'Soul Hackers 2' Review

I have to hand it to Soul Hackers 2 - there's a respectable amount of drip attached to all its leading players. On a visual level, you'll get a lot just from soaking up all the cool designs attached to the protagonists and antagonists you'll come across during this game's lengthy adventure. While the overall presentation here isn't as mindblowing as Persona 5's, there's still a great number of eye-popping character designs and scenery to bask in. The varied explorable hubs that split up Soul Hackers 2's world all look striking enough and the jazzy/rock tunes that accompany your travels become immensely catchy as time goes on. My only complaint that's aimed at this game's art design is the drab dungeons you'll find yourself in more often than not. All of them have a central theme, such as an abandoned train station or grid-based expanse, that they stick to much too closely without offering something different to freshen up each landscape. The uninspired designs of each dungeon look so dead regular in comparison to everything else that looks like a lot more love and care were put into their visual arrangements.

To the surprise of no one, Soul Hackers 2's strongest features come in the form of its demon collecting and battling segments. The same sense of euphoria that comes from capturing a rare Pokémon is the same feeling I always got from strengthening my loyal demons and fusing them to create even more powerful recruits. This JRPG's many systems coincide with building out your army of demons - characters gain the ability to acquire new status buffs from the equippable gifts provided by leveled-up demons, for example. Mixing and matching up each party member with assorted demons becomes an addictive activity as you look to build a varied party that has a higher chance of targeting the weakness of every foe they face. And as your human mates grow stronger, so too does the selection of demons you can bring with you into battle.

When it does come time to head into combat, Soul Hackers 2 shines bright. The familiar mechanics that have made playing Shin Megami Tensei and Persona so hard to put down are here in fine form here. The cycle of successfully targeting an enemy's weak point and gathering up enough demons to pull off this game's version of an "All-Out Attack" always satisfies. As the game lingers on, you'll get introduced to exciting new features that keep the combat from growing tiresome. Just make sure you're prepared to do a whole lot of EXP farming - the boss encounters you'll come across in this game are certainly tough conflicts to overcome. Thankfully, exploring each dungeon thoroughly, getting extra aid from your demons while you run around each one, and widening your repertoire to stand a chance against each big boss never feel like annoying chores.