Raidou Remastered review for PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch
Platform: PC
Also On: PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
Publisher: SEGA
Developer: ATLUS
Medium: Physical/Digital
Players: 1
Online: No
ESRB: M
Shin Megami Tensei is a franchise with a devout following, albeit maybe not the largest. If you include its baby brother franchise Persona, then yeah, it’s pretty massive nowadays. With successes like Persona 5 and its Royal re-release, Shin Megami Tensei V and its Vengeance re-release, and the beloved remake of Persona 3, Persona 3 Reload, it’s no surprise that ATLUS is on a hot streak with its franchises. It’s no surprise that ATLUS loves re-releasing classic titles for modern audiences. I mean, just look at Persona 4 Golden, Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD, Persona 3 Portable, etc. Naturally, that means more of the golden age of ATLUS (for me, anyway) is eager to be released to a new audience on modern platforms.
This brings us to the announcement and release of Raidou Remastered: Mystery of the Soulless Army. When this got revealed, I know that myself and a few of my friends were super excited. The Devil Summoner games are unique compared to everything else in the Shin Megami Tensei Franchise. Ditching the turn-based combat they’re known for, Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha (and the newly released Mystery of the Soulless Army) boasts a more action-style combat system with your demon party members battling alongside you. It’s a very fun and unique title in the series, and arguably one of my favorites.
Raidou Remastered: Mystery of the Soulless Army brings all the classic goodness to the modern limelight. From using updated demon models from (seemingly, anyway) Shin Megami Tensei V to bringing back a fun story backed by a fantastic soundtrack, you really can’t go wrong. If you’re a turn-based purist, you’ll still wanna give it a try, I promise. Taking the series to a more action-focused gameplay style is a really nice change of pace from typical SMT and Persona games. Raidou Remastered plays just as smoothly and fun as I remember back on the PS2, so it’s nice to see it holds up fairly well. It can still be a little jarring, especially in larger group fights, so that’s something to keep in mind.
As a remaster, I think it’s better than when Nocturne HD got released. Nocturne was very much an HD port of the original with miniscule changes whereas Raidou feels nearly like a remake. I mean it when I say the quality difference between the remaster and the PS2 original is such a vast difference it’s incredible. I’m genuinely surprised ATLUS and SEGA are naming it and marketing it as a remaster. It’s not even like there’s a bunch of gameplay changes or mechanics changes or anything, the game just looks so “new” and in line with ATLUS’ more modern releases.
If you want something fresh from what you may be used to from ATLUS, you’re doing yourself a disservice by not playing Raidou Remastered: Mystery of the Soulless Army. Bringing a classic (depending on who you ask, anyways) to a newer audience on modern platforms is exciting, and it has me brainstorming what other titles we could see ports of. For instance, is Digital Devil Saga in the realm of possibility? Who knows, but only time will tell.
Raidou Remasted is a genuine treat and well worth it. Not only is it a great title with a story you can get invested in, but last I checked it’s smoothly playable on Steam Deck and it released for both Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2, so you can choose your poison for portability to play the game. It really did release on everything, and that’s just to the benefit of the player. ATLUS and SEGA really nailed it with this one, and I’m even more excited for whether they’ll remaster the sequel or not in addition.
Note: SEGA provided us with a Raidou Remastered PC code for review purposes.
Score: 9
