Atlus’ Best Work Yet: How Soul Hackers 2 Gameplay Raises The Bar

Having just been released on PC, Soul Hackers 2 gameplay is a hoot! What we've got here is the latest in the impressively long line of Shin Megami Tensei games Atlus has developed over the years. Indeed, this is a sort of an alternate reality state for the world of Megami Tensei, much like Persona, and its biggest takeaway is this is how the franchise's setting would evolve had it not undergone a literal apocalypse in the mainline Shin Megami Tensei franchise.

Soul Hackers 2 is an interesting alt-history setting, though. One where humans live alongside demons in a retro-futuristic cyberpunk society. Soul Hackers 2 is decidedly a science-fantasy game. One where high-end tech melds with inexplicable, paracausal magick. Borne from the super-intelligent AI, Aion, the protagonist Ringo, and her side-kick Fugue are, therefore, demon-hunting constructs who recruit Devil Summoners in an attempt to save the human world from an approaching apocalypse. To make things interesting, these Devil Summoners are mostly split between two main factions, Yatagarasu and the Phantom Society, and they hold clashing ideological views on humanity's progress. And the core pitch of the game stops there.

Today, we're not much interested in spoilers, you see. Instead, our goal is to go over some of the Soul Hackers 2 gameplay nuances. This time around, Atlus has delivered some stellar changes and improvements, and we believe franchise fans will find much to love here.

CHECK OUT: Soul Hackers 2 PC Overview: Technical Summary

Soul Hackers 2 Gameplay: Most Important Early Takeaways

Play Soul Hackers 2 on PC today!

Right off the bat, it may be worth pointing out that Soul Hackers 2 is a sequel to a 25-year-old game, no joke. Such a massive time difference effectively warrants a fresh start, and though there are narrative connections to the old title and, indeed, some other Persona games, this game and battle system is effectively a blank slate. This means that Soul Hackers 2 is really easy to pick up and play, even if you're completely oblivious to the rest of the franchise. It's a stellar kick-off point for Megami Tensei newcomers, and the gameplay loop and battle system support this as well.

That's precisely the important bit: Soul Hackers 2 gameplay lends itself phenomenally well to just about every kind of JRPG fan. Whereas many Atlus games force difficulty upon their players, this isn't the case with Soul Hackers 2. Destructoid's review points out the new Easy Mode feature. This completely optional toggle can be flicked on and off, depending on your progression, offering a very forgiving gameplay loop. Since it's optional, hardcore players won't feel like the game's buckling under newbie pressure.

Even in Easy Mode, Soul Hackers 2 has ample complexity to engage with. Said complexity no longer lies in obtuse and unintuitive systems, however. Megami Tensei veterans will remember the dreaded Demon Negotiations, for example. These have now been done away with, replaced with a special Demon Demand system and Devil Summoners that are far better in practice.

Welcoming and challenging? What gives?

Soul Hackers 2 Gameplay: Article Pic 3

Demons' demands are a prime example of an approach that rings true throughout the game. Atlus has simplified major points of contention. At the same time, additional gameplay features are introduced via sensible and flexible features.

One of these features is Reconnaisassance, specifically. When entering a Dungeon, for example, you can send your Demons out to scout ahead. Then, if you end up running into them, they'll award you items and, from time to time, even give you an opportunity to hire more Demons through their services.

Combat-wise, the Press Turn feature is effectively gone. Instead, Soul Hackers 2 gameplay in combat relies on exploiting the demons' weaknesses. For example, All Out Attacks are replaced with Stacks and Sabbaths and by stacking several successful attacks one after another you can trigger unique Sabbath skills. These are effectively match-ending (or at least demon-killing) attacks. To be honest, it's all fairly intuitive.

Persona veterans will quickly pick up on the nuances of the system, for sure. Newbies, on the other hand, can go in without reading a Wiki's worth of background information. Win-win, really.

Commander Skills

There are several useful passive abilities that all party members can unlock. However, Ringo has something even better, known as Commander Skills. These come in passive and active forms and only Ringo can activate them in battle. While Commander Skills costs no MP to use, the active ones are so powerful that they have timers on them to prevent overpowering. For example, Master Conversion allows everyone in the party to change their demons mid-battle. However, it takes four turns to use it again. Conversion, on the other hand, costs a turn and lets one party member change their Demon to another.

A Culmination of Atlus' JRPG Expertise

While Soul Hackers 2 is way more combat-heavy than, say, the mainline Persona games you can play on PC, exploration and interaction are both still very important. Hanging out with your crew, talking to them, and even cooking their meals are all very cozy and satisfying options. Perhaps more importantly, they all tie into the core gameplay loop this way or the other.

In your dialogue with other characters, for example, you may uncover their Soul Matrix. A soul matrix is an expository dungeon that holds unique enemies, rewards, and important backstory elements about said characters. The more you come to know them, the further you can go through their Soul Matrix dungeons.

And speaking of dungeons, most players will find that Soul Hackers 2 may be the perfect blend between the baseline Megami Tensei and Persona games. Your exploration party may consist of up to four party members max, each of whom can be equipped with a Demon at any given moment, after all. This makes each of them a Persona protagonist, more or less. Since all party members are very powerful and customizable, combat is way more satisfying than usual, even when you're dealing with severely overpowered Demons.

And, since you can't really get into unwinnable encounters, the whole combat system and progression are far more flexible than most will be used to, all the while retaining all the meaningful complexity of its predecessors. Overall, a truly excellent combat system. One that we're hoping to see in other Atlus titles, too.

Is Soul Hackers 2 Gameplay The Right Way Forward?

We fully understand that the addition of an Easy Mode might sound like pandering to Megami Tensei veterans. It's worth pointing out, however, that Atlus is also releasing the special Very Hard mode as a free DLC. This way, the entire spectrum of difficulty settings ought to be covered, and every player can fine-tune their experience however they want.

Most reviewers agree that Soul Hackers 2 is a pivot in the right direction. The game's got its issues, for sure (namely the repetitive dungeons), but Atlus seemingly understands the need to make its non-Persona games less dreary and monotonous, and more exciting and engaging. To that end, what comes after Soul Hackers 2 can only be better, considering the developer's pedigree.

What you're getting here is quite simple, really:

excellent combat
perfect difficulty grading
an interesting and easy-to-follow narrative
more Megami Tensei

And it's quite hard to argue against any of these. Oh, and we feel it's particularly noteworthy that Soul Hackers 2 is releasing on all major platforms all at once: no more waiting for PC and Xbox fans! It's a game that's both comparable to Persona and not - an experience that's just fresh enough to keep veterans engaged through its story. And one that's streamlined enough for newbies to use as an onboarding title. So, kudos to Atlus!