Soul Hackers 2 is, at times, a brilliantly captivating game worthy of multiple playthroughs. At others, it's a solid JRPG that neatly tucks its way into Shin Megami Tensei lore and gameplay systems and carves out an identity for itself. Often, it's frustratingly close to being just as good as more established series within the SMT world. Atlus and SEGA have something entertaining here, but ultimately it's a great title that needs some more iterations to make good on the promise of its dazzling world.
Soul Hackers 2 follows the story of Ringo, an agent of Aion. Aion is a "living" entity formed of the many information networks that make up the fabric of society in the futuristic Tokyo of the game's environments. With unrivaled processing power and a capacity to understand human behaviors in the most logical sense, Aion can predict the future with startling accuracy - and it's suspicious of a doomsday plot that will end the entire world. Ringo is given a human-esque body and the ability to summon demons and, paired with partner Figue, she sets off to save the world.
The problem - and there's always an early problem when it comes to these pesky apocalypses - is that Ringo and Figue fail, twice, right away. It's a welcoming bumble into the human world and one that immediately makes the two characters more likeable and less like all-powerful androids. What follows is a fun, quirky ensemble cast that, while certainly unafraid to embrace archetypal characterizations, does enough throughout the story to set its players apart to make them memorable.
That said, one of the biggest issues in Soul Hackers 2 is its accelerated pacing. While it's nice from a completionist perspective to be able to sink something like 30 hours into a JRPG and get a good sense of its world, its side quests, and its full narrative arc, Soul Hackers 2 doesn't feel like it gets everything done that it wants to the first time around. Too many plot points are rushed and too many characters tease having more to do with the state of Tokyo before they're ushered off stage in the interest of time. The world of Soul Hackers 2 is neon lights, dingy cyberpunk wastes, and the demons and humans who inhabit them and try to make sense of it all. It's a fascinating proposition that begs for more time spent with it. While the initial pacing is on point, the back half of Soul Hackers 2 speedruns a lot of different revelations, which means some big plot elements don't land the way some might expect.
Luckily, Soul Hackers 2 is far more than just its story. The battle system is reinvigorated thanks to a spin on Press Turn combat called Sabbath, which builds up charges as the team exploits enemy weakpoints before unleashing an all-out attack at the end of the team's turn. Some demons have bonus abilities that enhance the Sabbath, while others help stack more charges before it goes off. For as simple as it is, the Sabbath element adds a lot of variety to gameplay, and will certainly make the game much easier for those interested in just plowing through the story.
Beyond the Sabbath, Soul Hackers 2 also offers a lot of customization for its various devil summoners. Weapons can be enhanced while accessories offer a broad range of effects. Enhancements to specific schools of magic help deepen this team-building, offering power-ups, discounts on MP spent, and more. Demons are easier to level up than some Shin Megami Tensei adventures but that's balanced by the pacing of the game; new areas come pretty quickly and demons would get easily outclassed without leveling up fairly fast. There's really no slog to be had in Soul Hackers 2, which makes it accessible even when it's at its most familiar to die-hard Atlus fans.
Aesthetically and musically, Soul Hackers 2 gets it all right, which probably isn't a huge surprise given Atlus' recent success with both Persona and Shin Megami Tensei. The soundtrack is catchy all over, while Tokyo and the many demon dens it hides is gorgeous. Some of the areas players frequent often are also the most beautiful, with a bar full of flower petals the site of many heart-to-heart sit-downs with team members to build up their Soul Level.
Soul Level is basically the Soul Hackers 2 party affection system, but it also unlocks passive abilities for characters during exploration and can create some truly powerful teams as a result. Soul Level is also needed to unlock the True Ending of Soul Hackers 2, which in my experience didn't happen the first go-round. In communication with an Atlus representative, it was suggested that careful navigation of Soul Level can result in the True Ending in the first playthrough - but for the rest of us, there's a New Game +, with a bunch of carry-overs and an increase to Soul Level points gained throughout the narrative.
There's a lot to like about Soul Hackers 2, and just one major problem: how quickly it disposes of its world and the undercurrents of the narrative there to arrive at its end goal. The characters involved and the systems at play range from rock solid to great, however, and if Soul Hackers 2 is the first in a long line of games with the same world-building and aesthetic, I'd be willing to bet it's going to be looked back on as the start of something special. For now, Soul Hackers 2 is a good JRPG, one that's well worth your time - but it could be, and hopefully will result in, so much more.
Soul Hackers 2 releases in Japan on August 25, 2022 and worldwide on August 26, 2022 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Screen Rant was provided with a digital PS5 code for the purpose of this review.