Soul Hackers 2 (Zero Punctuation)

Support us on Patreon to get Early Access to new videos, exclusive Discord perks & more for just $2 per month ►► / the_escapist
This week on Zero Punctuation, Yahtzee reviews Soul Hackers 2.
Join our growing Discord community: / discord
Subscribe to Escapist Magazine! ►► bit.ly/Sub2Esca...
Want to see the next episode a week early? Check out www.escapistmag... for the latest episodes of your favorite shows.
---
---
The Escapist Merch Store ►►teespring.com/...
Join us on Twitch ►► / the_escapist_official
Like us on Facebook ►► / escapistmag
Follow us on Twitter ►► / escapistmag

[@theescapist]

Watch this week's episode of Zero Punctuation on Metal: Hellsinger. www.escapistmagazine.com/metal-hellsinger-zero-punctuation/ Watch it early on KZbin via Patreon or KZbin Memberships and support our content for just $2/month. www.patreon.com/the_escapist

[@wearsjorge55]

Just watched the metal review and as a metal fan it had me laughing pretty hard. Cookie monster metal screaming was a solid gag

[@RpgBlasterRpg]

0:38 SMT 5 PC PORT? WHEN ?!

[@xeoverse8770]

Seriously have you even played Persona 1 or 2? I think if you did you would be in for a rude awakening and have to essentially eat your words about everything you’ve said about the franchise up to this point because it would essentially disprove you thinking that Persona 4 and 5 are essentially everything you think the franchise has been since it’s first entry and thinking those games are representative of the entire series!

[@chrisavenell3172]

Fun fact the running problem yahtzee experienced is actually tied to frame rate. If you have it set to unlimited it causes the animations to mess up while if you have it set to 60 fps it works normally.

[@PendragonDaGreat]

uggh tying anything to framerate is one of the worst options these days.

[@KelleyEngineering]

Tying anything to framerate (or processor speed) is a practice I genuinely thought we grew out of in the early '00s when there weren't ~900 hardware options available to consumers.

[@Khunkurisu]

@@KelleyEngineering industry standard is to use a fixed time step for physics, but the issue is a lot of these games work on engines that date back to the 90s and just have lots of polish on them to keep them running nicely in modern times. Basically every game you hear about with this framerate issue (or hard capped fps) is using an old engine.

[@Slaking_]

Why is it always Japanese games that do this? Monster Hunter has a shit ton of problems related to framerates other than 60, too.

[@lolcat]

Why even have the option then?

[@sameoldsameold9239]

That "yes I will, f*** it" sounded so genuine.

[@Pie_The_Man]

Personally I dont get why he thinks people are twitchy over comparing SH2 to Persona, cuz its obvious the 2 are meant to be similar People don't like comparing Persona with Mainline because it's obvious the 2 are incredibly different, but when in the intro he's able to make a fuck ton of comparisons between Persona and SH2 it's obvious that comparisons are a lot more valid here than in an SMT V review for example

[@ForrestFox626]

@@Pie_The_Man I think comparing Persona and SMT is fine

[@Pie_The_Man]

@@ForrestFox626 in some aspects sure but if you're tryna weigh whether or not Persona's style of story telling is better or worse than SMT's style of story telling it quickly devolves into "I think apples are better than oranges, so oranges should conform to my tastes and be more like apples" Like, I was in a Persona/Megaten discord server and there was this mf tryna criticize Persona for straying away from what it "should have been", saying Persona would be better if it focused around showing how humans react to the threat of demons and the breaking down of society. Basically he wanted Persona to just be Devil Survivor Now this is stupid because that has *never* been what Persona is about. Persona since day 1 has been about exploring the issues of modern youth, most notably mental health and delving into the concepts of jungian psychology You can think Devil Survivor's plot of weighing freedom and order and deciding the fate of humanity is more interesting than that, but to say that Persona would be "better" by dropping what it has been about since day 1 purely because you subjectively prefer something else is immature as shit

[@ForrestFox626]

@@Pie_The_Man Agreed

[@dataisstrange5438]

Same energy as the "what's a f***ing skal???" from the Vampyr review way back

[@ShalathePrinny]

Asking Yahtzee for opinions on anime games (aka JRPGs) is like asking the fox for it's opinion on the hen house defenses

[@Lobster222]

In this case the Fox is a pretty well versed in house defenses, and the defense in this case is absolute dogshit.

[@greywolf9783]

Shit every. Single. Time.

[@greywolf9783]

Just too easy

[@user-lh7mt7zo7l]

It's like asking dunkey

[@Tonius126]

What? You can't call out jrpgs for thier overused generic tropes now?

[@tsukiumika5807]

It's weirdly funny that Atlus fans complain whenever reviewers compare all of their works to persona. Yahtzee is the one to say "Well if they don't wanna be compared maybe they should use a different formula"

[@-aexc-]

no one's upset about comparing should hackers to persona only mainline smt. also almost all atlus fans agree that soul hackers 2 is quite shit

[@V2ULTRAKill]

@@-aexc- no they agree its Fiiiiine Its not smt4 or nocturne But its fiiiiiine

[@666fivefork8]

@@-aexc- I don't believe it's possible for most Atlus fans to agree on anything. If there's anything close to a consensus, it seems to be "decent but flawed." It's a 7 that could easily have been an 8.5 with a bit more polish-"shit" implies a score between 0-4, so I think you're being hyperbolic or dishonest.

