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Soul Hackers 2 Requests: Visual Guide & Quest Target Locations - Technobubble Gaming

A list of requests in soul hackers 2, including screenshots of where to find your various quest targets on the field..

Are you a show-me kind of guy? Then here’s a useful guide that shows the locations of the various requests in Soul Hackers 2.

In addition to telling you how and when to unlock quest, this Technobubble Gaming guide will also include screenshots of where to find request targets as well as the locations of special quest givers.

Soul Hackers 2 review: I see dead people (seriously)

This guide has all Requests from the campaign and will be regularly updated with images showing the locations of key NPCs and demons to fulfill them.

A New Hee-Home: Part 1

• Client: Frost Ichiro (East Shipping District)
• Reward: Lourdes Water
• Ideal Level: 4

This quest becomes available after first unlocking Requests at Club Cretaceous. Go to the East Shipping District (the dungeon where you fought R.S.) and you will see a Jack Frost near the entrance with a quest marker. He will ask you to get rid of 5 Tsuchigumo monsters , who his brother is apparently allergic to. Tsuchigumo can typically be found on the northern part of the map. This quest can be repeated every time you leave the dungeon and come back. This can also be done at the same time as the next two requests below.

Lady on the Mind

• Client: Teruya (Karakucho)
• Reward: 3,000 yen
• Ideal Level: 5

This quest also becomes available after unlocking Club Cretaceous for the first time. Accept the request from Madam Ginko and you will see a man in a white suit standing outside the club. Head to the East Shipping District and walk east through a long, narrow alley and you will find a female summoner in the southeast corner. Try to give the letter to her then head back to Teruya.

Merch Search

• Client: Yume (Karakucho)
• Reward: New items at De La Mancha
• Ideal Level: 6

This quest is another that’s available after first unlocking Requests at Club Cretaceous. Talk to Yume at De La Mancha and she will ask you to recover a lost item for her. Go to the East Shipping District dungeon and you will find a Human-faced Bird Demon on the eastern side of the middle part of the map. Defeat the monster and it will drop Yume’s lost Superhero Merch .

A Necklace, A Movie and Me

• Client: Mannequin
• Reward: New items at Zafiro boutique

This request is unlocked at Club Cretaceous along with the next two quests below after visiting The Axis area for the first time. Head to Zafiro to talk to Mannequin and he will ask you to find a certain necklace for him. Head to the Mansei Realm and talk to the Pompous Woman in front of the Yang Yang Palace and you will acquire Eliza’s Necklace.

Curiosity Shopper

• Client: Wyatt
• Reward: 10,000 yen

While you’re at the Mansei Realm, make sure you also talk to a guy in a trench coat named Wyatt. He will ask you to procure a Brightsoul for him. This can be acquired by going to the first floor of Arrow’s personal dungeon in The Axis. It will be found by one of your demons during your regular Recon so look for a demon with the telltale symbol for a unique item on their body. Return to Wyatt and hand over the Brightsoul.

Vengeance Claimed

• Client: Saki (Shinsando)
• Reward: 5,000 yen
• Ideal Level: 8

Head to Shinsando and talk to the female summoner Saki. She will tell you to hunt down a “Dark Summoner,” which is the term used to describe a summoner who has gone down the wrong path. Head to the East Shipping District after that and go to the western side of the map and you will find a summoner in a suit and glasses toward the middle by the storage area. Dark Summoner Rock is weak against physical attacks while his Jaki demon summon is weak against fire. Defeat him and report back to Saki.

Does Aion Dream of Electric Sheep?

• Client: Flamma (Axis)
• Reward: Tree of Life Leaf
• Ideal Level: Level 5

Solve the mystery behind Akira’s Bloody COMP. First, talk with Flamma to initiate the quest. Then head to Shinsando and talk to the Buzzed Man near Bar Heidrun.

Head to Mansei Realm and talk to the Sad Man dressed in a black hoodie to get Akira’s COMP.

Head back to Flamma and she’ll ask a couple of questions. I don’t think the answer matters but I picked “It’s human nature” and “I think so.”

You will then collect your reward.

Phantom of the Night

• Client: Masayoshi (Shinsando)
• Reward: Gas Mask
• Ideal Level: 9

Talk to professional jerk, er, detective Masayoshi just west of Bar Heidrun to find out about a mysterious case of people getting sick. Talk to various NPCs about the “Phantom of Miasma,” Some will have info and others will be clueless so the ones with actual information are:

The Scary Story Lover  (lady with the red shirt) just south of Masayoshi in Shinsando.

The Well-informed Woman in front of Breaking Mart at Karakucho. She will tell you that the Phantom can be found at the East Shipping District.

Beat the Mad Gasser in the northwest part of the East Shipping District and report back to the doof-, er, detective.

Money Makes the World Go Round

• Client: Lina (Mansei Realm)
• Reward: Revival Bead x2
• Ideal Level: 10

Talk to Lina at Yang Yang Palace in Mansei Realm after you’ve unlocked the Roppo Realm and she’ll ask you to deliver Red Full-Body Tights to some weirdo at the Central Line. You’ll find the guy wearing a white suit in the eastern part of the Middle Area.

The Gunsmith

• Client: Tatara (Mansei Realm)
• Reward: More upgrades at COMP Smith
• Ideal Level: 14

Talk to Tatara at the COMP Smith in Mansei Realm after you’ve unlocked the Roppo Realm and she will ask you to take part in a little experiment. Just go to the Central Line and beat 3 Qing Long with a Fire attack. The dragons can be found in the places like the Middle Area.

Academics Wanted

• Client: Kyuta (Roppo Realm)
• Reward: 6,000 yen

Pass Kyuta’s first quiz, which becomes available after you visit Roppo Realm for the first time. The answers are “Australia,” “Dweller beneath the butterbur,” and “Halphas.” Here’s the full list of questions.

• What is the current name of the country where the story of Night Mokoi originated? Answer: Australia
• What is the translated meaning of Jirae Koropokkur's name? Answer: Dweller beneath the butterbur
• Which demon is also known by the title "count of death and destruction?  Answer: Halphas

Mock the Invisible World

• Client: Victor (Roppo Realm)
• Reward: 50,000 yen
• Ideal Level: 17

Recruit or fuse a Koppa Tengu and give it to Victor.

A New Hee-Home: Part 2

• Client: Frost Jiro (Central Line)
• Reward: Life Stone x2
• Ideal Level: 11

Beat 5 Zhu Tun She.

The Wolf Who Cried Wolf

• Client: Makami (Central Line)
• Reward: 8,000 yen
• Ideal Level: 19

Beat the special Loa in the Central Line.

An Earring, A Memory, and Me

• Client: Mannequin (Shinsando)
• Reward: New items at Zafiro
• Ideal Level: 15

Acquire Eliza’s earrings from the Sullen Man at Roppo Realm. He’ll ask for 12,000 yen but you can haggle it down to 9,000 yen.

Mistiqal Maiden

• Client: ??? (Roppo Realm)
• Reward: Mistiques tradeable

Talk to the Mysterious Girl with an exclamation point outside of Victor’s circus in Roppo Realm.

Many Birds, One Stone

• Reward: 25,000 yen
• Ideal Level: 16

Talk to Saki at Shinsando and then beat 20 Zhen at the East Shipping District. The demons are weak to Gun attacks.

Close My Eyes and Think of You

• Client: Sakuro (Central Line)
• Reward: Chakra Drop
• Ideal Level: 18

Look for Sakuro at the Central Line dungeon. He’s inside the last room at the northeast part of the map. He’ll ask you to find his watch, which you can acquire via Demon Recon by talking to your demons in the Lower Area.

Accursed Creator

• Reward: 60,000 yen
• Ideal Level: 24

Recruit or fuse a Turbo Granny and give it to Victor.

Girl’s Night Out

• Reward: Mirror Pendant
• Ideal Level: 20

Go to the Breaking Mart and Ramen Stall in Karakucho after talking to Masayoshi then go to the Upper Area of the Central Line to find your target and wrap up the request.

A Christmas Memory

• Client: Ako (Shinsando)
• Reward: Heart Anklet

Talk to the lady in front of Zafiro then head to the bar and trigger a Hangout Event with Arrow. Chat with Arrow to talk about the memory then return to the client.

The Little Sister

• Client: Mei (Karakucho)
• Reward: 12,000 yen

Activate the request by talking to the client before the Breaking Mart and then head to the Central Line to find your target.

Raiders of the Lost Gift

• Reward: Lower prices at De La Mancha
• Ideal Level: 26

Talk to Yume then go to Subway Line 14 and track down the Night demon Lilim. Lilim is weak against ice, resists poison and immune to Lightning.

A New Hee-Home: Part 3

• Client: Frost Saburo (Subway Line 14)
• Reward: Frost Epitaph
• Ideal Level: 22

Beat 5 Shiisaa demons. Shiisaa are weak to fire and recover health from Lightning attacks.

Story of Your Love

• Reward: Mark of Cain
• Ideal Level: 25

Go to Karakucho and talk to the NPC near Club Cretaceous. Then talk to Chris at the East Shipping District and then go to Subway Line 14 and find Teruya. Return to Karakucho and then go to Axis to report to Flamma.

A Brooch, A Fresh Start, and Me

• Reward:  Lower prices at Zafiro
• Ideal Level: 30

Talk to Mannequin and then head to Karakucho to talk to an NPC and unlock the “Glory Days” request. Complete that quest and talk to Ed then Mannequin.

• Client: Ed (Karakucho)
• Reward: 30,000 yen

This gets unlocked after starting Mannequin’s brooch request. Talk to Ed then find the brooch via Demon Recon at Ozaki Hope Towers.

Deepest Mysteries of Creation

• Reward: 90,000 yen; 5% discount for summoning via Compendium
• Ideal Level: 31

Recruit or fuse an Apsaras and give it to Victor.

Master and Apprentice

• Reward: New COMP Smith upgrades
• Ideal Level: 34

Defeat 3 Quetzalcoatl demons with gunfire.

All's Fair in Love and Commerce

• Reward: Price drop for Yang Yang Palace

Deliver merchandise from Lina to two different clients at Subway Line 14.

• Ideal Level: 35

Talk to Saki to start the request then head to Mansei Realm and talk to Wyatt. Go to the Central Line and battle the target at the Upper Area.

Academics Wanted (Again)

• Reward: 24,000 yen
• Ideal Level: 38

Kyuta’s quiz has four questions this time around. The answers are Lilim, Sun Wukong, Brains, and Drink and Theater. Here are the questions:

• What is the name of the demon said to seduce men and born from demon Lilith? Answer: Lilim
• Nezha Taizi is the Chinese heroic god in the form of a young boy. Whom did he fight? Answer: Sun Wukong
• The Raptor Muu Shuwuu was supposedly a girl who never knew love. What is she known to drain from her victims? Answer: Brains
• What two things is the Greek god Dionysus associated with? Answer: Drink and Theater

Farewell, My Love

• Client: Mermaid (Ozaki Hope Towers)
• Reward: 80,000 yen

Head to Tower C to talk to Mermaid then talk to NPCs at Shinsando and Mansei Realm. Talk to the Mermaid again afterward.

