Game Review] Phantom Society Again! Play report on the PS4 version of "Soul Hackers 2," the latest in the series after 25 years!

The sudden announcement of "Soul Hackers 2" must have surprised many Megaten fans...... or even game fans. Naturally, I was one of them.

Who could have predicted that a new "Soul Hackers" game with a numbered title would appear here?

To begin with, fans are aware that "Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner" (1995) and "Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers" (1997) were released, followed by "Devil Summoner: Ryudou Kuzuha vs. After the release of these two extravaganzas of the "Devil Summoner" series, there were no new titles in the series. However, I had assumed that if a new title was going to be released, it would be a title bearing the "Devil Summoner" title. In other words, "Soul Hackers" was the subtitle of the second game in the series, and I never expected it to be numbered as the official title.

I would like to review "Soul Hackers 2," which has unexpectedly made a comeback, with a report on the first part of the game immediately after its release.

A personalized Megaten history that exists only for the number of players

The first "Soul Hackers" game was released in 1997, 25 years ago. That was 25 years ago. A 3DS remake was released in 2012, but that was still 10 years ago. Looking at the number of years, one might wonder if the fans from back then would keep up with the series, but that is the Megaten series, which has attracted fans through its many derivative titles. The wide range of users who came to the series through the various titles is sure to welcome the release of this title. As a series with so many entrances, there are as many "my, my, my MegaTen history" as there are fans.

Of course, I, too, have my own "personal Megaten story. Forgive me if I talk about myself for a moment, but the first "Digital Devil's Tale: Megami Tensei" (developed by Atlus and released by Namco) was released on the Famicom (NES) in 1987. Even before the game's release, it was the talk of the town, and as a junior high school student at the time, I was eagerly awaiting its release.

Until the game was released, I would get together with friends to watch the OVA version, and not content with that, I would also read the novel version by Nishitani Fumi, which filled my heart with anticipation. As a side note, I also read his original novel "Bloodlines of the Gods," but I gave up on it in the middle of the first volume because the contents were too difficult to understand. It reminded me of bitter memories of my junior high school days, which I had completely forgotten. ...... I'm not sure if this is a good opportunity for me to try to read it again.

I continued to follow the series, and by the time "Devil Summoner" and "Soul Hackers" were released, I was already a working adult. At the time, I was working as an editor for a fledgling video game magazine, and when I came home late at night, I would immediately turn on my Sega Saturn and start playing. My playing of "Soul Hackers 2" began with a reminiscence of those 25 years ago. How about you, the readers of this article?

The Phantom Society, a mysterious organization that appears again this time, must be up to some evil scheme again!

Now, let me preface this by introducing "Soul Hackers 2.

Although this game is not directly related to the story or worldview of the previous game, some of the characters, terms, and items from the previous game appear in this game, and there are some effects that will make those who played the previous game grin. Personally, I was mildly amused by the reappearance of Madame Ginko.

The "Phantom Society," a mysterious organization that appeared in the previous title, also makes an important appearance in this title. As one would expect from an organization that has the power to control an entire city (see the previous work), it seems that it is not an organization that will disappear easily. Fans of the series are likely to have a long relationship with them. The Phantom Society, which in the previous work collected the souls of the city's inhabitants as a starting point, and eventually collected the souls of the world to dedicate to Manitou, the source of all this, what are they planning to do in this work? If you played the previous work, you must have felt a sense of excitement, a bad feeling, as soon as you heard the name.

The story follows two Aion agents, Ringo and Fig, who have materialized from Aion for this project, and their three companions, Devil Summoner and Devil Summoner, as they attempt to prevent the "destruction of the world" as detected by Aion, an electronic life form created through the evolution of technology. The project is to prevent the destruction of the world by teaming up with three Devil Summoners, two of whom are Aion agents, Ringo and Fig, who have materialized from Aion for this project. While there are many works with science fiction elements, such as a mother computer managing a city and its inhabitants, the game draws players in with a setting that is irresistible to science fiction enthusiasts, in which electronic life forms created by a computer materialize to solve crimes.

The two embodied characters, Ringo and Fig, look female, but I wondered from the beginning if they have a gender, but I concluded that it was okay as long as they were cute.

In order to prevent the destruction of the world, the player takes on the role of Ringo in the game. His partner, Fig, is the main commander, and is responsible for communicating information to Ringo and advising him directly using an owl-shaped drone called Mimi. Fig is not involved in the actual research or combat, so he tends to be less visible than the other party members, but players who prefer Fig can see him whenever they return to the safe house where they rest.

The three Devil Summoners who join the party to prevent the destruction of the world this time are Alou, Milady, and Saizo. At the beginning of the game, Ringo is alone, but as the story progresses, he joins one by one, eventually becoming a party of four as the game progresses.

The scene when they join the party is both shocking and impactful. The reason for this is that all of the Devil Summoners are dead at the time of their first contact with Ringo.

Confronting the souls of the Devil Summoners who died in the Soul Hack

Now let me explain about the party members.

The first member of the party, Alou, is a member of Yatagarasu, an organization that is in conflict with the Phantom Society, but is killed by an assassin from the Phantom Society while undercover.