[@Cruddyhorse]

It's more about people comparing mainline to persona as if Mainline is copying Persona when Persona is the spinoff series. Plenty of dumb people think Persona came first somehow and that's where the annoyance from fans comes from. Although I will agree it feels like the other SMT games are becoming more and more like Persona instead of the more hardcore and edgy dungeon crawlers they used to be.

[@christhethinker6791]

@@-aexc- How Is it shit? The characters and story are great

[@espio87]

So, to sum it up: If I wanted to play a cyberpunk SMT, I should just play SMT 4.

[@Antichthon]

soul hackers 1 or smt 2 on the snes actually

[@Arvoyea]

or also the original Soul Hackers

[@bonesmcjones8454]

Or even the first Soul Hackers! It even got a remaster on the 3ds a while back so it's pretty easy to emulate!

[@shori8438]

Or SMT 1, or 2... or Soul Hackers 1...

[@TailsGuy72]

Or OG Soul Hackers.

[@AriaLaurel]

Bruh, did Yahtzee really just say this game is worse than P5 because it has less waifu seduction? He really has gone full weeb. I’m here for it.

[@mushijian7839]

No, he said that the game itself is half-assed, comparing it with quality of Persona 5. (I dunno, It's seems just like Atlus has become bored, and they made a Persona-clone themselves, making some quick cash along the way.)

[@jmurray1110]

Well it’s more he finds the interplay between the 2 half’s the most enthralling but and weighting one side will make it overpowering and less fun

[@robertvaldes3374]

I mean the social day to day stuff is what actually makes persona 5 work for me, honestly. It taps into the slightly banal hope I always had for a superhero game that had you actually needing to split yiur time and manage your personal life as well as make sure that the city doesn't fall apart. Like, that's supposed to be the real fantasy, isn't it? People don't like to imagine having superpowers just so they can picture themselves tossing around cars or whatever, they imagine it because they think about how it would change their actual lives and relationships

[@roujin518]

I think its more that what they replaced with "waifu seduction" was "constant grinding of the same dungeons". If they had a different addition to the formula like fun puzzles or interesting character back stories they it might have been a better game.

[@HollowGolem]

@@roujin518 They do have interesting character backstories. I actually like the drip feed of "hang out at the bar" more than the big sidestories of Social Links/Confidantes.

[@SnuSnuDungeon]

Who hasn't had a traumatic experience with a Slurpee machine?

[@KelleyEngineering]

The only 7-11 near me hasn't had the bottle of sour liquid for 3 years now. I have to take my blue-razz Slurpee(R) standard. Like a peasant.

[@xxXXRAPXXxx]

Where is the entrance to snu snu dungeon? I need to find it for reasons.

[@TheOtherSavioritis]

"No squeezing the juice!"

[@simple-commentator-not-rea7345]

My clothes are more traumatized than me, they're the ones getting stains

[@WhiteFangofWar]

Me. Because I know enough to stay far, far away from those scary things. Also I don't like slurpees.

[@but_in_space_though2919]

Fun fact: Ringo is japanese for "Apple".

[@SmileytheSmile]

Apple trying to help society? I'm starting to get the feeling those games are losing their sense of realism.

[@helghast_7203]

PERFECT

[@chunkytomatosoup1826]

Ringo is English for Ringo Starr fucktwit

[@zigslotheon]

And the dude’s name is Arrow. Morherfuck-WAS THE WHOLE GAME MADE JUST TO TELL A BAD WILLIAM TELL JOKE?!

[@matthewkelly1263]

ok move SH2 a bit more over to "reading the bible" end of the scale

[@Akechi_The_Phantom_Detective]

Atlus latest announcement: We're proud to announce we won't be announcing Persona 6 at our own concert event.

[@LuffyBlack]

Thanks for buying all the spin ☺️ offs and watching our stage shows we've been developing for some reason. Look forward to Persona 5 Chibi Racing

[@ovensmuggler5207]

It's going to be a long while between p5 and 6, hopefully shorter than the gap between 4 and 5 but I'm not getting my hopes up and besides, I got other games to play some of which are smt

[@WhiteFangofWar]

The problem is that Altus made its' bestiary of demons by compiling together every mythology and religious figure possible and there's little you can add from there. Occasionally they will come up with some new ones like Krishna, Dagda or Abdiel but most of them will be re-used from previous titles. I do like how they'll occasionally use an urban legend like the Jersey Devil. Maybe Slender Man can join in the next game.

[@Akechi_The_Phantom_Detective]

It worked for Yomawari. Hanako-san I imagine is a likely candidate.

[@mahananka]

I think they should lean into urban legends and internet creepy pastas, especially with a game like Soul Hackers 2 where your already dealing with the internet. If you incorporated an idea of belief affecting the strength of a demon, then something that has fallen out of public saturation could be just made weaker.

[@WhiteFangofWar]

@@mahananka Sounds a bit like what Persona 2 tried to do where you could deliberately spread rumors to affect certain things. Maybe online you could spread an ad campaign about a demon to temporarily strengthen it.