Hopes, Dreams, and Aion

• Reward: Babel Shard
• Ideal Level: 46

Go to Tower C to find and defeat a Pazuzu. Talk to an NPC near the COMP Smith in Mansei Realm and go back to Flamma.

The Heartbreaker

• Client: Ash (Roppo Realm)
• Reward: Skull Ring

Go to Roppo Realm to talk to Ash. This will trigger a new Hangout Event at Bar Heidrun. Talk to Saizo then return to Ash.

A New Hee-Home: Part 4

• Client: Frost Shiro
• Reward: Frost Glyph x2
• Ideal Level: 36

Talk to the Jack Frost again, this time at Ozaki Hope Towers. It will ask you to beat 5 Orobas. The monster is weak against Ice and Ruin, resists Fire, Lightning and Gun damage and is immune to Force.

• Reward: 140,000 yen; 5% discount for summoning via Compendium
• Ideal Level: 45

Give Victor a Rakshasa demon.

Night of the Living Snowman

• Reward: 70,000 yen

After chatting with Masayoshi, talk to the Movie Lover in Karakucho, the Opportunistic Summoner in the Mansei Realm, and then head to Tower B of Ozaki Hope Towers to confront Black Frost.

Fatal Countdown

• Client: Akito (Karakucho)
• Reward: 100,000 yen
• Ideal Level: 40

After talking to Akito, head to Ozaki Hope Towers and talk to the NPC on 1F of Tower A. Find 3 time bombs via Demon Recon then talk to both NPCs.

Priceless Treasure

• Reward: New De La Mancha items for sale

Go to Ozaki Hope Tower after talking to Yume and head to Tower B. Talk to Yume’s brother Mirai and then find and battle an Orthrus. The demon is weak to Ice, resists Physical and Gun attacks, and absorbs Fire.

The Wolf Who Cried Wolf Again

• Client: Makami (West Shipping District)
• Reward: 75,000

This guy, again. Talk to it at the West Shipping District, then fight a Fenrir. Hit it with Ruin attacks to defeat it.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

• Reward: COMP upgrades require fewer materials
• Ideal Level: 49

Talk to Tatara and then look around the shop to learn some info. Beat 3 Vritra with an Almighty attack at the West Shipping District.

A Wintry Friend

• Client: Ichika (Komadori Orphanage)
• Reward: Acorn Earring

Talk to Ichika to unlock a new Hangout event at Bar Heidrun Talk to Milady and then talk to Ichika again.

A Woman of Many Faces

• Reward: New items for sale Yang Yang Palace
• Ideal Level: 50

Talk to Lina at Yang Yang palace then pick up an item at Sea Area 2F of the 24th Ward Municipal Tower. Go to Karakucho and give the item to the Unspoiled Boy in front of the Ramen Stall.

Vanity, Calamity, Humanity

• Client: Makiko (Karakucho)
• Reward: 200,000 yen

To fulfill Makiko’s request, you will need to go to the 24th Ward Municipal Tower and find a “Research Notebook.” This can be found via Demon Recon. If you find yourself stuck, this dungeon also has a puzzle involving a star-shaped demon called Decarabia. Just set the water flow upward when given the option.

Requiem for a G

• Client: R.S. Crewman (West Shipping District)
• Reward: Twisted Gold Chain
• Ideal Level: 58

Head to the West Shipping Dream and talk to a former crew member of Phantom Society’s R.S. You will then need to get rid of demons that spawn as part of the quest. 

Academics Wanted (Yes, Again)

• Reward: 180,000 yen
• Ideal Level: 59

Talk to Kyuta at the Roppo Realm and he will give you another quiz. You have to answer 5 questions this time with: Exousia, Decarabia, Fafnir, Black and white, and The Court of Osiris.

A New Hee-Home: Part 5

• Client: Frost Goro (24th Ward Municipal Tower)
• Reward: Amrita Drop

Defeat 5 Byakko white tigers.

Dark Night Rises

• Reward: Messenger’s Robe

Talk to Masayoshi and then talk to several NPCs at Shinsando and Karakucho. Then head to the 24th Ward Municipal Tower and interact with a Decarabia in the east section of the middle of the map and set the water flow upward to access the right path. Go through the path and get ready for a battle.

Up next: New Game+ requests

Jason Hidalgo covers business  and technology for the Reno Gazette Journal, and also reviews the latest video games. Follow him on Twitter @jasonhidalgo . Like this content?  Support local journalism with an  RGJ digital subscription .

Soul Hackers 2 - Academics Wanted Request Walkthrough

August 31, 2022 Golden Toast Soul Hackers 2 0

Academics Wanted Part 1 Request in Soul Hackers 2

A request walkthrough and guide for “Academics Wanted” in Soul Hackers 2 (SH 2) . Included are conditions on how to unlock the request, locations, enemies and bosses, side quest strategy, and clear rewards.

Soul Hackers 2 Request List

Academics Wanted Request Walkthrough

Other requests.

Club Cretaceous Requests

East Shipping District Requests

Central line requests, lost numbers dlc requests, aion directives requests.

Soul Matrix Sector 1F Requests

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Soul Hackers 2

Soul Hackers 2 has dazzling visuals and an…

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Soul hackers 2 has dazzling visuals and an outstanding story: review.

The classic Japanese role-playing game lives on in all its turn-based glory through Atlus, the company that gave us the Shin Megami Tensei franchise and Persona and the highly underrated Tokyo Mirage Sessions.

And now Atlus is back with another JRPG in Soul Hackers 2. And here, Atlus aims to evolve and streamline its classic JRPG formula. The resulting game play faster than you’re used to (once it gets going, of course), even though at times it almost feels too streamlined. Still, there’s plenty of fun to be had here, and the story holds your attention. This is also one of the most visually arresting JRPGs you’ll ever play, which only sweetens your enjoyment even more.

First, you have to get into the game, of course. And here, Atlus seems to take a step back. Before you even pick up the controller, you’ll sit through a lengthy cutscene, and then after you’ve barely taken a few steps into a warehousing area, there’s another cutscene. It feels like an eternity before you’re even playing the game, although the explication you learn in these early moments is also critical.

In broad strokes, an ultra-intelligent AI called Aion creates a human-looking construct known as Ringo, and another construct known as Figue. Both constructs must help save the world from the Iron Mask, who’s collecting five “covenants.” In Thanos-like fashion, the Iron Mask wants to collect those covenants so he can summon a Great One and destroy the world.

Give Atlus credit for laying all this out at the outset, since none of it is particularly surprising. The true magic of Soul Hackers’ storytelling comes instead in how Ringo interacts with eventual human teammates. Ringo isn’t human after all, but as the game goes on, Ringo (and Figue, another construct) learn more about what it means to be human, about emotions, and about how we humans deal with failure.

There’s subtle social commentary in here about many things, from how we dress ourselves to how we understand relationships, and it’s a treat to watch Ringo get to know Arrow and Milady early on. Both are brought back from the dead via Ringo’s ability to “hack” their souls, and eventually, this allows the story to muse about what it means to truly be “alive”.

It’s the blend of relationships and story that carry Soul Hackers 2, in part because certain portions of the game’s mechanics seem vanilla compared to what Atlus has delivered in the past. The Shin Megami Tensei games have largely revolved around characters “summoning” demons to aid them in battle, and Persona 5 elevated things by letting you really hone in on enemy weaknesses, earning chances to maintain control whenever you could do that (although enemies could do the same).

Much of that winds up heavily simplified in Soul Hackers 2. When you hit an enemy weakness, you stack an attack in what’s called the “Sabbath,” a moment after your turn where all your stacked attacks will hit your enemies. It’s visually dazzling, but lacks the impact of a Persona 5 brawl. It also never really evolves as the game wears on. Level design is similar. Areas are broad and boxy but don’t really leave you excited to explore; I definitely played this game in linear fashion.

But I was dazzled by the visuals and voice acting. Both in-game visuals and cutscenes seem stripped right from an anime, and the world has a distinct look. It’s part-cyberpunk, part-demonic, with a washed-out neon aesthetic that never gets old. You can get anywhere from 60-75 hours out of Soul Hackers 2, and you’ll never tire of looking at the action.

You won’t grow bored of the game, either, because of that terrific story, and the cutscenes that drive it. With Soul Hackers 2, Atlus is building on the success of Persona and Shin Megami Tensei, and further cementing its position as the dominant force in JRPGs.

4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed on Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5

Available on Xbox platforms, PlayStation platforms, and PC

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Soul Hackers 2 Review - Amateurs Hack Systems, Professionals Hack People

• First Released Aug 24, 2022 released

Soul Hackers 2 is a stylish, engaging JRPG with great characters, but dull dungeon design dampens the experience.

By Heidi Kemps on August 18, 2022 at 7:03AM PDT

From the very beginning, Soul Hackers 2 makes it clear that it's not interested in wasting time. Within the first two hours of starting up Atlus's latest JRPG, you'll have all of your main party members, know the focal points of the story, and have a grasp on almost all of the primary gameplay mechanics. It's a refreshing and stark contrast to the "slow-burn" kind of gameplay JRPGs are known for, and a very different approach than fans of the larger Shin Megami Tensei series might be used to. It's clear, then, that the goal of Soul Hackers 2 is to forge a new SMT subseries with a distinct approach to gameplay--a goal which it largely succeeds at.

In the future, mankind is stuck in a rut: Technological and social progress has stalled, and the human race faces a sort of global ennui. Beneath the outer fabric of society, however, groups of gifted humans who can communicate with the supernatural world work underground as "Devil Summoners." Some, like the Yatagarasu organization, aim to use their powers to protect humanity, while the nefarious Phantom Society aims for global destruction. In the middle of this conflict, Aion--a sentient AI born from the collective of networked digital knowledge--gives form to two physical "agents," Ringo and Fugue, sending them on a mission to rescue the world from certain destruction.

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Now Playing: Soul Hackers 2 — Twisted Fates Trailer

Soul Hackers 2, despite its name and numbering, bears only a few elements in common with the original Shin Megami Tensei: Soul Hackers, namely a cyberpunk-influenced worldview, a villainous group called the Phantom Society, a character belonging to the Kuzunoha family, and the concept of interacting with the souls of the dead through "hacking." Ringo and Fugue are dismayed to immediately discover that most of the folks Aion has tasked them with protecting are recently deceased, and so Ringo re-imbues them with life through the "Soul Hack." This intertwines their souls with her digital lifeforce and bonds her to them for the course of the game, both story- and gameplay-wise.

