Had it pre ordered, love the original. I'm not real far but so far I don't have many complaints. The lack demon negotiations is weird, I don't think I'll come around on that. I love that atlas is finally getting some other titles out there since P5 made them a staple in jrpgs. Been into smt since 2000 and they are my go to company, square enix seems to be getting back to roots as well. Excited to see were things go
Great review man. It seems like you really had fun with the game. I’m interested in the game, but honestly I’ll wait for whenever they’ll port the game for the Switch.
Fantastic review David! Your reviews always give us the best overall picture and you mentioned everything I was curious about. I can't wait to play this game come Aug 26th on PS5!!
Just bought this game as soon as my local GAME store opened on 26th August for PS4. The game appears to have a very strong beginning. I hope that quality continues throughout the game. SMTV was front loaded in quality. I’m optimistic about Soul Hackers 2. The main thing I love about SMT is it’s themes and philosophies - this is the most meaningful for me.
Just beat the game for the first time. I avoided all media and reviews on purpose for it. Personally I had a freaking amazing time playing it. Going in blind there’s a lot of great twist with the story, the gameplay was a lot of fun and the most balanced smt/personayet. Definitely filled that story void that SMT five left
Finally David I've been waiting for your review of this game. I've already pre-ordered it and got it in the mail today so I can't wait to play it on the weekend.
I never heard of Soul Hackers until this one was announced and was blown away by how beautiful it looked. However, I was worried it would be too difficult to get into. I'm so glad that's not the case! Amazing review David ✨✨
I really like the game, but I have 2 issues with it. It feels like the game should have launched slightly cheaper, because it feels like a lower budget game than SMT V or P5R. I also feel like the game engine is holding back the performance a bit.
Now I'm super excited to play this game. I was a bit disappointed to hear about demon negotiations but I wouldn't mind that if the dungeon exploration aspect is really good. Also I'm glad to hear about the story lol. As usual Atlus doesn't disappoint with the soundtrack 🤘 I wanted to know if the combat is challenging in hard or not at all. From what I've heard so far the combat doesn't pose any challenge even in hard mode.
Nah there is definitely a bit of challenge on normal! I died around 3 times total but I have a lot of experience witg Megaten! Its easier than SMT V but harder than P5R if that makes sense ;)
I 100% got Nocturne, Persona Q, and Devil Summoner vibes from the very first dungeon, lol. It was late last night, so I only got to do the tutorial dungeon. But yeah, this is absolutely, on purpose, supposed to be a more traditional dungeon crawler. Hell, it even felt a bit like Persona 4, lol. It’s not trying to be a Persona 5 Palace or the open world of SMT V-it’s going for a more classic, maze style of dungeon crawling. The repetitiveness adds to the atmosphere, that’s why Nocturne was so haunting and felt so dangerous. I think a lot of those people saying the dungeons aren’t super spicy are likely correct, but that’s the point, imo, and so far, it feels really good! Not sure what the Japanese people think, but we may or may not see more involved dungeons from Soul Hackers later on, given this is the main criticism I see of the game. But anyway, I was wondering if they were gonna ditch the classic dungeon crawling style after SMT V, glad to see they’re still filling that niche here, I know a lot of people enjoy that. Without the stupid random encounters, I’m having a freaking blast on Very Hard. On the story, man-dude, I’m not really far in, but I just find the presentation to be so nice and cool. To me, it’s already better than Soul Hackers 1, which only really had Nemissa going for it. Oh, and I’m in love with Ringo. That voice actress is so endearing. Got me with Sophie, got me with Ringo, damn. I might be a fan.
Bought premium edition digital on series x. 5 hours in and loving it. Love the style characters and gameplay. Simplistic yes low budget compared to a persona yes but I'm fine with it. Throwback to ps2 era smt games.
I like the game. I hate the reviews are so middling to bad. I wish they'd kept Press Turn intact. If they had simply not frucked up the gameplay that everyone loves i think reviews would be a lot better. The battle system now has no depth and feels like every other jrpg battle system that came out in the 90s.
Was waiting to see what you'd say about, awesome video as usual. Really looking forward to it, have it pre ordered for series x gonna pick it up in the morning.
@@DavidCastJRPGs I've been playing since smt 3 on the ps2, but yeah I'm personally pretty jazzed to see more multi platform stuff happening with sega and atlus. Then people can just play on what they have or get it for whatever they want. Just started the game a bit ago, so far its just what I was hoping I'm loving it. I'm kinda surprised they didn't look into switch development considering how well smt 5 did
For anyone going for 100% I’ve just finished everything and got the plat trophy it took me 3 play throughs and came out to just under 50 hours to do everything including dlc. Also great review of this game.
