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News Soul Hackers 2 announced, coming to PS4/5, XSX/S, XBO and Steam this August
- Thread starter Belinda Blumenthal
- Start date
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Like i said, i think it would even bomb with a Switch port, just a bit less than without. It might get good numbers on PC, but as we all know those only come with big discounts.
Ultimately, if the game fails, it's on Atlus. Releasing it close to Xenoblade 3, while not being a platform competition, JRPG fans sure went for that one and might hold off this game as i assume most of that group own more than one system (or a good gaming PC). Then while it's not that long, it's also somewhat-ish close to the Persona 5 Royal port releases. Marketing was ... iffy (imo).
E: Just seen that this former PS exclusive (?) game Anno Mutationem is also coming soon on Switch (and other systems?) and that also kinda fits the same spot regarding setting.
7threst
Hello, lady of the house speaking?
- Pronouns
- He/him/his
Don't wanna sound salty, but I don't hold Famirsu scores to high standards.Famitsu score is 38/40
Looks like we've got a live one here
That said, I hope it does well.
(ok I'm salty as a fan of the original game. I hate how they ditched that style
)Edit: I also hate how I sound like an old man
Zedlars
Tektite
My same buddy who covered SMT:V finished this last night (47 hours). It's his favorite JRPG since Persona 5, story really pulls at the heart strings and is not for the faint of heart. Review embargo should be dropping soon!
I had no interest in this before hand, but after his impressions, I think I'll be picking this one up.
I had no interest in this before hand, but after his impressions, I think I'll be picking this one up.
Leica
Paratroopa
- Pronouns
- he/him
The marketing has been atrocious from my POV lol, they basically didn't advertise in the West at all for a long time and when they finally did they immediately follow it up with announcing the P5 ports. I do hope it scores well so WoM can help it but the chances this sells well are looking pretty grim.
thoughthaver
Chain Chomp
haven't checked in a while but aren't the pre order numbers in japan no bueno? and that's where they are bothering to actually advertise it.
Tailzo
Paratroopa
Only a week left. Excited for my preorder
Marce-chan
Magical Girls <3
- Pronouns
- They/Them
I'm waiting for my Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE to arrive(gonna be my very first physical game on the Switch?!). I'll probably play it already envying people that can already play Soul Hackers 2.
I wouldn't be so certain on a Switch late port not being announced by the next Direct as we got Wolfenstein II late port announcement back in September 2017 before the game was released to the other platforms.
But February Direct sounds way more likely. I just hope it comes!!
I wouldn't be so certain on a Switch late port not being announced by the next Direct as we got Wolfenstein II late port announcement back in September 2017 before the game was released to the other platforms.
But February Direct sounds way more likely. I just hope it comes!!
- Pronouns
- He/Him
That definitely gets my attention. I was already planning to pick up the game next week, but that's great to hear. I honestly had no real expectations for it other than "it's a Megaten game, and I like the colors and characters from what I've seen (which is quite little actually)"
Ketwick9844
Octorok
What did he think of SMT V?
Soul Hackers 2 Reviews
Soul Hackers 2 is rated 'Strong' after being reviewed by 100 critics, with an overall average score of 75. It's ranked in the top 40% of games and recommended by 64% of critics.
opencritic.com
Sounds like I made the right choice going with xb3
I hate nu-atlus advertising.
They spam my yt feed with a crapload of videos just to share the information that demon x or demon y from the smt series will be returning in the advertised game. They did it with SMT V and it was annoying, let alone this new """"soul hackers""""" game.
They spam my yt feed with a crapload of videos just to share the information that demon x or demon y from the smt series will be returning in the advertised game. They did it with SMT V and it was annoying, let alone this new """"soul hackers""""" game.
lightning16
Bob-omb
Doesn't look like the reviews are amazing but some of the stuff sounds good. Still interested but I don't think I have it in me to jump from Xenoblade to this right away. Still a pretty puzzling release strategy from Atlus, all things considered.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Hot take: This game was supposed to be a TMS#FE 2, but after bombing two times on two systems (don't blame me, i got it on Wii U and Switch Day 1), Ninty decided to not continue this project and Atlus retooled it into the next most fitting SMT spinoff series.
Dev of the game was then budget strapped, so they took in Phil Xbox moneys (because lets be honest, MS always pays in such a case) and they went with this and PS and PC.
Comic Obsessed
Chain Chomp
Reviews are not as high as I expected considering positive previews (Then again, previews are usually overly-positive because reasons).
Wish that Nintendo would hire them again to make a TMS sequel since that was apparently better received.
Wish that Nintendo would hire them again to make a TMS sequel since that was apparently better received.
Kartina
theprocessbroke
- Pronouns
- He/him
Not to sound snarky or anything but I remember reading some people saying the game would get a 90+ score on metacritic and I guess that's not happening.Soul Hackers 2 Reviews
Soul Hackers 2 is rated 'Strong' after being reviewed by 100 critics, with an overall average score of 75. It's ranked in the top 40% of games and recommended by 64% of critics.