[@DragonHybryd]

That's not true at all, Aztec gods and myths alone is missing a minimum 15 and that's ignoring the rest of the Mezoamerican cultures. Edit: They could easily add more and I guarantee they're missing a ton more from all cultures.

[@stuartdunlop8834]

@@mahananka One of the SMT games has a bonus demon based on the chemtrail conspiracy theory, and I'd love to see more stuff ridiculing lunatics today.

[@carlmai5932]

"Has someone done that joke? Someone must have done that joke." That line compared with the animated facial expressions made me burst out laughing. Thank you.

[@nicklager1666]

I love the slow transformation Of Yahtzee into a anime fan that are crying on promnight when the store is out of cadbury eggs.

[@jacktwelve1710]

Why would you reference mighty number 9?

[@TheShadow7771]

He's even teetering on the precipice of the Abyss that is vtubers

[@drdca8263]

What?

[@ArcaneAzmadi]

Well he admitted to having been anime fan (albeit a very picky, elitist one) a long time ago, but he does seem to be showing an increasing addiction to Waifus lately.

[@cirmothe9]

He's tsuntsun right now but he'll be moemoekyun very soon.

[@GrenaGreystone]

I like the fact that he doesn’t just say what it’s missing in comparison to persona but compares and contrasts them both, that and he actually brings up smt, which is more than most reviewers do

[@explainer777]

Soul Hackers and Persona are uncomparable. They are really different

[@Pie_The_Man]

@@explainer777 Maybe if we were talking about literally any other Devil Summoner game, SH2 is absolutely comparable to Persona

[@explainer777]

@@Pie_The_Man care to elaborate?

[@Baba-yv6ml]

@@explainer777 Why should he? You didn't lol. Also Yahtzee already did the comparison in the video.

[@explainer777]

@@Baba-yv6ml ok, I will explain a little later, when I will have some free time

[@ArchusKanzaki]

I'm just fascinated that the more Atlus RPG Yahtzee going through, the more he became a Persona fans. I hope Persona 3 Portable released soon so Yahtzee can have excuse to go through that.

[@MFAniki6390]

Well considering he didn't seem too fond of Persona 4 Golden, I wouldn't get my hopes up for a positive review.

[@HolyGoddessMotherAnne]

Persona 3 Portable was alright.

[@yallidiotsneedtodrinksomew2937]

If he went for the original Persona 3, i think he would hate it.

[@lowhp_comic]

I wish he got to play the original FES, Portable suffers visual wise, it just becomes 100% visual novel in the story, rather than a visual novel of sorts but you can see the characters in 3d interacting

[@Canadiansamurai]

I know he's gonna say "Tartarus no not that one" and mention Hades!

[@Christoph5782]

I found the game quite enjoyable, though who knows how much of that was caused by having played the Saints Row Reboot before starting this game

[@MrDevious88]

Hell, doing your taxes is more enjoyable than the reboot.

[@calamitouscalamity7919]

Hey rotten meat sounds pretty good when all u have had to eat for the last month was actual shit.

[@NukeDaHippies]

I really enjoyed the game too. I think the best way to summerize Soul Hackers 2 is, It's a really good JRPG thats not for everyone. People would accuse this game of being mainstream, but it's not like that at all. It's as good as any other Atlus spin off game.

[@calamitouscalamity7919]

@@paultapping9510 good luck with that ive seen drug addicts with more self control the most gamers.

[@motozirillo]

Can we please a yahtzee squatting over a sprinkler emote?

[@RacingSnails64]

"Christ you're predictable!" That whole intro monologue was incredible, Yahtzee's extra testy today lol love it. "Scowling in disdain as it looks up from its Bible." Such a strange yet perfect analogy to convey something is cold and distant. The idea of the Bible being casual reading lmao. "Yeah I'm a New Testament guy. Call me basic but I really love the Book of Matthew."

[@repeekyraidcero]

I bet he comes up with these analogies while showering and or ruminating at night

[@casualbird7671]

Caused quite a laugh when the final gag of the episode continued into the credits

[@mph8200]

a minute in n this may be the pinnacle of Yahtz at HIIIIIIIIIIgh speed. Kudos Sir. Killer as always

[@EvilExcalibur]

Did we learn nothing from Kingdom Hearts 3? A decade of tease and denial isn't exactly the way to keep interest going

[@ovensmuggler5207]

Well, it was 7 years between P4 and 5 so it's probably going to be a while for P6, which is fine by me since I enjoy all of smt, but I can see why it would make new fans brought in by persona 5 mad since they wouldn't know about this

[@claudiocozzi4425]

Sometimes I wish Yahtzee was around when SMT4 came out, since it solves the "personality" problem of 5 with aesthetic and characters

[@WhiteFangofWar]

'Hoy!' -Walter

[@Akechi_The_Phantom_Detective]

Same, then he'd probably raise the pertinent question why the hell did Apocalypse get a physical release but SMT 4 itself didn't? Actually I should probably grab that while I can.

[@MrDevious88]

Dude's been making videos since 2008. It's just that Persona 5 was the first JRPG that he liked. I blame The World Ends with You for souring him on the genre as a whole.

[@fusiontide5078]

@@WhiteFangofWar "Most unlucky for you!"

