Atlus has announced a remaster of Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army.
The remaster, now called Raidou Remastered: The Mystery Of The Soulless Army, is coming to PlayStation, PC, Xbox and Switch later this June, with pre-orders now available.
New to the remaster of the PS2 game from 19 years ago are full voice acting in Japanese and English, upgraded visuals and other gameplay improvements like quick saves, autosaves, increased manual save slots up to 20 and five different difficulty options. The combat system gets some big changes too, from a wider camera angle to more moves for Raidou, as well as being able to summon two demons in battle instead of just one.
From the developer Spotlight video, this because the combat system is replaced outright with the version from its sequel, Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon. The combat system from the original was less well-received, and fans even wanted to play the original game with Raidou 2’s combat system (in particular the MAG system that makes resource management more engaging with how it ebbs and flows compared to the original’s MP usage).
Raidou is a spin-off to the Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner series, which itself is a spin-off to Shin Megami Tensei. And like other modern SMT spin-offs like Persona and Soul Hackers, the new titles have been simplified to not show their SMT roots. Fun fact: Soul Hackers and Raidou are both under the Devil Summoner series.
Raidou has a bit more action gameplay than the typical Atlus RPG. Raidou can actually hack, slash and shoot his gun in real time while selected demons support him in battles. No turn-based battles here. This is a full-on action-RPG with real-time combat.
But the typical SMT elements are here. Demon fusions, demons divided into different classifications (in this case, Order) are here.
Set in an alternate reality of the Taisho era (post-Meiji Japan in the 1920s) where Japan continues to Westernise, demons have started to threaten the peace. Enter our protagonist Raidou Kuzunoha XIV, a Devil Summoner with the power to kill demons, who is tasked to protect the Capital. Not only that, he also side hustles as a detective apprentice at the Narumi Detective Agency where he investigates demon-related cases.
The story of Raidou Remastered: The Mystery Of The Soulless Army begins with the arrival of a schoolgirl asking her to be killed, before being abducted by unknown beings.
Raidou and his boss Narumi is on the case on solving this mystery.
And if you haven’t guessed it already, yes, this is noir story. But with demons and instead of the US it’s in Japan.
Expect a lot of demons in Raidou Remastered: The Mystery Of The Soulless Army. SMT demons to be precise. And you can add more via DLC, with one pack featuring Fionn mac Cumhaill and Artemis as they appeared in Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance.
Raidou Remastered: The Mystery Of The Soulless Army will be out on June 19 for the PS4, PS5, PC (Steam), Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch. Physical versions of the game are available on PlayStation and Switch version.