From the outset, Soul Hackers 2 oozes style. Ringo and her three primary companions--diligent and devoted Yatagarasu agent Arrow, Phantom Society femme fatale Milady, and the old-fashioned mob gangster-inspired freelance Devil Summoner Saizo--have striking character designs and personalities that make them immediately memorable and endearing. The main characters and primary NPCs are designed by famed Japanese manga artist and illustrator Shirow Miwa, who imbues the designs with a strikingly sharp, colorful style and grace that feels right at home in the neon-lit underground cyberpunk city they inhabit.

The slick feel of the visual design carries over into the fast and intuitive turn-based combat. Each character equips a summoned demon onto their COMP weapon, which determines their combat skillset and resistance/weakness array, similar to how the titular Personas work in that series. Rather than stunning or gaining extra turns when an enemy weakness is hit, you instead put one of your demons in the "stack." At the end of the player turn, the stacked demons perform a mass attack called a sabbath, doing additional damage and potentially activating other effects against all of the enemies on the field. While this new system does temper strategy somewhat compared to other SMT titles (there's no disadvantage to your party's weaknesses being hit beyond suffering extra damage), it does make combat move a lot more quickly. The series' staple gameplay element of demon negotiation has been moved outside of battle, and there's even a single-button shortcut to attack an enemy's known weakness to really streamline things.

It's clear that the goal of Soul Hackers 2 is to forge a new SMT subseries with a distinct approach to gameplay--a goal which it largely succeeds at.

That's not to say there's no strategy involved, however. Ringo has special Command Skills she can call upon to perform actions like change a party member's equipped demon or consolidate all stack damage onto a single target. Party members have unique skills and affinities that can be altered by upgrading their COMP weapon and equipping enhancement items called Mistiques. Finally, there are numerous combat enhancements that are unlocked by progressing through both the main and side narratives, all of which can help turn the tide of combat in your favor.

The progression of Soul Hackers 2 is divided into sequences advancing the main story and a myriad of optional side quests. The central macguffins of Soul Hackers 2 are the Covenants, a sort of life-energy that, when collected and consolidated, can call upon a Great One to remake the world. Much of the main story will be spent chasing these Covenants and their holders in straightforward dungeon/boss/story cinematic sequences. However, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that side quests and optional areas in Soul Hackers 2 are half of the game, and a player would be missing out on a lot of content by skipping them.

Ringo, now bound to the souls of her teammates, earns rapport with them in the form of points throughout the game. This happens not only through mandatory story events, but by completing optional missions taken at a club, chatting with party members at the bar over drinks, and eating food at the team's safehouse HQ. As Ringo's bonds with her teammates deepen, she opens up their "Soul Matrix"--a dungeon area representing their psyche that can be explored. The further into each member's Soul Matrix Ringo delves, the more helpful abilities for exploration and combat open up to her--not to mention the usual loot and experience you'd expect from dungeon-crawling.

But for a representation of a person's inner psyche, the Soul Matrix is visually underwhelming--it's mostly glowing cubes as far as the eye can see. This is a problem that persists throughout the dungeons of Soul Hackers 2 as, despite the game's amazing art design for characters, enemies, and city hangouts, the dungeons are painfully drab. All of the glitzy city streets and extravagant devil summoner hangouts give way to boring, dimly-lit mazes with little of visual interest. That wouldn't be so bad if they were fun to explore, but for the most part that's not the case.

Rewards are randomized in each dungeon--you send out your demon army to do recon, and when you encounter them you could get anything ranging from some cheap restoratives to a new ally to that key item you actually need to progress. As a result, the dungeons are designed to have certain spots where your demons might appear, usually in dead-end hallways or rooms. The lack of interesting design that invites players to explore and potentially discover secrets and rewards makes running around feel more tedious than it should, and even the addition of occasional puzzle elements (including everyone's favorite, the teleporter maze) doesn't help much. When compared to the incredibly designed palaces of Persona 5 or the apocalyptic wastelands of Shin Megami Tensei V--landscapes which speak untold stories through their visuals and structure--the weakness of Soul Hackers 2's dungeons are even more apparent.

Compounding this issue is the uneven difficulty. Because optional side quests are such a big part of Soul Hackers 2, the game can only guess what levels, skills, and demons you have at any given point. Numerous upgrades and areas are story-locked, but even so, players can get a lot of extra levels and skills under their belt by diligently completing side quests and Soul Matrices as they pop up. As a result, you frequently feel either overleveled (by having done too much outside the main story) or underpowered (by having done too little). It never hits that satisfying sweet spot of feeling "just right" in terms of challenge. Even the bosses, which are expected to be significant difficulty spikes, can suffer the effects of this to a degree. My experience was on the default (Normal) difficulty, so if you want a persistent challenge, you may want to up the settings.

Taken as a whole, however, Soul Hackers 2 is a mostly satisfying experience. The character interactions and stylish art help it stand out from the pack, and the smooth-flowing, fast-paced combat makes even some of the more annoying dungeons (I don't want to see another abandoned subway for a very long time) feel like less of a drag. Soul Hackers, as a series, has a lot of potential to further grow into its own unique experience the way Persona has. Soul Hackers 2, despite its flaws, is a very promising start.

• Leave Blank
• Stylish, intriguing setting with slickly designed, likable characters
• Fast-paced, turn-driven combat with an excellent sense of flow
• Cool character designs
• Dungeons are dull from both an aesthetic and design standpoint
• The difficulty balance always feels somewhat off

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Soul Hackers 2 review: stylish JRPG tells more than it shows

“Soul Hackers 2 innovates when it comes to RPG gameplay, but its story is a step down compared to Atlus' recent hits.”

• Innovates on SMT formula
• Satisfying turn economy and strategy
• Easy to recruit demons
• Progression makes battles worthwhile
• Story moves too fast
• Superficial hangout interactions
• Emotional beats fall flat
• Forgettable sideuests

I found my third dead body about five hours into Soul Hackers 2 . After 30 hours, I’ll find out that corpses and plot twists are nothing to be surprised about.

Same but different formula

More showing, less telling, a technical afterthought.

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Aion, the supercomputer version of God, foresees the end of the world. It creates Ringo and Figue, two humanoid representations of its consciousness, to stop this impending apocalypse. Unfortunately, they arrive too late to save their targets: genius scientist Ichiro Ondo and demon summoner Arrow. That’s where the game’s titular Soul Hacking comes in. Bring back the soul and apparently the body revives with it. Ringo ends up reviving three people who agree to fight together for the sake of their own goals. Who’ll really win in the end, though?

Soul Hackers 2 seems like it has everything it needs to succeed as a JRPG filled with sci-fi intrigue. However, it speeds past the stakes and character arcs in service of an anticlimactic race to the finish. Thankfully, its finely crafted turn-based combat and progression make an otherwise stale story easy to digest.

Like other Atlus JRPGs, Soul Hackers 2 duplicates the Shin Megami Tensei formula while meaningfully building on it. Recruit demons, fight with them, and fuse them into stronger allies. Once in battle, players need to carefully use type advantages and turn economy to wipe enemies out as quickly as possible or survive a brutal battle. One misstep can be the difference between getting bodied by a full team of demons or knocking them all out with a multi-hit finishing move.

Soul Hackers 2 has a knack for making every action feel like it’s worth something.

Soul Hackers 2 uses this same formula to an extent with notable iteration. It brings back the Shin Megami Tensei mechanic where the demons can be fused together to create ones with higher stats compared to ones pulled straight from the Compendium. It also lets you level up at a reasonable pace so that you don’t need to grind forever, with enough new abilities and demons to keep you moving forward.

Another perk? Fighting demons helps you level up and collect drops for trading. You can meaningfully upgrade your COMP with stat boosts and passive perks (aka your weapons) using enemy drops or items your demons find from exploring. Some drops are also meant to be traded for healing items and powerups, so resource collecting is a highly rewarding experience with multiple purposes.

Soul Hackers 2 has a knack for making every action feel like it’s worth something. Shin Megami Tensei spinoffs typically involve exploiting enemy weaknesses to appeal to the turn economy. In this case, you gain “Stacks” each time you hit an enemy weakness. Ringo releases these stacks in a “Sabbath” at the end of each turn for additional damage. Some demons even have their own “bonuses” that activate during these Sabbaths. One might poison all enemies, while another may grant the party a bit of health. It’s easy to stack the turns in your favor, as if you’re doing the RPG equivalent of couponing, and have a consistently satisfying time building out the perfect party composition.

Now, if only the story impressed me as much as the gameplay.

My English professors used to stress “show not tell.” Unfortunately, Soul Hackers 2 does a lot of telling and not much showing. I stand by my preview , where I wrote that the story quickly lost its shock value after the first three deaths. I get it. Aion beings can bring people back to life with soul-hacking superpowers and everyone has a problem with their ex.

Soul Hackers 2 moves fast. It dives into the memories and regrets of Arrow, Milady, and Saizo early in the plot. To some extent, Soul Hackers 2 tells the story of three Demon Summoners who came back to life to address their regrets and save the world. It doesn’t meaningfully weave the threads together, though. The three heroes convincingly react to their nemeses eventually, but the buildup to that moment is missing. In fact, some of their motives are hidden behind plot twists later in the story. The reasons for keeping these intimate moments outside of the main plot make sense in context, but that means that you’ll have to be in for the long haul as you wade through lackluster plot and character development.

I always felt like a bystander rather than someone who was in the moment myself.

Some of it could even be due to having Ringo as the protagonist. To be clear, I like Ringo as a hero. Her spunk and sense of humor carried otherwise stale conversations. However, she’s also essentially a newborn.

Soul Hackers 2 tackles what it means to be human and what Ringo and Figue learn from their passionate allies. Ringo as the protagonist just feels like a waste when Arrow, Milady, and Saizo have such complex backstories that we only feel in the third person. I always felt like a bystander rather than someone who was in the moment myself.

Soul Hackers 2 paces its combat perfectly, even if it moves too fast to savor the story. However, there are other moving parts that could have used some work.

Areas like the Axis and Club Courteous offer sidequests to fulfill, but they’re never anything more than fetch quests, which feel like a waste of time. Some of them have valuable items that make it worth it, but most of the time, it’s easier to pretend they don’t exist. I also found it easy to ignore the Soul Matrix, which the game reminds you to visit every other time you visit the Safehouse. Exploring it will give your party members valuable passive perks the more you raise your social bond with them, but you’ll have to return to a bland, repetitive dungeon over and over to do so.

Most of the controls work fine enough, but there are some quirks that bugged me. It’s a bit of a hassle to adjust the camera while running, and it tends to follow Ringo a little too closely. I also noticed a lag with Ringo’s slash, an attack that can be used while exploring to stun enemies before a random encounter. You’ll sometimes get caught in battle even if you technically “hit” the enemy as the game registers that you’ve walked into them and initiates the fight. I found myself having to time my slash early to make it hit when I wanted, which made gameplay feel a little unnatural at times.

These aren’t deal-breakers compared to the bigger picture. However, they start to add up when the only positives are the gameplay and progression.

