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News Soul Hackers 2 announced, coming to PS4/5, XSX/S, XBO and Steam this August

yup, I totally forgot that p5 came to ps3. not totally sure what we’re arguing about here, though; I too would prefer this game on the switch, and don’t think it’s an impossibility, but it would definitely take extra work on Atlus’ part. the talk about it being DOA because they skipped the Switch seems hyperbolic
I'm saying it wouldn't take extra work on their end if they just made the Switch version the lead one to begin with. The game looks like an early PS3 game anyways so it's not as if they're trying to push the PS4/XB1 to their limits

Well I don't think the game is DOA without the Switch but overall sales will no doubt be hurt by it
 
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NO SWITCH????
Atlus lives in another dimension wtf

I guess I'll wait for a switch release in 2026 or some shit
 
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I feel bad for Xbox fans too.
Yeah, me too.

For buying the wrong console!! Hah!
gary-spongebob.gif

I'm cheap. Sorry.
 
I think Switch Dane will get the definitive edition of this game later on.
A more powerful Switch will not fix it. No matter how powerful Switch/Dane is, Japanese 3rd party companies will still be annoying and frustrating as hell. Unless you're Playstation, expect illogical and baffling decisions from them.
 
I do hope
I kind of feel bad for people hyped or interested about this game in this community. All discussion will be about (at least for a while) is how there's no Switch version.
Yeah me too, I hope for them this game will make it to Switch eventually.

I admit, my hype was killed immediately seeing the trailer. I love TMS and Persona, but I don't want the sequel to my cool '90's-aesthetic-dystopian-cyberpunk-game end up in neon light-eurodance-Persona lite-idol-hell 😭
 
People saw Atlus is different than it was before Sega, but hell, even then Atlus gave so much love to the 3DS. So much love.
 
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All this talk about how the game might not be feasible on the Switch due to technical/hardware limitations just reminds me how people would put down those who wanted a Switch port of 13 Sentinels because "there was no way that game could run on the weaker hardware." Personally I'll give it a few months after release and we'll probably see a Switch port down the road.

My only concern regarding this game is that I'm afraid if it performs below expectations or even flops that it could signal the end of these MegaTen subseries outside of SMT and Persona.
 
It has a hacking and cyberpunk theme just like Soul Hackers, it also features the Phantom Society which was very prominent in Soul Hackers. Thematically it's pretty much a sequel to Soul Hackers.
Also the Devil Summoner name is already occupied by Raidou now. It would not be Devil Summoner 3.

But they haven't touched Raidou since 2008 and Soul Hackers remake came after that with the Devil Summoner branding.

I think they just thought Soul Hackers sounded cooler, worth making it a separate franchise and yeah the Phantom Society is the only connection.
 
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All this talk about how the game might not be feasible on the Switch due to technical/hardware limitations just reminds me how people would put down those who wanted a Switch port of 13 Sentinels because "there was no way that game could run on the weaker hardware." Personally I'll give it a few months after release and we'll probably see a Switch port down the road.

My only concern regarding this game is that I'm afraid if it performs below expectations or even flops that it could signal the end of these MegaTen subseries outside of SMT and Persona.

Catherine Full Body is made on that same exact engine (the Persona 5 Royal engine) and it runs perfectly on Switch.
 
I know I'm idiot to double dip when this get released on Switch next year. Meanwhile... Fuck yeah Soul Hackers is back!
 
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Catherine Full Body is made on that same exact engine (the Persona 5 Royal engine) and it runs perfectly on Switch.
No it doesn't. I own that port and it has quite a few framedrops/stutters in the cafe for some reason. It also disconnects from the online mode anytime you press the home button iirc, which means you can't see any online functionalities that might be interesting if you even dare to go to the home menu once.

I blame Atlus for that of course, but yeah, that game does not run perfectly lol.
 
My only concern regarding this game is that I'm afraid if it performs below expectations or even flops that it could signal the end of these MegaTen subseries outside of SMT and Persona.
This is totally my fear. In general, AA JRPGs tend to perform better on Switch and skipping the system will hurt sales a lot. The game is also dropping the Shin Megami Tensei name, so it's not like they can capitalize on that.
At least the game looks more like a "persona soul hackers" so PlayStation gamers can find what they want, but PlayStation isn't the best when it comes to supporting JRPGs that are not Final Fantasy or Persona.
It will definitely outsell TMS, but I don't expect it to reach SMTV numbers.
 
