By no means let it’s mentioned that Atlus is afraid of discovering new methods to capitalise on its flagship Shin Megami Tensei franchise—for fairly some time now, there have been considerably extra spinoff ‘SMT-adjacent’ video games than mainline entries. Nonetheless, that’s definitely not a nasty factor, as the corporate has clearly give you a variety of enjoyable and attention-grabbing approaches to the tried and true JRPG gameplay, whether or not by way of the turn-based SRPG type of Devil Survivor or the action-RPG flavour of Raidou.
The primary Raidou sport, Satan Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Military, got here out again in 2006 for the PS2 and was itself a derivative of the Satan Summoner collection for the Sega Saturn. Mixing action-focused gameplay with an attention-grabbing Thirties-inspired alternate universe setting, it stood out to followers of the broader franchise, even when Raidou’s modest gross sales additionally ensured that it by no means caught on in the identical approach Persona did.
Now, Atlus is giving this misplaced basic one other shot with a complete remaster therapy for contemporary platforms, billed as RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army. Although there are some facets of it displaying their age, Atlus has general finished a wonderful job of creating Raidou shine in the absolute best mild.
To get one factor out of the way in which, Raidou Remastered actually strains the definition of what a ‘remaster’ might be, in a great way. Atlus wasn’t content material to simply give this one an affordable decision bump and a pair quality-of-life updates. Despite the fact that it’s clear that this was finally constructed on the bones of a PS2 sport, many facets of Raidou have been totally reevaluated and redesigned to make for an general extra gratifying and trendy feeling sport. Some followers of the unique might baulk at modifications to the fight system or demon fusion, however I believe all of the tweaks and additions right here have sanded down most of these rougher and antiquated design parts that made the unique such a product of its time.
For its story, Raidou Remastered locations you within the function of Raidou Kuzunoha XIV, a contemporary teenage graduate of a mysterious organisation of Satan Summoners who reside within the shadows to guard the world from supernatural hazard through the use of their otherworldly connections. Raidou (and his speaking cat companion, Gouto) is assigned to Tokyo to check and work at a detective company whereas he retains a watch on issues there, and shortly finds himself unravelling a broader conspiracy after working a kidnapping case wherein a legion of red-uniformed troopers spirits away a teenage woman.
It is a a lot darker narrative than you’d discover in a Persona sport, however not fairly as darkish as one thing from mainline SMT, and I actually appreciated how downright wacky it will get the farther in you go. And whereas the general plot feels a bit simplistic in locations—character improvement is especially shallow right here—I felt myself drawn into its curious setting and quirky environment. The newly added voice appearing is a superb addition right here, too, giving these characters a bit extra dimension and making for rather more attention-grabbing cutscenes.
Not like its extra well-known brethren, SMT and Persona, Raidou isn’t a turn-based RPG that sees you assembling demon events that can assist you safely navigate dungeons. As an alternative, that is extra of a detective story wherein you spend your time monitoring down leads, gathering clues, and honing your theories, interspersed with loads of fights with hostile demons.
Admittedly, the detective aspect of the gameplay loop can really feel simplistic and fetch quest-y as you principally simply run from level A to level B to progress the plot, sometimes having to discover a particular NPC or work together with one thing within the atmosphere to maintain issues transferring.
And although mechanics just like the time administration and Social Hyperlink programs from Persona would’ve felt misplaced in a sport with a a lot darker tone akin to this, I couldn’t assist however really feel there was one thing lacking with this detective work—it definitely looks like probably the most outdated side of the loop.
Issues get much more attention-grabbing when you end up in a fight encounter, and it’s right here the place Atlus clearly did probably the most work to rehab the gameplay. Raidou’s headlining gimmick is that it’s SMT with action-packed hack-‘n’-slash fight, however the fight within the unique launch was fairly tough across the edges as a result of mounted digicam view and Raidou’s clunky actions. To deal with this, Atlus redesigned the battle system to borrow a number of parts from Raidou 2‘s fight, leading to one thing much more satisfying and attention-grabbing to play.
Fight encounters (that are not random) see Raidou dropped right into a small area with as much as two accomplice demons to assist him defeat foes locked in with him. These accomplice demons will every independently struggle and use expertise, which draw assets from a MAG (MP) shared pool. MAG is topped up primarily by Raidou, who can combo enemies with mild assaults that replenish some MAG and heavy assaults that dish out much more harm. Raidou himself may use cooldown magic expertise to take advantage of elemental weaknesses and maintain the group in preventing form.