Soul Hackers 2 is like the middle sibling of the Shin Megami Tensei family. It doesn’t have the dark fantasy legacy of the series its spun off from or the same high school hijinks as the Persona series . Instead, it’s a perfectly fun, if inoffensive comeback game for a long-dormant IP. However, it doesn’t feel like it’ll have the same staying power as some of Atlus’ recent hits. Its emotional moments didn’t land as hard because of a lacking narrative that tells more than it shows. It innovates on some parts of the SMT formula with strong RPG systems and progression, but it isn’t enough to make it another must-play.

Is there a better alternative?

Persona 5 Royal is a lengthier and more entertaining game with similar RPG systems. If you’ve already played that, there’s also Persona 4, Shin Megami Tensei 5 , or the recently remastered Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne . They’ll scratch the itch for a compelling story better.

How long will it take?

Soul Hackers 2 is relatively short compared to Atlus’ other works. It took me between 30 and 40 hours to finish.

Should you buy it?

Yes. It’s a soft recommendation for Shin Megami Tensei fans, though If you’re new to Atlus games, it’s not a great starting point.

Soul Hackers 2 was reviewed on a PlayStation 4.

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Sony finally announced that the PlayStation VR2 will release on February 22, 2023. It'll cost notably more than its predecessor, with base models retailing for $550. In a PlayStation Blog post, Sony confirmed that preorders for the VR headset in North America will begin on November 15 on the PlayStation Direct website. Players will have the option to purchase the basic version for $550, a bundle with Horizon Call of the Mountain for $600, and a $50 charging station for the PlayStation VR2's Sense controllers. 

First announced in February 2021, Sony has since slowly rolled out details about its next-generation VR headset and revealed some games for it. Information like the release date and price remained a mystery until today, though. Now, not only do we know when to expect the title and how much it will cost, but we learned about even more games coming to PlayStation VR2.  A separate PlayStation Blog post announced new games and ports coming to the platforms. These include The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR by Supermassive Game, Crossfire: Sierra Squad by Smilgate, The Light Brigade by Funktronic Labs, Cities VR - Enhanced Edition by Fast Travel Games, Cosmonious High by Owlchemy Labs, Hello Neighbor: Search and Rescue by tinyBuild Games, Jurassic World Aftermath Collection by Coatsink, Pistol Whip VR by Cloudhead Games, Zenith: The Last City by Ramen VR, After the Fall by Vertigo Games, and Tentacular by Firepunchd Games. Specific release dates for those games weren't shared, but considering that Tentacular, Zenith: The Last City, Hello Neighbor: Search and Rescue, Cosmonious High, Cities VR, and The Light Brigade will be available for preorder starting on November 15, it's likely that those games will come out around the PlayStation VR2's launch. The PlayStation VR2 launches on February 22, 2023.

Shin Megami Tensei is a series that may have more spinoff games than any other. There's the core series, of course, but even that has been overshadowed by the Persona games. Of the other series, such as the Devil Summoner and Devil Survivor series, one of the more unique games that only saw one entry in 1997 was Soul Hackers. Unlike the other SMT games and spinoffs, this series went more in the sci-fi and cyberpunk directions rather than modern or historical settings while still keeping the core devil summoning gameplay.

Soul Hackers 2 coming so long after the original and with so much innovation and newfound popularity for Atlus JRPGs thanks to Persona may cause some confusion for those expecting something similar to those games. Yes, many mechanics and systems will look familiar, however, Soul Hackers 2 isn't just Persona with a neon aesthetic. While some things have been simplified, others are made a bit more obscure or function differently than they do in other games. Hack in to these tips and tricks before starting your quest to save the world in Soul Hackers 2.

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PlayStation France was the first to post on Twitter that the VR headset will debut next year, tweeting a picture of the hardware and its controllers with a caption that translates to "available early 2023." Shortly thereafter, the PlayStation UK Twitter account and PlayStation Instagram account also shared the image with a caption saying "coming early 2023." As such, it's safe to assume that this isn't just a fluke from a single social media account. While we now have a more specific release window for PlayStation VR2, no specific date was announced.

Soul Hackers 2

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Soul Hackers 2 is the sequel to Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers , both part of the Devil Summoner series. The game was developed by Atlus Co., Ltd. .

The game was officially announced in February 21, 2021 as a 25 year anniversary of the first Soul Hackers released on the Sega Saturn . The game was released on February 2nd, 2024 for PlayStation 4 , PlayStation 5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X/S and Microsoft Windows via Steam and the Microsoft Store. It was also available on Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass subscription service on February 28th, 2023 before its removal 1 year later on February 24th, 2024.

• 2.1 Playable
• 2.2 Supporting
• 3.1 Combat and Equipment
• 3.2 Dungeons and Navigation
• 3.3 Social and Hub
• 4 Downloadable Content
• 5.1 In Japan
• 5.2 In the West
• 6.1 Promotion
• 7.1 Artwork
• 7.2 Screenshots
• 7.3 Wallpapers
• 8.1 Trailers
• 8.2 Character Trailers
• 8.3 Summoners Guide
• 8.4 Streams & Gameplay
• 8.5 Information gathering sequences
• 9 In Other Languages
• 11 External Links
• 12 References

Soul Hackers 2 is set in the near-future where humans and demons coexist in secret, with some humans able to form pacts with demons to become Devil Summoners . The Devil Summoners are mostly split between two main factions, Yatagarasu and the Phantom Society , who hold clashing ideological views on humanity's progress.

A world-ending catastrophe brought by a being called the Great One is predicted by the previously-neutral Aion, a higher artificial intelligence that emerged within cyberspace. Aion manifests two parts of themself, Ringo and Figue , to enter the human world and save certain humans determined to be key to preventing the Great One's arrival. The individuals are Arrow , a Yatagarasu agent, and Ichiro Onda , a renowned genius and innovator in the technological industry.

Upon investigating their two targets, they discover both to be already dead. To prevent the guaranteed end of the world, Ringo performs a Soul Hack on Arrow and revives him with his cooperation. She will later revive Milady , a Phantom Society Summoner and lover of the Iron Mask , leader of Project "C"; and Saizo , a freelance summoner whose Phantom Society lover Ash becomes involved in his murder. The primary reason for the upcoming apocalypse is the Iron Mask's search for the five Covenants , five magical beings housed inside humans which act as symbols of an ancient pact with the Great One. Milady and Saizo were both assassinated for their Covenants, although Ringo and Arrow's intervention in Milady's dead preserved the safety of her Covenant, which transferred itself unto Figue. Iron Mask already bearer of a Covenant of his own would collect Ichiro Onda's.

The group investigates the other bearer of a Covenant, Mangetsu Kuzunoha , a man that went into hiding. Upon investigating his several hiding places, they discover that he's been tracking Arrow's moves to an uncanny extent. When they reach to him, it's too late, as Iron Mask has already disposed of his body to ensure he cannot be revived, and would have Zenon , an artificial demon, be both the bearer of the Covenants as well as protect them and Iron Mask. Unable to break through Zenon's defenses, the party backs out.

Upon investigating Zenon, they learn that as an artificial demon, his power weakens on New Moons, and with discovering Iron Mask's new hiding place, they plan on ambushing him several days later on a New Moon, only to be caught off-guard and captured by Iron Mask. With Ringo hostage, Iron Mask pressures Figue to give up her last Covenant. Figue, however, sends out a dummy version of herself with the Covenant infected with a virus, leaving Zenon vulnerable. They manage to take down Zenon, but Iron Mask escapes with the remaining Covenants with the exception of Mangetsu's, which disappears. Figue explained that Mangetsu was carrying a fake Covenant he developed while sealing the real one inside Arrow's, making it impossible to be spotted but at the cost of muddling his memories.

Soul Hackers 2 - Final Boss & True Ending -HARD-

The Covenant is unsealed within Arrow, giving him the ability to see that Raven has the others, exposing him as the false Iron Mask and mastermind behind the Great One's summoning. Transferring Arrow's Covenant to Figue, the group then stop Milady from attacking the orphanage in revenge for Iron Mask's death, then they end up in a final duel at the city docks. Despite Figue's plea, Raven fights to the death, having been broken by the constant fighting between Yatagarasu and the Phantom Society and seeing no other way but the Great One to end it. A devastated Figue takes the other Covenants and decides to use their power to enact a humanity-wide Soul Hack to remove the will for conflict, causing Aion to shut down as her will begins influencing it. In the normal ending, Figue fades away after the group defeat her, and Ringo is left the only Aion agent remaining, vowing to observe humanity and report to Aion when it returns, while the summoners part ways. If all Soul Matrix quests are completed, Ringo can perform a Soul Hack on Figue, rescuing her with help from Raven's spirit. In this ending, the summoners agree to help end the fighting somehow from within their groups, and Ringo and Figue restore Aion who then decides to reveal themself to humanity.

Characters [ ]

Playable [ ].

The story stars outlaws living in the underworld faced against the end of the world.

• Ringo : One of Aion 's agents. Newborn being that has a strong curiosity about society, culture and human emotions.
• Figue : One of Aion's agents, born simultaneously with Ringo. She is cool, composed and thoughtful. She does not participate directly in battle, but is responsible for analysis and support. She operates an owl-shaped drone called Mimi .
• Arrow : A Devil Summoner belonging to Yatagarasu . One of the "protected objects" detected by Aion. A young man who is usually quiet, straightforward and calm, but has strong morals.
• Milady : A Devil Summoner belonging to the Phantom Society . Logical in her decision making, which might make her heartless. This has been influenced by past experiences.
• Saizo : A free Devil Summoner. A romantic and a man capable of reading the air. He often butts into and settles Arrow and Milady's fights.

Supporting [ ]

• Flamma : A mysterious being that has been born to support Ringo and Figue. She only appears via voice.
• Iron Mask : A mysterious man of the Phantom Society and the leader of Project "C."
• Zenon : An artificial demon created by the Iron Mask.
• Ichiro Onda : A talented engineer who has been gifted with the Red Covenant . He would recently finish a project called the "Vanishing System," before getting killed by the Iron Mask and Zenon.
• Raven : A veteran Yatagarasu member and Arrow's master that would retire, and is now working at an orphanage.
• Kaburagi : A man of the Phantom Society with a strong sense of justice. His mission is to kill Arrow, although the two have been acquainted in the past.
• R.S. : The man that assassinated Milady. Eccentric and outrageous, he expresses himself through rap.
• Ash : A Devil Summoner of Phantom Society. She was romantically involved with Saizo, but they broke up. She later helped in killing him, but apparently it was unintentional.
• Victor : A suspicious circus ringmaster at Cirque du Goumaden . He seems to be doing research to uncover the secrets of life through fusing demons.
• Madame Ginko : A bewitching woman in charge of Club Cretaceous , the hub for requests . She is calm, intelligent and responsible.
• Yume : A high-school student and a part-timer at De La Mancha , a general store for items.
• Lina : A merchant at Yang Yang Palace , a store frequented by Devil Summoners that trades materials for rare magical items.
• Tatara : Runs the COMP Smith facility and can be had to modify the party's COMPs.
• Mannequin : Runs Zafiro and sells accessories for combat.
• Hughes : Runs Bar Heidrun , a spot where Ringo and her allies can spend time together through Hangout Events .