[@prismal418]

Such is a Samurai Skill

[@nyarider9923]

Big problem for me going through the game is that man the demon variety isn't nearly as wide as in other games. Like I swear for every set of levels there's only 1 or 2 demons that are exclusive to fusion and then the rest of them you can just recruit anyway. And that makes all the time I spend trying to make the best demons I can to prepare feel a lot less impactful when I'm constantly fighting those exact same demons

[@babygorilla4233]

It's really rad that Yahtzee low-key kept the escapist going for a bit. But I do miss the days when ZP had it's own channel.

[@TheRoboKitty]

If Yahtzee thinks we're going to COMPLAIN about him comparing Soul Hackers to SMTV and P5, he clearly doesn't know Atlus very well

[@BlackfangDragon]

Yeah it’s generally believed health issues lead Kaneko Kazuma to make less demons with new games up until 2009, and now only does art for magazine covers or novels once every five years. He did an Oda Nobunaga like four years ago or so.

[@ArsonRaboot]

I find it funny how Yahtzee complains about wanting the next Persona announced right when Atluses final announcement is a peronsa concert with no new games.

[@Ragnarakk]

The monster roster is almost all based on actual mythological things so thats why they cant really change much.. i wouldnt be against ADDING stuff though

[@erwark]

Joker didn't just know how to walk properly. It's perhaps the best feeling running in any video game (with that soundtrack)

[@aohige]

Yahtzee, some of us do want sequels of old favorites instead of another Persona, and the first Soul Hackers was one of the best SMT spinoff ever made. Also, Atlus, THIS AIN'T IT. It has basically nothing to do with the original "Devil Summoner Soul Hackers" and has none of its charms.

[@AntiVectorTV]

Yahtzee's *"Yes, I will!"* is so annoyed, I love it.

[@ForrestFox626]

Can't say I blame him

[@adamkampen]

The last line in these videos always make me laugh

[@mms16]

yahtz hasn't failed to state he's raising a child in the latest videos and i feel this is some cry for help

[@Crossark1]

The reason ATLUS uses the same “ladder of monsters” is because they’ve basically included all of them at some point or another in the series history. Every now and again they return to one and give it a new design (see Isis and Lucifer’s designs in SMT V) but they’ve basically hit almost every nasty boy and urban legend you can possibly think of. Most of them are hard to place in a power ranking, and many of them share their fundamental design with a pre-existing sprite, so you may as well cull it down to the ones that work, then rotate a few in and out every time when they fit the themes or plot of the game.

[@baileyface54]

So basically, your answer is they use the same monsters because they use the same monsters? Any idea what the floor is made of?

[@Pie_The_Man]

@@baileyface54 imo the reason why is cuz of budgetary reasons ATLUS only became somewhat popular in the past 5 years or so, prior to that they absolutely did not have the funds to add a new 100 demon models every single game, so they had to reuse a lot of assets Yahtzee is wrong about ATLUS not adding new designs tho, ask any Megaten fan what they think of Masayuki Doi's demon designs in comparison to Kazuma Kanekos and you'll prolly get them to start spewing some of the most unhinged shit you've ever heard

[@logon-oe6un]

i feel like the SMT topics have a cap on how hard they can hit, if you know it all started from a YA novel about a twink programmer compiling a ritual to summon Satan to kill his bully, and then having to go on a quest to deal with the consequences.

[@ovensmuggler5207]

Don't forget, said twink (named Nakajima) is also the reincarnation of Izanagi, and he met a girl who's the reincarnation of izanami and that's where the name comes from

[@NymphieJP]

He's basically admitted to wanting to know when P6 is coming. What a guy!

[@ThorAxiun]

I only got about 7 hours of the game before deciding I probably will never pick it up again and paid like 70 bucks for it. Lost pretty big on this one and DNF Duel this year.

[@cereal_chick2515]

1:14 Didn't you have a second child, Yahtzee?

[@lowhp_comic]

_had_ 😞

[@Tyler-gg6xt]

actually, that summary did save me some time.

[@EvilPikachu]

Waiting for Atlus to announce Persona 6 is rookie shit. Waiting for them to announce HD remasters or even just ports to the Nintendo Switch Online N64 emulator for the two Snowboard Kids games, now THAT is a waiting game...

[@Akechi_The_Phantom_Detective]

Finally! Someone who speaks my language. I still own an N64 but I don't wanna pay 1K to play Snowboard Kids 2. If anything Atlus owes me money for making me play the DS game. SBK Snowboard Kids, WTF happened?

[@ovensmuggler5207]

What about waiting for a modern port of Jack Bros.?

[@MusicoftheDamned]

01:33 Somehow it's more horrifying to see Sinistar say "Senpai" with anime eyes than to see someone be casually informed that Mara is going to wear them like a hat.

[@jzpowell2108]

I am Sinistar, I hunger Yes yes, we all remember the terror this caused us at the arcade (or home if you bought Wlliam’s Greatest Arcade Hits for Sega) I now want to play Joust XD

[@DylanYoshi]

I feel like Yahtzee should give Live A Live a try, with it being a recently released RPG that very much goes against the norm of what RPG's are. Not in the sense that Persona does, but since it pays homage to so many different genres (westerns, Alien-style horror, Street Fighter 2, etc) he'd probably find something to like there compared to most RPG's.

