Atlus’ announcement on Twitter yesterday that the long-dormant Shin Megami Tensei spin-off collection Soul Hackers was being revived got here as fairly a shock to followers. Nevertheless, the surprises didn’t cease there, because the trailer for the poppy, hacker-centric sequel additionally revealed that the sport has a feminine protagonist, one thing the SMT collection has shied away from for over a decade.
In Soul Hackers 2, you play as Ringo, a “cyber lifeform” within the not-too-distant future tasked with assembling a bunch of supernatural-entity-harnessing “Satan Summoners” to stop a being often known as the Nice One from inflicting the apocalypse. To keep away from the tip of days, Ringo and her crew should make the most of an all-knowing AI named Aion, who mainly friends into the long run like precogs in Minority Report to guard key figures from being killed.
Soul Hackers 2 is the sequel to the colon-heavy 1997 Sega Saturn sport Shin Megami Tensei: Satan Summoner: Soul Hackers, a aspect story within the higher SMT collection. Ringo’s fashion sense and the quirky manner she eats burgers are actually making an impression, however some SMT followers are additionally thrilled by the straightforward undeniable fact that Soul Hackers 2 would be the first SMT sport with a feminine protagonist to come back alongside in a few years.
“Did Atlus simply reveal a sport with a femc that can also be in a position to communicate???” wrote a redditor from the r/Megaten subreddit.
“Day 1 PC and a feminine protagonist, Atlus ticking all my bins that they by no means tick,” wrote one other Reddit person.
“Atlus sport with a feminine protagonist … BRUH,” wrote one Twitter user.
They’re proper to treat this as vital. Within the almost 20 years of Persona and SMT video games which span over 60 titles, solely 4 video games provide the choice to play as a feminine protagonist: Persona 2: Everlasting Punishment, Persona 3 Transportable, Shin Megami Tensei: 9, and Shin Megami Tensei: If…. Of this small lineup, the newest launch was Persona 3 Transportable which got here out in 2010 on the PSP, although the 1994 Tremendous Famicom launch SMT: If… acquired a Japan-exclusive Nintendo Change port final yr.
Eiji Ishida and Mitsuru Hirata, Soul Hackers 2‘s producer and director, mentioned the sport’s growth and the way it will differ from its predecessor throughout a livestream on the official Japanese Atlus YouTube channel. Japanese web sites 4Gamer and Famitsu carried out a shared interview with Hirata and Ishida following the livestream, which was translated by Persona Central. Whereas Ishida served because the artwork director for the primary Soul Hackers sport, it will mark his second collaboration with Hirata on an SMT sport, the primary being the pop idol spin-off Tokyo Mirage Classes ♯FE. The pair informed 4Gamer they determined to affix forces as soon as once more for a Soul Hackers sequel due to the technological developments in gaming consoles for the reason that Saturn authentic debuted, in addition to their shared want to revisit the collection.
“The explanation I truly considered planning it was as a result of the primary sport, with its science fiction components, was fairly sharp even among the many Shin Megami Tensei associated video games at the moment,” Ishida informed Famitsu. “I believed it could be attainable to utilize the expertise, folks, and occult components of the primary sport, in addition to the connection between these components, to create a brand new sport with a contemporary really feel.”
Whereas within the first sport, gamers fought towards folks abusing expertise for evil ends, Ishida informed 4Gamer that the sequel will concentrate on observing its characters from “the angle of expertise” and get at what it means to be human.
Naturally, one would possibly count on a brand new sport in a collection whose final entry was 20 years in the past to function enhancements to its gameplay. Hirata informed 4Gamer that Soul Hackers 2 could have an improved battle system that lowers the barrier of entry for brand spanking new gamers whereas sticking to the core turn-based gameplay followers are conversant in.
“In the event you’ve performed Shin Megami Tensei or Persona, you’ll be capable to simply get into the sport,” Hirata informed 4Gamer.
Alongside breaking SMT’s 12-year streak of not having a feminine protagonist, Soul Hackers 2 additionally bears the excellence of being a JRPG that reaches throughout the console aisle. Whereas the newest mainline SMT sport, Shin Megami Tensei V, was a Nintendo Change unique, Soul Hackers 2 would be the first occasion of an SMT sport being playable on the Xbox, PlayStation, and PC. (Sorry, Change homeowners.)
Soul Hackers 2 comes out on August 26 for the Xbox One, Xbox Sequence X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC.