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Analysis of some of the screenshots:

This is Dormarth. She has ZERO previous 3D appearances!
soul_hackers_2-6.jpg


We have a group of demons here, going from left to right we have: Gurr, Angel, Mishiguji, Loa, Thor, Jack O'Lantern (Pyro Jack in older localizations), Kinmamon*, Scathach, and Qing Long (Seiryu in older localizations).

*Kinmamon has zero 3D appearances outside of Dx2.
soul_hackers_2-8.jpg


I think we're going to get a good amount of demons we have never seen in 3D before as well as some very deep grabs from the plethora of Kaneko demons. I'm really excited to see it!
 
It's just so infuriating that publishers keep doing this. You never see the PlayStation version held back for a late port from major publishers, if that versions not ready, either the entire thing gets delayed, or they dedicate extra resources from somewhere to correct it.

It's just absurd that the switch doesn't get exactly the same treatment.
I forgot to put this in my last post, but I'm pretty sure Valkyria Chronicles 4 was held back until the Switch version was ready in the west.
No it doesn't. I own that port and it has quite a few framedrops/stutters in the cafe for some reason. It also disconnects from the online mode anytime you press the home button iirc, which means you can't see any online functionalities that might be interesting if you even dare to go to the home menu once.

I blame Atlus for that of course, but yeah, that game does not run perfectly lol.
Some framedrops during the cafe sections isn't a big deal since those tend to be relatively light on gameplay, but I had no problem during the puzzle sections which were the more frantic parts of the game.
 
Some framedrops during the cafe sections isn't a big deal since those tend to be relatively light on gameplay, but I had no problem during the puzzle sections which were the more frantic parts of the game.
Yeah but this is not the same as saying it runs perfectly on Switch. It's also a much less visually impressive game than Soul Hackers 2. Not saying it's the Switch's fault because it absolutely can handle these games,, but yeah, it's weird to say Catherine runs "perfectly" on Switch. It really doesn't.
 
My only concern regarding this game is that I'm afraid if it performs below expectations or even flops that it could signal the end of these MegaTen subseries outside of SMT and Persona.
That's why not releasing it on Switch is so weird. I may sound like console warring but let's be real: not releasing on Switch at this moment in time when a niche game like this is concerned, makes it a guaranteed DOA-game in Japan. And that will be the end of the series.
 
Oof saw the announcement and expected disappointment yeah.

- First impression, I can play it on PS4 so if it’s cool I’m there. It apparantly is the same team as TMS? Cool, I dug that game and this looks pretty fun so I’m definitely interested. I know fans of the original Soul Hackers seem a bit disappointed which I can understand from an art style point of view. It looks like what if the TMS goes Soul Hackers?

- Elephant in the room is the lack of a Switch version. I’m reading stuff about the game not being able to run on the system as said by the dev team? Shame, but if that’s the case than I can understand it.

- However an Xbox version is surprising. It will find an audience on PlayStation platforms (Atlus gonna play that Persona card), but this feels like a bad fit for the Xbox. Could see a Scarlet Nexus situation unfold in terms of sales.

- Atlus remains one strange publishers based on platform choices ha.
 
On the one hand, if the trailer hadn't said "Soul Hackers 2" I wouldn't have thought it was a sequel to Soul Hackers, so it doesn't feel right to me. On the other hand, I really enjoyed Tokyo Mirage Sessions so I'm interested in a new game from that team. I'd prefer it on Switch but I have a PS4 so I'll wait and see how it turns out and maybe get it on there.

By the way, you should buy Soul Hackers on 3DS and play it if you haven't already done so. It's a cool game and Masahiro Sakurai is in it!
 
Exciting, I'm happy we might finally be past the SMT drought.

Those character designs are wild.

It's a shame it's not on the Switch.
 
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Analysis of some of the screenshots:

This is Dormarth. She has ZERO previous 3D appearances!
soul_hackers_2-6.jpg


We have a group of demons here, going from left to right we have: Gurr, Angel, Mishiguji, Loa, Thor, Jack O'Lantern (Pyro Jack in older localizations), Kinmamon*, Scathach, and Qing Long (Seiryu in older localizations).