Comic Obsessed
Chain Chomp
So, a common thing that I've been hearing is that it doesn't look graphically impressive and is kinda low-budget so its absence from Switch is even more stupid.
lightning16
Bob-omb
Well, as someone who also bought TMS twice Day 1 and really liked it both times, I hope that's not the case lol.
This roughly being the TMS team was one of the big reasons I was interested. Still am, but yeah.
Comic Obsessed
Chain Chomp
As I said originally:
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Disclaimer for this post: As i've said before, i expect this game to bomb, even with a Switch version it would prolly do so.
In the end it might do it's sales but deeply discounted on PC. Not really what Atlus might've wanted.
But this is totally on them, imo. Should've given it more budget, delayed it to late 2023 to avoid other big JRPG releases like Xenoblade, or the two of FF 7R 2 and FF XVI, but especially the release of the ports of Atlus favorite child, Persona.
And yes, a fully multiplatform, including Switch. This being on a lot of platforms should somewhat help (but not enough), should've invested enough to have it on all available systems right now.
In the end it might do it's sales but deeply discounted on PC. Not really what Atlus might've wanted.
But this is totally on them, imo. Should've given it more budget, delayed it to late 2023 to avoid other big JRPG releases like Xenoblade, or the two of FF 7R 2 and FF XVI, but especially the release of the ports of Atlus favorite child, Persona.
And yes, a fully multiplatform, including Switch. This being on a lot of platforms should somewhat help (but not enough), should've invested enough to have it on all available systems right now.
Kartina
theprocessbroke
- Pronouns
- He/him
In my opinion the worst thing for this game was the persona ports announcement, it completely stole its thunder especially since atlus went full marketing mode for persona 5 while soul hackers 2 is seemingly sent to die in august.
SirArthur
Kremling
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I hope this is the beginning of atlus exploring series and releasing multiples games per year (even counting re-releases/remasters).
I wish they had a bit more hands on deck for their games or expand their collabs (a la KT).
I love smt as a whole so Ill for sure check this game but way later.
I wish they had a bit more hands on deck for their games or expand their collabs (a la KT).
I was kinda of surprise with those comments as well. SMTV not only had marketing but had Nintendo and Epic money to back it up. Sure SH2 runs better but thats not all that makes a game great.
I love smt as a whole so Ill for sure check this game but way later.
Huh? What's that supposed to mean?
Cucufate
Partner Showcases can be cool, you know
- Pronouns
- He/him
Real talk, the first time I saw footage of the game my reaction was pretty much "Oh, they must have built the game with the Switch as the lead platform, that's smart an-it's not coming to Switch. Ok then."
Mbolibombo
Tingle
- Pronouns
- He/him
There never was any thunder to begin with - Persona ports was just the final nail, sort of.
Atlus barely bothered with this one, reminds of Square Enix and NEO: World Ends With You in terms of marketing.
D
Deleted member 2349
Guest
nice to hear that this game has hanging out mechanics, sad to hear that it's largely bland
they can't keep making smt games with the same models they've been using for like 10 years now. the exciting part of a new smt is seeing the new designs, otherwise you get shit like this where they have paid DLC for a monster you saw in persona 5 exactly the same way in 2017
Marce-chan
Magical Girls <3
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Anybody has a guess on why the PC version has that 64 MC? The game is bugged or something?
Because it's 79 on XBSX
Because it's 79 on XBSX
D
Deleted member 2349
Guest
lmao the paid dlc monster aren't even new designs?
Marce-chan
Magical Girls <3
- Pronouns
- They/Them
We know for sure that the Switch version bombed tho?? Idk, I think it might've been able to break even or make some profit at least.
I hope we see the next one eventually...
But, maybe a hot take, I want the Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem initial concept to fruit some day in the future. If they name the game Persona Vs Fire Emblem it'll be way less niche from name alone.
Comic Obsessed
Chain Chomp
Weird thing that I also keep reading is that this has very dull dungeons (which is especially bad for a dungeon crawler) but I found the dungeons in TMS decent.
Xenoblade 3
Xenoblade 2 Enjoyer
Half the games I play and enjoy are “7/10” games.
I’ll get this game whenever they decide to put it on Switch.
I’ll get this game whenever they decide to put it on Switch.
it doesn't mean anything, there's just less reviews for the pc version compared to ps. unless the pc reviews explicitly mention technical issues, all other reviews apply to the pc version as well.