The second, Milady, is a member of the Phantom Society, but is murdered by R.S., a fellow member of the same organization.

The third, Saizo, is a free Devil Summoner, but is also murdered by an assassin from the Phantom Society. As expected, the Phantom Society seems to be involved in some kind of conspiracy, but at this point the truth remains in the dark. It becomes clear that they are in conflict with a rival organization called Yatagarasu, but we can expect that it is probably an organization that is trying to prevent the Phantom Society's deviousness.

Ringo uses his special ability, "Soul Hack," to infiltrate the spiritual world of slain Devil Summoners, confront their souls, and revive them when they have regrets about their death. This special ability called Soul Hack appears in a similar form in the previous work. The idea is to enter the mental world of the dead and gather information by reliving the events that occurred when they were alive.

This mode of reliving events is called "Vision Quest," and in this work, too, Vision Quest appears as a relived image that is projected during the soul hack. The more you experience this system, the more you will be glad to know that this is a new "Soul Hackers" game.

As a side note, the "Soul Hack" system, which I felt when I played the game at the time, was inspired by a special ability called "Psycho Dive," which appeared in the "Psychic Detectives" series of PC games from 1989, in which the player could enter a person's mental world and extract information from him or her. I have a hunch that this is a hint from the "Psycho Dive" ability in the PC game series "Psychic Detectives" developed in 1989. I have speculated that there may have been fans of the series on the development staff, and I would like to hear about it if the opportunity arises.

For more information, please visit "Soul Matrix"!

The basic game progression is based on collecting information in the towns that appear as the stage, while also attacking dungeons and battles with important characters. The game is played in 3D, but each town is not very large, and the objectives are easy to understand. The dungeons are easy to play because of the auto-mapping system, which displays the locations where the player has moved, so they can always be seen on the screen.

In addition, the scenario also displays what the player needs to do next in the upper left corner of the screen, which is a common remedy for those who have not played RPGs for a while and "don't know what to do anymore". This is a great feature for working people who have to leave the game for work for a while.

Once the party has successfully grown to four players, the world expands, and one of those expanded worlds is a dungeon called the "Soul Matrix".

This dungeon is not a dungeon set in the real world, such as the "Gulf Coast Warehouse" that appears early in the game or the "Central District Abandonment Route" that will be explored later in the game, but a dungeon that embodies Ringo's spiritual world within Aion's base, Axis, and is related to the three party members. It is a dungeon.

The first area in Arrow is a must for the storyline, but the Milady and Saizo areas that are released thereafter, as well as the deeper areas after the first boss battle in the Arrow area, can be conquered at any time (with a few exceptions). These dungeons are mainly designed for challenging play, such as strengthening party members and collecting items. Although the author has not yet completed the game, he is looking forward to exploring the Soul Matrix with a lot of enthusiasm, and is in the process of advancing through the main scenario.

In addition to the main storyline, there are also subquest-like "requests" that can be received at various points in the game, including Club Cretitious with Madame Ginko. By completing these requests while advancing through the scenario, you will be able to experience the world of "Soul Hackers 2" in a deeper way.

Incidentally, the towns and dungeons that appear in the game are modeled after real-world locations.

Shin-sando is modeled after Omotesando, with an impressive Zafiro entrance that resembles the escalators of the TOKYU PLAZA. Karakucho is modeled after Kabukicho in Shinjuku, and where Godzilla would normally peek out, Jaku Frost peeks out. The Manyo Realm was created with the atmosphere of Akihabara in mind, and the first dungeon, "Wangan Warehouse," has elaborate parody names for the stores in the background, such as Ariake Pier, making it fun to play while looking at the details.

The classic Megaten series' demon merging system is also incorporated, and this time, demon merging is possible in the "Cirque du Demon". Before combining demons, the game will display recommended combinations based on the demons on hand, which is very kind. The player is encouraged to combine the demons he or she has made into a demon mate to create a stronger demon.

In this title, demons fight together with party members by setting them to the "COMP" weapon. The player will have to change the demon set on a case-by-case basis as they play the game, and through trial and error, find the best demon for each character and each enemy.

The story takes place in the mountainous first half of the game, on the Central District abandonment route, where you will meet and fight again with Cabragi, the man who murdered Alou. While working toward the common goal of preventing the destruction of the world, we will learn about the Devil Summoners' past and witness their destiny, but how the game will end and whether the destruction of the world can be prevented - there are so many things I am curious about that I can hardly stop playing.

Revival and the birth of a new signature title!

Although it has been 25 years since I last introduced "Soul Hackers 2," there is no doubt that this is a title that can be enjoyed by those who have played it back in the day as well as those who are new to the series.

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, the "Shin Megami Tensei" title was removed from the previous title, and the "Devil Summoner" title has been removed from this title. This means that "Soul Hackers" will be the main title from this title, and it will be developed as a new signature series. This new Megaten series is sure to be entertaining. I hope that the Phantom Society, which is becoming a well-known evil organization, will not perish and will continue to play tricks cheerfully in the next work.

Finally, I would like to conclude with these words from the author for the "Soul Hackers" series, which has been resurrected after a 25-year absence.

Congo tomo yoroshiku ......"

(Text by Iona Kaze)

[Product information

Soul Hackers 2