Soul Hackers 2 evaluation — an fulfilling, unambitious journey

Shin Megami Tensei (SMT) is a long-running sport franchise in Japan. The sequence launched in 1987 with Digital Satan Story: Megami Tensei and continues to be going robust right now. Like Satan Summoner, the favored Persona video games are a spin-off of SMT.

It could appear to be I am simply making a historical past of gaming right here, however I’ve a cause for this exposition. Soul Hackers 2 seems like a template made with the hallmarks of each SMT title. That is good and unhealthy.

Your fundamental characters seem initially of Soul Hackers 2. Aion, an clever synthetic intelligence that hides on the earth’s knowledge, creates Ringo and Figue to assist people cease the tip of the world. When you’re on the town, you crew up with three satan summoners often called Arrow, Milady, and Saizo. We are going to omit extra details about the historical past of the sport in order to not spoil the expertise of the gamers.

what’s in a sport

It is simple to summarize the sport mechanics for SMT video games. You management a crew of gamers who can summon demons. Demons have completely different powers that align with completely different parts, akin to ice, electrical energy, or hearth. Demons you encounter whereas exploring will typically be part of you for a value. You’ll be able to fuse demons to create new and extra highly effective summons so that you can management. Demons have their very own set of skills, however can even inherit skills from those that have been used to create them.

As you discover a dungeon, you battle folks and monsters to realize gadgets and expertise. Exterior of dungeons, you discuss to teammates, share meals, improve tools, and fuse demons. That is principally it. And, with a few exceptions, that is the entirety of Soul Hackers 2.

For a lot of, myself included, SMT video games are enjoyable due to their fight mechanics. A bunch of loopy ghouls wait round each nook, from gross to cute, to battle and gather. That is no completely different in Soul Hackers 2.

dungeons? Extra like fungeons! I will see you exterior

Ringo sends your demons out to discover and gather gadgets while you enter a dungeon. You will notice them ready for you as you discover. Speaking to them offers you an opportunity to recruit a brand new demon, merchandise, or heal your social gathering. As soon as a demon reaches its prime stage, it offers you a present to your loyalty.

Fights are turn-based by design. Demons have strengths and weaknesses based on the ingredient tables. New to the Soul Hackers 2 sequence is the “Sabbath” mechanic. Hitting demons’ weak spots summons a few of your demons to the sidelines. On the finish of the pleasant flip, all outcast demons stack on prime of any remaining enemy demons standing. It is a satisfying fight mechanic that provides a little bit of taste to each battle.

The dungeons within the sport serve a few completely different functions. Commonplace story dungeons are what you’d count on: wandering round an space swarming with monsters, on the lookout for a boss. However, you’ve gotten the Axis dungeons.

Related to the primary base of Aion, the Axis dungeons symbolize the soul of the human character. As he develops deeper friendships together with his friends, he can unlock deeper components of his psyche to discover. It’s an fascinating method to achieve expertise and meet the primary protagonists. Progressing by way of these dungeons affords particular skills to the person you’ve gotten been exploring.

Depart; killing demons

Exterior of dungeons, you spend most of your time purchasing, fusing demons, or speaking to your companions. Social occasions seem on the city bar, providing extra alternatives to deepen your bond along with your crew. Additionally, your social gathering can eat collectively at your hangout to offer the characters a minor fight bonus.

Soul Hackers 2 is the primary SMT sport of the present era of consoles. It is a fairly sport, however it does not do a lot with the processing energy obtainable to it. In truth, with out the upper decision graphics and voice appearing, this sport could be proper at house on an older handheld.

I loved my time with Soul Hackers 2. I’m a fan of the SMT sequence relationship again to once they first got here to America. This sport has, as we’ve got mentioned, all of the options of any SMT sport. The general downside is not that it is a unhealthy sport, it simply does not do a lot to face out.

Is it that unhealthy? Not essentially. The story is fascinating, the characters are likeable, and the voice appearing is sweet. When you benefit from the core gameplay loop for SMT video games, you will get precisely that. Simply do not count on a fantastic new expertise with a lot of new sport ideas.

Score: three stars out of 5.

Shin Megami Tensei: Satan Summoner: Soul Hackers 2 is out August 26 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Collection S|X, and Atlus laptop supplied us with a PC code for this evaluation.