D
Deleted member 2349
Guest
they gotta stop making me pay for dicklook at this lmao
R
Ray00101
Guest
Maybe letting this team stray too far from Nintendo’s oversight wasn’t a great quality decision. 
www.metacritic.com
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore
The worlds of the Fire Emblem series and Atlus games have crossed paths again and the result is coming to the Nintendo Switch system. An interdimensional evil has invaded modern-day Tokyo, resulting in this fantastical barrage of music, style, and yes, danger. So, fight back! Battle through...
www.metacritic.com
SirArthur
Kremling
- Pronouns
- He/Him
It appears that Epic (Fornite people) approach Atlus on doing a game in Unreal 4 on the switch (the next console at the time) and all parties agreed. At least thats what some industry people say the situation went down. Also recently Unreal gave an interview with atlus devs on the development of SMTV so it gives support that they had a bit of backing from Epic
Interesting, that's news to me!
Leica
Paratroopa
- Pronouns
- he/him
Get used to it, they've pretty much said one of the main reasons they felt confident moving from shadows back to demons in P5 was so they could keep using (and reiterating on, sometimes) the models in future games. I expect a large chunk of these designs to be used in P6 again too.
well I hope that one also reviews and sells poorly
Looks like Atlus will need to start innovating again, it’s been quite a while since a new mainline game of theirs got sub 80 MC. The novelty is gone now, they are no longer this one niche JRPG developer that is constantly improving at making turn based JRPGs while others were struggling and cutting corners.
SMT and Persona are quite established in the general gaming fanbase at this point. The former is at its best when it’s this experimental, punk, abstract JRPG that has you killing God and shit. The latter has probably the latest most novel gameplay loop in the genre since Pokemon, it has even managed to surpass Final Fantasy’s critical acclaim. This isn’t a reason for them to rest on their laurels since at their worst, games that fall under this umbrella can be very samey. They reuse tropes, settings are similar, you get Pixie at first, Jack Frost at level 10 or 20, over 50 hours later you get Lucifer/Shiva/Metatron or whoever, then you beat the true final boss.
I’m currently playing Apocalypse and I think that game is very skippable, it’s no better than the non-mainline FF and Tales sequels despite that it’s more of a full fledged JRPG in terms of scale. However, it did receive good reception at launch, notably because you had fans saying it has “the best gameplay in the series”. That’s honestly oversimplifying it, sure it has a few obvious improvements over IV such as QOL, fixing Smirk and making Hama and Mudo skills do damage but that’s not enough for it to be a better game. At the end of the day the game has much worse pacing than IV and doesn’t add much to this universe at all, if anything it makes you feel like this setting overstayed its welcome. I could go into more detail but what I’m saying here is that it’s a very skippable game and it doesn’t add much to the formula, you’re not missing out if you just stick with IV
Their fanbase is now bigger than the ones that were content with playing multiple 40+ hour games that came out almost yearly. If SH2 is simply just another Atlus game that follows the motions and doesn’t really capitalize on the aspects that made the original Soul Hackers somewhat unique (mainly its sense of place), well that’s not a good look. Now that more people than ever are aware of their schtick they will need to shake up their formula at this point
SMT and Persona are quite established in the general gaming fanbase at this point. The former is at its best when it’s this experimental, punk, abstract JRPG that has you killing God and shit. The latter has probably the latest most novel gameplay loop in the genre since Pokemon, it has even managed to surpass Final Fantasy’s critical acclaim. This isn’t a reason for them to rest on their laurels since at their worst, games that fall under this umbrella can be very samey. They reuse tropes, settings are similar, you get Pixie at first, Jack Frost at level 10 or 20, over 50 hours later you get Lucifer/Shiva/Metatron or whoever, then you beat the true final boss.
I’m currently playing Apocalypse and I think that game is very skippable, it’s no better than the non-mainline FF and Tales sequels despite that it’s more of a full fledged JRPG in terms of scale. However, it did receive good reception at launch, notably because you had fans saying it has “the best gameplay in the series”. That’s honestly oversimplifying it, sure it has a few obvious improvements over IV such as QOL, fixing Smirk and making Hama and Mudo skills do damage but that’s not enough for it to be a better game. At the end of the day the game has much worse pacing than IV and doesn’t add much to this universe at all, if anything it makes you feel like this setting overstayed its welcome. I could go into more detail but what I’m saying here is that it’s a very skippable game and it doesn’t add much to the formula, you’re not missing out if you just stick with IV
Their fanbase is now bigger than the ones that were content with playing multiple 40+ hour games that came out almost yearly. If SH2 is simply just another Atlus game that follows the motions and doesn’t really capitalize on the aspects that made the original Soul Hackers somewhat unique (mainly its sense of place), well that’s not a good look. Now that more people than ever are aware of their schtick they will need to shake up their formula at this point
Leica
Paratroopa
- Pronouns
- he/him
That's effectively saying "crunch more" because adding entire rosters of new enemies when you have existing assets to reuse is probably the single most effective way to save time and money in this industry. There's a reason Xenoblade has been reusing the same bestiary for as long as it has and why Elden Ring is still using skeleton rigs and enemy types from 2009. Feels they should have improved a lot of different things first before worrying about new monsters design with this game.well I hope that one also reviews and sells poorly
