Atlus has arguably taken the crown because the fan-favorite JRPG developer within the trendy period. Though gradual to achieve recognition at first, Persona 5 cemented that sequence as important taking part in for followers of the style because of the intuitive and rewarding fight system, an important mixture of dungeon crawling and social parts, and a wholesome dose of fashion you may’t get wherever else. However, Persona is only one department of JRPG that Atlus has been making for years, together with the sequence that one was spun off of, Shin Megami Tensei, and likewise Soul Hackers.
One of the opposite SMT spinoffs, Soul Hackers solely had one entry again in 1997, leaving a 25-year hole earlier than a sequel was introduced in 2022. There’s lots to be enthusiastic about for those who’ve loved this studio’s latest releases, so right here’s a full breakdown of every part we find out about Soul Hackers 2.
Further studying
Release date
We love when a sport is introduced with a launch date, which is precisely what occurred with Soul Hackers 2. The sport shall be out on August 26, 2022, in all territories. This is a considerably uncommon transfer for Atlus since they often have a niche between their video games launched within the west in comparison with Japan.
Platforms
Soul Hackers 2 shall be out there on almost each trendy platform on the market. You can seize the sport in your PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. There was no point out of a Switch model, nonetheless.
Trailers
The first trailer, appropriately sufficient, is the Soul Hackers 2 announcement trailer. It opens on Ringo in a weird place that appears out of time, being woken up by a voice she calls Figue. She floats by way of a void of cubes earlier than the music kicks in and the trailer actually begins.
We hear Ringo find out about what Devil Summoners are, plus we get a take a look at a variety of forged members whose goal it’s to forestall the apocalypse. The trailer throws a bunch of phrases at us, just like the “Great One” and Phantom Society, that we aren’t supposed to know totally fairly but. From there, we’re handled to a bunch of various gameplay segments like fight, procuring, exploration, and dialogue. It ends with Ringo figuring out herself as a “superintelligent being born from the sea of information. And I’m here to stop the apocalypse.” Whatever meaning.
The remainder of the pictures are extra for setting the tone of a vibrant, neon-infused cyber journey with fashionable characters and acquainted demons to followers of Atlus video games.
The second official trailer for Soul Hackers 2 is far shorter and opens precisely as the primary one does. This time, we get some new pictures of characters, a number of new traces that we will’t make a lot sense of out of context, and a repeat of the mission: To save the world.
While the trailers don’t give an excessive amount of away, we will study extra about what’s happening because of the sport’s official web site. Here, we study that the world is in a state the place expertise has superior to the purpose that individuals are obsessive about comfort and commercialism. Under the floor, there may be additionally a warfare happening between two factions of Devil Summoners, the Yatagarasu and the beforehand talked about Phantom Society.
Aion is a hivemind created from humanity’s knowledge and advanced right into a consciousness that predicts humanity’s downfall, and thus creates two brokers in human kind, Ringo and Figue, to forestall the apocalypse.
Your staff of playable characters, at the least identified thus far, contains Ringo, Figue, Arrow, Milady, Saizo, and Mimi. Figue, like Ringo, was created below the identical circumstances on the similar time and is a help character who operates Mimi, who’s a drone formed like an owl. The different three social gathering members, Arrow, Milady, and Saizo, every come from the Yatagarasu, Phantom Society, and freelance Devil Summoner teams respectively.
Other essential characters are Iron Mask, the chief of a C Project within the Phantom Society, Zenon, a synthetic demon created by Iron Mask, and different members of the Phantom Society.
While we will’t be fully sure but, it doesn’t seem that information of the primary Soul Hackers sport is required to play Soul Hackers 2. So far, all the forged is made up of recent characters, and every part in regards to the story is exclusive.
Gameplay
If you’ve performed Persona 5 or Shin Megami Tensei 5, then Soul Hackers 2 will really feel like a well-recognized center floor between these two fight techniques. You can have a celebration of 4 characters directly and enter turn-based battles. Each character makes use of a demon for his or her skills, which all have strengths and weaknesses similar to enemies. Hitting an enemy’s weak spot received’t trigger them to lose a flip, although, however as a substitute builds as much as a Sabbath capacity that features similar to an all-out assault from Persona. Once you uncover an enemy’s weak spot, you may immediately exploit it — if that character has the suitable ability — on the contact of a button.
Otherwise, count on your principally conventional turn-based battle affair, with managing HP, SP, objects, and gear.
Demons are outfitted on characters utilizing a COMP, which you are able to do throughout battle at the price of a flip. These are every character’s distinctive weapons that may be modified and upgraded. On the social facet of issues, you may discover the sci-fi-inspired Japan, in addition to particular Realms the place Demons dangle round and mingle. When hanging out with social gathering members, resembling getting a drink at a bar, you’ll stage up their Soul Levels, functioning very very similar to Social Links from the Persona sequence.
Demons will be acquired throughout battles by negotiations, although in a way more streamlined system, or fused collectively to make new and extra highly effective companions.
Multiplayer
Soul Hackers 2 is a standard JRPG by way of and thru. That means it should have a prolonged, single-player-only marketing campaign and maybe a brand new game-plus mode, however no multiplayer elements in any respect. That ought to come as no shock to anybody conversant in Atlus video games, although.
Pre-order
Soul Hackers 2 was already up for pre-order on the day it was introduced. You can go and reserve your copy for any platform of selection on the sport’s official website, however you have to to choose between three completely different variations: The Standard, Deluxe, and Premium editions. Here’s what you’ll find in every.
Standard Edition — $60:
This model is solely the bottom copy of Soul Hackers 2, plus the pre-order bonus of a Persona 5 Phantom Thieves Outfits pack.
Deluxe Edition — $70:
For an additional $10, you get every part included within the Standard Edition, plus:
A booster merchandise pack
Bonus story arc: The Lost Numbers
Premium Edition — $90:
If need to go all-in on Soul Hackers 2, decide up the Premium Edition, which together with every part listed above, provides you:
Bonus demon pack
Costume and BGM pack
Mary’s Maid frock outfit
Ai-ho demon
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