Gameplay [ ]

Combat and equipment [ ].

Combat. The silhouettes of several demons can be seen looming in the background, likely indicating their preparation for Sabbath.

Combat takes inspiration from the Persona series, emphasizing on exploiting weaknesses . Stacking weaknesses will unlock a special technique called " Sabbath ," a stylized name for an All-out Attack , allowing Ringo 's demons to strike the enemies. [7]

The 4 party members are able to equip a demon, which serves as an upgrade to their stats and lets them use their skills. Under normal circumstances, they can re-equip a demon mid-battle, but it'll take them a turn to do so. Demons may also be fused at Goumaden to produce stronger demons, with the system allowing to filter demons according to certain properties as well as recommend demon fusions.

Customizing Arrow's COMP

The party members' COMPs can be customized at a COMP Smith, allowing them to enhance their devices with special effects, assuming that they have the materials and the respective fee required for the upgrade. They might also be upgraded with Mistiques , items that can be equipped onto the COMPs to grant special effects, such as boosting the damage dealt by a specific element.

Additionally, these COMPs also have additional properties, such as "mistique adaptation," which is separated against all elements on the affinity chart, as well as miscellaneous skill types, such as Recovery and Support .

The affinity chart of the game is simplified, only featuring Fire , Ice , Electricity , Force and Ruin , as well as Almighty . Physical skills are also paired with Gunfire . Ruin skills in particular are able to deal damage while simultaneously afflicting certain ailments.

Aside from the elements, there are different forms of skills that activate in certain aspects of battle: Commander skills have a cooldown period but cost neither MP or a party member's turn to use. Tandem skills are demon-oriented skills where 1 may be activated during a Sabbath.

Dungeons and Navigation [ ]

Ringo slashing and attacking a vulnerable enemy symbol.

Enemy symbols in dungeons trigger combat when interacted with. Ringo may slash them and knock them down, giving the option of either attacking them for a bonus attack or avoiding them altogether. On the other hand, if the enemy symbols catch up to Ringo, the enemy might go first in combat. Enemy symbols spawn randomly, sometimes right in front of Ringo. The dungeons themselves have a pre-determined layout.

Ringo can also have her demon allies do Demon Recon by sending them to scout the area. Finding them and interacting with them may have the demon give them money or items they've found, and even other demons that they can forge contracts with to join her.

One side dungeon is the Soul Matrix , which looks deeper into the past events of Ringo's allies, and is divided into 3 sectors for each character. The areas will be blocked off at certain points, opening up as the game progresses.

Social and Hub [ ]

Ringo spending time with Arrow at Bar Heidrun.

The game also has social mechanics, where Ringo can spend time with her allies and increase their Soul Level : raising each party member's enough will open deeper parts of the Soul Matrix, hence unlocking Summoner Skills , which grant stat boosts and other bonuses in battle.

Meals can also be bought and fed to the party before dungeons, which can strengthen their performance depending on how much each individual ally likes the food.

At Club Cretaceous , Ringo may take on requests which will yield various rewards when completed.

Downloadable Content [ ]

Purchasable DLC includes: [8]

• Additional story arc: "Lost Numbers," featuring the character Nana ;
• Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers costume DLC, which adds "Opening Music" as a battle BGM;
• Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha costume DLC, which adds "Battle -Raidou- 2008" as a battle BGM;
• Persona 5 Shujin Academy costume DLC, which adds " Last Surprise " as a battle BGM;
• Persona 4 Yasogami High School costume DLC, which adds " Reach Out To The Truth " as a battle BGM;
• Shin Megami Tensei IV Samurai costume DLC, which adds "Battle A2" as a battle BGM;
• A swimsuit costume DLC;
• 8 DLC demons: Mara , Masakado , Anahita , Zaou-Gongen , Tzitzimitl , Armaiti . Satan and Nemissa ;
• DLC that makes it easier to earn EXP, as well as money and incense;
• Ai-ho demo DLC;
• Mary 's maid outfit DLC (for Ringo);
• Very Hard difficulty (Free DLC.)

In addition, as a pre-order bonus (which in the West is digital-only [9] ), users gain access to custom outfits of several characters from Persona 5 , particularly the protagonist , Ryuji Sakamoto , Ann Takamaki and Goro Akechi , can be equipped: [7]

• Phantom Suit for Ringo;
• Pirate Armor for Arrow;
• Red Latex Suit for Milady;
• Prince Suit for Saizo;

It also allows to change the battle music to "Keeper of Lust" from the same game, and includes an accessory that increases the Critical rate of the user's Gunfire attacks.

Limited Editions [ ]

In japan [ ].

In Japan, the "first" limited edition celebrates the 25th anniversary of Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers :

• Includes the game (for PS4 and PS5 only);
• An Ai-ho figure (8cm [10] );
• Aihoo-kun DLC;
• Soul Hackers 25th Anniversary book (100 pages, includes " Soul Hackers Visual Story ," staff interviews, setting materials, etc. [10] );
• Soul Hackers 25th Anniversary Music Album (3 CDs, 30 songs total; 20 arrangements of Soul Hackers songs & 10 soul jazz-style arrangements of previous and current songs [10] )
• Special costume DLC ( Mary -style maid clothes for Ringo [10] )

In the West [ ]

The western collector's edition includes:

• Ai-Ho figure (same as JP edition);
• Steelbook case;
• Mimi plushie;
• Pin collection;
• USB soundtrack;
• Shark keychain (Based on the one attached on Saizo's COMP);
• Branded box;
• Character art cards.

A Launch edition version of the game only includes the premium character cards. [9]

Development [ ]

During a post-announcement interview, Ishida remarked that they decided to develop Soul Hackers 2 primarily due to fan requests for a sequel of Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers , but his own reason for planning the title was that he found the inclusion of science fiction elements in the original to be quite sharp for games among the Shin Megami Tensei series. He thought he could replicate the feeling of the original by making use of themes, such as technology, people, the occult as well as the relationship between those elements. But in spite of fan request, Ishida worried that said original entry might have been forgotten, since it came out 25 years prior, and even the DS remaster came 10 years ago. [11]

On the title and why it omits mention of Devil Summoner , Hirata explains there are various reasons for the choice, one being that the theme revolves around technology, but he also wants to bring the name " Soul Hackers " to the front. [11]

On the themes of the game, where the first focused around a network, the second would revolve around the existence of Aion, which is created from accumulation of information. Soul Hackers 2 instead observes people, depicting "what a human being is" from the viewpoint of technology. [11] Another topic the game covers is the problem of "mutual understanding," where although people might have completely different and even contradictory ideas, if there's even a little in common, they can create something based on that. [12]

Ishida and Hirata both worked as directors and producers, co-operating in the process. Ishida explains one of the reasons for that is that the evolution of game consoles has increased the scale of development for each game, making it difficult for one person to take the initiative. From their time on Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE , the saying "if you want to develop a big title, let's do it together" was since used as the basis of their plan to work together. As collaborating directors, Ishida is primarily in change of the worldview of the game, while Hirata observes the system side, and they both use their roles as producers to view the big picture. [11]

Ringo was initially not designed to be a protagonist, but rather an "electronic fairy" that would support the party, similarly to Nemissa from Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers , but the developers felt like that would not be fresh enough, so they gave her the role of main character and the rest were adapted accordingly. Additionally, Ishida was at one point considering of having the world be dystopian with the network dominating it. [12]

Because of Ringo's identity as a non-silent protagonist, or rather that she's not a "player surrogate," the beginning of the story was designed to give a proper explanation to the events and background of the story, compared to their original plan for beginning the story with a scene at the warehouse. Although it wasn't an active decision, care was also put in not making people feel uncomfortable while playing, which might've made demon companions brighter and more friendly than those from previous entries. [12]

The new demons, or rather returning demons from Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers , were not something that was decided to be included initially, but would eventually put into consideration the collective desire to add them as to please fans, primarily since the team wanted to include fun elements unique to Soul Hackers . [12]

The combat of the game was consciously designed so that players would have to do less on minimizing risk of making mistakes, and would instead strengthen the aspects that would be most satisfying, such as exploiting weaknesses to strengthen the incoming Sabbath. This was compared to the Press Turn system of Shin Megami Tensei , where errors can be fatal at the pursuit of high return. Their thought process on their design was also build on their experience on Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE . [12]

Promotion [ ]

The game would first be teased, only via its relations to Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers . On February 17th, 2022, 4 daily streams would be hosted on ATLUS' Japanese YouTube channel, each starting at 8pm JST. These streams consisted of gathering information from users, and each stream would hold 3 questions, each separated by 10 minutes. The session is most likely a replication of feeding Flamma of Aion information, who would directly speak during the streams.

At random intervals during the streams, the term "Ringo" would constantly be brought up, alluding to the game's protagonist, and several vague screenshots of the game's setting and characters would be shown.

Soul Hackers 2 unveiled.

During a stream on February 21st, the protagonist Ringo would be unveiled as part of a live-action fight sequence over at Kanda Shrine , which would end with the reveal of Soul Hackers 2 . The rest of the stream would be hosted by Tomoyo Kurosawa , with guests Mafia Kajita, comedian Nobuo from Penguins, and later directors/producers Eiji Ishida and Mitsuru Hirata, who would go over more general information on the game.

Similarly to Shin Megami Tensei V 's Daily Demon , a web-series to promote Soul Hackers 2 would be hosted starting from March 10th, sub-titled " Daily Ringo's Demon Prediction ." And continuing the recent promotional model of ATLUS games in Japan, Summoners Guide would inform players of the mechanics and details of the game. Both of these series are hosted by Ringo.

Soul Hackers 2 would also receive several premium trials in Japan. One would be held on June 4th and 5th, [13] although one that was planned to be held on July 23rd and 24th was cancelled due to the spread of coronavirus. [14] [15]

Within live events, several figures that would partake in the promotion of Shin Megami Tensei V , such as Chiaki Matsuzawa , Nobuo from Penguins, and O'Samurai-chan .

Soul Hackers 2 on the Cross Shinjuku Vision.

Near the end of the promotional process, a popularity poll in the form of a tournament bracket, called Soul Hackers 2 Which Demon Show , would be hosted on the game's Japanese Twitter account . The winner, Jack Frost , was announced on the pre-release livestream , which involved having O'Samurai-chan complete several Soul Hackers 2 -related challenges:

• 1: Perform a Sabbath with 3 or more demons.
• 2: Find ally demons in dungeons as part of Demon Recon.
• 3: Complete the request "Revenge is on Him."
• 4: Clear the Aion order of defeating the enemy Halphas .
• 5: Use fusion to produce B. Hawaii Frost .
• 6: Defeat the first floor boss in the Saizo sector of the Soul Matrix.

