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