David, I remember when I was starting my channel, you were kind enough to give me some positive feedback on my Persona 5 vids. I always appreciated that. You've done well for yourself with your own channel. Good review here. We should do a collab sometime because I'm also a big fan of Atlus' games.
Great review . I also enjoyed this game and think it got too much hate. Sure it’s not perfect but for a game I had no expectations for it kinda blew me away
Can't wait to play this joint! But man...if it's like P3 when battling or progressing through those levels...it may be a little hard to get through. Still, very much excited to jump in to Soul Hackers 2. 🎮🇨🇦🔥
How is the difficulty stuff done? Is it like SMT:V, like you can choose hard mode and switch down to normal, but can't switch back to hard? Or can you switch on the fly as you like? This is a deciding factor for me
Im new to JRPG and tbh this game interest me even though i am not much into turn based but the artsyle and story im very looking ofrward to also heard the combat mechanics is not brain dead so im excited trying this one out. This would be my first JRPG turn based doing everything in here:)
So to anyone in the situation where they can’t buy the game yet and mabey want to test it out first if you have PlayStation and have PlayStation premium you can do a 2 hour trial that what I’m going to be doing tomorrow
got my copy early but I’m not allowed to play it till Thursday 9pm 😢. Thes videos have only hyped me up more to play the game and can’t wait to drop hella hours into it.
Even after watching this review I still find this game unappealing with its character design and art style. Almost everyone in the discord server knows my aggressive hate towards this game and to be fair many people either joined me or voiced valid opinions against me, as of today i want everyone that cares for the game to enjoy it hope y'all have a good day/night thx for reading this.
my first jrpg ever was a dungeon crawler back in 1992 when I was in kindergarten. Shining in the Darkness. no thanks. these kind of dungeons feels outdated. persona personalized them and made enough side stuff to do that you can breath between them. also, looking at the system req on pc, 1 gb vram?! recommended 2 gb vram and an i5 processor? why is this on ps5 again and not on the switch? I own both btw, before someone thinks im some kind of angry switch owner here. They could have pushed waaay more out of the ps5 version for the game. 1 gb vram?! Atlus keeps porting switch games over so this is highly suspect, also an unity game, feels like they are hold off a switch port in the future with DLC.
We should put Soul Hackers 2 on Gameboy advanced so those who cant afford modern systems can enjoy it In all honesty ppl who say we need a Soul Hackers 2 switch port have a fundamental misunderstanding of how hardware works and how video games run on said hardware. You said it yourself this game showcases its visuals meaning Atlus didn't want to be held back by the switches limited hardware capabilities. The Nintendo switch is a very weak system in 2022 as it cant run most games that are on PS4 without a high budget keyword high budget port job to downgrade the game. Nintendos refusal to release stronger hardware is why games like Soul Hackers 2 are not on there. Sure there are games like Witcher 3 on switch but like I mentioned the port job for Witcher 3 cost a ton of money in resources and was not an easy task to pull off. Witcher is a multimillion western IP where as Atlus while having successes doesnt have the funds that a team like CD project and the Witcher IP do. On top of that if you look at a recently released Nintendo Switch exclusive Xenoblade 3 which is an excellent game and is GOTY i think, even that game is held back in a ton of areas and like visuals and performance and its pushing the Switch to its absolute limits, this is a Nintendo exclusive and still theres a lot of limitations the team at Monolith soft wouldve been able to overcome if they had more powerful hardware. Overall its getting very annoying to see Atlus fans and fans of many RPG series beg for Switch ports when its clear that the weak power of the Nintendo Switch would compromise the quality and vision a lot of these developers have for their games. Sure its a high selling system but ultimately the vision and scale of a lot of these games would have to be cut back, and Idk about you but Id rather play games that allow developers to tell their vision rather then release a game on a weak system compromising that vision at the cost of more sales. This is Nintendos fault as to why there isnt a Switch version of these games. They shouldve released the switch at a level of hardware capabilities of a base Xbox one which is the weakest last gen system. If you are begging for a Switch port of soul hackers 2 please take a class on game development and study video game hardware to find out why its not on the switch
@@aduck2569 go take a class on game development to understand how hardware works. Realize the switch hardware isnt up to snuff and get back to me. Its ridiculous to me how switch fans have 0 understanding about hardware and which games can be ran on certain hardware
I’m buying this game cause I never played SMT Devil summoner if I don’t like it I’m blaming David. Just kidding David I love you big fan thank you so very much for getting me into the Megami Tensei games.
