first 4 hours of the game. It’s undoubtedly a nice addition since all of the side quests feature full voice acting. It’s completely optional, but I totally recommend doing it if you’re looking to boost the number of hours of the game story.
▍Soul Hackers 2 is a Classic JRPG Staying True to its Prequel
Soul Hackers 2 once again shows that even as a Shin Megami Tensei spin-off title, it does not fail to disappoint. While the dungeon design wasn’t one of my favorites, I still had a pleasant time and would definitely recommend it as a JRPG that many can enjoy. Now, if you’re the type to replay a game over and over, Soul Hackers 2 also actively incentivizes the player to do second gameplay using New Game+, with new conversations and even new sidequests that are exclusive to the mode, making this quite pleasant to replay again and again.