*Kinmamon has zero 3D appearances outside of Dx2.
soul_hackers_2-8.jpg


I think we're going to get a good amount of demons we have never seen in 3D before as well as some very deep grabs from the plethora of Kaneko demons. I'm really excited to see it!
I love see so many demons, I hope see many funny moments with them.
 
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I'm curious how this is gonna play. Never played the first one so got no frame of reference. Can we expect to be roaming around a map like SMTV? Are there gonna be social aspects like Persona? Is it mostly gonna be dungeon crawling? From the trailer, it at least looks like there's an area with shops
 
That's why not releasing it on Switch is so weird. I may sound like console warring but let's be real: not releasing on Switch at this moment in time when a niche game like this is concerned, makes it a guaranteed DOA-game in Japan. And that will be the end of the series.
tbh I don't think Japan matter that much even for titles like these

No switch version is dumb, but Jrpgs targeting Western audience make the most sense these days and its working for many titles and even Xenoblade is one of them even tho Nintendo aren't deliberately targeting only the west
 
Yeah but this is not the same as saying it runs perfectly on Switch. It's also a much less visually impressive game than Soul Hackers 2. Not saying it's the Switch's fault because it absolutely can handle these games,, but yeah, it's weird to say Catherine runs "perfectly" on Switch. It really doesn't.
I think you're getting too caught up in semantics here, outside of a few hiccups the game is fine on the Switch which I'm pretty sure was the gist of @RenHojo23's post.
 
I think you're getting too caught up in semantics here, outside of a few hiccups the game is fine on the Switch which I'm pretty sure was the gist of @RenHojo23's post.
I don't think it's that semantical. That's pretty much the only location you spend time in besides the dream sequences. It's a good chunk of the game and there is interactive moments in the bar. Isn't it actually more semantical to say the opposite? Like sure, it "runs perfect" most of the game, but that requires a lot of semantics to state that without context. It's much less semantical to just say it isn't the greatest port and that it doesn't run perfectly because ... well, it doesn't. It runs pretty good most of the time but the hiccups were definitely there. Stating the actual quality of a port is actually way less semantical than dressing it up as running perfectly.
 
A more powerful Switch will not fix it. No matter how powerful Switch/Dane is, Japanese 3rd party companies will still be annoying and frustrating as hell. Unless you're Playstation, expect illogical and baffling decisions from them.
I ftfy. While support has been getting better for Nintendo with the Switch. And, they can now rely on PC, mobile, and indies. Bigger 3rd parties will always be weird with Nintendo.
 
I wanted to be really excited about this but a lot of it is just disappointing. The whole aesthetic is trending away from what I liked about the first and the character designs themselves are nothing to write to home about. The ui elements are honestly pretty bland and it's clear they're going for a P5 aesthetic, especially in battle, but it's clear they can't pull it off. The platform choice is odd and switch is my preferred playstyle for jrpgs but I own a ps4 so eh, just means it won't be day 1.
 
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What has changed? I don't understand. The Switch got a SMT III Port, SMTV and Persona 5 Strikers just last year, day and date with other platforms. P4 Arena is coming to the system at the same time as the PlayStation version as well. Are we going to just ignore all of that because of Soul Hackers 2 and late ports of Catherine/13 Sentinels?
Honestly? Yes.

Nocturne is a remaster.
Persona 5 Strikers is a Koei Tecmo game.
Persona 4 Arena is a port. It's also an Arcsys game on an engine that was already optimized for Switch a long time ago (BlazBlue/BBTag engine).

Atlus have made five original in-house HD projects so far: Persona 5, Persona 5 Dancing, TMS#FE (funded by Nintendo and using their IP), SMT V (allegedly funded by Nintendo) and Soul Hackers 2. The only games released on Switch were those with direct involvement from Nintendo. Coincidentally, Soul Hackers 2 is Atlus' first project in a very long time where they appear to be mostly free from platform/marketing association constraints, and the first thing they choose to do is target everything but Switch.

