Atlus has revealed that Soul Hackers is receiving a sequel twenty-five years after its Japanese release, which means the original needs a port to modern systems. It's unclear if Soul Hackers 2 will be a direct sequel to the original game, but if it is, then there will soon be a problem, as the original game will become very difficult to play for cheap given the fact that it only appears on 3DS.
Soul Hackers is part of the Devil Summoner series, which is one of several spin-offs of the Shin Megami Tensei series, alongside franchises like Persona, Digital Devil Saga, and Devil Survivor. The game is set in Amami City in Japan, in an era where people can log into a Matrix-style digital world called Paradigm X. The story follows a group of hackers called the Spookies, who stumble upon the ability to contact supernatural beings. An evil group called the Phantom Society (who are name-dropped in the Soul Hackers 2 trailer) are attempting to use Paradigm X to steal the souls of living beings, and it's up to the player to stop them, by binding demons and gods to their will with their aid of their COMP device.
The original version of Soul Hackers was released for the Sega Saturn in 1997 and the PS1 in 1999, but only in Japan. The game wouldn't receive an English localization until 2013, when it was released on the Nintendo 3DS. The 3DS port of Soul Hackers added new content to the game, including a boss fight against Raidou Kuzunoha, who fans will recognize as Dante's replacement in Shin Megami Tensei 3 HD if they don't purchase the DLC. The timing of Soul Hackers 2's announcement also coincides with important news regarding the 3DS.
Soul Hackers Is On Nintendo 3DS & Soul Hackers 2 Is Coming To Everything Except Switch
There's a strange disconnect going on with the Soul Hackers series and Nintendo systems. Soul Hackers 2 is coming to PC, PlayStation, and Xbox systems, but not Nintendo Switch. This is despite the fact that the game appears to be close to Tokyo Mirage Sessions in terms of technical prowess, which is a game that runs fine on the Switch. The incredible popularity of the Switch in Japan means the absence of Soul Hackers 2 is puzzling, especially as it's arriving on Xbox. Most people will only have played the 3DS version of the original, yet its sequel is skipping Nintendo systems.
The bigger issue is that the Nintendo 3DS eShop is shutting down, which means that prices for the physical games, especially the rarer ones, are going to drastically increase. It's going to become a lot more difficult to purchase the original Soul Hackers in the future, so Atlus should take this opportunity to port the original game to modern systems. The original Soul Hackers was a Sega Saturn game, so it's not as if it was some hardware-melting title, even at launch. Soul Hackers is one of the best Nintendo 3DS games and it's one of many Atlus titles that are locked to the system. The Shin Megami Tensei and Persona series started to earn an audience outside of Japan during the PS2 era, and there are still lots of older Atlus titles that have yet to be ported. The Persona 5 Golden PC port was successful and many fans hoped that it would lead to more Shin Megami Tensei games being ported in the fuutre. Soul Hackers 2 looks amazing, but the adventure of the Spookies shouldn't be locked to a platform that is losing support.
Soul Hackers 2 will be released for PC, PS4, PS4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on August 26.