[@LOLquendoTV]

He did, he said he couldnt get into it cause of the combat so he didnt review it

[@ovensmuggler5207]

Street Fighter 2 is my favourite videogame genre

[@GT3-787B]

Having completed the game, I can say I had a lot of fun with this game. It changes up the Atlus JRPG formula just enough that it makes it new and fun while keeping some familiar elements which doesn't make it too complicated to pick up and understand how to do well. The real shame is the day 1 DLC bullshit that Atlus insists on doing, they're basically skirting the 60 dollar/euro asking price with this kind of stuff, kind of like Ubisoft which isn't exactly a good example of consumer-friendly practices -.- Also, the DLC despite being overpriced, the Lost Numbers storyline isn't too bad and is fairly large as well, adds a lot of content and a tough superboss. Back to SH2, the story is actually pretty fun, it has the levity of a Persona game but since the characters are adults, the anime cringe factor is much lower, and thank god the english dub doesn't keep the sans and chans (thus reducing the anime cringe factor), so despite Yahtzee's opinion, if you like Atlus' style of JRPG, you might just like this one.

[@Ike_of_pyke]

0:39 not only a spin off of the smt franchise but a spin off OF THE EXACT SAME spin off, namely SMT IF..., Which was the first high school based game set in the modern day where things aren't YET destroyed but threatened with destruction and the first game to feature companion demons that manifest from the character's psyche AS WELL as the comp system, with persona of course taking the former and devil summoner focusing on the latter.

[@doihavetobeg]

Hearing Yahtzee say "waifu seduction" warms my heart

[@stevenclubb7718]

Like the Yakuza games, I like the familiarity that the same collection of demons and spells brings... although they definitely could do a better job of focusing on some new demons in the main campaign. Soul Hackers 2 has some charms, but it just doesn't have a sense of identity. It's just generic Atlasverse.

[@sirpsycactus]

i wish this trend of characters just being empty slots to put a class or moves on (barring a few minor skills or like a x1.04 stat difference) would knock it the fuck off, rpgs are more fun when you need to actually manage and design a team around your limitations and see how you can crack the game apart by cheesing those limitations. too little customization might make combat too rigid, but too much makes it so open that it's not fun because you're running against a system that most of the time doesn't have anything distinct to challenge you with because it has to account for every strategy possible and you get shit like xc3 where the answer is just 'make everything a damage sponge and use a bunch of aoe moves' which is just boring

[@NukeDaHippies]

I finished the game recently and really enjoyed the experience. The main cast interactions were always a treat, especially Ringos 1 on 1 with each in the soul matrix. Playing on hard I found the mechanics and fights got more complex and interesting over time. I got my ass handed to me quite alot. If you've played and liked atlus games other than P5 and SMT 5, you'll be pleased to find this game is reminiscent of those. Not as high budget, but still offering alot to like regardless.

[@DragonKingX78]

I enjoyed the game, do wish it had a higher budget, better dungeon design, and few mechanical changes/improvements. I do agree that demon negotiation should have been an option though I also like the idea of my demons getting other demons to join.

[@ATXnomad698]

The delivery of "yes, I will, fuck it" made me happy

[@staticshock4239]

Honestly the main reason I didn't have too much hope for this is for one reason: Soul Hackers 2 came out 8 months after Shin Megami Tensei 5 released. Heck it was announced 6 months before release. That is too fast for a new rpg in a franchise in my opinion. It would be different if it was a port or remaster of an older game.

[@ovensmuggler5207]

Fair point, personally I didn't have too much hope because I wasn't too big of a fan of the new style and was just hoping that they could at least capture the saturday morning cartoon charm the original had, I've yet got to play it so I'll probably see for myself if I ever see it discounted

[@averagejoe5145]

I'm not 100% sure of this, but Yahtzee probably would've hated the 1st Soul Hackers game on 3DS a LOT more. For one thing, the demons in the 1st game are a LOT more talkative when you give orders to them in that game & it's tied to an affection system IIRC! The demons have both actions they hate & actions they love which they'll let you know ALL about! They complain if you tell them to do something they hate, but obviously will be enthusiastic if you tell them to do something they love doing DURING EVERY COMBAT ENCOUNTER! The Soul Hackers game on 3DS is ALSO a port of an old PS1 game so that means there are plenty of random encounters in it too! If you're not into old school JRPG's like me, then you probably won't like THAT part! There was also a feature where you had to unlock some new demons from other game entries in the SMT franchise either by using Streetpass or by using "Play Coins" which (for those who don't know) were tied into the pedometer function on the 3DS! The game also DOESN'T tell you everything you need to know much like other games from the 90's so you either had to figure it out yourself or find a walkthrough. For example, there's a choice in an early story conversation that will dictate what magic & skills the main heroine gets in the game! If it were released today, there'd be (metaphorically speaking) bells & whistles to warn you of this choice but remember that this is a port of a game FROM THE 90's! I know some people (like myself) will like those retro vibes or just won't care either way about the retro vibes of the 1st Soul Hackers, but people who don't like classic JRPG's probably won't like the 1st Soul Hackers either. One more thing for those who are curious: From what I've heard, there's no real connection between Soul Hackers 1 & 2. The only thing they have in common is their cyberpunk aesthetic. That's it.