The reason why people are upset/concerned is because they are reading the room and noticing that if left to their own devices, it is highly likely that Atlus will treat the Switch (or a successor) as an afterthought. A Soul Hackers sequel, of all things, skipping the Switch in favor of Xbox, more or less signals that you should no longer expect even mildly ambitious Atlus projects (without Nintendo being involved in some capacity) to hit the platform going forward.

After this announcement, it is much more likely for Re: Fantasy or an Etrian Odyssey sequel to be on Xbox before Switch.
 
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No it doesn't. I own that port and it has quite a few framedrops/stutters in the cafe for some reason. It also disconnects from the online mode anytime you press the home button iirc, which means you can't see any online functionalities that might be interesting if you even dare to go to the home menu once.

I blame Atlus for that of course, but yeah, that game does not run perfectly lol.

Online is still better than the PS4 version which was simply not working for me. lol
 
I'm curious how this is gonna play. Never played the first one so got no frame of reference. Can we expect to be roaming around a map like SMTV? Are there gonna be social aspects like Persona? Is it mostly gonna be dungeon crawling? From the trailer, it at least looks like there's an area with shops

This looks very much taking after the Persona 5 systems and bares little resemblance to the original - third person exploration, third person combat, all out attacks even apparently. OG Soul Hackers was a first person dungeon crawler, in comparison.
 
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Online is still better than the PS4 version which was simply not working for me. lol
That's fair. Sorry if I came off like an asshole, not trying to be nitpicky to your comment. I just think that while it was a very good port and perfectly playable, I found myself disappointed in sections that really shouldn't have been disappointing to begin with. Pretty sure Erica teleported around the bar 2 or 3 times in my playthrough just because the game was running so strangely during certain bar sections haha.
 
I've said this a few other places, but one thing I wanted to point out is that a lot of people like Soul Hackers for having a 90s retrofuturism vibe, going with the "this is what this internet thing will be like one day!", but it's worth pointing out...it literally was the 90s when that game was made. Soul Hackers 2 looks like it integrates concepts we are hearing about now like the "metaverse" (although they probably won't call it that), that will inevitably fail and we'll look back on like "wtf were we thinking" in 20 years. I think THAT is how Soul Hackers 2 will end up and I hope we look back on it in 20 years in a similar way we look back on the first one.
 
I've said this a few other places, but one thing I wanted to point out is that a lot of people like Soul Hackers for having a 90s retrofuturism vibe, going with the "this is what this internet thing will be like one day!", but it's worth pointing out...it literally was the 90s when that game was made. Soul Hackers 2 looks like it integrates concepts we are hearing about now like the "metaverse" (although they probably won't call it that), that will inevitably fail and we'll look back on like "wtf were we thinking" in 20 years. I think THAT is how Soul Hackers 2 will end up and I hope we look back on it in 20 years in a similar way we look back on the first one.
Can’t wait for them to go all out and make the demons NFTs. This would really fit the current vibe.
 
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Finding out the character design is by the 7th Dragon person explains why the costumes look like…that. I was so excited for this until the reveal and the screenshots. I’m usually quite forgiving of this sort of thing but the characters look a mess to me.

I also get that SH looks like it does because it was released in ‘97 but I was a kid then and so that whole vibe felt very cool and fun at the time and I hold a lot of nostalgia for it - I still think it’s an aesthetic worth using and that it’d be compatible with modern and speculative themes in a weird newtro way. SH2 going with whatever the hell this new vibe is just makes me feel a little queasy and feels significantly less iconic and more limited in its reach, but to be fair I’m not their target audience and am out of touch.

I also expected this to look more impressive if it has to skip Switch, but maybe I’m expecting too much of the PS4. Hoping they change my mind on this, but probably not day 1 for me (perhaps the first time I’ve ever said that about Megaten, oh it hurts).

Oh well. Bummer.
 
I don't think it's that semantical. That's pretty much the only location you spend time in besides the dream sequences. It's a good chunk of the game and there is interactive moments in the bar. Isn't it actually more semantical to say the opposite? Like sure, it "runs perfect" most of the game, but that requires a lot of semantics to state that without context. It's much less semantical to just say it isn't the greatest port and that it doesn't run perfectly because ... well, it doesn't. It runs pretty good most of the time but the hiccups were definitely there. Stating the actual quality of a port is actually way less semantical than dressing it up as running perfectly.
Or better yet you can recognize a harmless hyperbolic statement for what it is rather then jumping on someone's throat for not being as literal as you would like. Also you could have easily shortened your post to the final sentence, but I guess your need to be as demeaning as possible is too strong.
 
