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Despite being announced just about two months ago, Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army has around two decades behind it.. Yet, when I got to play the preview build of the game, thanks to the team at Sega and Atlus, it felt very modern and in a good way. With an engaging narrative and groovy soundtrack, there’s a lot that fans of Shin Megami Tensei and Persona will find comforting with the game, even more so with how it changes the typical turn-based gameplay for something more akin to the Tales of series, resulting in something truly unique.
Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is a remastering of the 2006 PlayStation game, Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army. Part of the Devil Summoner subseries of Shin Megami Tensei, it was one of the first to use real-time action combat instead of turn-based like the others. While the original didn’t nail it the first go-round, Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon perfected the gameplay with changes to the many systems present, like Persona capturing and movement in battle. With Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army, all of the changes from the sequel have been added, as well as voice acting and visuals.
In the preview, I played through two chapters, which lasted around 2-3 hours, give or take. Within that time, it was clear that this was not Shin Megami Tensei or Persona: it was something different that, in this case, works in its favor. You’re instantly thrust into this Taisho era setting and left to your own investigations to build the world around you. It’s both overwhelming and exhilarating, which grew more and more as time went on. I did stick strictly to the story for my preview, but the temptation to pick up every case and solve whatever came my way was brutal.
You play as the Devil Summoner Raidou Kuzunoha XIV, who many may know from his guest appearance in Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster (but was replaced by Devil May Cry’s Dante in the Western release). As the Capitol’s protector and resident detective, Raidou is always on the move, solving cases and, of course, slaying Demons. As the character is silent, others do the talking for him, mostly his overseeing talking cat, Gouto-Douji. Despite that aspect, Raidou Remastered seems to balance the silly with the realism, despite being in a world full of demons and mysterious organizations, which I hope remains a constant in the full title.
The graphics, while improved from the PS2 classic, can still feel quite dated, especially given other remasters available on the market like Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance. Perhaps it’s due to the lighting, but a lot of the character models and some of the areas you’ll explore do look rather rough. However, it isn’t as big of a detractor as I thought it would be, given the gameplay and story. While I can’t go into detail regarding the latter, there were already plenty of twists and turns that reminded me of classic Sherlock Holmes/Agatha Christie, which I found rather neat. Not to mention the voice cast that brings these storylines to life, which does a rather good job.
Of course, what matters the most is the combat, which I can safely say is pretty entertaining. It is a tough switch from turn-based to real-time, but you’ll get used to it rather quickly. You still need to keep track of your resources and keep your Demons alive as they fight for you (and hit weaknesses) in battle, so not everything has changed. Regardless, being able to attack whenever and move however you want is quite nice, lining up with other games like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Visions of Mana. The bosses I went up against did put up a fight, especially with all the new mechanics being introduced fairly quickly. For some, it may be quite overwhelming, but I can see it getting easier over time.
When you aren’t slaying, you’re sleuthing. Using the power of deduction and a bit of help from Personas, you’ll find clues and unravel the mysteries you find yourself in. I did like that, in order to solve things, you need Demons of a certain class to use their abilities on people and areas. It encourages you to actively capture new Demons and think outside the box to figure things out. As mentioned before, they feel ripped right out of a classic detective novel, only a bit more supernatural. Either way, it’s something I very much enjoyed doing and diving into. I’d also be remiss to mention that the soundtrack makes everything fit so well, with the jazzy beats reminiscent of noir films that I really dug.
Even with the graphics being a bit dated, all of the new additions, including voice cast and battle system changes, are most welcome. It brings the RPG to life yet again, but in a way even those who played the original can enjoy it: as if it were the first time. While I’ve seemingly only scratched the surface of Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army, it already stands out as a hidden gem of the Shin Megami Tensei series. Given how Persona and SMT have seemingly always been turn-based, Raidou Remastered seems poised to showcase just how versatile the franchise can be, even if it’s bringing back a classic that, with the limelight it has now, can give it the attention it deserves.
