Board 8 > Soul Hackers 2 - August 26

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://youtu.be/kNprjTdTdQI

Coming to everything other than the Switch. Is the first game worth playing?

Mac Arrowny posted...

Coming to everything other than the Switch

That's surprising, considering how much Japan loves that thing

Persona sells 90% of its copies outside Japan, so they're probably targeting the bigger market.

I think it had a 3DS port, but Ive never played Soul Hackers. I always thought it was one of their least popular spin-offs since Id never seen anyone talk about it. Its not hard to see people mention Devil Summoner, Devil Survivor or even Digital Devil Saga, but I cant recall ever seeing anyone talk about Soul Hackers. This one looks decent though.

More SMT stuff? Yes please.

Hopefully it's pretty standalone.

swordz9 posted...

I think it had a 3DS port, but Ive never played Soul Hackers. I always thought it was one of their least popular spin-offs since Id never seen anyone talk about it. Its not hard to see people mention Devil Summoner, Devil Survivor or even Digital Devil Saga, but I cant recall ever seeing anyone talk about Soul Hackers. This one looks decent though.

it's the least played one, but it's secretly one of the best ones

Atlus first game on Xbox since 2014. Wild.

Give it 6 months it'll be on Switch too.

Eh if you don't like classic SMT or Persona 1, there's a good chance that you wouldn't like Soul Hackers since it's more similar to those than modern (post Nocturne) SMT. Though, it's also probably liked more than If or Persona 1.

technically it's kind of a sequel to Devil Summoner (original, not the Raidou one), but it's not really important in the long run I think it just has some cameos from the characters in the vision quest segments (where you play as other characters briefly).

It leans into the cyberpunk a little more than other smt, since it takes place in a planned community for employees for some shifty technology corporation which has its own wacky 90s interpretation of the internet/virtual reality.

gameplay wise it's more like classic smt, although it's fairly easy for the most part (one version of the final boss isn't really able to even hurt you if you have Tetrakarn) since the reputation for difficulty really only started with Nocturne. There's a resource called Magnetite you have to buy and use each battle to summon the demons in your party, but it's not scarce/expensive enough to really be worth much consideration on conserving it.

Something tells me this one is going to be a lot more modern, though!

Something tells me this will be on gamepass since it is coming to windows and Xbox.

More reason for me to try to get a Steam Deck. Atlus skipping Switch for an SMT spin off is still wild, though.

mnkboy907 posted...

Atlus skipping Switch for an SMT spin off is still wild, though.

I mean they used to throw those on the PS2 and they still don't put Persona games on Switch so it really isn't that weird

They have dropped the "Shin Megami Tensei" and the "Devil Summoner" so just like Persona it went from being a spinoff of a spinoff to its own series in the franchise.

Yeah, but it's not the PS2 days anymore. Atlus was a prime supporter of the DS and 3DS with their SMT titles, including Soul Hackers. A title like this skipping Switch is a very unexpected move. I see people saying it's even reusing SMT5 assets.

Well, SMT5 kind of ran like shit, maybe they don't want to bother.

Altus likely supported the handheld so much then because it was a combination of cheaper/easier to develop for/mobile market exploding in Japan. Not that this would explain why its skipping Switch, but lets be real here the Switch hardware is not really ideal performance wise. SMT5 and P5S did not exactly run well on Switch

Atlus probably going to make more games for Windows and Xbox going forward since they seem to have switched to Unreal Engine lately

The performances issues on Switch were frankly unbelievable for SMTV. Even first party games often have problems.

Console needs to sunset.

swordz9 posted...

Altus likely supported the handheld so much then because it was a combination of cheaper/easier to develop for/mobile market exploding in Japan. Not that this would explain why its skipping Switch, but lets be real here the Switch hardware is not really ideal performance wise. SMT5 and P5S did not exactly run well on Switch

Yeah exactly, I'm not trying to be a performance/graphics snob here but there's a real development cost to developing on multiple consoles. At this point, ATLUS actually has more experience on the PS4/PS5 than they do on Switch. This is probably easier. Same reason they stuck with the PS2 and 3DS for so long and skipped the PS3 almost entirely.

It's weird though, because this kinda looks worse than SMT5 graphically? Maybe it's just a different style.

Anyway, the surprising part isn't that it's coming out on PS4/PS5, the surprising part is that it's coming out on Xbox One/Series but not Switch.

GranzonEx posted...

Atlus probably going to make more games for Windows and Xbox going forward since they seem to have switched to Unreal Engine lately

Windows, yeah. Not sure about Xbox though. P5S and P4AU remaster are both PC but not Xbox.

Yeah, PS3 was tough for Japanese developers to work with if I recall. You can really tell by how much shit some studios ported compared to new releases they made. Atlus in particular hardly developed anything for PS3. It was basically just Catherine and P5 having a PS3 release since ArkSys made the P4A games. I think a different studio made the Dancing games too? Atlus mostly put out games on handheld during this time and boy did they put out a LOT of them.

mainline SMT besides Nocturne has been the only series that's been Nintendo exclusive. All the spinoffs just show up wherever they want.