Gallery [ ]

Artwork [ ].

Screenshots [ ]

Wallpapers [ ]

• Regular, character and Summoners Guide trailers all have either English trailers with subtitles, or their respective Japanese video has English captions.

Trailers [ ]

Character Trailers [ ]

Summoners Guide [ ]

Streams & Gameplay [ ]

Information gathering sequences [ ]

In Other Languages [ ]

• Soul Hackers 2 has been estimated to have a total playtime of 30 to 60 hours per run, the pace of which is dependent on time spent exploring, taking on optional sidequests, as well as taking on the Soul Matrix dungeon. [18]
• The day of release, the 25th, might be a reference to the Soul Hackers series' 25th anniversary.
• Soul Hackers 2 is the first game in the Megami Tensei series to be directly developed for the PlayStation 5 , without requirements for backwards compatibility.
• Soul Hackers 2 is the first Megami Tensei game (as well as a work created by Atlus) to be developed for both Xbox Series X/S and the Xbox One . It is also the first game to be published for an Xbox console in 8 years since Persona 4 Arena Ultimax .
• Development of Microsoft Windows and Xbox One versions of Soul Hackers 2 was handled by Japanese studio Artdink. [19]
• In Japan, the Xbox releases of the game are digital-only, compared to other parts of the world where they're also distributed physically.

External Links [ ]

• Japanese website
• Western website
• South Korean website
• Traditional Chinese website
• Simplified Chinese website

References [ ]

• ↑ [ https://store.playstation.com/en-us/concept/10001070 Soul Hackers 2 PS4 & PS5 - PlayStation Store
• ↑ Atlus Reveals Soul Hackers 2 Game for Release on August 25 , Anime News Network (Crystalyn Hodgkins, 2022-02-21)
• ↑ 소울 해커즈2 PS4 & PS5 (한국어판) , playstation.com
• ↑ 靈魂駭客2 PS4 & PS5 (中韓文版) , playstation.com
• ↑ 灵魂骇客2 PS4 & PS5 (中韩文版) , playstation.com
• ↑ Soul Hackers 2 Sells 52k Copies in Japan in First Week , Persona Central (Reggy, September 1, 2022)
• ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 ソウルハッカーズ2 - 公式サイト , soul-hackers.jp
• ↑ DLC | ソウルハッカーズ2 - 公式サイト , soul-hackers.jp
• ↑ 9.0 9.1 Soul Hackers 2 | Official Website
• ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 【2/22 15:00更新】『ソウルハッカーズ2』購入ガイド , atlus.co.jp (2022.02.22)
• ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 「ソウルハッカーズ2」開発者の石田栄司氏と平田 弥氏にインタビュー。神田明神での“殺陣”とライトアップの模様とともにお届け , 4Gamer.net (2022/02/22 16:33)
• ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 Soul Hackers 2 Development Interview, Ringo Was Not Initially the Main Character , Persona Central (Reggy, August 27, 2022)
• ↑ 『ソウルハッカーズ2』世界最速プレミアム体験会実施決定! , atlus.co.jp (2022.04.26)
• ↑ 7/22追記【中止のお知らせ】『ソウルハッカーズ2』プレミアム体験会追加開催決定! , atlus.co.jp (2022.07.22, Updated)
• ↑ 『ソウルハッカーズ2』プレミアム体験会追加開催決定! , atlus.co.jp (2022.06.24, Original)
• ↑ 『ソウルハッカーズ2』伊東ライフさん先行実況プレイ！ , atlus.co.jp (2022.08.05)
• ↑ 『ソウルハッカーズ2』ガッチマンVさん先行実況プレイ！ , atlus.co.jp (2022.08.12)
• ↑ How long is 'Soul Hackers 2'? Total hours to beat, DLC info, and more , Inverse (Jess Reyes)
• ↑ XboxOne、Windows、Steam用ソフト「ソウルハッカーズ2」の移植開発を担当しました , artdink.co.jp
• Shin Megami Tensei
• 2 Persona 5: The Phantom X
• 3 Makoto Yuki

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Soul Hackers 2 Trophy Guide & Roadmap

Author: foggy.

Final boss at FoggyProductions

Published: August 26, 2022

Death metal lover and a gamer. Plays guitar - occasionally. In real life a QA, assuring quality of products and automating stuff (need to find a way to automate video editing).

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• Estimated trophy difficulty: 4/10
• Approximate amount of time to platinum: 70-80h

• Number of missable trophies: Check details underneath
• Glitched trophies: None
• Does difficulty affect trophies?: You can play the whole game on Easy or Normal, but you have to defeat the final boss on Hard (You can change the difficulty from the Config Menu).
• Minimum Playthroughs: 1 playthrough and NG+ for last Soul Matrix levels (200 Soul points needed)

Welcome Soul Hackers! I just love them Atlus JRPG's so this one is special to me, especially since it's finally a good turn-based game with all what makes Atlus games great - great characters, storytelling, voice acting and fusions. Let's see how to get that platinum!

Step 1 - Beat the game while doing/getting all Requests, Aion Directives, Hangout Events and Recipes. Explore Axis up to 5F in your first playthrough. Be aware of the cut-off point

Focus your first playthrough on story and doing side stuff. Be careful about the cut-off point. Always return to Safehouse after events, requests and dungeons to get more recipes from Figue. When she is gone, no more recipes from her.

I suggest doing Soul Matrix dungeons as you gather Hangout points and unlock gates (you will need 200 points on a character to finish 5F). This will require NG+ as you simply can't get enough points with all characters (you can get around 100+ points per character), but you can always answer during scenes to give them to Arrow for example. That way you can max him out and you don't even have to do the NG+ (although you can again be short with points), but there is a quest tied to NG+ and some demon unlockables, so it doesn't really matter much.

Collect all dungeon key items, they unlock Hangout Events. You need 41 Hangout event to unlock the trophy, which means all of them. They grant extra bonding points, which you will be needing for Soul Matrix gates. Unlocking Soul Matrix gates unlocks awesome Summoner Skills for your characters, and they will come in handy, do not miss out on those (stack +1 ones are a must-have, map skills are great...).

You can always beat Rare Enemies to get EXP and Money fast - that will be your grind method through the game and later when you need to reach 100% of your demon compendium.

Trophies to have in mind while playing:

Completed 85 or more requests/Aion Directives - Do all Requests and Aion Directives as you play. Some are missable (Flamma-related requests in Axis) Knocked down 50 or more enemies on the field - Easy, simply press square when you see an enemy on the field to kick it to the floor. Unlocked 70 or more Portals in dungeons - Explore all dungeons. Axis has 5 Floors with each character, it's more than enough. Talked with demonic allies on recon 70 time - Keep talking to demon allies when you explore dungeons. Performed 100 sabbath or more - Keep attacking with weakness so you can automatically perform sabbath at the end of the turn. Used all Commander Skills - Develop them as you unlock them, some are tricky to trigger during fights. Performed 150 or more COMP upgrades at COMP Smith - Fight a lot, try to engage combat with all enemies in dungeons so you can track items and demons easier (to book them under Enemies section of your menu). Received 30 or more gifts from demonic allies - Max out your demons to the point when they learn all skills. When you do, they give you a gift. You need 30. Do not fuse them before learning all what they can learn. Performed 30 or more fusions - Simply fuse demons 30 times. Bought items at all shops and vending machines - Maybe you can wait for this one at the end of the game. Experienced 30 or more different meals - Be careful not to miss any, always return to Safehouse after events and dungeons to unlock more. Some are missable Chatted with pedestrians in the city 50 times or more - Talk to people having "..." icons above their heads in towns.

Step 2 - Make a save before the final boss so you can load the game, get different ending and beat the final boss on HARD difficulty

Be careful not to overwrite your save before the final boss. You need 2 endings to unlock all endings-related trophies, so you need a save before the final boss to do it twice at least.

While going for the second ending try to switch to HARD under Config settings and beat the final boss on HARD to unlock yet another trophy.

Final Step - New Game + (Soul Level up to 200, 5F Soul Matrix, New Requests)

You will be short on Soul (Bonding) points on your first playthrough, so you need to do the second one. You get much more points with each NG+, so you need to aim to get 200 with each character to beat their Soul Matrix 5F. Defeating end floor bosses unlocks new demons, which you need for 100% compendium trophy.

Also, there are new requests in NG+, so make sure to do these as well.

Cut-off Point

The only cut-off point during the game is in West Shipping District near the end of the game (after you defeat Raven, you are beyond the cut-off point; make a save before). By beating Raven you will be locked out of Flamma quests: "Does Aion Dream od Electric Sheep?", "Story of Your Love", and "Hopes, Dreams, and Aion".

You will also be unable to get more recipes from Figue in Safehouse pass this point, so make sure to get all recipes before beating Raven.

After you beat the game you can make separate save for NG+, just don't overwrite the one you made before the final boss.

When you beat the game you can make Clear Save Game data. By loading the Clear Save Game data you will start NG+ and some things will be carrier over, while the other you can choose to carry or not to. Don't overwrite the save you made before the final boss.

What carries? Here is the list of things that carries over:

Soul Level bunding points have increased rate with each New Game+, thus making your journey towards 200 points possible. Additional Hangout Events (works good towards getting 200 points). Additional Requests (some are only available in NG+) Conversation selections already chosen in past playthroughs will be marked. Shop inventories carry over. Outfits carry over. Accessories carry over. Defeated enemies information. Consumed meals information.

Additional bonuses that you can choose to carry over (very advisable):

Automapping Character levels COMP upgrades Demon Compendium and unlocked fusions (do not forget this one!) Items Mistiques Money and Mistiquartz

All Topics and YouTube Playlist:

Soul Hackers 2 - Aion Directives Guide

Soul Hackers 2 - Compendium Calculator Guide

Soul Hackers 2 - Cooking Guide (All Recipes)

Soul Hackers 2 - Easy EXP and Money Guide

Soul Hackers 2 - Hangout Events Guide

Soul Hackers 2 - Requests Guide

Complete Soul Hackers 2 YouTube Playlist

Unlock all other trophies

Automatic story-related trophy.

Automatic Story-related trophy. You will enter "Axis" at some point in the story and you will have to clear Arrow's Soul Matrix 1F dungeon.

There are 2 main endings in Soul Hackers 2. Make sure to keep a save before you talk to 4 holograms on the top of 24th Ward dungeon; that is where you start forming the outcome after the last boss fight.

All details and explanations about the endings can be found under the next topic:

Soul Hackers 2 - All Endings and Last Boss Strategy

After you stabilizie Arrow's Soul in Axis (after clearing the boss in the 1F during the story in his Soul path) you will unlock Hanging events in Shinsando - Bar Heidrun. Simply go there and select "Drink with allies" option. There will be 3 events at this point. Each raises bonding points with the character or group of characters that participate in the event.