[@ovensmuggler5207]

I think that both Soul Hackers 1 and 2 are in the Devil Summoner (which includes the persona games, SMT if... And the Devil Summoner games) timeline and that's it

[@hawkemesa]

Wasn't soul hackers 1 the one with the mega fuckhuge last dungeon? I might be confusing it with strange journey.

[@averagejoe5145]

@@hawkemesa You could also be thinking of SMT IV: Apocalypse. I heard that a lot of people complained that the final dungeon in that game was WAY too long!

[@averagejoe5145]

@@ovensmuggler5207 I don't know if the canon might have been retconned or not, but I heard that "SMT If..." takes place in the Persona universe. I heard that the protagonists from "SMT If..." make cameo appearances in the 1st Persona game.

[@diegoguerra7603]

just to add a little bit more to the review, SH2 is insanely mediocre when compared with the first game, the first game way more unique music for all the dungeons and battles , a better story, better characters, better "cyberpunk" atmosphere (even the first Devil Summoner game is a better game), i really don't know what was atlus thinking about this game, people don't want Persona copies they want fresh new experiences...

[@kichiroumitsurugi4363]

Yea, I wouldn't call SH1 any better. SH2 had good ideas, but was too short to execute them, leaving a lot of loose ends. Admittedly dungeon design needs some work, but the battles are very much well balanced, especially the ones against summoners

[@nado1908]

Some trivia, Soul Hackers 2 has next to nothing to do with the first one. I don't know why either. Also the first one was part of the Devil Summoner series, an anthology series where each game shares the same setting but have little to do with each other. Devil Summoner is also canon with the Persona series but unlike Soul Hackers 2 play very differently, being more traditional dungeon crawler JRPGs.

[@FourLetterLWord]

Funny you say working the fusion charts out just the once and lifting between games, because for whatever weird reason every game actuay has a different fusion and arcana set up. And thats not meant to defend them because its really easy to not notice. But that just begs the question of why go to the trouble to change it at all then?

[@ovensmuggler5207]

I guess fusing would get stale for more experienced players and to balance around the demons available in the game, still weird though

[@scaper12123]

I just realized, Yahtzee is going through what Persona fans suffered when P5 was being developed, only Atlus are doing this to us before even announcing whatever the next game will be

[@MoonTiger88]

One huge fucking tip which I only learned about halfway through the game from a random post. Turn the loading screen tips off. Loads the game almost instanteniously while with the tips it took like 15 sec every.single.time.

[@auroraborealis4468]

As someone who absolutely adores SMT games and kind of likes Persona, this game is definitely the worst jrpg I've played in recent memory.

[@Penbin123]

I played it expecting something like the original SH with cool unique demons inspired on urban legends and weird dungeons where demons would lie to me instead I got this weird Persona wannabe game that kinda forgot why people like persona in the first place, what a shame.

[@AdeelTariq0]

Is this just the reviewers in general or does Yahtzee has a speciality for making every game sound boring and dull.

[@WodkaEclair]

not every game. he makes some games sound actively horrible!

[@ovensmuggler5207]

That is kind of his thing, I can't say much myself about the game but from what I've gathered it would seem it has bad dungeon design and could have been much better

[@HollowGolem]

It's kind of his schtick. He accentuates the negative in every review. VERY rarely is he positive.

[@chickensnipz]

Atlas should just release a collection of “Persona 1-4”, not making a cloning of their previous games. Not dry humping P5, I don’t own a newspaper to wack them…maybe toilet paper toss?

[@ZannacrossG1]

Sadly it does take a while between numbered Persona games...maybe after another fighting game and a dance game we will get Persona 6's announcement.

[@deanthomas9873]

Holy shit a reference to sin-estar, wasn't expecting that, but I appreciate it non the less.

[@LeahLovesNature]

At this rate, I think we can expect the title of Yahtzee's next book to be "The More JRPGs I Play, The More I Love Persona."

[@alwaysangry2232]

me having a brain explosion realizing how neat jack frost fit into Yathz gremlin helpers

[@Pallysilverstar]

Yeah, the randomness is why I stopped playing tensei 4. I also like to collect all the demons before progressing and in Tensei 4 you had to go through like 2 dialogue choices with 0 clues as to the right answer as the type of demon didn't make a difference as to which answer would be accetepted.

[@gamestarr4048]

What killed me was when you fight a bad guy who is stupid powerful in a subway to the point he can move so fast it looks like teleporting to the characters and Figue says “he’s too powerful we better run” cut to us at the hideout. How the fuck did you get away!!?? Show me, it makes no sense. Milady had a grenade, let the person who dies in that scene sacrifice themself to help you out, fucking anything mate!!! The dungeons are painfully lazy and all hangout events are in a single bar.. I was so let down by this game it hurts. If I have to send that owl through another vent while I get attacked repeatedly I’m going to eat my controller.

[@moooseman3]

Loved the Sinistar reference

[@EmperorSeth]

Silly Yahtzee, this delay is nothing. There was a whole eight year delay between Personas 4 and 5. Atlus has some time. Persona 5 only came out ... ...SIX YEARS AGO! Nevermind, announce some shit, Atlus! You have the fancy new engine now.