Are you buying Soul Hackers 2 at launch? Let me know what you think about the game!
Not me if I don't win your giveaway
It's already on my Xbox SX and PC (loved that they did the cross-buy between the two, now I can play everywhere!!!)
Had it pre ordered, love the original. I'm not real far but so far I don't have many complaints. The lack demon negotiations is weird, I don't think I'll come around on that. I love that atlas is finally getting some other titles out there since P5 made them a staple in jrpgs. Been into smt since 2000 and they are my go to company, square enix seems to be getting back to roots as well. Excited to see were things go
I ordered mine in Finland but i'll probably have to wait through weekend for it to arrive... I just finished Soul Hackers 1 yesterday.
Great review man. It seems like you really had fun with the game. I’m interested in the game, but honestly I’ll wait for whenever they’ll port the game for the Switch.
It's interesting to see how divisive this game has been with a lot of people basically calling it trash to people like me who are loving it
If you are buying this game you a real one 🙏🏿
yawn hacker 2 hell no
@@CrimsonBladezz 😴
Waiting for collectors
Otaku God!! What are You doing here?? Didn't know You liked SMT
@@iRemol nice
Fantastic review David! Your reviews always give us the best overall picture and you mentioned everything I was curious about. I can't wait to play this game come Aug 26th on PS5!!
Thank you so much Adam!
Just bought this game as soon as my local GAME store opened on 26th August for PS4. The game appears to have a very strong beginning. I hope that quality continues throughout the game. SMTV was front loaded in quality. I’m optimistic about Soul Hackers 2.
The main thing I love about SMT is it’s themes and philosophies - this is the most meaningful for me.
It doesnt continue... it gets better
@@DavidCastJRPGs so glad to hear that. I’m having a blast in the game so far!
Just beat the game for the first time. I avoided all media and reviews on purpose for it. Personally I had a freaking amazing time playing it. Going in blind there’s a lot of great twist with the story, the gameplay was a lot of fun and the most balanced smt/personayet. Definitely filled that story void that SMT five left
Finally David I've been waiting for your review of this game. I've already pre-ordered it and got it in the mail today so I can't wait to play it on the weekend.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
I never heard of Soul Hackers until this one was announced and was blown away by how beautiful it looked. However, I was worried it would be too difficult to get into. I'm so glad that's not the case! Amazing review David ✨✨
With Atlus trying to make Soul Hackers their next big IP, I agree with you that its great to see that thet made the game accessible!
I am hyped to jump into this game.
Yessir!
I’ve been so Hyped to hear your review on this one david!
Thanks a lot my dude!
What a refreshingly honest and positive review this was of the late SH2. This has been my favorite review today on the game.....so far at least
Thank you Tory! :)
I really like the game, but I have 2 issues with it. It feels like the game should have launched slightly cheaper, because it feels like a lower budget game than SMT V or P5R. I also feel like the game engine is holding back the performance a bit.
Now I'm super excited to play this game. I was a bit disappointed to hear about demon negotiations but I wouldn't mind that if the dungeon exploration aspect is really good. Also I'm glad to hear about the story lol. As usual Atlus doesn't disappoint with the soundtrack 🤘
I wanted to know if the combat is challenging in hard or not at all. From what I've heard so far the combat doesn't pose any challenge even in hard mode.
Nah there is definitely a bit of challenge on normal! I died around 3 times total but I have a lot of experience witg Megaten! Its easier than SMT V but harder than P5R if that makes sense ;)
@@DavidCastJRPGs I see. that's good to hear
I really do miss these kinds of dungeons
Waiting this review while I wait for my copy to show up today. Feeling HYPED!
Lets goooo
I 100% got Nocturne, Persona Q, and Devil Summoner vibes from the very first dungeon, lol. It was late last night, so I only got to do the tutorial dungeon. But yeah, this is absolutely, on purpose, supposed to be a more traditional dungeon crawler. Hell, it even felt a bit like Persona 4, lol.
It’s not trying to be a Persona 5 Palace or the open world of SMT V-it’s going for a more classic, maze style of dungeon crawling. The repetitiveness adds to the atmosphere, that’s why Nocturne was so haunting and felt so dangerous. I think a lot of those people saying the dungeons aren’t super spicy are likely correct, but that’s the point, imo, and so far, it feels really good! Not sure what the Japanese people think, but we may or may not see more involved dungeons from Soul Hackers later on, given this is the main criticism I see of the game.
But anyway, I was wondering if they were gonna ditch the classic dungeon crawling style after SMT V, glad to see they’re still filling that niche here, I know a lot of people enjoy that. Without the stupid random encounters, I’m having a freaking blast on Very Hard.
