Soul Hackers 2 Hands On Impressions

Developer: Atlus

Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows

Genres: Role-playing Adventure game

Publishers: Atlus, Sega, SEGA of America

Series: Megami Tensei, Shin Megami Tensei: Soul Hackers

Soul Hackers 2 is my first entry into the Shin Megami Tensei series of games. Having beaten Persona 5 I was able to jump in quickly and follow stylized Soul Hackers 2 fairly easy. Presentation-wise Soul Hackers 2 has a loop of dungeon crawling with brief respites of safe house and city gameplay sequences early on.

I was able to beat the first boss R.S. Rhyme Soldier. Combat is turned based using demons that you can collect. Performing special attacks, using magic and or items on the battlefield. So far I am enjoying the combat gameplay as it seems similar to Persona 5. I’m playing on normal difficulty and completing the first dungeon wasn’t difficult at all.

After completing the first dungeon you unlock a safe house then after that you start exploring city hubs looking for a man called Saizo. Playable characters Ringo and Figue are agents of Aion who were created to save the world from a pending apocalypse. At the start of the game the two Aion agents revive Arrow and Milady who are both Devil Summoners and are key to help stopping said apocalypse.

So far all characters are likable and fairly different personality-wise. Story goes after Dungeon 1: Arrow and Riko rescue Milady from death. Figue absorbs something called the “covenant”. You learn there are five covenants which you now have to collect. I am at the part where I am exploring Shinsando and Karakucho city hubs. These hubs feature NPCs and shops where you can buy various items and equipment.

The last gameplay sequence I encountered before writing this article was inside Club Cretaceous and Meeting Madam Ginko where you can take side quest jobs. Soul Hackers 2 does sorta have a gameplay loop similar to Persona 5 at least early on. Soul Hacker 2’s visuals and graphics are more art-based and stylized which I enjoy. The art-style caries into it’s combat gameplay making everything look flashy and cool.

I am playing Soul Hackers 2 on my Xbox Series X using performance mode. Soul Hackers 2 runs at a smooth 60 frames on the Xbox Series X. I would think it better unless the engine is complete trash. Sound design and music are really good so far. From the opening title screen display song to the in game combat sequences. You have a mix of rock, jazz, techno cyberpunk and clumsy hip-hop tunes.

Before I forget let me interlink ya. Make sure you check out my Soul Hackers 2 Video Gallery Playlist to watch all gameplay videos. Now that’s done what do I think after playing a few hours of Soul Hackers 2? I like it. It has style up the ass however I am very early in so I am concerned how well the future dungeons are designed and hold up gameplay-wise. Thank you for reading – Jason