[@danielgrezda3339]

He played soul hackers 2 and not Xenoblade 3? He would have loved Xenoblade 3 much more than this game.

[@edwinpritom6336]

You are right all the way. Too bad Atlus still gets away with this. Truly, Atlus really got us fans by the collar. Also, Pixie or Satan, both use Megido-related skills, sooooooo, its a win for all.

[@AngryIrishBenjamin]

Funny thing is you don't really "fight and recruit" Personas in Persona 3 & 4, you get them in playing cards dropped after the battle.

[@noirscape_]

Tbh this game was very mechanically lackluster. They did away with Press Turn in favor of the Sabbath system, and it's just not very interesting. Even Soul Hackers 1 and Devil Summoner had more options available in place of what amounts to a cheap easy to fire All Out Attack. Very disappointing.

[@IAmTheBugInsideYou]

That's a shame :/

[@ovensmuggler5207]

Press turn is great, though they probably wanted something more unique for it, which in my opinion could've been something more reminiscent of og Soul Hackers (even though a lot of people would probably hate it even more like that)

[@NukeDaHippies]

It sounds like you haven't even played this game.

[@travisretriever7473]

You must be joking... *One websearch later* Nope. They actually did name her, "Milady." Holy fuck.

[@Akechi_The_Phantom_Detective]

Didn't they name Haru's persona that in P5 too?

[@Stasy89]

Not going to lie, it was very disconcerting to start the video and hear chill, lofi music instead of the blasting intro.

[@jeschoofs]

Atlus is going down the Assasin Creeds route of constantly releasing the same game in new flavors, and then being surprised people are burnt out of the series They aren’t even trying to do anything new, and if they do they have to make it a shin megami tensei ripoff and force in jrpgs mechanics

[@ovensmuggler5207]

I wouldn't exactly say rip off since they are spin offs, but I understand and agree to a certain extent

[@FoxTenson]

At first I thought the reviews were being dumb about the game, claiming 20 hours to beat and all that. Seeing many mention they didn't even bother with the soul matrix to gain needed abilities, no side quests, etc. The early dungeons felt like old school SMT but in third person so I was fine and thought the game was fine until I noticed they only have like, 4 dungeons sets. Shipping crates, building, subway, soul matrix. You revisit the same sets of boring dungeons multiple times and to get the true end you need to go through each character's soul matrix which later floors ALL devolve into SMT infamous teleport mazes over and over and over again that will randomly set you back an hour of blind maze stumbling and feels ten times longer than needed. Extremely frustrating and boring and the other dungeons feel the same way. I started falling asleep while playing and just wanting to get on with it. The story is super shallow and without the needlessly long dungeons you could get through it in an hour of reading at most as it has the depth of a kiddy pool. I still haven't finished it as I have to push myself and its a BORING slog now, I only play while watching streamers or youtube because at least I have some entertainment then. I've beaten games like paladin's quest and 7th saga so it says a lot that this game is making it hard for me to finish. It is a shame as it had potential, a bit more variety in the dungeons, shorter soul matrixes, puzzles that ARE NOT TELEPORT MAZES, and more demon variety and interaction could have made the game much better. Its a good 4/10 for me and I had originally thought it'd be like a 6 or 7.

[@ender7278]

Dungeons based on characters' internal psyche being subway themed is obviously a reference to The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet with the line "They're a long way away in the subways of your mind".

[@graysonmulder9529]

I like how he never mentions Soul Hackers 1 lol.

[@bluespaceman7937]

I didn't hate the game, but I can understand why some people might find it boring. In any case, I enjoyed my own time with it.

[@synicalfutilist4890]

Ringo's name would translate to Apple in English so it being based on aware ai may be closer to the bone than initially thought

[@ZombieChesseDip]

Yahtzee, you may not know this but it took persona five around five years and a console generation to come out. Even if they announce Persona six there’s no fucking way it comes out without being delayed for at least two years. Besides, they haven’t milked Persona five for all it’s worth yet. This is something you’ll have to get used to. The second Atlus finds something that gets mainstream appeal they’ll spin things off until there’s nothing left to spin. Hell, I’m pretty sure that’s how persona started.

[@Antichthon]

you have no idea how any of this works and it shows

[@NerotheGame]

The fixed roster of demons is because they're based off mythological figures, unlike Pokemon that just makes stuff up. I do think there are some prominent figures that haven't been adapted into SMT yet but I think the best they can really do is change the designs here and there.

[@GayBearBro2]

Honestly, sounds about right for the Soul Hackers series. I know Persona team is pretty much Shin Megami Tensei's A-Team, but I wish there was a touch more inventiveness and style in the other series. Seeing Soul Hackers revived makes me worried about Devil Summoner and Digital Devil Saga though. I'm more hopeful about Devil Survivor considering the underwhelming entity that is Digimon Survive.

[@noirscape_]

Ehhh it's not really their A-team. No offense, but both mechanically and in terms of thematic consistency Persona pales when it comes to mainline SMT. SMT4 kinda blows Persona 4/5 out of the water in basically every way except for character writing. SMT5 is also still mechanically superior to P5, but it's story is just criminally underwritten.

[@Khunkurisu]

@@noirscape_ if by mechanically superior you mean substantially less enjoyable you’re right. Something having more depth/complexity doesn’t make it superior, if the game mechanics aren’t fun.