Really surprised to see a Soul Hackers sequel.

I thought the game was ok - too old school for me - but the battle theme was fire.

https://personacentral.com/soul-hackers-2-developer-interview/

Huh, the girl is the protagonist? Interesting. Wasn't expecting an Atlus game with a female protagonist.

Hoping this is a contained sequel you can play without having to play the first since it looks too archaic for me to enjoy gameplay wise

The aesthetic of this game gives me major Somnium File vibes.

Soul Hackers was a really cool game held back by its archaic feel and systems (which, in fairness, remake of a Saturn game) limiting it to only really get played by people who really wanted more SMT.

High hopes for this one.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

The aesthetic of this game gives me major Somnium File vibes.

reminds me of tokyo xanadu which is not a great start

I'm giving this one a shot, but it is weird this is coming out on sony consoles. maybe the protag's booty shorts will be enough to meme this into a financial success but I doubt it.

...Tokyu Xanadu? I mean I've played that top to bottom twice and I don't really see the similarity.

That wouldn't be a negative for me, though!

UshiromiyaEva posted...

...Tokyu Xanadu? I mean I've played that top to bottom twice and I don't really see the similarity.

That wouldn't be a negative for me, though!

Yeah, you're right now that I think about it more. The Tokyo Xanadu characters all just look like normal Falcom teens. These are way more stylish.

I could see the spoiler character in the white robes fitting right in at least.

This however fits right in with this trailer.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/8/3/AAYofGAAC2qX.jpg

And I'm a big fan.

guess I'll have to get the 3DS version of the first game before the eshop shuts down

only $30 there compared to the physical version currently going for $80

I played Soul Hackers back on 3DS. Didn't liked the Magnetite thing. Hope that either it isn't here or at least the system is better. Also

SMT 5=Only on Switch.
SH 2=Everywhere EXCEPT Switch.

Huh? I haven't seen this kind of thing anywhere else I believe?

Safer_777 posted...

I played Soul Hackers back on 3DS. Didn't liked the Magnetite thing. Hope that either it isn't here or at least the system is better. Also

SMT 5=Only on Switch.
SH 2=Everywhere EXCEPT Switch.

Huh? I haven't seen this kind of thing anywhere else I believe?

Headcannon they got salty that they couldn't get SMTV to stay at even a locked 20 frames.

Spite exclusivity lol

SMTV looks like a PS3 game yet still struggled on the Switch

That means the Switch hardware is barely stronger than a console from 2007

It was their choice to give it a graphical upgrade. It runs exactly as well they expected it to. They could've stuck with Persona 5 level graphics if they cared about framerate.

P5 probably wouldnt even run at steady 30fps on Switch either

The Switch is more powerful than the PS3, where P5 runs at a steady 30fps. You have no idea what you're talking about.

Yea it felt like P5 but with bigger maps and honestly the dungeons didn't look as good as P5...

Theres no reason to believe it would handle a steady fps despite however powerful the Switch might be. It cant even run most stuff specifically developed for it at steady fps without very noticeable dips and Im not talking about games from the last two years.

Why can it handle Tokyo Mirage Sessions just fine then?

GranzonEx posted...

Yea it felt like P5 but with bigger maps and honestly the dungeons didn't look as good as P5...

SMT5 barely even focuses on the dungeons.

Mac Arrowny posted...

SMT5 barely even focuses on the dungeons.

I know it's just big maps mostly

Wish we could go back to first person exploration

Persona 5 Strikers runs like gutter trash on Switch even when not in a big pile of enemies, I don't think that's particularly more intensive than P5 proper.

P5S is a massive leap over P5 vanilla.

In the case of P5S its more the Switch as a whole struggles with Musou. No idea why they keep making them on it when some drop down to 10fps lol

Hyrule Warriors 2 being the best-selling musou of all time probably has something to do with it...

There were several on Switch before that even came out though and it sounds like none of them run very well.

Mac Arrowny posted...

It was their choice to give it a graphical upgrade. It runs exactly as well they expected it to. They could've stuck with Persona 5 level graphics if they cared about framerate.

Ok, first you say Soul Hackers 2 looks worse than SMTV and now Persona 5? There are differences in the art style for sure, so there's going to be personal preference involved, I'll acknowledge that. But there's a lot more cel-shading flair and environmental detail going on than in SMTV. SMTV has some updated/more complex demon models and open-world environments, but it's also using some graphical tricks like all the god damn bloom and blurry filters, and the battles still chug sometimes anyways.

I kinda feel like we're back in the early 2000s arguing over how Wind Waker is a graphical downgrade lmao

SMTV sand is searing on the eyes so I don't really care about it's other technical achievements.

Turn down the sand and give me some frames.