Skip to main content

Soul Hackers 2 splits the difference between Persona 5 and Shin Megami Tensei V

Atlus has perfected the JRPG and is now reveling in it. Persona 5 is one of the best games of the 2010s, thanks to its endearing cast of characters and impeccably stylish presentation. Meanwhile, Shin Megami Tensei V was no slouch in 2021 as it provided a dark and hardcore demon-driven RPG experience. After demoing the game at Summer Game Fest Play Days, t’s clear that Atlus has found a clear sci-fi middle ground with Soul Hackers 2.

Souls Hackers 2 is a tried-and-true Atlus JRPG with dungeon crawling, casual friend hangouts and conversations, and polished weakness-driven JRPG combat. It hits many of the same notes as Persona 5 and Shin Megami Tensei V, so it won’t change what you think about the genre. Still, if Persona 5 or Shin Megami Tensei V had won you over to this new era of Atlus JRPGs, then Souls Hackers 2 will give you dozens of more hours of JRPG enjoyment.

Ringo, Arrow, and other party members stare at something in the distance in Soul Hackers 2.

What’s here for Persona fans?

My demo of Soul Hackers 2 began in the Hangout, where protagonist Ringo and her party can hang out and heal between dungeon-crawling escapades. Then, I proceeded to go into the futuristic sci-fi city, buy some weapons, gear, and healing items from eccentric shopkeepers, and get a drink with my party members named Arrow.

After Ringo and Arrow got to know each other better by discussing what they liked to drink, they gained Soul Levels to make them stronger. Right off the bat, this was all very reminiscent of Persona with the expectation of the futuristic sci-fi setting. The UI in and out of battles takes a cue from Persona 5 by trying to look very stylish, though Soul Hackers 2 leans more into a digitized style than Persona 5’s luscious anime-style menus.

I didn’t spend enough time with this part of the game or the small character moments within it to get a feeling of whether or not its narrative will come together as well as Persona 5. Still, that game got me to fall in love with an eccentric cast of high-school cliche characters, so Soul Hackers 2 has the potential to do the same with a cast that leans into sci-fi stereotypes.

Ringo reaches out to a digital ghost in Soul Hackers 2.

Overall, the story and presentation of Soul Hackers 2 will remind you of Persona 5. As that 2017 game’s unique style is what drew in many people, it’s wise for Atlus to hit these same notes with Soul Hackers 2. Still, there are some hardcore RPG hooks for the Shin Megami Tensei fans out there.

What’s here for Shin Megami Tensei fans?

After seeing the social and character aspects of Soul Hackers 2 in action, I delved into a dungeon and encountered Atlus’ trademark JRPG gameplay. I was in familiar territory with its turn-based combat, where players use demons they fused together or recruited in dungeons to attack enemies with elemental attacks, some of which can be an enemy’s weakness.

If you like battles in Shin Megami Tensei V, there aren’t many reasons you’d hate Soul Hackers 2’s combat. In fact, it’s a bit more approachable. You’ll barter with demons to get them on your side in Soul Hackers 2, but from my demo, it seemed like all of these encounters were simple yes-or-no requests for slight debuffs. Once you’re in combat and discover an enemy’s weakness, the game also makes it easy to take that enemy down with a menu option that automatically uses the most effective attack.

Abilities that exploit an enemy’s weakness will also stack into a powerful attack that damages every foe in the opposing party at the end of each turn. If Shin Megami Tensei V got a little too hardcore for you, Soul Hackers 2 has the same systems but makes them much more digestible.

Soul Hackers 2 — Announce Trailer | PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Ultimately, by splitting the difference between Persona 5 and Shin Megami Tensei V, it looks like Soul Hackers 2 will be a hardcore JRPG experience with a more casual and approachable feel than most games in the genre. Atlus is at the top of its JRPG game right now, and Soul Hackers 2 looks like a melting pot of what works best in its JRPGs.

While being so similar to both Persona 5 and Shin Megami Tensei V does make Soul Hackers 2 run the risk of not being distinct in its own way, the sci-fi setting and any elements that return from the 1997 original should give it a unique flair and make it a greatest hits Atlus JRPG. Even from my brief Summer Game Fest demo, I can tell that Soul Hackers 2 will please players who are tired of playing Persona 5 and Shin Megami Tensei V for the millionth time.

Soul Hackers 2 will be released for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S on August 26.

