How Soul Hackers 2's Soul Levels Compare to Persona's Social Links and Confidants

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Soul Hackers 2, the latest role-playing game in developer Atlus' Shin Megami Tensei franchise, offers a mix of classic elements from other Atlus games and brand-new innovations and gameplay modes. Although technically a sequel to the 1997 title Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers, Soul Hackers 2 features a new setting, new characters, and an entirely new form of the titular Soul Hacking. Instead of hacking into the Internet, protagonist Ringo «hacks» with her party members to connects their minds and souls. Through their bound souls, Ringo can raise her Soul Level with each party member — an element which critics have both compared and contrasted to the Confidants and Social Links present in the Persona series.

Ringo can form and raise Soul Levels with three of her party members, and doing so gives her access to a metaphysical dungeon called the Soul Matrix. Higher Soul Levels allow Ringo and her party members to perform better in battles against enemy demons and Devil Summoners. While Soul Levels are superficially similar to Social Links and Confidants in that they serve as Ringo's primary method of increasing relationships with her party members, the two gameplay elements are mechanically quite different from one another.

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Social Links were first introduced in Persona 3 and have since appeared in the follow-up titles Persona 4 and Persona 5, the latter of which renamed the system to Confidants. Each Persona game features over 20 Social Links or Confidants, each corresponding to one of the Major Arcana of the tarot deck with the protagonist themselves representing the Fool Arcana. Confidants are not limited to the playable party members; the protagonists of Persona 3,