List of events:

After you stabilizie Arrow's Soul in Axis (after clearing the boss in the 1F during the story in his Soul path) you will unlock Hanging events in Shinsando - Bar Heidrun. Simply go there and select "Drink with allies" option. There will be 3 events at this point. Each raises bonding points with the character or group of characters that participate in the event. For this trophy you need to participate in more than 40 Hangout Events.

I will note this as missable as you have to get them all during your first playthrough, and 1 is tied to Flamma quest that gets unavaiable after you finish West Shipping District.

This will unlock when you defeat the main boss of 1F Soul Matrix, which is behing the last Gate teleport. It's almost impossible to miss, and since you have to complete all 5 Floors with for all teammembers, this you simply can't miss.

You will need 100 Soul (Bonding) points with 1 character. If you complete all requests, and watch all hangout events, plus if you carefully divided soul points during story cutscenes you should have 100+ points with all characters. You only need to complete floor 4F for one character, not for them all, but you will need to complete all floors to unlock all demons anyway.

You will need 200 Soul (Bonding) points with 1 character. If you complete all requests, and watch all hangout events, plus if you carefully divided soul points during story cutscenes you should have 100+ points with all characters. That means you must do the NG+ where you get more Soul points, and reach the end where you must have 200 points with at least 1 character. You only need to complete floor 5F for one character, not for them all, but you will need to complete all floors to unlock all demons anyway. This is a grindy one.

Requests gets unlocked when you visit Karakucho. After some events there you will be enter Club Cretaceous on the street a bit to the left, and in here you can take on Requests. Accept 3 of them (which is how many unlocks the first time you unlock Requests) and finish them to unlock the trophy.

You can also do the Aion Directives, but for that you need to finish the Arrow's Soul 1F dungeon in Axis first; then you will be able to take on Aion Directives in the room with the teleport from which you enter Soul dungeons inside Axis.

Soul Hackers 2 - Aion Directives Guide Soul Hackers 2 - Requests Guide

Complete 85 or more combined Requests/Aion Directive quests.

In the beginning of the game your will learn that you can strike the enemy on the field with square button by hitting them before they hit you. Do this 10 times, you don't even have to enter a fight, you just need to hit them for 10 times.

In the beginning of the game your will learn that you can strike the enemy on the field with square button by hitting them before they hit you. Do this 10 times, you don't even have to enter a fight, you just need to hit them for 50 times.

Each dungeon comes with a portal. They serve as teleport points across that dungeon. Each floor in each soul dungeon in Axis has 3 teleports; which should be enough, to be exact this trophy will unlock during the Arrow's soul dungeon 1F. 

When you complete all story dungeons and 4F of each Souls Matrix you will have above 70 teleports. It's not hard to unlock this one, but if you miss out on some requests and additional locations in the game you might be short on teleports. Also, if you somehow collect Soul points with 1 character and neglect the others, potentially you can miss out on lower Soul Matrix floors of other allies.

In the beginning of the game you will learn about your demon allies on the field. You can talk to them in dungeons and they will give you some item or you can even find other demons. Do this 15 times (you see them on the map, they have the talking icon above their heads).

In the beginning of the game you will learn about your demon allies on the field. You can talk to them in dungeons and they will give you some item or you can even find other demons. Do this 70 times (you see them on the map, they have the talking icon above their heads).

Automatic story-related trophy. Whenever you hit an enemy with their weakness you gain 1 soul point. At the end of player's turn you will perform a sabbath attack (1 weakness strike = 1 point; every point raise the damage to enemies).

First of all you need to unlock Stack+ Summoner Skills (additional stack on critical, additional stack on certain type of skills etc.). They are unlocked by completing and unlocking gates in Axis, Soul Matrix. Summoner Skills differ for all characters; for example Arrow has an additional stack using Gunshot skills.

Use Stack Optimization at the start of the fight, make sure to battle some demons that you are strong againts. With stack optimization you can get up to 3 Stack points if you attack with weakness and if you have a stack summoner skill unlocked. This will become easy around the end of the game.

Whenever you hit an enemy with their weakness you gain 1 soul point. At the end of player's turn you will perform a sabbath attack (1 weakness strike 1 point; every point raise the damage to enemies). Inflict weakness for 100 turns in battles to peform 100 sabbath attacks

I unlocked this one while having 10 sabbath stacks when I was attacking 1 enemy. You can also do this with any skill, later on you will have severe damage skills that can be boosted with critical skills, so I don't think you will miss this one out. You can always return to the beginning of the game and try this on some weak enemies.

After you deal with the first Axis dungeon you can revisit COMP Smith in Mansei Realm to unlock new upgrades. There will be 2 new upgrades that are Commander Skills - you use them with "R1" in the battle when it's your turn. Simply use either of the 2 you can unlock at this point in game and the trophy is yours.

Commander Skills are unlocked in COMP Smith in Mansei Realm. After you clear the first Axis dungeon (Arrow's Soul Sector 1F) you can go back to COMP Smith and you will unlock your first 2 Commands:

• Stack Optimization

The rest of the skills gets unlocked as you progress the story, so if you don't have some Commander Skills unlocked, you need to progress the story further. The last set of Commander Skills are unlock after completing West Shipping District and beating Raven there. Return to COMP Smith afterwards.

Other Commander Skills:

• Master Conversion
• Damage Condenser
• Shield Deployment

Other passive Commander Skills:

• MP Optimization
• Auto-Repair
• Turn Extension
• Ailment Purge

To unlock the trophy you need to use all of them - meaning that passive/support Commander Skills needs to activate during a fight. The rest you can just use using R1 button when you're in a fight.

This can done when you encounter multiple demons agains which you know the weakness. It's also advisable to try this when you get the party of 4, otherwise you may up end up weak to get this one. Use the attacks from your members that are weakness to demons you're attacking, but do not kill them, leave them with low HP. If you collect 4 soul points for Sabbath, that attack will kill what remains on the battlefield. This shouldn't be a hard trophy to unlock.

This one is a bit tricky, but not hard when you know what to do. You must have a demon that repells certain damage type, and an enemy needs to attack you with that damage type, plus when you deflect damage back to them it needs to kill them.

Usually when an enemy attacks with some elemental attack, they are strong against it. I fused Jack-o-Lantern and carried over Physical deflect. I weakend the enemies in the fight so they are close to being dead, and then I waited for a physical attack towards the character that deflects that damage. I did it on Arrow's Soul Sector 2F inside Axis, and it was against Inugami enemies (the white flying things with a tail and dark head).

0:00 - Using Seach function for fusing demons 0:45 - Showcase of Repel demon affinities (needed for Calculated Trophy) 1:27 - Calculated Trophy

Attack an enemy on the field with square button and initiate a fight. Sometimes a green label will appear about the first strike damage and one of your teammates will perform an AOE attack that deals bonus damage. It's random, they will not do it every time. Do this for 10 times to unlock the trophy.

Risky enemies are purple enemies inside dungeons that appear randomly. They are a bit higher level and tough, so do not enter if you're not ready. Defeat 1 of these to unlock the trophy. I did this during Arrow's 1F Sector of Axis dungeon when I was around level 18. I was attacked by 4 bunny demons and it wasn't so tough, but still they pack quite a punch.

Timeline: 0:00 - Bounty Hunter Trophy 0:35 - Giantkiller Trophy & One of best EXP/Money Grinding methods

Rare enemy is a yellow enemy inside dungeons. They appear randomly, so when you see one run and knock it down. It's easy to win, but you usually have to find their weakness or some element that they don't avoid. Rare enemies rewards you with sellable items that are worht a lot of money, so make sure to always defeat rare enemies on your way.

I recommend grinding your level at least to level 70, or less but then you need good rooster of your demons.

You can change the difficulty through the menu, under Config entry just switch to "HARD", apply, and now you can challenge the last boss. It's not really that hard if you prepare properly.

All details and explanations about the strategy can be found under the next topic:

When you visit Mansei Realm you will enter COMP Smith just next to the entrance. In here you can upgrade your COMP by spending money and items that drop from demons in dungeons or items you get as pickup by talking to your demons in dungeons (occasionally they provide an item when you talk to them). You will unlock this trophy automatically during the story and you will learn all about upgrading your COMP.

Since you can carry unlocked COMP skills, this is probably be one of your last trophies. 150 is a lot, and you will have to grind a bit. If you go under "Enemy" in your menu, you can press Options button to "Search" for that enemy when you locate which one you need for a certain item. This will display an icon above enemies head, and you will know that is the one you need to defeat. Enemies which you didn't defeat are not under Enemies in your menu, but if you have an item you need, you can check under Items and see which demon is dropping that.

To unlock everything in the COMP Smith do all requests from them, and progress the story till the end.

Automatic story-related trophy. When demons learn all of their skills by reaching a certain level they reward you with a gift

When you learn all skills for each demon you get rewarded with a gift from them. Simply learn all skills with 30 demons to unlock the trophy

Fusions are unlocked when you reach Roppo Realm. Enter the Cirque du Goumaden where you'll be able to do it. Select "Normal Fusion" when fusion and fuse 2 of your demons to create another one. This will unlock the trophy.

Note: Always register your compendium under Compendium option before you fuse. That way you will be able to pay to summon demons which you had but spent on fusion while keeping all the skills you unlocked by leveling them up. It's always good to do this before spending a demon.

Fusions are unlocked when you reach Roppo Realm. Enter the Cirque du Goumaden where you'll be able to do it. Select "Special Fusion" when fusing and fuse 3 of your demons to create another one. This will unlock the trophy. You can do only 1 special fusion when you unlock fusion, and you will need couple of demons to do it (but it states which ones when you try to fuse).

Mitamas are the moon-shaped colored demons that you can create using demon fusion. You can easily find which ones you can create and how by using the Search function when fusing demons. When you create one of Mitamas, use that demon to enchance any other demon and you will unlock this trophy.

Simply perform 30 fusions in Cirque du Goumaden which is in Roppo Realm. You have to complete the Compendium anyway, so this should come naturally quite soon.

Create Baihu using Baal and Lamia, make sure to transfer Megidolaon skill. Now, make Strawberry Frost using Baihu you've just created, the other demons is not imports, but I went with Shiisa. Do not forget to transfer Megidolaon skill. Now you can create Pixie using Strawberry Frost and Jack Frost, so do that and do not forget to transfer Megidolaon skill.

You need to achieve 100% completion of your demons in the game. This will take a bit of grinding as you have to complete some requests to unlock special fusions etc. You can find details and everything in the next topic:

Finish all requests for Karakucho De La Mancha store, Lana shop in Mansei Realm, and progress the main story until the final boss. At this point you should have all items unlocked, so you simply have to visit them and buy every item once in each shop

• All shops in Karakucho (De La Mancha, Vending machine, Breaking Mart, Ramen Shop stal, Pizza store)
• Item Exchange shop in Mansei Realm

I unlocked this trophy after I bought everything in Karakucho, and after buying 2 items from Lana's store in Mansei Realm. It's really weird if you ask me, I'm sure I did not bought everything, so probably it counts if you have some of the items that the stores are selling.

