Soul Hackers 2 Review - A Neon Novelty

thegamer.com:

I am that immature person who laughs at the phallic demons seen across the Shin Megami Tensei universe. It’s all fun and games until you turn a corner and bump into a towering penis-headed monstrosity prepared to take you on the ride of your life. That’s the downside of Soul Hackers 2’s Demon Recon feature, which has your demons appear randomly in dungeons instead of being personally curated. The upside is they can give you items, money, HP/MP boosts, or help you to recruit a new demon buddy into your ranks, but that’s not always worth coming face to face with Penis Head.

Soul Hackers 2 is a branch of the extensive Shin Megami Tensei family tree we never expected to grow, with the series less well-known than the more fruit bearing stems like SMT and Persona. Instead of throwing you into the hustle and bustle of life as a student or a post-apocalyptic world where demons roam free, you’re strutting your stuff in neon gear amidst a beautiful cyberpunk future. As Ringo, one of two AI created by Aion — a digital hivemind intelligence — you’re tasked with saving the world. Along the way, you’ll get caught up in the affairs of devil summoners and get stuck in with the usual demon battling, summoning, fusing… you know the drill.

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It’s difficult not to compare Soul Hackers 2 to the broader SMT series as they share so many similar mechanics and themes. You know what you’re walking into, and for fans who love the basic gameplay attributed to these titles, you will find Soul Hackers 2 enjoyable. It offers a decent middle ground between Shin Megami Tensei and Persona, borrowing elements from both to create a familiar experience that still manages to carve out its own path in the process.

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