Or better yet you can recognize a harmless hyperbolic statement for what it is rather then jumping on someone's throat for not being as literal as you would like. Also you could have easily shortened your post to the final sentence, but I guess your need to be as demeaning as possible is too strong.
You could recognize that maybe you are reading too much into people's thoughts on an internet forum where people communicate through text. I'm simply giving my feedback on a post which I think is hyperbolic as someone who paid real money for a port. You don't have to read anything mean spirited into it. This is ironically a pretty demeaning post, and needlessly so since I already talked with the original poster about how no ill-will was intended. I was hardly "jumping" as you are doing now.
 
You could recognize that maybe you are reading too much into people's thoughts on an internet forum where people communicate through text. I'm simply giving my feedback on a post which I think is hyperbolic as someone who paid real money for a port. You don't have to read anything mean spirited into it. This is ironically a pretty demeaning post, and needlessly so since I already talked with the original poster about how no ill-will was intended. I was hardly "jumping" as you are doing now.
Typical "pot calling the kettle black" gamer attitude; Whatever, I'm out since you're clearly going to keep twisting my words back at me.
 
Typical "pot calling the kettle black" gamer attitude; Whatever, I'm out since you're clearly going to keep twisting my words back at me.
You literally said
Or better yet you can recognize a harmless hyperbolic statement for what it is rather then jumping on someone's throat for not being as literal as you would like. Also you could have easily shortened your post to the final sentence, but I guess your need to be as demeaning as possible is too strong.
How is this not hostile? How else am I supposed to interpret this?

At best you could say my original replies were nitpicky, but I was just pointing out the quality of the port itself, something that the original commenter didn't even take issue with in the end. You are the one implying I'm an asshole, I'm simply showing that you are going overboard for no reason. But yeah whatever, I'm done too. I have no ill will against you or the other poster and I honestly don't get the hostility.
 
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So far I have not seen anyone provide any source for this, just as an fyi.
That twitter user completely made that up. People, myself included, have listened to the stream, and nothing of the sort was said. They discuss the platforms/special edition around the 30' mark, if you're interested in checking for yourself.
 
Looks appealing and I'm cautiously optimistic, but will wait for reviews. The lack of a Switch version sucks, but it's Atlus. We can't do anything about it. PS4 version it is.

Still, if Atlus didn't plan a Switch port from the beginning, they could have made the game actually look like a good PS4 game, imo.
 
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Oof saw the announcement and expected disappointment yeah.

- First impression, I can play it on PS4 so if it’s cool I’m there. It apparantly is the same team as TMS? Cool, I dug that game and this looks pretty fun so I’m definitely interested. I know fans of the original Soul Hackers seem a bit disappointed which I can understand from an art style point of view. It looks like what if the TMS goes Soul Hackers?

- Elephant in the room is the lack of a Switch version. I’m reading stuff about the game not being able to run on the system as said by the dev team? Shame, but if that’s the case than I can understand it.

- However an Xbox version is surprising. It will find an audience on PlayStation platforms (Atlus gonna play that Persona card), but this feels like a bad fit for the Xbox. Could see a Scarlet Nexus situation unfold in terms of sales.

- Atlus remains one strange publishers based on platform choices ha.
I am convinced we still see another Atlus Switch game announced for 2022 at the Summer Direct (Used to be E3).

Will be interesting to see what the game is.
 
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Don't most JRPGs not called Dragon Quest get the majority of their sales in the west? How many franchises does Japan alone really carry these days.
Depends on the franchise and depend on the game being localized. A decent chunk get good sales overseas but JP is still very important for a lot of franchises. As we saw with Falcom, for instance, they get a lot from JP. When Switch was selling their games more overseas they noted that Switch, while doing well, was still faltering in JP. And, this was the reason they continued to support Sony, using other third parties to port & publish the games, until recently where the sales are so abysmal they actively called Sony out.
 
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