You will earn a lot of money during the game, so spending over 2,000,000 Yen in shops, fusion arena, and COMP Smith will not be a problem. You don't have to spend at once or have that amount on you, it stacks so it's quite easy to unlock.

Meal are unlocked during the story. You can cook and eat meals inside Safehouse (second option). The first dish you get during the story, the rest you have to buy from shops or find.

Cook and eat 30 different meals inside Safehouse to unlock this trophy. When you beat Raven in West Shipping District you can't get any more recipes from Figue while vising the Safehouse, so have that in mind.

Pedestrians are people, the NPC's. You can find them in towns and they have "..." icons above their head, which means you can talk to them. Keep talking to 50 pedestrians along the way and you should unlock this one easily.

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Review | Soul Hackers 2

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‘Soul Hackers 2’ review: soul’s there, but it’s missing a few parts

Uninspiring dungeon design holds 'Soul Hackers 2' back from reaching its full potential

A fter spending a not-so-insignificant time running around a nondescript, absolutely monotonous dungeon in Soul Hackers 2 , furiously slashing through mobs in order to find not one, but three damn key cards, a single thought crossed through my mind: If I see one more office door, I’m going to scream.

• READ MORE: ‘Soul Hackers 2’ preview: oceans of depth

That’s what you should prepare yourself for if you play Soul Hackers 2 : endless dark subways, office complexes that feel like corporate purgatory, and way too much time spent in these less-than-inspiring corridors. But in spite of such disappointing level design, Soul Hackers 2 has, well, a soul. Its story-telling ambition serves as a beating heart–gluten that holds together the game’s thin combat encounters and creates something worth playing.

Though Soul Hackers can be played standalone, it is a game best understood in conversation with its predecessor. Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers was made in 1995 and the setting is in modern day with a futuristic online world called Paradigm X–a portal very much similar to what current corporate conceptions of metaverse are. Characters in Soul Hackers can log into Paradigm X, a virtual space, to participate in forums, go to a VR art museum, and do all sorts of social activities together online.

1995 was a very different time from now. The internet was in its infancy then, and a buoyant optimism about what the internet–and technology–could do for the good of society still existed.

Now in 2022, attitudes towards technology and the internet are arguably more pessimistic. Techno-optimism is gauche. Online spaces aren’t a utopia of bringing people together. Soul Hackers 2 was clearly made in this new era of ambivalence.

The very first moments of Soul Hackers 2 tells players its set in the 21st century where AI has taken a lot of jobs, and humans live under difficult economic conditions. The game’s tone isn’t grim, but it’s uncertain. Various characters voice their hesitancy and doubts about their situations and the future.

Our main combat crew consists of Ringo, a human manifestation of an all-powerful AI called Aion, and three humans who are very different–Yatagarasu’s Arrow, Phantom Thieves’ Milady (pronounced “melody” and not “my lady”), and freelance Summoner Saizo. Another Aion agent, Figue, is also integral, but serves as more of support in the form of research and a very cute reconnaissance owl called Mimi. Arrow, Milady, and Saizo all have something called a Covenant–a mysterious energy-like substance that brings them together. The four characters use something called a COMP, a device used to summon demons.

Notably, in contrast with Devil Summoner ‘s combat system, Soul Hackers 2 ‘s permanent rotation consists of the four main cast members, instead of the demons collected along the way. Demons come into the picture through proxy: Ringo and the crew can take on the attacks of demons they equip. Uniquely, Ringo also has an attack called Sabbath. If characters use attacks that enemies are weak to, Sabbath stacks will build, and at the end of turn, Ringo will unleash a major attack by all the demons in the stack. This rewards players for knowing the weaknesses of demons and using strategies (instead of brute-forcing through some dungeons with unbalanced teams, as, ahem, some players like me sometimes do).

It’s just enough like Devil Summoner ‘s combat system, but with additional tweaks here and there. The usual demon fusing (with the ever-dramatic Victor), demon registering, and demon befriending elements are still present. In fact, it’s much easier to convince demons to join your team via introduction by demons already on your team. In my run, I don’t think I had any demons turn me down after I gave them what they wanted–a little disappointing, since demons screwing over players in SMT games, while annoying, is a highlight.

It’s clear the devs made efforts to reduce grinding through repetitive dungeon encounters. They created requests players can take on in-between main storyline objectives. The Soul Matrix where players can wander through the dungeons of Saizo, Arrow, and Milady’s souls is also a place to level-up.

However, despite these efforts, the tiring feeling of grind and repetitive battles still persists–mainly driven by lacklustre dungeon designs. There are three different soul matrices, but they all look pretty similar to each other–at least on the first floor–a disappointing fact, since three different people could have three different dungeon designs. Some dungeons in the main storyline also contain little puzzles that I won’t spoil, and there’s one in particular that is a giant pain to solve while encounters are getting triggered constantly. You could use Ringo’s sword to slash enemies and avoid battles that way–if you’re just trying to get somewhere specific in the dungeon–but that also gets old fast.

While the combat is similar to Devil Summoner ‘s system but with maybe a neater bow on top, stacks, and some COMP upgrades–the story is the highlight of the game.

For having a world set in a cyberpunk, somewhat futuristic, and slightly apocalyptic setting, Soul Hackers 2 is surprisingly anachronistic in design. Our core crew wears a hodgepodge of influences and signals from bygone eras. Ringo dresses in Victorian era-inspired booties, Saizo looks like he stepped straight out of some bad mafia film from the 70’s, and Milady is hmm…hard to place historically with her frilly gothic shoes, frilly suit, and ultra-pink tights.

At first glance, it’s confusing and not cohesive. But when going through the story, you understand the character’s clothing as a reflection of the world the characters live in. Nothing is new. Society is stagnant. Everything is nostalgia repackaged–hence Victorian boots existing in the same era as Arrow’s streetwear getup.

But in spite of such dormancy, buds will still push through the soil. Where is the human soul? What’s it made of? What’s it worth? Can a soul be made? The search for Covenants by our main character cast–the very thing that brings together Ringo and the crew–is a metaphor, a query, and examination of those questions.

The execution of this query is choppy, rushed, and the main cast’s efforts to deal with their regrets isn’t told in a tidy way. In fact, a lot of confrontations with their pasts end in a confusing, anti-climatic way–especially Arrow’s major scene. But that feels right for this story: Nobody’s resolving anything in any manner of neatness. What’s left is just confusion over whether their decisions were right or wrong.

I appreciate Soul Hackers asking ambitious questions, and even the story’s hastily told nature feels more like an intentional feature and not an exercise in bad writing. But the vehicle it’s told in doesn’t quite hold up. A rich exploration into what this 21st century world looks and feels like through more inspiring side quests and creatively designed dungeons could’ve made Soul Hackers 2 truly great.

Soul Hackers 2  launches on August 25 for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5 and PC.  This review was played on PC.

The Verdict

Soul Hackers 2 is ambitious and it presents a series of thoughtful questions, but it’s told through the vehicle of endless crawls through dungeons with lacklustre designs that aren’t exactly a joy to explore.

• Turn-based dungeon-crawling experience we’re used to from Shin Megami Tensei games, with twists on combat that’s satisfying
• Ambitious, thoughtful storyline with an engaging core cast of characters
• Dungeon designs aren’t that inspiring
• Side quests don’t add much colour to the world and are quite shallow
• Related Topics
• PlayStation 4
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• Soul Hackers 2
• Xbox Series X|S

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Soul Hackers 2

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Soul Hackers 2 Trailers

Soul Hackers 2 — Devil Summoning and Combat | PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Soul Hackers 2 — DLC Lineup | PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Soul Hackers 2 — Aion's Allies & Mission | PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC

Soul Hackers 2 Screenshots

Critic reviews for soul hackers 2.

Soul Hackers 2 is an entertaining Atlus JRPG, if also one that doesn't do much to stand out.

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Metro GameCentral

A frustrating mix of the best and worst of Persona results in a disappointing Shin Megami Tensei spin-off that prioritises streamlined gameplay over innovation.

Game Informer

Throughout the 30 hours it took to hit credits, I kept trying to latch onto the elements that work. Soul Hackers 2’s saving grace lies in its main characters, each with a distinct personality that often clashes with the rest. Witnessing the group’s growth by putting their differences aside and opening themselves up to camaraderie was a joy.

Soul Hackers 2 is a stylish, engaging JRPG with great characters, but dull dungeon design dampens the experience.

Destructoid

I wandered into Soul Hackers 2 expecting a general sense of quality from Atlus, and ended up getting sucked into its world. While dungeon design can feel samey at times, it’s not enough to distract from the flashiness of the game as a whole. As usual, Atlus really nails the details; it was fun to hang out with this crew and see where things went.

Soul Hackers 2 it's a good game with some annoying issues. At it's core, Atlus new sci-fi JRPG it's an high-stakes 35/40 hours adventure with a charismatic and well written cast of characters, a protagonist - Ringo - which is both fun and interesting, and an enjoyable combat system. However, as a dungeon crawler, the game gets repetitive fairly quickly, and doesn't do enough to keep the player's attention high throught it's entire duration. Nonetheless, Soul Hackers 2 it's enjoyable experience, easy to recommend to all the fans of the Megami Tensei franchise, and a great starting point for a new series.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Soul Hackers 2 is good news for fans of Persona and Shin Megami Tensei, a JRPG that, despite not reaching the excellence of its more direct predecessors, delivers a remarkable experience that knows how to find its own space within Atlus' demonic universe.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

God is a Geek

Soul Hackers 2 has great combat and a story worth checking out, but the repetitive environments and constant barrage of enemies make the experience less than stellar.

OpenCritic Coverage

Soul hackers 2 review embargo details.

Soul Hackers 2 reviews are expected on Thursday morning! Here are the full Soul Hackers 2 review embargo details. Read more

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Soul Hackers 2 Complete Strategy Guide Announced for Release in Japan on October 28, 2022

Following the release of  Soul Hackers 2  last week, a strategy book has been announced for the game, called “Soul Hackers 2: The Complete Guide.” The book is set for release in Japan on October 28, 2022.

Along with a detailed explanation of the game’s systems for newcomers to the series, the guide will also include easy-to-read maps unqiue to this official strategy book, information on demon fusion, solutions to all of the requests, and various lists of data. With this guide, users can fully enjoy all of the game’s elements, encompassing beginner and advanced players.

The guide also covers the boss battles deep in the depths of the Soul Matrix, and the “Lost Numbers” DLC additional scenario.

Product Details

• Name:  Soul Hackers 2: The Complete Guide
• Release Date:  October 28, 2022
• Pages:  368 pages
• List Price:  2,300 yen (2,540 yen including tax)
• Publisher: Kadokawa
• Amazon Japan Product Page

Soul Hackers 2  was released for the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, and PC in Japan on August 25th, and will be released in the West on August 26th, 2022.

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