Editors' Recommendations

S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2: Heart of Chernobyl: release date predictions, trailers, gameplay

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl is the next hotly anticipated entry in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. franchise. The game is releasing over 13 years after the last entry in the series, and it's making its debut on consoles as an Xbox Series X exclusive.

GSC Game World, just one of the many European developers, is currently in the midst of an aggressive invasion from Russian forces that have caused their entire lives to be disrupted. In their efforts to support their country's freedom, the team has put development on pause to "help our employees and their families to survive." Other game companies, such as EA and CD Projekt, have also shown support for the Ukrainian people by halting sales and the representation of Russia in their games.

Read more
If you love game history, you need to try Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration
atari 50 impressions nintendo switch logo

Video game collections are becoming more common these days as companies look back on their past. That’s great for game preservation, but collections like Super Mario 3D All-Stars can ultimately feel underwhelming when the end product is little more than a simple port. Atari’s classic lineup of games is no stranger to this treatment; you can play an Atari 2600 game collection on pretty much any platform you desire. Due to the overwhelming amount of Atari collections out there, Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration might not seem like a compelling release at first.
That’s why it’s more of a surprise that it sets a new standard for this kind of game collection.
Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration Trailer
In practice, Atari 50 feels like a museum exhibit-turned-video game. It made me feel like I was walking through the Smithsonian’s The Art of Video Games exhibit for the first time, except everything is about Atari's 50-year history. Not only does Atari 50 contain everything from Pong to some of the weirdest titles the Atari Jaguar had to offer, but it embellishes those games with trivia, scans of game-related material from the time, and video interviews with people connected to them. Anyone who loves gaming history owes it to themselves to check out Atari 50.
Eclipsing other collections
Digital Eclipse has been bringing old games to new platforms for years -- it made Atari game collections for the original PlayStation. Over time, it has slowly put more effort into its approach, moving beyond mere emulation. Earlier this year, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection included the Turtle’s Lair, which had boxes, manuals, ads, catalogs, comics, TV show clips, and development document. Atari 50 takes that one step further by transforming similar content into exhibit-like Interactive Timelines.
From its title screen, you can immediately access almost all of Atari 50’s 100-plus game lineup. The real draw, though, is choosing one of five Interactive Timelines recounting Atari’s 50-year history. Arcade Origins focuses on the founding of Atari, its earliest success, weird prototypes, and classic arcade games that were released from 1971 to 1984. “Birth of the Console” is about the creation, hits, and triumphs of the Atari 2600, while “High and Lows” discusses the video game crash of 1983 and how the Atari 5200 and 7800 fared during it.
The context art is created in and the legacy it leaves behind are as important as the art itself ...

Meanwhile, “The Dawn of PCs” recounts Atari’s efforts in the PC space from the Atari 400 and 800 in 1979 until the rare Atari Falcon’s release in 1992. Finally, “The 1990s and Beyond” covers everything else, emphasizing the Atari Lynx handheld and 32-bit Atari Jaguar home console. Games will pop up as players navigate these timelines, and you can play them at the press of a button. As is always the case with Digital Eclipse collections, the emulation is smooth, and players can access various visual filters and even the instruction manuals when pausing.
On top of that, almost every game included has some piece of trivia, scanned development document or ad, preserved commercial, or relevant interview to check out. Notable former Atari developers like Pong creator Al Alcorn and programmer Tod Frye frequently appear in these videos, but other prominent industry figures like Double Fine’s Tim Schafer and former Epic Games dev Cliff Bleszinski show up to offer their thoughts. The context art is created in and the legacy it leaves behind are as important as the art itself, so it’s incredible to see Digital Eclipse’s effort to include all this supplemental information.

Read more
Two years later, the PS5 could never live up to its performance promises
A PS5 standing on a table, with purple lights around it.

The seams of the PS5 and Xbox Series X are starting to crack. Over the past week, two games launched that challenged the status quo for performance on current-gen consoles: A Plague Tale Requiem and Gotham Knights. Unlike nearly all console releases since 2020, both games shipped locked at 30 frames per second (fps) without a performance mode.

In late 2020, when the Xbox Series X and PS5 debuted, the norm was that players could opt for a high resolution at 30 fps or sacrifice a bit of visual fidelity for a smooth 60 fps. Sony never explicitly said the PS5 would always deliver a smooth 60 fps (Microsoft hinted at it), but that has been the expectation over the past two years. That's changing, and the situation won't improve going forward, especially for these third-party releases.
Next-gen, aging

Read more