Few companies stand as tall in the JRPG scene at Atlus. Series like Persona, Megami Tensei, and Etrian Odyssey have helped cement Atlus's reputation for turning out high-quality JRPGs, often with artstyles or mechanics that set those games apart from their competitors. The JRPG is a crowded and competitive field, but Atlus has proved that it's stuck around for good reason.
Soul Hackers 2 is infused with many of the strengths the company is known for, including eye-catching character designs and cool battle concepts. That said, the game is not without its flaws. Improving these would help elevate the game to the same caliber as some of Atlus's best work. Here are some of the biggest fixes that Soul Hackers 2 needs.
7 Familiar Mechanics
Soul Hackers 2 feels too much like other Atlus games. Atlus has perfected its JRPG formula, so one might think feeling too much like a great game would be a bad thing, but Soul Hackers 2 doesn't add anything that formula or twist what's already there in any meaningful ways. The end result is still a good game; it's just a good game that feels too much like too many other good games.
While it may feel unfair to compare Soul Hackers 2 to Persona given the incredible reception that Persona 5 received, it's hard to look at Soul Hackers 2 and not be bothered by the lack of truly standout ideas given what Atlus is capable of. The team behind the game is talented and there are countless areas in which that talent shines through, it's simply not enough to make this game stand out.
6 Familiar Plot
The apocalypse, its prevention, and its aftermath are some of the most popular scenarios in gaming. FPSs, RPGs, racing games, and even farming sims have all put their own spin on the end of the world. It's understandable why: the steaks simply don't get any higher without expanding the story beyond the boundaries of a single planet. To hook players, it's hard to beat the end of the world.
Gaming is so oversaturated with this particular plot that it's hard to stand out, and Soul Hackers 2 struggles in this area just as it does with the familiarity of its mechanics. The game's apocalyptic premise is a fine jumping off point, but it either needs much greater elaboration or a more interesting twist in order to convince players to care about this particular story when there are so many others competing for their attention.
5 Intimacy Vs. Scope
Soul Hackers 2 tells two stories: the high stakes tale of a possible apocalypse and its prevention and a much smaller, more intimate story of the relationships that grow between friends and strangers. As is true of the company's other works, most of Atlus's best storytelling takes place on this smaller, more intimate scale.
Soul Hackers 2 is great at crafting likable, dynamic characters and relationships. Problems only emerge when the game tries to blend the scopes of these two stories. It can be done, but it isn't done well here. The writing and performances are good enough that both sides of the story are enjoyable, but there remains an uncomfortable disconnect between the two that affects the overall pacing.
4 Underwhelming Dungeons
Completing dungeons may be one of the weakest points in Soul Hackers 2. Their linearity may not be a problem in itself, but coupled with their general barrenness and underdeveloped anesthetics, they aren't exciting. Atlus has a track record of producing some incredible dungeons for its characters to fight their way through in other games, so it was disappointing to not see the same design quality here.
Puzzles are infrequent and more of a nuisance when they appear than anything else. The subterranean railroad motif is used too frequently, and with meaningful content scattered so sparsely throughout them, navigating dungeons sometimes feels more like a chore than an adventure.
3 Deeper Combat
Combat in the Persona games is some of the best that JRPGs have ever seen. It's flashy, unique, fast, and genuinely fun to master. Combat in Soul Hackers 2 is by no means bad, but it isn't as deep or well-refined as combat in other Atlus games.
Building a Demon Stack by striking enemies with attacks to which they are vulnerable and then unleashing the demons' full fury in a Sabbath at the end of each turn is enjoyable. So is building a team. They just doesn't keep the player's mind racing with possibilities. By adding new systems or expanding upon what's already there, Atlus could make combat in Soul Hackers 2 a much more engaging experience and one that better incentivized repeated playthroughs. As it is, battles are fun, but not fun enough to leave players itching for another go.
2 Overall Pacing
Soul Hackers 2 struggles to establish a consistent and satisfying pace throughout its run. This is true of the game's story and mechanics. Whereas the problems with the story's pacing mostly stem from the effort of interweaving the main plot with individual character development and relationships, many of the mechanics struggle with pacing because they appear too early.
The mechanics of progressing through each Soul Matrix, gaining Summoner Skills, fusing demons into stronger ones at the Circus, and gaining Commander Skills at the Weaponsmith are all introduced early. That wouldn't be a problem if they were particularly deep to begin with or if they evolved in some way through the course of the game to keep things fresh. As it stands, the player will be intimately familiar with all of these systems in no time, and with nowhere else to go from there, one isn't left with much.
1 Shorter Dungeons
The overall lack of content and unique elements in dungeons is one issue. The length of dungeons is another, and it's so significant in Soul Hackers 2 that no critique of the game's flaws would be complete without exploring this problem. Dungeons in Soul Hackers 2 are simply too long. Every player has their own preferred length for a gaming session and their own tolerance for lengthy dungeons, but most players will likely agree that the dungeons in Soul Hackers 2 need to be shorter.
It might be good for grinding money, but spending six or eight hours in a dungeon without significant story developments, cutscenes, engaging puzzles, or captivating combat is painful. Indeed, many problems with the game's pacing and overall enjoyment could be fixed by shortening dungeons or addressing the frequency of random battles.
Soul Hacker 2 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.