On the story, man-dude, I’m not really far in, but I just find the presentation to be so nice and cool. To me, it’s already better than Soul Hackers 1, which only really had Nemissa going for it. Oh, and I’m in love with Ringo. That voice actress is so endearing. Got me with Sophie, got me with Ringo, damn. I might be a fan.
great vid, well worth the wait ! i’ll def be playing on launch, looks like a good time
It certainly is!
The review I was waiting for, and the game I've been dreaming about! Let's GOOO!
It sounds like atlus took a safe step back from smtv and p5 to make a safe new beginning for its new pillar title
I'm downloading this game right now, just got home and able to play it. Can't wait!! Watching this and your tips video while waiting lol
Bought premium edition digital on series x. 5 hours in and loving it. Love the style characters and gameplay. Simplistic yes low budget compared to a persona yes but I'm fine with it. Throwback to ps2 era smt games.
I like the game. I hate the reviews are so middling to bad. I wish they'd kept Press Turn intact. If they had simply not frucked up the gameplay that everyone loves i think reviews would be a lot better. The battle system now has no depth and feels like every other jrpg battle system that came out in the 90s.
Thanks for the review! Getting this tomorrow!
Sounds just up my alley. Now gotta get some moneys for a buy
Was waiting to see what you'd say about, awesome video as usual. Really looking forward to it, have it pre ordered for series x gonna pick it up in the morning.
Very cool to see Xbox users hoping onto the Atlus fandom
@@DavidCastJRPGs I've been playing since smt 3 on the ps2, but yeah I'm personally pretty jazzed to see more multi platform stuff happening with sega and atlus. Then people can just play on what they have or get it for whatever they want. Just started the game a bit ago, so far its just what I was hoping I'm loving it. I'm kinda surprised they didn't look into switch development considering how well smt 5 did
A very good and through review! I appreciate it!
Thank you Jodie
For anyone going for 100% I’ve just finished everything and got the plat trophy it took me 3 play throughs and came out to just under 50 hours to do everything including dlc. Also great review of this game.
I cancelled my preorder but I’m absolutely going to play this either after a sale or on a switch port. Thanks for your excellent coverage!
David, I remember when I was starting my channel, you were kind enough to give me some positive feedback on my Persona 5 vids. I always appreciated that. You've done well for yourself with your own channel. Good review here. We should do a collab sometime because I'm also a big fan of Atlus' games.
Thank you mate!
Great review . I also enjoyed this game and think it got too much hate. Sure it’s not perfect but for a game I had no expectations for it kinda blew me away
Can you change demons in battle ?
Yes after you unlocked certain commander skills!
Can't wait to play this joint! But man...if it's like P3 when battling or progressing through those levels...it may be a little hard to get through. Still, very much excited to jump in to Soul Hackers 2. 🎮🇨🇦🔥
Thanks for the review! I will be buying this soon
Thank you for watching, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
How is the difficulty stuff done?
Is it like SMT:V, like you can choose hard mode and switch down to normal, but can't switch back to hard?
Or can you switch on the fly as you like?
This is a deciding factor for me
Ohhhh thats a good question... I think you can switch at anytime but im not sure about being able to go back if you lowered the difficulty...
I've got my steam deck coming next week, I'm going to wait to play this game on that. it's gonna be great I can't wait!
Definitely my number one favorite atlus game
Man soul hackers 2 is such a great game, when I first watched the trailer I didn't liked it, but today I bought it and it's so great
Im new to JRPG and tbh this game interest me even though i am not much into turn based but the artsyle and story im very looking ofrward to also heard the combat mechanics is not brain dead so im excited trying this one out. This would be my first JRPG turn based doing everything in here:)
I think it would be a great first turn-based rpg!
So to anyone in the situation where they can’t buy the game yet and mabey want to test it out first if you have PlayStation and have PlayStation premium you can do a 2 hour trial that what I’m going to be doing tomorrow
Did you let people know Altus sent you a copy of the game?
Sure did!
@@DavidCastJRPGs Okay. Cool.
got my copy early but I’m not allowed to play it till Thursday 9pm 😢. Thes videos have only hyped me up more to play the game and can’t wait to drop hella hours into it.
Very nice! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did andre!
I bought it day ., pretty good game for me but try not to compare to strange journey Smt4 or 5 ,p5.😅
is there a hard or expert mode david?
Just hard mode as of now
@@enteii7989 thanks ill be playing it on hard mode...im sure that'll increase the completion time
Did you play new game+?
I have not
Preordered and downloaded itttttt
Even after watching this review I still find this game unappealing with its character design and art style.