[@noirscape_]

@@Khunkurisu *Hard* disagree. Persona's gameplay is very basic, doesn't go much beyond hitting the weaknesses, fusing demons close to your level and praying on the AI roulette. The games abbreviate a *lot* of deckbuilding elements that SMT offers (even this one) by just giving you prepacked decks to work with for your entire party except for the MC. With SMT, at a basic level you're asked to make sure your team lacks elemental weaknesses against the boss, that you can properly buff and debuff yourself and enemies alongside hitting the right weaknesses. In persona you're building a single team, in SMT you're constantly building your decks out for specific encounters and that is a ton of fun.

[@Khunkurisu]

@@noirscape_ Yes. That "abbreviated" design is what makes them more fun to most people. Simple mechanics can absolutely be better than complex ones, and in this case SMT's complexity is a detriment, not a strength.

[@SammyDrz]

​@@Khunkurisu I think you've overselling how abbreivated it is in Persona, both of you tbh. There is more to SMT in regards to party demons and you have to keep in mind what set of demons you have, mostly for managing coverage of various things you might need as well as what you're weak to. you still have to do that in Persona, just it's one character you have to worry about. I also just highly disagree that it's a detriment to SMT's design, it's literally built around it systems. And as someone who enjoys both, I think it's fine they have different focuses. Despite the one character though, a good Persona player is still going to make a team of demons, since MC has to be there at all times, you'll want different demons to swap yourself to for similar reasons. SMT just expects you to do it more often but that's part of why I enjoy both. I enjoy the emphasis on character and a protag surrounded by other characters of Persona and I enjoy the idea that I'm fusing various demons together to make a team of my own demons, it just feels nice sometimes having a good team setup of demons I like, with moves I picked out for everyone. Definitely gives the demons a more personal feel.

[@0mnil0rd]

Shoutout to Sinistar and the horrible noise he used to make when he was trying to eat you.

[@Raida7]

"Yes, I will. Fuck it.". Fantastic execution

[@ForrestFox626]

How I feel interacting with other Altus fans sometimes

[@nawf4372]

Man, the Persona spinoffs were already Atlus trying to move in on Digimon's audience with a more lighthearted affair, but with this there just ripping off the middle child of the Mon series whole cloth. (Technically the series ripped off Jojo's Bizarre Adventure first with its persona's and after 3 they started feeling like if Digimon had a more dedicated video game wing.)

[@TJGibson0]

I love that Yahtz has started putting in random bits about his personal life that he hasn't said publically before (AFAIK) into these newer ZPs. Like apparently he has a kid that's at least 18 months old.

[@gerardotejada2531]

I would love they port Shin Megami Tensei 4 into something other than 3DS. :( SMT is legenday for having inspired both Pokemon and Undertale.

[@KamikazeDreamer]

IGN said this game was held back by turn based combat, gave it a 7/10... Gotta love good old "too much water" IGN

[@LOLquendoTV]

I mean, unlike the turn based combat, the too much water was an entirely valid criticism. Hoenns 2nd half sucks because of it

[@lnsflare1]

"If I wanted tease and denial action, I'd-" **

[@personguy8839]

I wonder if he'll play the older games one day.

[@Pewafamath]

I remember seeing a stream of persona 5 and going, hey wait those are the demons from Orge Battle March of the black queen from the SNES. That is my entire Atlus exposure.

[@TheUndeadslayer221]

"incident with a slurpee machine" sounds more like someone mentioning having issues with the ice cream machine at McDonalds (comparison might have worked better).

[@hellspawnedhero1123]

1:00 to 1:12 yes! yes I'm almost certain that is the actual answer. at least that's my headcanon. It's a pain the ass trying to figure out the chart in play. imagine what a pain it is to actually make yourself

[@ForrestFox626]

I can see that happening

[@ICantSplel]

I wonder how Yahtzee feels being apart of possibly the worst fanbase in gaming. And I am a fan of Persona.

[@ForrestFox626]

It's hard being a fan sometimes

[@sonicjms]

The dungeon design is a bit unexpected until you realize that this is a sequel to Devil Summoner Soul Hackers in the sense too, that they took the old school style dungeon design they've more recently had in Etrian Odyssey and tried to modernize the formula.

[@GamerBKL]

Wonder how yahtz would feel about the original Soul Hackers, or Persona 2.

[@LOLquendoTV]

Havent played Soul Hackers but Innocent Sin has the worst gameplay of any RPG ive ever played. Tried 3 times to finish but couldnt do it in the end, it was ungodly tedious

[@morganrippke7413]

So, funny enough, the "randomly get a friendly demon to randomly get you a chance to recruit demons to get a random demon" can actually be honed with options. For starters, you can have a meal that increases the chance of demon recruits. Also, the more of a specific demon you fight, the more likely it is for that demon to be the one who joins. And there are ways you can "see" where those demons are so you can just fight those fights. Otherwise, yeah, it's somewhere between SMT V and Persona V and doesn't do enough of either to really stand out. It was a fun playthrough though. Hit me with 6 plot twists in rapid succession enough to cause mental whiplash.

[@ronanclark2129]

Before I watch the video: "A new Zero Punctuation! After: Did he smite this game already?