Although the Press Flip system doesn’t function right here, exploiting enemy weaknesses continues to be critically essential. Not solely will doing so place enemies into a quick stun state, but it surely’ll open them as much as taking additional harm and doling out additional MAG the extra you pummel them. Fight thus turns into a fragile and thrilling dance of blending mild and heavy assaults to greatest optimise your harm output and MAG reserves whereas strategically gorgeous and disabling totally different foes within the discipline.
I actually loved how dynamic this method is, because it by some means manages to remain easy whereas having a variety of depth that encourages participant company and expression. Swapping out demons to regulate to shifting battle circumstances, dodge rolling away from assaults, and always switching between your varied technique of assaults results in fights which are energetic, clean, and tense in equal measure. In some ways, this looks like how I would think about Atlus’ tackle a DMC-style character motion sport, and I hope that this isn’t the final time we see this fight system in a ‘new’ SMT-adjacent sport.
Once you’re not in fight, character development is primarily dealt with by way of varied types of the SMT collection’ famed Demon Fusion. After recruiting new demons from fight encounters and rising their stats and skills a bit, you may initially fuse any two to make a extra highly effective one which retains traits of its predecessors. Not solely does this maintain your group feeling contemporary as you always burn and add new demons to your repertoire, but it surely provides you an ideal feeling of development as every new fusion makes Raidou that rather more deadly on the battlefield.
Demon Fusion has additionally been reworked to make it less complicated to seek for potential fusions and simpler to go on expertise and traits to new demons, sidestepping lots of the extra irritating facets of how this method labored initially. Plus, Atlus has retroactively added just a few dozen new demons right here from SMT releases that got here after, providing you with much more choices as you’re employed to fill out your compendium.
Demon Fusion has at all times been probably the most satisfying technique of team-building in an RPG and I’m pleased to report that Atlus hasn’t misplaced a step with its implementation right here—it provides lots to the replayability and makes the fight system much more attention-grabbing as you achieve entry to extra demons to mess around with.
As a remaster, Raidou Remastered clearly has some a lot fancier visuals, but it surely’s additionally clear that this was a sport initially launched on PS2. The pre-rendered backgrounds are gone and have been changed by rather more vibrant 3D environments, however many scenes nonetheless persist with a set digicam angle that may awkwardly change perspective with no warning. The character and demon fashions have been redone, however there’s additionally a stiffness to their actions and lifelessness of their eyes that betrays their origins on humbler {hardware}.
I wouldn’t say that Raidou seems unhealthy; in actual fact, I might say it seems a good bit higher than the SMT 3 remaster Atlus did just a few years in the past. That buttery clean 1080p 60fps gameplay seems nice in movement, and the fight sequences particularly look glorious. Even so, there’s solely a lot Atlus may do to jazz up a PS2 sport and not using a full overhaul on the extent of Persona 3 Reload.
(Additionally, regardless that I put most of my time into the Change 2 model, you may nonetheless choose this up on the bottom Change if you want. That model runs at an uncapped body fee that usually hovers round 30fps, whereas the picture high quality will drop to the Change 1 display screen’s decision of 720p in handheld mode. Except for the longer load instances, it’s in any other case the very same sport and it looks like a stable port that matches nicely on the Change {hardware}, although the Change 2 model is clearly the superior choose if you would like the absolute best expertise.)
Concerning its music, Raidou Remastered pulls equally from each Persona and SMT with its combination of bouncy jazz for many environments and heavy rock for the fight. Total, there’s numerous depth right here and I loved the way it manages to concurrently really feel like an OST that’s unmistakably descended from SMT whereas nonetheless managing to carve out its personal id.
Conclusion
Raidou Remastered: The Thriller of the Soulless Military is an excellent retread of a forgotten basic, neatly sprucing up its greatest components and modifying its worst components to make for an general extra gratifying expertise. Although the visuals are simply ‘okay’ and the detective gameplay could be a bit plain, the action-packed fight, reworked demon fusion, and attention-grabbing story all come collectively to make for a gripping journey.
I’d suggest you choose this one up for those who’re curious and also you suppose it might be up your alley. I’ve by no means performed something fairly like Raidou, and it presents a really distinctive take not simply on the usual SMT system, however motion RPGs on the entire.