Almost everyone in the discord server knows my aggressive hate towards this game and to be fair many people either joined me
or voiced valid opinions against me,
as of today i want everyone that cares for the game to enjoy it
hope y'all have a good day/night thx for reading this.
I'm liking it so far.
Can’t wait till pay day
It looks so freaking fun
my first jrpg ever was a dungeon crawler back in 1992 when I was in kindergarten. Shining in the Darkness. no thanks. these kind of dungeons feels outdated. persona personalized them and made enough side stuff to do that you can breath between them. also, looking at the system req on pc, 1 gb vram?! recommended 2 gb vram and an i5 processor? why is this on ps5 again and not on the switch? I own both btw, before someone thinks im some kind of angry switch owner here. They could have pushed waaay more out of the ps5 version for the game. 1 gb vram?! Atlus keeps porting switch games over so this is highly suspect, also an unity game, feels like they are hold off a switch port in the future with DLC.
Ringo is awesome
We should put Soul Hackers 2 on Gameboy advanced so those who cant afford modern systems can enjoy it
In all honesty ppl who say we need a Soul Hackers 2 switch port have a fundamental misunderstanding of how hardware works and how video games run on said hardware. You said it yourself this game showcases its visuals meaning Atlus didn't want to be held back by the switches limited hardware capabilities. The Nintendo switch is a very weak system in 2022 as it cant run most games that are on PS4 without a high budget keyword high budget port job to downgrade the game. Nintendos refusal to release stronger hardware is why games like Soul Hackers 2 are not on there. Sure there are games like Witcher 3 on switch but like I mentioned the port job for Witcher 3 cost a ton of money in resources and was not an easy task to pull off. Witcher is a multimillion western IP where as Atlus while having successes doesnt have the funds that a team like CD project and the Witcher IP do. On top of that if you look at a recently released Nintendo Switch exclusive Xenoblade 3 which is an excellent game and is GOTY i think, even that game is held back in a ton of areas and like visuals and performance and its pushing the Switch to its absolute limits, this is a Nintendo exclusive and still theres a lot of limitations the team at Monolith soft wouldve been able to overcome if they had more powerful hardware.
Overall its getting very annoying to see Atlus fans and fans of many RPG series beg for Switch ports when its clear that the weak power of the Nintendo Switch would compromise the quality and vision a lot of these developers have for their games. Sure its a high selling system but ultimately the vision and scale of a lot of these games would have to be cut back, and Idk about you but Id rather play games that allow developers to tell their vision rather then release a game on a weak system compromising that vision at the cost of more sales. This is Nintendos fault as to why there isnt a Switch version of these games. They shouldve released the switch at a level of hardware capabilities of a base Xbox one which is the weakest last gen system.
If you are begging for a Switch port of soul hackers 2 please take a class on game development and study video game hardware to find out why its not on the switch
In short modern game devs are too lazy to optimize :)
@@aduck2569 go take a class on game development to understand how hardware works. Realize the switch hardware isnt up to snuff and get back to me. Its ridiculous to me how switch fans have 0 understanding about hardware and which games can be ran on certain hardware
Wish it was on switch fam
port begging already?
@@CrimsonBladezz nah honestly was surprised that it wasnt on switch
Wish SMT V was on PC.
It should be on switch in about a year or 2
The best part of Soul Hackers 2 was when she said "IT'S SOUL HACKIN' 2 TIME" and soul hacked 2 all over those guys 😭😭
Honestly think that people are too hard on this game. Its not the best MegaTen game but i like that its different.
I’m buying this game cause I never played SMT Devil summoner if I don’t like it I’m blaming David. Just kidding David I love you big fan thank you so very much for getting me into the Megami Tensei games.
You have convinced me to wait until it's $30, not until it goes down to $20
I guess thats a W...? Eheh
Nah probably wait till it's like 30 bucks
I’d buy it at 40-45
I will buy it for 20 bucks
I'm so happy this game came to Xbox Series X and I will save money when Person 5 Royal comes out because it will be on XboxGamePass 😎
I think I'll wait on this one
You definitely have a different view on the dungeon crawling because a lot of people who have reviewed the game say that the dungeons were boring
Yep im fully aware of that! Its very very traditionnal in that regards! If you enjoy old-school dungeon-crawlers, you'll like SH2!
You are odd one tbh, liking dungeon exploration. They are like easily the worst part of the game considering bland design which is dragging as hell...
Welcome to the world of having an opinion good sir ;)
Such a worthless game. No wonders it failed miserably in every possible way.
Same will happen with that P5T rubbish of a game.