Last week Atlus posted a mysterious teaser relating to theShin Megami Tenseifranchise, its long-running JRPG series that received its latest entry in 2021. Over the course of its 35-year history theShin Megami Tenseiseries has received many spin-offs that have gone on to become their own beloved series' such asPersonaandDevil Survivor, and fans quickly discovered that this countdown teaser was related toShin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner - Soul Hackers. Now it has been revealed that the announcement is none other thanSoul Hacker 2, a follow-up to the 25-year-old Sega Saturn game coming later this year.
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner - Soul Hackers(Also simply known asDevil Summoner: Soul Hackers) is thesecond entry in theDevil Summonerspin-off series of the mainlineShin Megami Tenseifranchise. The game is a dungeon-crawling turn-based RPG that features many elements later found in thePersona Qspin-off series and features a contemporary detective story following a group of hackers called Spookies set in a cyberpunk Japanese harbor city. The game originally released in Japan on Sega Saturn in 1997 though it wouldn’t receive an English release until 2013, when the game was remade for Nintendo 3DS.
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Out of seemingly nowhere,Atlus announced today that the oft-forgottenShin Megami Tenseispin-off(itself an entry in theDevil Summonersubseries) would be receiving a sequel in the form ofSoul Hackers 2, launching this August for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Like thePersonaseries before it,Soul Hackers 2has the distinction of dropping the “Shin Megami Tensei"and “Devil Summoner” titles from its name, separating itself as a distinct JRPG series under Atlus’s wing. It is also a rare title from the publisher to make its way to Xbox consoles at launch.
Like its predecessor,Soul Hackers 2is set in a futuristic cyberpunk depiction of Japan, and focuses on two opposing Devil Summoner factions as they partake in cyber warfare with a supernatural being known as Aion. The game will featurea new incarnation of theShin Megami Tenseiseries' beloved Press-Turn combat system, and will incorporate All-Out Attacks, a mechanic previously exclusive to thePersonaseries. The game is being directed byTokyo Mirage Sessions #FEleads Eiji Ishida and Mitsuru Hirata, with character designs fromRWBYmanga artist Shirow Miwa.
Soul Hackers 2will also be another new title to receive a simultaneous worldwide launchfrom Atlus and Sega following the success ofShin Megami Tensei 5last August. The game will release with both Japanese and English voice options and subtitles for English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish. A collector’s edition has also been confirmed for the PlayStation console releases in Japan.
Soul Hackers 2will release on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on August 26th 2022.
